Presence flag
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The presence flags is a 16 bit parameter of KMP/GOBJ and defines for which number of players an object exists (is visible and active).
First and wrong interpretation
The first interpretation of the flags were derived from /Race/Course/koopa_course.szs/course.0:
<ObjDefine>
...
format sepa1_SW user_data 1 Bool 1
format sepa2_SW user_data 1 Bool 1
format sepa4_SW user_data 1 Bool 1
format sepaW1_SW user_data 1 Bool 1
format sepaW2_SW user_data 1 Bool 1
format sepaW4_SW user_data 1 Bool 1
</ObjDefine>
Because a usual presence flag has the value of 0x3f, the first (and wrong) interpretation was:
| Bit Number |
Hex Value |
First and wrong interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0x01 | Offline single player and time trials. |
| 1 | 0x02 | Offline 2 players. |
| 2 | 0x04 | Offline 3 or 4 players. |
| 3 | 0x08 | Online single player. |
| 4 | 0x10 | Online 2 players. |
| 5 | 0x20 | Online 3 or 4 players. |
Correct interpretation
In 2016, Wiimm tested all 16 possible bits of the flags and found a new interpretation: Only the 3 least significant bits are used, all other are ignored:
| Bit Number |
Hex Value |
Correct interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0x01 | Single player (offline and online) and time trials. |
| 1 | 0x02 | 2 players, offline and online. |
| 2 | 0x04 | 3 or 4 players, offline. |
| 3 | 0x08 | no meaning (ignored) |
| 4 | 0x10 | no meaning (ignored) |
| 5 | 0x20 | no meaning (ignored) |
It is important to hide objects for 2 players mode only, if they are decorative. Otherwise online players at split-screen will use another track than single players!
In other words: For objects with impact on the gameplay, bit 0 and bit 1 must be equal!
Typical values
The following table shows typical values. The second column (Same as) reduces the value to the 3 least significant bits:
| Value | Same as | Description | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x00 | 0 | Object is always disabled. It's like not defined. | This value is used by custom track authors to disable objects temporarily. |
| 0x09 | 1 | Object is only enabled for single player mode (offline and online), but not for 2 or more players.
Don't use it for objects with impact on the gameplay! |
This value is used by Nintendo to reduce slow motion bug at multiplayer split screen. This value is only used for decorative objects like WLscreenGC, but never for objects with impact on the gameplay. |
| 0x39 | This value is used by many custom track authors to reduce slow motion bug. | ||
| 0x3f | 7 | Object is always enabled. | Standard value. |
Alternative file *_d.szs
For each track file with the name NAME.szs exists an alternative file with the name NAME_d.szs. This _d file is loaded for 2, 3 and 4 players, but only offline. Theorically it can be a total different track. The idea is to allow easier and less animations to reduce the slow motion bug, but it doesn't help for online racing.
Extension
There is a definition for expanding the flags: Extended presence flags