Split the old subset page into technical and design pages

docs/guidelines/content/subset_design.md

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+---
+title: Subset Design
+description: Learn about creating and managing subsets for RetroAchievements, including design guidelines as well as approval processes
+---
+
+Subsets are secondary sets attached to games that already have a base set. While RA shines through its complete sets that include challenges and make masteries satisfying, certain games are home to challenges that are poor fit for base sets yet have become of interest to the community.
+
+The design of these so-called subsets is particularly challenging. Challenges unfit for base sets are easy to come up with, simply disregarding good design practices or including unwelcome concepts will make sure of that. The challenging part is designing a subset that provides an interesting experience *despite* going against guidelines and conventional wisdom.
+
+Here are golden rules of subset design:
+
+1. **Subsets should not take away from base sets**. As a general rule, a well balanced version of a challenge in a base set is preferable to an extreme version in a subset. Remember that base sets are the core and most important part of RA. They should never be watered down for the benefit of side content. Consistency across sets is of utmost importance to the player experience and subsets designed to include what is included in base sets for other games is unacceptable.
+
+2. **Subsets are sets, not random assortments of achievements left on the cutting room floor**. Subsets must have coherent identities. To design means to iterate, assess, ditch and improve. Not every idea ends up being published, and that's part of the process. Subsets are part of RA's offering and are public facing, not a window into a workshop with unfinished or unrefined projects. Throwing together ideas that were scrapped from a base set leads to sets that are incoherent or generally lack set identity.
+
+3. **Not every game needs a subset**. Trying to force a subset into a game where it does not arise naturally often leads to poor sets that feel arbitrary. Like the design of base sets, subset design has to complement gameplay in a purposeful and compelling way.
+
+4. **Precedent should be taken with a grain of salt when it comes to subsets**. A challenge being interesting in one game *despite* going against conventional wisdom does not mean that it's reasonable elsewhere. This means that the same idea can be good in one context and bad in another, and that's ok.
+
+5. **Problematic base set achievements should be revised or demoted, not pushed to a subset.** It can be tempting to try and salvage a concept by pushing it to a subset, potentially extending or iterating on it. Revising an achievement so it is appropriate for the base set is almost always the best way to address problems when the concept is interesting. Inclusion in a subset is not something that should be done in a rush as a half measure to avoid demotion; demote first, then consider if the idea fits into a subset that is complete and coherent.
+
+The following are common subset archetypes:
+- [Multiplayer](#multiplayer)
+- [Glitch Showcase](#glitch-showcase)
+- [Excessive Grinds](#excessive-grinds)
+- [Exhaustive Challenge Runs](#exhaustive-challenge-runs)
+- [Brutal Full Game Runs](#brutal-full-game-runs)
+- [Community Recognized Challenges](#community-recognized-challenges)
+- [RA Community Custom Content](#ra-community-custom-content)
+- [Expansions and Games Inside Games](#expansions-and-games-inside-games)
+- [Miscellaneous Extreme Challenges](#miscellaneous-extreme-challenges)
+
+Let's go over guidelines and common pitfalls when designing subsets of each archetype.
+
+### Multiplayer 
+
+Multiplayer Cooperative sets must require two or more players to be inputting controls. Achievements must require multiple players in order to be appropriate for this type of subset. It is not acceptable to be able to simply earn achievements with a single player while in a multiplayer mode.
+
+For games where multiplayer is core to the experience, it is recommended to make the base set compatible with multiplayer as much as possible. Taking multiplayer compatibility away from the base set because of the existence of a multiplayer subset is a bad practice. Challenges in this type of subsets should require all players to pull off something.
+
+Multiplayer subsets must be called `GameName [Subset - Multiplayer]`.
+
+Examples: [Kirby Super Star - Multiplayer](https://retroachievements.org/game/814?set=7714),  [Mario Party 5 - Multiplayer](https://retroachievements.org/game/25451?set=9556)
+### Glitch Showcase
+
+Glitching can have unpredictable effects in a game's memory, which can result in unwanted behavior for some achievements, thus making them not suitable for a base set. However many glitches can add fun or interesting gameplay, effects, or just silly actions and may be worth highlighting outside of the base set.
+
+When researching glitches, one should evaluate their feasibility. Glitches are often discovered using external tools, and if only a handful of people ever pulled it off in real time, it probably should not be included in a subset.
+
+Glitch Showcase subsets must be called `GameName [Subset - Glitch Showcase]`.
+
+Examples: [Banjo-Kazooie - Glitch Showcase](https://retroachievements.org/game/10210?set=8397),  [Paper Mario - Glitch Showcase](https://retroachievements.org/game/10154?set=33103)
+### Excessive Grinds
+
+When challenges involve overly long grinds, be it due to low odds of obtaining certain items or simply because of the time involved, they can sometimes make for good subsets. Remember that these can be good ideas *despite* being overly long. You should always think about the experience of the player; what is motivating the player to complete the grind? Gaining access to a wide variety of things along the way is more enjoyable and varied than simply leveling anything one can think of to max level when there are no significant changes in the process.
+
+Another common pitfall is removing content from the base set because it is covered in a grindy subset. The vast majority of in-game collections are fit for base sets, and when they aren't, it's often because they aren't interesting. 
+
+When designing a grind subset, you have to evaluate the expected time it takes to master. The level of grouping as well as scoring have to reflect the time spent.
+
+Examples: [Pokémon LeafGreen Version - Professor Oak Challenge](https://retroachievements.org/game/788?set=32993),  [EarthBound - Rare Drops](https://retroachievements.org/game/264?set=7250)
+
+### Exhaustive Challenge Runs
+
+For base sets, it is common to have the hardest achievements allow the use of any character or team. Adding a subset for doing these extreme challenges with every possible character can make for an interesting experience. This increases player agency in the base set, doesn't take away from the base set since the challenge is still there, and make for very challenging subsets.
+
+When designing this type of subset, make sure that the experience is significantly different between different characters. The series can become pointless if the same strategies can more or less be re-used for multiple characters.
+
+Examples: [Pokémon Black Version 2 - Monotype Challenge](https://retroachievements.org/game/5853?set=35101),  [Super Smash Bros. Melee - Very Hard Runs](https://retroachievements.org/game/9602?set=37197)
+
+### Brutal Full Game Runs
+
+Full game runs under brutal conditions can turn games into grueling challenges where players need dozens if not hundreds of attempts before succeeding.  While clearly unfit for base sets, this is a type of challenges that needs to be considered extensively before making into a subset. Such challenges are possible to create in almost any game, but they are very often pointless, unfair, or uninteresting. 
+
+While frustration is expected in these types of subsets, it should come from the player's own honest mistakes or lack of knowledge, not from something outside of their control. Even small amounts of randomness in long form challenges where small mistakes cause entire resets can turn what would be a good idea into something better left on the cutting room floor.
+
+Strong full game run achievements are very difficult, but fair, and are not arbitrary goals. Challenges like speedruns, low level games or extremely high scores can be great, but conditions cannot be arbitrarily selected. Speedruns should be for going under community recognized barriers, or under thresholds only reachable using glitches, low level games should be at theoretical minimums, or justify why the targets have some leeway, and high scores should similarly either follow a community target or reach an actual maximum unfit for a base set. 
+
+Examples: [Final Fantasy - Low Level Game](https://retroachievements.org/game/1449?set=35581),  [Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - Level-1 Runs](https://retroachievements.org/game/1453?set=4345)
+### Community Recognized Challenges
+
+Community recognition is often indicative of good subset ideas. While these often fall in one of the categories above, being recognized by a community means that the concept was deemed interesting somewhere outside RA, making it a strong candidate.
+
+Some challenges that are popular outside of RA sadly can be impossible to track without patching the game, often turning the project into more of a hack than a subset.  
+
+Consider requesting feedback from experts in the game's community. They often are the best people to assess the difficulty of challenges and are usually happy to help.
+
+Examples: [Mario Kart: Double Dash!! - Hero](https://retroachievements.org/game/7693?set=37503),  [Super Mario 64 - A Button Challenge](https://retroachievements.org/game/10003?set=34377)
+
+### RA Community Custom Content
+
+If a game has a feature that allows players to make their own content such as custom levels, then a subset featuring content made by the RA community can be a great idea. Organizing with the Event team can lead to fun community projects.
+
+Examples: [Irritating Stick - IrRAtating Custom Courses](https://retroachievements.org/game/8929?set=7769),  [Tony Hawk's Underground - RAdical Custom Goals & Gaps](https://retroachievements.org/game/2993?set=27843)
+
+### Expansions and Games Inside Games
+
+It is recommended to cover content from expansions, DLC, and unlocked games whenever it is reasonable to do so. When that content is either fundamentally different, very difficult to access, or too extensive to cover in the base set, a subset can be a good way to cover that content. 
+
+Examples: [Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings - Fate of Atlantis](https://retroachievements.org/game/35305?set=38076),  [Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock - DLC](https://retroachievements.org/game/34685?set=37916)
+### Miscellaneous Extreme Challenges
+
+When there are series of challenges that are interesting, too extreme for the base set but not extensive enough to warrant a full subset individually, grouping them up to make a variety subset can be a good idea. 
+
+One should approach the design of such a subset very carefully, and be ready to abandon their ideas when it does not pan out, even more than other types of subset. This is because this type of subset inherently has a weaker set identity, and can often be arbitrary. The best way to prevent this is to build the set around 1-4 series of challenges with strong and interesting themes; this helps making the set more coherent and memorable.
+
+Another risk is to lack research and understanding of the difficulty of the challenges. Thoroughly test the achievements with Hardcore in mind, and consider reaching out to experts of the game for feedback. Again, the goal is to avoid hodgepodge of arbitrary challenges that are simply not well balanced enough to be in a base set. Rebalancing the challenges so they are fit for the base set is often best.
+
+While older subsets like these were simply called "Bonus", new ones should instead use a more explicit name to avoid any confusion with the Bonus subset technical type. A thematic name is often best.
+
+Examples: [Contra - Bonus](https://retroachievements.org/game/1447?set=3123),  [Guitar Hero II - Expert Full Combo](https://retroachievements.org/game/9049?set=9014), [Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - Extra Corruption](https://retroachievements.org/game/34689?set=38075)
+
+## Subset Patches
+
+In most cases, subsets are entirely accessible without any changes to the game. They are available through RetroAchievement's multiset feature, see [Subset Types and Multiset](/guidelines/content/subsets) for more information.
+
+In some situations, a patch can be made for quality of life improvements, or to enforce certain rules through multiple sessions. A typical example is [Super Mario 64 - Lazy Lakitu](https://retroachievements.org/game/10003?set=8509), which keeps the fixed camera mode continuously activated.
+
+**Patches that modify the game in any way must be approved by Developer Compliance.** Changes that go beyond quality of life are rarely fit for subset but can be considered for `~Hack~` entries.  For these, make sure that you take the time to design a hack that stands on its own by providing a new experience. This should be considered carefully and ran by expert players whenever possible, especially when attempting to make the experience harder. This will help identifying exploits that you may have missed as well as assess the fairness of the extra challenge. Thorough testing the difficulty of such hacks is primordial; it should not be made on a whim. A good question to keep in mind is "Would this hack be interesting enough to interest players if RA didn't exist?"
+
+## Approval and Claims
+
+The following subset types are pre-approved for retail games:
+
+- Multiplayer Cooperative
+- Glitch Showcases
+- RA Community Custom Content
+- Low Level Game/No Leveling Runs (Brutal Full Game Run)
+- Solo Class/Monotype Runs (Exhaustive Challenge Runs, or Brutal Full Game Run)
+- Professor Oak Challenges for official Pokémon main series releases (Excessive Grind)
+
+Every other subset must be approved before claiming. This process can be initiated by opening a discussion thread in #design-feedback on Discord, or contacting [SetDesigners](https://retroachievements.org/user/SetDesigners), answering the following questions:
+
+- _Which archetype does this subset proposal fall under?_
+- _Why is this unfit for the base set?_
+- _Why should this exist despite being unfit for the base set?_
+- _Can you explain your set plan in detail?_
+
+Answer the above in a way that is understandable for someone that is not an expert of the game. If scores or times are involved, provide a few explicit examples of what the set would require.
+
+## Revision Votes
+Finally, adding a subset to a game is considered a revision of its base set. In addition to any required approval, a revision vote might be required before claiming as detailed below:
+
+| Authorship¹            | Approval and Claiming Process                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
+| :--------------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| Author of the base set | • If all active authors of the set approve, does not require a revision vote<br> • Considered a free claim ²                                                                                                                                     |
+| No Core Set Authorship | • A set plan must be posted in the base set's forum topic and must go through standard revision voting<br> • Is **not** considered a free claim<br> • In the event that both a revision and subset plan are made for a set, both claims will count as one |
+
+¹ In the case of multiple revision authors, use the most restrictive ruleset in the table. Example: If there is a subset collaboration and any subset author is not a core set author, use the `No Core Set Authorship` rules.
+
+² For now, an admin must be contacted via Discord or by [messaging RAdmin](https://retroachievements.org/user/RAdmin) to mark a claim as free. As a courtesy, please only request this if you actually need the claim slot or if you expect a long development period.