B3313

B3313 or Build 3313 (also called SM64 Internal Plexus) is a ROM Hack of Super Mario 64 developed by Chrisbrutalagresion and his dev team. It is the largest beta-based SM64 hack to date, especially regarding the number of accessible areas, but also the star count and various other aspects. It is currently in development, with the latest public release being V0.7.

History
 See also: List of versions 

Development on the hack started in late 2020, The first public build, V0.4, was released on 26th April 2021. The next big move was made on 29th July of the same year, when V0.6.1, a major update, got released.

On November 22nd, 2021, the 26th anniversary of Shoshinkai 1995, Christopher released v0.7, another major update, along with his announcement of taking a hiatus from developing the hack in favor of his other personal projects. Around the same time, Jefftastic, another game developer with a history in SM64 hacking, began working on converting B3313 into decomp, a more versatile hacking method, potentially adding new content to it eventually as well, as a way of shifting the hack towards a v1.0 release.

In January 2022, Christopher, disappointed by the sluggish progress on the decomp port, continued working on the hack.

Main features
B3313 mostly plays like the vanilla Super Mario 64, where you collect stars while venturing through different areas of the hub world. However, the central element of this hack is the myth of the internal plexus within Peach's Castle, a key motif in many urban legends that describe so-called "personalized" copies of SM64. As such, warps (doors, pipes, teleports etc.) can lead to completely unexpected areas (of which there are over 100), highly contributing to the eerie atmosphere of the hack.

The player can play as either Mario or Luigi, with each build since V0.6.1 being released in two versions that feature one of the two plumbers as a playable character respectively while V0.7 is released in 1 version that features both plumbers. A few quality-of-life adjustments have also been made, including fast travel between hub areas (which also allows the player to exit a course while the character is in motion), and the ability to change the FOV and aspect ratio.

Star count
The hack's star count is currently uncertain due to the large number of areas and the occasional duplicate star IDs. User TheGreatestRoman has acquired 143 stars while testplaying v0.7 on November 10th, 2021, along with finding 4 duplicates, which is where the star count on the hack's romhacking.com page originates from (although it was eventually reduced to 140, due to apparent issues with MIPS and the unfeasibility of the 100 coin star in Tall, Tall Mountain). He managed to gather an additional 6 stars from older versions, exploiting removed areas and reassigned star IDs, for a grand total of 149 stars.

On December 13th, 2021, Primarina was the first person to acquire 144 stars on a v0.7-only save file, with the usage of the newly found credits glitch, which allows access to an extra star in Tall, Tall Mountain. This also allowed TheGreatestRoman to get his 150th star on his save file with previous versions allowed.

On December 15th, 2021, Primarina acquired another star on v0.7 for a total of 145, being the first one to discover the presence of MIPS in Wing Cap by the Rainbow Highway. This is also the 151st star with previous version allowed, although a full 151 star save file is yet to be achieved.

On December 25th, 2021, TheGreatestRoman found another pre-v0.7 star: in versions v0.6.1 to v0.6.3, the Checkerboard warp in Tick Tock Blocks is replaced by an actual star, corresponding to the first star of Course 6, which is unobtainable anywhere else. This allowed him to get 152 stars on a single save file with previous versions allowed.

Controls
Both characters have the same movesets, with minor physical differences (e.g. hitbox). However, there are several changes in said moveset, inspired by the beta version of Super Mario 64:


 * The ground pound animation reaches the ground much faster;
 * The punch-punch-kick combo is reduced to punch-kick;
 * Turning in water is not possible while otherwise staying still;
 * Triple jumping triggers a spin effect, similarly to jumping on a Shy Guy/Spindrift;
 * Getting shot out of a cannon triggers a flight effect, similarly to having a wing cap;
 * The characters are slightly floatier, allowing for more lenient platforming.
 * The characters are slightly floatier, allowing for more lenient platforming.

Level design
While several areas are entirely original creations by the dev team, there are a number of notable inspiration sources, including but not limited to:


 * Super Mario 64 beta content (from various development versions e.g. Shoshinkai build, B-Roll build)
 * The infamous Super Mario 64 iceberg
 * Content creators on Youtube related to the "personalization" topic, such as Greenio, jefftastic or The Bob.

Sound design
Most musical tracks are taken from the OST of different games in the Mario franchise, especially from more niche titles such as Super Mario RPG or Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. The rest of them are taken either taken directly from Super Mario 64 and its beta version, or are variations on them e.g. in the sense of modifying the soundfonts used.

Some sound effects are replaced by their beta counterparts, while others are left intact.

Plot
 See also: List of plot points 

The plot of the game is largely up to interpretation, although it appears that the Mario brothers are stuck in the aforementioned internal plexus, a way out of which they are frantically looking for, while being haunted by an evil entity (presumably the personalization AI) as it takes the form of eerie liminal spaces, sinister NPC messages and other phenomena.

Additionally, Bowser has stolen the Princess again, although this might be just another manifestation of whatever the brothers are trying to escape. Infiltrating his lair leads to the Eternal Fort, his main hiding place.

Areas
 See also: List of areas 

There are 131 areas (135 if you count all instances of Checkerboard and Snow Slider separately), each with at least one intended warp leading to them. Due to the hack's confusing and inconsistent nature, trying to find a linearity and/or pattern between them is a futile effort, and should rather be considered an open-world-esque system with no clear edges. However, amidst the chaos, a few junction points can be found and accessible through simple means, alongside other warps leading to and away from them:


 * Castle Grounds - the initial spawn point after selecting a file
 * Beta Lobby B - the first fast travel destination
 * Beta Lobby A - the second fast travel destination
 * Beta Lobby C - the third fast travel destination (note that on the next usage it will loop back to the first one)
 * Plexal Upstairs - the default destination after exiting a course via collecting a star (with the exception of some unique cases)
 * Plexal Lobby - the default destination after exiting a course via dying

Despite the lack of linearity, some areas have certain requirements to be accessed. These include but are not limited to:


 * The Star and most of the consequent areas cannot be reached without having 10 stars, as that is what enables the c-up warp in all of the Beta Lobbies.
 * Most doors in the Vanilla Lobby are locked in a similar fashion to the original requirements.
 * The star door leading to the Randomized Realm requires 30 stars to unlock, making it the minimal star requirement for "beating the game". However, before v0.6.9, there was a pipe erroneously left in Floating Hotel that led to the same area, therefore making it possible to "beat the game" with 0 stars (although requiring the wing cap).
 * MIPS doesn't appear unless the player has 15 or 30 stars, respectively, as usual.

Trivia

 * The hack's primarily used name comes from Christopher's series of coincidences regarding the numbers 33 and 13, while B simply stands for "build", referencing the "prototype" atmosphere invoked by the internal castle plexus.
 * As of v0.7, all 15 of the 100 coin stars are accessible, although Course 12's one can only be spawned via cloning in Tall, Tall Mountain, making it the hardest star in the hack.