Welcome to the Downpatch Content Repository.

This repository contains all of the Markdown content that powers downpatch.com, including guides, documentation, and wiki pages. Every page on the site is stored here as plain text, making it easy for anyone to contribute using Git and Markdown.

Downpatch is built around a few simple principles:

• Keep all content open source.
• Make contributing approachable for everyone.
• Store content as clean, human-readable Markdown.
• Separate content from presentation by using reusable Markdown components.
• Build a wiki that is easy to maintain, review, and expand over time.

The website automatically pulls content from this repository.

Content is:

• Cloned when the application starts.
• Automatically refreshed approximately once every hour.

Once your changes are merged into the main branch, they will be published automatically during the next refresh cycle.

All documentation lives inside the guide/ directory.

Example:

guide/
    halo/
        index.md
        toc.yml

        reach/
            index.md
            winter-contingency.md
            oni-sword-base.md

Repository rules:

• Every folder should contain an index.md file.
• Nested folders are fully supported.
• URLs are generated directly from the folder structure.
• An index.md file becomes the landing page for its folder.

For example:

guide/halo/index.md

becomes:

/guide/halo

while

guide/halo/reach/winter-contingency.md

becomes:

/guide/halo/reach/winter-contingency

Every Markdown page begins with YAML frontmatter. Frontmatter defines page metadata such as the title, navigation, hero image, external links, and level information.

Example:

---
title: Winter Contingency

description: Speedrun guide for Winter Contingency in Halo Reach.

game: Halo Reach
mission_number: Mission 1
map_name: m10.scenario

hero_image: /content/guide/halo/assets/wiki/winter-contingency.webp

leaderboard: https://haloruns.com/leaderboards/reach/solo/wc/Easy
discord: https://haloruns.com/discord
halopedia: https://www.halopedia.org/Winter_Contingency_(level)

previous_title:
previous_url:

next_title: ONI Sword Base
next_url: /guide/halo/reach/oni-sword-base

goal_beginner_easy: 6:45–7:45
goal_beginner_legendary: 8:00–10:00
goal_beginner_laso:

goal_intermediate_easy: 5:00–6:00
goal_intermediate_legendary: 5:30–6:30
goal_intermediate_laso:

goal_world_easy: 4:25–4:45
goal_world_legendary: 4:50–5:20
goal_world_laso:

goal_il_easy: 4:12
goal_il_legendary: 4:35
goal_il_laso:
---

These fields create the Previous / Next navigation at the bottom of a guide.

Goal times populate the Level Information card shown on mission pages.

Supported fields:

goal_beginner_easy
goal_beginner_legendary
goal_beginner_laso

goal_intermediate_easy
goal_intermediate_legendary
goal_intermediate_laso

goal_advanced_easy
goal_advanced_legendary
goal_advanced_laso

goal_world_easy
goal_world_legendary
goal_world_laso

Leave any field blank if no goal time is available.

Downpatch supports standard GitHub Flavored Markdown in addition to several custom components.

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3

- Item
- Item
- Item

[HaloRuns](https://haloruns.com)

![Winter Contingency](/content/guide/halo/assets/wiki/winter-contingency.webp)

Callouts are useful for highlighting important information without interrupting the flow of a guide.

Supported callout types:

• note
• tip
• important
• warning
• caution

Example:

> [!NOTE]
> This is a note.

> [!TIP]
> This is a tip.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> This is important.

> [!WARNING]
> This is a warning.

> [!CAUTION]
> This is a caution.

Strategy Cards are used to document routes, tricks, skips, movement techniques, and other speedrunning strategies in a consistent format.

Always leave a blank line between the final body text and the component's closing tag.

Example:

:::strategy
title: Gate Clip
difficulty: Advanced
time-save: 5 seconds
compared-to: Roof Route
platform: MCC
input: Controller
recommended: IL Only
consistency: 80%

Gate Clip is currently the fastest IL method to reach Falcon Grab.

- Works on Easy and Legendary
- Used in top Full Game runs
- Saves approximately 5 seconds

:::

Only include fields that are applicable to the strategy.

YouTube Embeds

Embed YouTube videos anywhere in a page using the following syntax:

<youtube id="cHob5ARzWks"></youtube>

It also supports the below syntax as well:

<youtube
    url="https://youtu.be/cHob5ARzWks?t=82"
    title="Gate Clip Tutorial">
</youtube>

The video will automatically be embedded into the page.

MP4 Video Embeds

Local MP4 videos can be embedded directly into a guide.

Example:

<figure>
    <video src="/content/guide/halo/assets/wiki/Barrier%20Jumps.mp4" title="Barrier Jump Route" controls=""><a href="/content/guide/halo/assets/wiki/Barrier%20Jumps.mp4">Video</a></video>
    <figcaption>Barrier Jump Route</figcaption>
</figure>

Video recommendations

• Use .mp4 format • Compress videos for web playback • Store videos in assets/videos

Example directory:

content/
└── guide/
    └── halo/
        └── assets/
            └── videos/
                └── gate-clip.mp4

Images

Images use standard Markdown syntax.

![Gate Clip](/content/guide/halo/assets/wiki/gate-clip.webp)

Recommended image format:

.webp

Image guidelines:

Use lowercase filenames. Use hyphens instead of spaces. Keep filenames descriptive. Optimize images before uploading.

Example:

/content/guide/halo/assets/wiki/gate-clip.webp
Uploading Assets

Images and videos should be committed alongside the guide that references them.

Recommended folder structure:

content/
└── guide/
    └── halo/
        └── assets/
            ├── wiki/
            │   ├── gate-clip.webp
            │   └── winter-contingency.webp
            │
            └── videos/
                ├── gate-clip.mp4
                └── falcon-grab.mp4

Keeping assets organized by game makes them easier to maintain, avoids duplicate uploads, and keeps the repository consistent.

Contributions of all sizes are welcome. Whether you're fixing a typo, adding a new strategy, or writing an entirely new guide, the process is the same.

Click Fork in the top-right corner of this repository to create your own copy under your GitHub account.

Clone your fork to your local machine.

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/content.git

Then enter the repository.

cd content

Create a new branch for your changes.

git checkout -b improve-gate-clip

Choose a descriptive branch name that summarizes your work.

Examples:

• fix-winter-contingency
• add-halo-2-guide
• update-gate-clip

Edit the Markdown files, add any required images or videos, and verify that your formatting is correct.

Before committing, review your changes:

git status

Stage all modified files.

git add .

Or stage individual files.

git add guide/halo/reach/winter-contingency.md

Create a commit describing what you changed.

git commit -m "Improve Gate Clip strategy"

Good commit messages describe the change, not the process.

Examples:

• Improve Gate Clip strategy
• Add ONI Sword Base guide
• Fix Winter Contingency typo
• Update goal times

Push your branch to GitHub.

git push origin improve-gate-clip

Open your repository on GitHub.

GitHub will usually display a Compare & Pull Request button after you push your branch.

If not:

1. Open the Pull Requests tab.
2. Click New Pull Request.
3. Choose your branch.
4. Target the main branch.
5. Add a short description of your changes.
6. Submit the Pull Request.

Maintainers may request changes before merging your Pull Request.

Once approved and merged into the main branch, your changes will automatically appear on downpatch.com during the next content refresh (approximately every hour).

If you're unsure about formatting, Markdown syntax, or repository structure:

• Look at an existing guide for examples.
• Open a GitHub Issue.
• Ask in the Haloruns Discord.

We appreciate every contribution, no matter how small.