Personalization Values

Hard Mode is an unexplained mechanic introduced in B3313 v0.9 that dynamically changes the game's difficulty based on the player's progress and actions.

Triggering
How exactly Hard Mode is triggered is still not fully understood, and research is still ongoing. The following IS somewhat understood about the mechanic:


 * It is on a per-save file basis. Meaning any Hard Mode changes on one save file will not carry over to another one.
 * For the most part, any Hard Mode changes that trigger on a save file are irreversible.
 * Hard Mode changes are often introduced without fanfare, and are not immediately apparent until the player happens to encounter them in the wild.
 * Hard Mode changes do not happen all at once, and may be gradually introduced to a save file.
 * The following are believed to influence how/when Hard Mode changes trigger (based on research):
 * The amount of Red Stars collected
 * The total amount of Stars collected
 * How often you take damage/die
 * How long you spend in certain areas
 * Pressing the Yellow Cap Switch (needs more research itself)

Hard Mode Effects
The following are some of the various Hard Mode effects that may be triggered on a save file:

Health Restoration Removal
When the player starts a fresh save file, Mario/Luigi will slowly restore health, one slice at a time. This effect will eventually be removed after making enough progress.

New Enemy Variants
Goombas and Bob-ombs may start appearing as harder red variants that are more dangerous to deal with. For more information, see the List of enemies page.

Coin Discoloration
Coins may be randomly replaced by different colored variants, some of which can be beneficial but most of which are harmful or even game crashing.

Texture Randomization
Textures in certain areas may become distorted in different ways when visiting them. Textures may be misaligned, resized, or even have incorrect palettes.

Level Scaling
Some specific levels may change in size very subtly, making traversing through certain areas more difficult.

Enemy Spawns
Goombas and Bob-ombs may randomly start appearing within the Castle Grounds.