User blog:Frededitor/Polygonal Chaos (and how to avoid them)

(This is a non-canon pseudo article I wrote for fun, based off one of my favorite areas in B3313.)

Demands for more content in SM64 are common. Very common. The AI can clearly act on this and make more content for the player, and it moves on. But what happens when too much is created, and not enough for memory? When the AI just eats up too much memory with so many mechanics and levels. When there are too many halls and floors of the castle, too many levels, so many mechanics, and so so many graphics, it becomes so much.. it forms a little thing. Polygonal Chaos.

Now the wonderful recreation of B3313 has an area of Polygonal chaos, and for the area itself, it's not too far off. However, it's only one area, and not very big compared to real polygonal chaos in personalized copies. But for the accuracy of one area, with the merging areas of the castle and wet-dry world, the corrupted music, the glitchy textures and walls, it's not too far off. But real polygonal chaos, oh god it takes up so much more, and corrupts so much more.

So what do these "polygonal chaos" look like in reality? Well in-game, in a real copy, it can appear anywhere. Any area can become merged and corrupted. But lets say it's an average case. Well, lets say happy-go-lucky player enters a random door in the castle, and oh no! Suddenly the hud starts flickering, and glitching out. This is a huge sign that you are close to a polygonal chaos area. Sometimes, in front of your eyes, the area can just shift into a polygonal chaos area.

In-game, even areas that are not polygonal chaos can have their music and graphics corrupted, and even mario can start controlling a little weird. Polygons can became larger or smaller by the millisecond, second, even minute. A random door can even appear in these slightly corrupted areas, leading to more merging, destructive, corrupted, areas. These areas, music, mechanics can just merge and form because of the sheer size of content, making a chaos form in the cartridge.

The AI can sometimes let loose and make the entire game like a giant polygonal chaos even. And these... merging, corrupted areas looks all sorts of mashed up. You can spot the castle textures, the merged courses. Remember, you can see these corrupted assets anywhere.

So how do we avoid them?

Well first, focus on your psychological profile. Make sure you're not too demanding, and are willing to not have everything in one package. Polygonal chaos cases are rare but when they happen it's mostly the demands of the players that get the AI wonky and all worked up forming a chaos.

You can also go careful when you see an anomalous or new area in your copy. Don't see all of it at once. Explore all of it before you move on. Take careful steps and when you see another new area, backtrack to the previous area before exploring the new one. Unloading all of the new content at once may make too much content leading to a polygonal chaos forming.

In conclusion, be wary of these anomalous instances, not just the areas but the other glitches that come along with it. Take careful steps and don't be too demanding of your highly personalized copy.

If you don't have high personalization, you don't really have to worry about this anomalous chaos. Not at all. But high personalization can lead to this instance happening.

(I hope this was a fun read!)