Persistence

From SMO.wiki

Persistence is a property that refers to the circumstances under which the changes caused by an action (such as collecting an item or killing an enemy) will "persist", or remain the same without resetting back to its default state.

As an example, killing an enemy results in a change; namely, that the enemy is no longer there. Running a distance away from this enemy's spawn point and then returning will revert this change, by causing the enemy to respawn. Therefore, this change is said to have local persistence (described in further detail below).

Categories of persistence

There are four different levels of persistence: save file, kingdom, scene and local. Each refers to a different requirement for the change to be reverted.

Save file persistence

Save file persistence refers to changes that are permanent with regard to the save file they are performed on, and cannot be reverted unless one starts the game over on a new file. Some examples of actions with save file persistence include:

  • Collecting a new Power Moon or Multi Moon for the first time
  • Collecting a new regional coin for the first time
  • Collecting a large coin stack
  • Planting a small seed in a pot
  • Planting a large seed (with the exception of those used to access loading zones)
  • Opening a door with a red hat emblem

Kingdom persistence

Kingdom persistence refers to changes that remain until one travels to a different kingdom; entering a sub-world will not reset them. This is the least common type of persistence, and most of the actions in this category are obscure or lesser-known. All known instances of these actions include:

Interestingly, if one travels to another kingdom via a Warp Painting, the kingdom-persistent changes from the previous kingdom will not be reset. When using Warp Paintings, a third kingdom must be visited for the earliest to be reset. Traveling to another kingdom using the Odyssey will always reset these changes.

Because switching to and from Assist Mode reloads the save file, it is often the fastest way to reset kingdom-persistent changes.

Scene persistence

Scene persistence refers to changes that do not revert until the player loads a new scene. (In most cases, this is equivalent to entering a different level, but there are a few instances of levels that exist in the same stage, such as the Metro Kingdom overworld and the New Donk City Hall Auditorium.) The majority of changes fall into this category. Some examples include:

  • Collecting gray Power Moons, Moon Shards or regional coins
  • Causing a Power Moon, coins or a heart to spawn
  • Collecting coins (with the exception of those leading into the Employees Only room)
  • Hitting a ? Block
  • Breaking most objects, including crates, blocks and nuts
  • Planting a large seed that is used to access a loading zone

There are some changes that have scene-level persistence but have alternative ways to revert them besides loading a new scene. One example of this is removing a hat from an enemy – while it can be reverted by loading a new scene, it will also be reverted if the enemy is killed and allowed to respawn.

Local persistence

The final category of persistence is local persistence, which refers to changes that can be reverted simply by moving a certain distance away from the location of the change, or in some cases, by pointing the camera away. The main example of this type of persistence is killing certain enemies (such as Mini Goombas).