faqdown — Convert GameFAQs Walkthroughs to Hyperlinked Markdown

Convert GameFAQs plain-text walkthroughs into clean, readable markdown files
with a table of contents, internal anchor links, and properly formatted sections.

Step 1: Fetch the walkthrough

GameFAQs walkthrough pages have a ?print=1 parameter that returns the full
text wrapped in <pre> tags. Always use this URL:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/{platform}/{id}-{game}/faqs/{faq-id}?print=1

Fetch it with curl -sL and pipe to a file:

curl -sL "URL?print=1" -o raw.txt

Step 2: Extract text from <pre> tags

The print page wraps the entire walkthrough in <pre id="faqspan-1"> tags.
Extract with:

grep -oP '(?<=<pre[^>]*>).*?(?=</pre>)' raw.txt | sed 's/&amp;/\&/g; s/&lt;/</g; s/&gt;/>/g; s/&quot;/"/g' > text.txt

Or use Python/Node to do the extraction programmatically — strip HTML, decode
entities, join <pre> contents.

Step 3: Parse the Table of Contents

GameFAQs walkthroughs have a consistent TOC format. Each section has a 4-letter
code used for searching. The TOC looks like:

 1. Introduction                             INRO
    1.1. Foreword                            FRWR
 6. Walkthrough                              WKTH
    6.1. An Ancient Civilization             ANCV
      6.1.1. The Town of Learning            TWLR

Parse with regex:

^\s*(\d+(?:\.\d+)*)\.?\s+(.+?)\s{2,}([A-Z]{4})\s*$

Group 1 = section number (e.g. "6.4.8"), Group 2 = title, Group 3 = 4-letter code.

The heading level is determined by counting dots in the number:

• 6 → # (h1)
• 6.1 → ## (h2)
• 6.1.1 → ### (h3)
• 6.4.8 → ### (h3)

Step 4: Split the body at section codes

In the body, section headers use the code prefixed with C:

***************************************************************************
6.4.8. A Living Tower                                                 CLVTW
***************************************************************************

Search for C + the 4-letter code from the TOC. The section content starts
after the header block (after the ***, party info, and separator lines).

Step 5: Convert to markdown

Table of Contents

Generate a TOC at the top with anchor links:

- [6.1. An Ancient Civilization](#s6-1)
  - [6.1.1. The Town of Learning](#s6-1-1)
  - [6.4.8. A Living Tower](#s6-4-8)

Anchor IDs: replace dots with hyphens, prefix with s: s6-4-8

Section headings

<a id="s6-4-8"></a>

### 6.4.8. A Living Tower

Content formatting (line-by-line)

Walkthroughs mix ASCII art and prose on consecutive lines. Process line by line:

ASCII art detection — wrap in code blocks:

• Lines with 3+ pipe characters (|)
• Lines of repeated decorative chars (____, ****, ====, ----)
• Lines where special chars outnumber letters
• Box-drawing patterns (/, \, | in combination)

Equipment/party tables — detect and wrap in code blocks:

• Lines with Recommended, Starting, Equipment followed by | chars

Party events — format as bold callouts:

> **Alys joins the party (Level 7)**

Prose editing (aggressive readability)

For plain text sections, act as an expert editor:

1. Definition lists — lines matching Term definition (capital word
   followed by 2+ spaces) become bullet points:

   - **Level** — Each playable character has a Level, ranging from 1 to 99.
   - **EXP** — Abbreviation for Experience Points, awarded after defeating enemies.

2. Bold RPG terms — auto-bold these abbreviations: HP, TP, EXP, ATK, DFS,
   MST, SP, MTL PWR. Also bold element names (Fire, Water, Energy, etc.) when
   used in a mechanical context.

3. Paragraph splitting — break long paragraphs into 2-3 sentence chunks
   for scannability.

4. Step lists — detect walkthrough directions (lines starting with action
   verbs: Go, Head, Walk, Take, Enter, Leave, Return, etc.) and format as
   clean paragraphs or bullet steps.

5. Strip section header leaks — remove lines matching
   \d+\.\d+\. Title CCODE that bleed into adjacent section content.

Step 6: Output

Save as guide-<faq-id>.md. The file should be a self-contained markdown file
with:

• Title: # Game Name — Guide Name
• Attribution: > By Author — Converted from GameFAQs
• TOC with - [Section](anchor) links
• Proper heading hierarchy
• ASCII art in code blocks
• Prose aggressively edited for readability

Edge cases

• Some sections have no body code — skip them gracefully
• Blank lines within ASCII art should be preserved (don't break code blocks)
• Very long sections (boss strategies) may need sub-parsing
• Equipment tables with | chars should stay in code blocks, not be treated
  as markdown tables
• The TOC appears twice in the source (once in the intro, once in the body) —
  only parse the intro TOC

Quick reference

# Fetch and convert in one pipeline:
curl -sL "https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/GEN/563334-phantasy-star-iv/faqs/31907?print=1" \
  | grep -oP '(?<=<pre[^>]*>).*?(?=</pre>)' \
  | sed 's/&amp;/\&/g; s/&lt;/</g; s/&gt;/>/g' \
  > guide.md

Then process guide.md with the parsing and formatting rules above.