DevQuests

What are DevQuests?

DevQuests are achievement development-related quests that developers can take part in at any time. Each one has a specific goal and upon reaching that goal, the achievement developer will earn a badge.

General Rules

Outside exceptions explicitely written in the individual quest rules, quests of each type follow the general rules below:

• DevQuests are not available for Junior Developers.
• To be awarded credit towards a quest, ping the team via a Discord ping in #devquest or via site message within one week of completion, with a link to the appropriate achievement page.
• Collaborations and subsets are not allowed by default.
• If you are working on a set and it becomes eligible to a DevQuest, it cannot be used if 50% of the work is already done. This can happen when new quests are introduced, when a set receives enough requests to be eligible for DQ7 or when a set is featured in Wish This Set, making it eligible for DQ16. If this happens while you are less than halfway done, please reach out to the team to confirm eligibility.

Type specific rules:

Set-Creation

• Making a set can only contribute to a single quest. For example, if you make a set for a Japan-exclusive game with a female protagonist that was featured on Wish This Set, you have to choose between DQ8, DQ16 and DQ24, you don't get all three.
• Standard set quality or better is expected for DevQuest sets. If a set appears to be of insufficient effort, it may be rejected at the DevQuest team's discretion. Rich Presence is required for DevQuest sets. The DevQuest team is happy to suggest improvements for qualification.

Maintenance

• You cannot be an original author on the set being maintained.
• General revision rules apply: contact the active authors on sets whose content you will update or add to. Moreover, discussions, dev votes and revision claims are required when adding new achievements to a set.
• Every action can only contribute to a single quest. For example, if you repair a set for DQ2, resolving tickets is part of that task, so these tickets cannot be tallied up towards DQ1. However, some sets can benefit from different independant actions in a way that yields credits towards multiple DevQuests. If you add a rich presence, leaderboards and revise a set to cover content that was missing before, you could get credit for DQ13, DQ14 and DQ22.
• For revision quests (DQ2, DQ13 and DQ22 Dust-offs), the game needs to be in the approved list. You may propose games you feel should qualify prior to working on them and the team will determine if it fits the quest. While DQ13 credit can sometimes be granted along DQ2 or DQ22, this is up to a team vote and should only be allowed when both the current content and missing content require significant work.
• When you update the logic of any asset, keep a backup of the old logic posted in the game's official forum for reference.
• For miscellaneous maintenance quests (DQ1, DQ3, DQ5 and DQ14), create a column in the DevQuest Remastered sheet to the left of completed entries and fill it in as you work. Contact the DevQuest team for review only after you have completed the quest. For quests that can be repeated, one row of the column will be for which badge number you are working towards.

Legacy

Legacy quests (DQ4, DQ15 and DQ20) are fully retroactive and are awarded for having an extensive and wide portfolio as a developer.

• You may request to be tracked for these after reaching some minimum threshold as determined in the rules of each individual quests.
• Following that first tracking request, updates are made in sweeps periodically; this means you don't have to (and shouldn't) ping the team every time you complete a new set that adds to your portfolio. Every couple months, the dev responsible for the sweeps for that particular quest will update the status of everyone being tracked and announce the progress in #devquest.

The Quests

001 Ticket Massacre

Type: Maintenance
Goal: Resolve/close 50 tickets
Repeatable: Yes (Up to 4 times)

1. Falsifying ticket closures will result in disqualification.
2. The following do not count toward the total: Network issues, tickets for achievements you developed, tickets you opened, tickets closed on behalf of Junior Developers, and tickets closed as a result of ticket spamming.
3. Tickets for users banned from development count for double credit.
4. Tickets resolved as part of another maintenance quest such as DQ2 and full dust-offs for DQ22 cannot be used for DQ1.
5. Up to 10 "unsupported core/emulator" tickets may be used across DQ1 and its sequels. If you have closed 10 in this fashion, no more of this type shall count. The DQ Team shall highlight these tickets using purple on the tracking sheet.

002 Retro Renovator

Type: Revision, Maintenance
Goal: Repair 3 sets from provided batch
Repeatable: Yes (Up to 3 times)

1. Pick a game from the list of approved DQ2 sets and then post your claim to the #devquest channel on Discord or send to DevQuest inbox.
2. Follow the revision process as normal: Post the plan on the forum, make a revision vote if any changes aren't on the "no need for approval list," and make a revision claim if adding achievements.
3. Resolve any open tickets for achievements kept in the set. Tickets for achievements being left demoted can be simply closed with reason of demotion cited.
4. Revisions must fix everything specified in the repair plan. Contact the DevQuest team for any clarifications to what is included in the repair plan.
5. Contact the DevQuest team with any questions you have.
6. When the set is ready mark it down on the doc under your name to be signed off by a DevQuest Member.

• If you identify a set you believe should qualify for DQ2, notify the DevQuest team for addition to the list and development of a repair plan prior to claiming. All claims must be on the list.

003 Singles in Your Area

Type: Maintenance
Goal: Tighten up the logic for 20 single-condition achievements
Repeatable: No

1. This is a chance to tighten the code up. Do not just add a bad line of code.
2. You do not need a revision vote to tighten up this kind of logic.
3. Achievements cannot be your own, you should just fix these anyway!
4. You must comment on each achievement or in the forum on what you changed for log purposes.

004 Veteran Developer

Type: Legacy
Goal: Complete a set of special goals
Opt-in: Request a code review for one of your sets for 6. below

1. Has published at least 1000 achievements and worked on at least 25 sets as the sole or majority developer.
2. Has created achievements for at least ten different system IDs.
3. Has been an active developer for at least two years.
4. At least 85% of sets have dynamic rich presence (Vet Dev I required).
5. Yielded unlocks have exceeded 50,000.
6. As a sole developer, submitted one or more sets for code review and received an overall grade of at least 22.
7. Has used at least 75% of all currently available flags and features (Vet Dev I and VI required).
8. Has obtained at least two DevQuest badges.
9. Has obtained at least five badges through DevQuest.

NOTE

A constantly evolving toolkit means that these requirements are subject to change at any time.

005 Trigger Happy

Type: Maintenance
Goal: Update 50 achievements with the Trigger and Measured flags
Repeatable: No

1. Must put measured and/or triggered where it makes sense. Do so on all appropriate achievements in the set. Achievements with unnecessary use will not be counted. If you hit 50 and there is more in a set to update, you must update the rest of the set.
2. You can do achievements in your own sets at half credit. Put both achievements on the same line, with a / between them. Link each achievement ID to the achievement's page.
3. You must leave comments on set page for what you changed for log purposes
4. TEST all changes. Ensure triggers appear when they should, and do not appear when they should not. Ensure the achievement can still trigger when expected.
5. Subscribe to tickets on the updated sets so you can catch any Trigger or Measured related tickets.

006 The Unwanted

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Develop a set for an unpopular system assigned to you at random
Repeatable: No

Eligible systems:

• PC Engine CD
• Sega CD
• 32X
• Atari Lynx
• Neo Geo Pocket/Neo Geo Pocket Color
• Atari Jaguar
• Apple II
• 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
• ColecoVision
• Intellivision
• PC-8800/PC-8000
• Atari 7800
• Wonderswan/Wonderswan Color
• Magnavox Odyssey 2
• PC-FX
• Amstrad CPC
• Arduboy
• WASM-4
• Nintendo DSi

NOTE

No hacks or homebrew unless those are the only types of games left without sets.

1. Must be a full set, not just progression. Badges will be denied to those who make incomplete sets.
2. You may respin one time. Respins cannot occur until three months have passed since a wheel spin.
3. Tasks are available to restore your respin. See the Wheel Spin DevQuest Rules for more details.

007 Most Wanted

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Develop a set for one of the most requested games
Repeatable: No

Set Eligibility

At the time you claim the set, it must be in Most Wanted section of the latest issue of RANews.

1. Any games listed in the console-specific bonus section in RANews will only be eligible to be claimed in the month it was featured in, but the set doesn't need to be released in the same month.

008 World Traveler

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Develop two sets for games that never had an English release
Repeatable: No

INFO

An English release is considered a game released in English in US, Canada, UK, or AU.
1. All claims intended for this quest must follow normal procedure.

1. They must be full sets. Fodder for the Progression Only hub won't count.
2. English translation patches will not disqualify a game from this quest.
3. Hacks and homebrew do not count towards the quest. Unlicensed titles may count as long as they aren't blatant bootleg ports or hacks of another game. If you're unsure if a game is valid, ask!
4. If a game was released in English on a system, but was ported to another system with no English version, half credit may be granted for the port on the system that has no English release.
5. Games that only released in English on unsupported systems will receive full credit.

009 Launch Party!

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Develop a set for a newly supported system within 6 months of RA support
Repeatable: No

• Must be a full set (to the extent of the games capabilities, See Watara vs PSP)
• Smaller systems may be ruled ineligible

Current Launch Party Promotion Windows:

• Nintendo Wii

010 It Takes Two

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Join forces with other developers to publish two collaboration sets
Repeatable: No

1. Set must have a fair share of the work done by each dev - for example, sets with extreme splits like 80%/20% would not allow credit.
2. Must be a full set covering every aspect of the game.
3. Each Dev must publish at least 20 achievements each.

• For compilations, this requirement is waived if you make a full set for one or more games in a compilation.

4. Achievements must make sense, no fluff to fulfill requirement.

011 The Genesis of RA

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Develop a set for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive to celebrate the anniversary of RA's first achievement
Repeatable: No

1. Must be full sets or a major/significant revision.
2. Sega CD and Sega 32X games are not eligible.
3. No prototypes or hacks.
4. Collaborations are allowed so long as the work is visibly split.

012 Hacker's Habit, Hack at it Again

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Create two new sets for robust hacks
Repeatable: Yes (Up to 2 times)

1. Sets intended for this quest must be complete and encompass all notable content specific to the hack.
2. Acceptable hacks must be either complete overhauls that drastically change the level design, or introduce new mechanics that greatly change how you progress through the game.
3. Meme hacks, single-level hacks, and other small modifications aren't eligible.
4. Smaller hacks may warrant only a half point credit.
5. You are limited to one point (full game credit) per franchise. Examples: If you create a set for a good-sized SMW hack for a full point credit, you can't do a Mario 64 hack for any points. If you do a small Mega Man 2 hack, you can get at most half credit for a Mega Man 3 hack, etc.
   • This includes sequel quests. Sequel quests may not re-use franchises from earlier quests in this series.

013 complete.me

Type: Revision, Maintenance
Goal: Provide significant content to three sets that are progression-only or were demoted due to being incomplete
Repeatable: Yes (Up to 3 times)

1. Choose from a provided list or grab one from a hub, just make sure you let us know when you start so we can mark it!
2. Must go through the revision process as per usual!
3. Make sure you take care with the set and don't just throw in a bunch of filler.
4. Don't hesitate to contact us with any questions or suggestion
   • This quest can be done multiple times (current limit: 3)

014 Laudable Leaderboards

Type: Maintenance
Goal: Create leaderboards for 10 games that currently are lacking them Repeatable: No

1. Cover different game modes/difficulties when applicable.
2. Try to cover leaderboards that make sense for the game. Some examples:
   • For Arcade-type games it is fine to just add High Score leaderboards, possibly highest in a single life
   • For Racing games time trials for tracks are pretty standard
   • Speedruns for platformers
   • Minigames that track high scores or time are good candidates
   • And so on. Reach out if you have any questions about a specific game
3. You can do your own sets for half-credit as long as they were published prior to this DevQuest (2022-03-02).
4. You must leave comments on set page for what you added for log purposes.
5. Typically covers sets without any leaderboards, but if a set has only a couple leaderboards and is clearly missing some that should be there, it is also eligible.

015 Console Conqueror

Type: Legacy
Goal: Publish a set for every supported system on RetroAchievements
Opt-in: Develop sets for 10 supported systems and request tracking by contacting the team

Ever-Growing

Each system ID will have an achievement associated with it. Newly supported system IDs means new achievements!

1. Meme sets may not be counted at the discretion of the DevQuest Team.
2. Doing the same kind of set (e.g. all Flappy Bird clones) will only be counted towards one system.
3. The only requirement for an unlock is that you are the sole or majority developer of a set on that system ID. Collaborations require at least 20 achievements made.
4. For the more dire systems, specific requirements are in the achievements themselves.
5. This DevQuest is 100% retroactive! Potential future revisions of your work will not count against you, so no worries about losing eligibility for an unlock.

016 Wish This Set

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Publish a set for a game that has been featured in RANews' Wish This Set feature at any point in time and does not currently have a set in core
Repeatable: Yes (Up to 2 times)

1. Collaborations are acceptable as long as both contribute equally to the set with a minimum of 20 achievements each.
2. Must be full sets containing all content and challenges appropriate to the game.
3. The person that wrote the Wish This Set may not be one of the developers making the set.
4. Quest is available year round, and gets new games eligible every release of RANews.
5. If you already have a set claimed at the time it becomes eligible for this DevQuest you must be under 50% progress for it to count.
6. Once a game has been featured it remains eligible until the game gets a set.

017 RA World Cup

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Publish 2 Sets for 2 different sports games, 1 must be a physical sport
Repeatable: No

1. That means both sets must be DIFFERENT SPORTS. You cannot do two baseball games, or two soccer games.
2. Must be full sets containing all content and challenges appropriate to the game.
3. No Homebrew/Hacks/Unlicensed.
4. New sets only. No multiplayer subsets or revisions.
5. Other picks are subject to DQ team approval if eligibility is questionable.
6. Collaborations must be approved by the DevQuest team; games done via collaboration must have sufficient content or modes to justify qualifying.

018 Subset Station

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Publish 2 subsets
Repeatable: No

1. Read through Subsets document to learn more about subsets.
2. Subset types that are not approved by default always need Developer Compliance approval. Seek this by sending a DM to DevCompliance on the site. Include as much detail as possible explaining why it fits as a good subset idea.
3. If you are not the author of the core set for the game, you will need to pass a revision vote with your subset plan. This is in addition to any necessary Developer Compliance approval.
4. Subsets must be from two different games, but can be from the same series.
5. Subsets must be two different types of subsets (i.e. can't do two Bonus sets, can't do two Professor Oak Challenges, etc.).
6. A subset worked on at the same time as the core set is permitted, but only one of your subsets may be done this way.

019 Wheel of Genres

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Develop a set from a specific genre or subgenre as determined by a spin on the Wheel of Genres!
Repeatable: No

1. Games chosen should have a decent amount of content. Small games like short hacks, homebrews, and demos may be rejected at the discretion of the DevQuest Team. If in doubt, ask when you ping to choose the game for the quest.
2. You may respin one time. Respins cannot occur until three months have passed since a wheel spin.
3. Tasks are available to restore your respin. See the Wheel Spin DevQuest Rules for more details.

020 Genre Conqueror

Type: Legacy
Goal: Publish a set for every genre!
Opt-in: Publish sets for games of 5 different genres, make a copy of the opt-in google sheet linked here and submit it to the team

1. This DevQuest is 100% retroactive! Potential future revisions of your work will not count against you, so no worries about losing eligibility for an unlock.
2. Genres used for this quest are the main Genre hubs. We'll contact you to ask which genre is preferred.
3. If a set belongs to multiple top-level genres, we will ask you which genre to count for that set; if later on you do that same genre, you may ask us to reassign the set to the other genre.
4. Please fill out the Genre field in all sets for you wish to be credited and also assign it to the correct hub(s). Sets with unfilled Genre fields will be skipped.
5. Falsifying a genre or subgenre field will bar you from this DevQuest.
6. Sole or Majority Dev will be credited. If it is a collaboration, you may also receive credit if you reach 20 achievements, even if not majority dev.
7. Excluded Genres: Other and Literature.
8. Added Genre: Party and Minigame subgenres combined as Party or Minigames Genre

020 Subset Subgenre Conqueror

Type: Legacy
Goal: Publish a set for every subgenre!
Opt-in: Publish sets for games of 15 different subgenres, make a copy of the opt-in google sheet linked here and submit it to the team. Typically handled together with DQ20 Genre Conqueror

1. This DevQuest is 100% retroactive! Potential future revisions of your work will not count against you, so no worries about losing eligibility for an unlock.
2. Genres used for this quest are the Subgenre hubs.
3. If a set belongs to multiple subgenres, all will count. Exception: Compilations will only count for Subgenre - Compilation.
4. Please fill out the Genre field in all sets for you wish to be credited and also assign it to the correct hub(s). Sets with unfilled Genre fields will be skipped.
5. Falsifying a genre or subgenre field will bar you from this DevQuest.
6. Sole or Majority Dev will be credited. If it is a collaboration, you may also receive credit if you reach 20 achievements, even if not majority dev.
7. Excluded subgenres: 4X, Pachinko, Specific Extreme Sports subgenres (each will count towards Subgenre - Extreme Sports), subgenres of Board Games and Card Games (Each will count towards their Board Game or Card Game subgenre parent), Literature subgenres.
8. Subsets will not count unless approved by DevQuest. Ping DevQuest team for approval request.

021 Homebrew Heaven

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Publish three new sets for homebrew games!
Repeatable: No

1. Sets intended for this quest must be complete and encompass all notable content specific to the homebrew game.
2. Sets for homebrew systems (like WASM-4, Arduboy, and Uzebox) are worth half credit.
3. Collaborations are allowed. Credit will only be given to collaborators with 20 or more achievements in the set. At DQ Team discretion, overly inflated sets may be disallowed.
4. Homebrew that is essentially the same as another you've done will not count (i.e. multiple Flappy Bird clones can only garner credit once)
5. One set per large homebrew collection maximum (i.e. One Net Yaroze 2014 Collection set allowed)

022 This Belonged in a Museum!

Type: Revision, Maintenance
Goal: Obtain 12 Points by dusting off older sets, bringing them up to current RA standards
Repeatable: No

1. The quest is completed upon obtaining 12 points towards its goals.
   • Full Set Dust-Off = 4 Points
   • Miscellaneous Task = 1 Point
   • At least one set dust-off required for the badge.
2. Full Set Dust-Off: Clean up old code notes, update achievement logic for modern best practices (removing unnecessary Hits and Resets to use Delta checks instead, for example), update with cleaner badges, update descriptions and achievement titles, new dynamic RP.
3. Misc Tasks: Update a set in order to remove it from the following QA Hubs. Doesn't stack with a Full Set Clearing.
   • No Dynamic RP
   • Player-Input RP
   • Single Save Support
   • Outdated Version
     • If you identify a set you believe should qualify for a task like this, simply request approval from the team. Providing support to an updated version of a hack, homebrew or language patch will yield 1 point regardless of if it was tagged as outdated, provided the update required actual logic updates and/or adding achievements to cover added content.
4. No collaboration allowed.
5. Sets are subject to DevQuest team approval, along with a small plan on what the dust-off will be about. Sets already in the approved DQ22 list do not require approval, only notification.
6. Badge updates must go through the Icon-Gauntlet revision process.
7. Revision rules apply as usual, meaning if you only clean-up the logic and don't change the achievements scope you don't need one.
8. Devs' own sets made prior to 2024 are eligible for half the points on a Full Dust-Off. As with sets that are not pre-approved, they will need to be sent to the DevQuest team for approval.

023 Well of Wishes

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Develop a set from the request list of a randomly chosen active user! Repeatable: No

1. Games chosen should have a decent amount of content. Small games like short hacks, homebrews, and demos may be rejected at the discretion of the DevQuest Team. If in doubt, contact the DevQuest team and ask.
2. You may respin one time. Respins cannot occur until three months have passed since a wheel spin.
3. Tasks are available to restore your respin. See the Wheel Spin DevQuest Rules for more details.
4. List of elligible users and their current request lists will be pulled periodically.
5. A snapshot of the spun user's most recently recorded request list will be made at the time of random selection. Game selections will be validated against this list only.
   • You can see this list on the Quest23: Elligible Games Lists sheet within the DevQuest Sheets document.
6. You may swap lists with other participants. All participants must confirm the swap before it is performed. Muti-way swaps (three or more developers) are allowed. Swapping will reset your three-month respin timer.

024 She's Got This!

Type: Set Creation
Goal: Publish two new sets featuring a female character as the primary protagonist!
Repeatable: No

1. Sets intended for this quest must be complete and encompass all notable content specific to the game.
2. Hacks are allowed, but the original game must not have a female character as the primary protagonist.
   • Sets for small hacks will be scored as a half point.
3. Homebrew is allowed
   • Sets for small homebrew games will be scored as a half point.
   • Up to one point can be from homebrew.
4. Collaborations are allowed. A set done as a collaboration will be scored as a half point for any collaborator receiving credit towards this quest.
5. The primary protagonist must be clearly identified as a female character somewhere in the game.
   • Games without a clear singular protagonist are allowed as long as a clear majority of the protagonists, i.e.: About 2/3 of the protagonists driving the story, plot, or game action should be clearly identified as female characters.
   • Any characters falling into such protagonist roles should be player-controllable.
   • Games where the player creates an avatar do not count the avatar as a female protagonist unless the avatar is required to be female.
   • When in doubt, please reach out to the DevQuest team.
6. Each point of credit (equivalent to one set) must have a different female character as the protagonist (or different ensemble of female characters)

Wheel Spin DevQuest Rules

DQ6, DQ19 and DQ23 use wheels to give random goals. You are allowed to spin again to change your random goal three months after spinning. The first and second spins for each quest are free. If you want to keep on spinning, you will need to earn a new respin token by doing one of the following tasks:

• Resolve (Not close) 10 tickets from inactive devs (can be used towards DQ1 Ticket Massacre)
• Earn DQ3 Singles in Your Area
• Update 10 achievements towards DQ5 Trigger Happy
• Earn a point towards DQ2 Retro Renovator or DQ13 complete.me
• Make a set for DQ16 Wish This Set

Refreshing your spin this way can only be done while your spin is used up. For example, you cannot use an old Wish This Set game you made prior to spinning.

New DevQuests and suggestions

• New quests will be available periodically. There is no fixed schedule for these.
• If you have suggestions for a DevQuest, send a message to the DevQuest account with the following info:
  • Quest Name
  • Award Type - If there is one specific goal then you would want a badge-based award. If there are multiple goals then you would want an achievement-based award.
  • Game Type - State whether hacks, homebrews, prototypes, unlicensed, and/or subsets are allowed.
  • Goal(s) - A brief description of the DevQuest. Examples: "Develop a set for such-and-such system," "Develop a Holiday-Themed Set," "Create Dynamic Rich Presence for 10 Games," etc.
  • Rules - List any specific guidelines and criteria that submissions must meet. Is there a minimum achievement count? Are there minor exceptions that result in half-credit? Do submissions need to be pre-approved? The more simple they are, the better!

Changelog

Last edited 5 days ago

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d861655-docs: supported game hashes copy updates (#333)

d194af2-Move all external images to within the repo (#297)

e15f943-Update devquests.md (#292)

11c7da1-DevQuest miscellaneous updates (#290)

0840407-Update DQ24 Title (#281)

3f91df8-Update DevQuests (#280)

aef3be5-fix: discord channel names (#253)

d88e02a-Add swapping rule to DevQuest 023: Well of Wishes (#230)

1c4c544-Update DQ14 Badge (#229)

0de2195-Add note to DQ23 (#228)

cb4591d-Update DQ23 Icon and Link (#227)

b186c8e-Add DevQuest 023 and update a DQ10 rule. (#226)

e2c7591-Adds missing period and event badge to DQ12 entry (#205)

eaeb4d2-Updates with new sequel devquest information. (#204)

06177a2-Update devquests.md (#199)

7ef52f2-Small updates (#119)

7425e94-Updates to docs/developer-docs

1367071-Update devquests.md (#110)

28b7230-chore: run a formatting pass

43a4231-Update Launch Party Windows (#78)

fcc12ab-Typographical Fixes (#71)

4f8b72a-One more link. (#69)

b31c885-Typo and Link updates (#68)

4beeca1-Update Set-Creation quest approval rule in General Rules (#67)

3e36bde-DevQuests: Minor Formatting fixes (#38)

c700549-Clarify DQ8 Elligibility Wording (#37)

6d19dcc-Fix malformed #devquest links in DevQuest doc (#36)

7cf5b00-Reformat DevQuests Document, Add Wheel Respin Information (#35)

b917f3b-chore: move devquests and rollouts to developer-docs section

dae9588-Added Rollouts, and DevQuests to the general sidebar. (#26)

2abdb42-feat: hook up i18n (#12)

f37e212-chore: fix all english docs broken links