Before you read this post, there's some prior information that I'd
recommend you go through before going into this one. It provides some additional context to how the Max CSS was found and explains the basis for this update.
Although, the Tl;DR is that
91 is the CSS maximum before the game crashes.
Anyway, after I took a picture of the max CSS, I did some digging with some help from
Ehm (one of the co-admins at the
TCRF) and found something kind of interesting.
Now, I
sort of mentioned it in the
past thread, but after thinking about it, I thought I'd explain it in more detail.
So it turns out that the CSS limit might be connected to a previous datamine from earlier this year.
Found within the
parameter files (the filename is spirits_campaign_enc_foto_param.prc for those curious) of World of Light were
16 placeholder entries for additional characters. These have been somewhat gradually filled (although Hero and Banjo added new entries, and one was removed in 6.0.0) overtime with DLC updates.
However, there was also 16 placeholder entries in the
attack_log_parameter.prc (which some is also filled by DLC.) It seems 16 is a magic number for the team.
Now, at first glance, this kind of looks like a future proofing measure for just in case they want leeway with adding more. Which.. hey... makes sense. The game is built to be evergreen.
Although, when you factor in the max CSS number with these placeholder entries, things get weird. Very weird.
If you look at the Max CSS and
count the spaces from Incineroar to Mii Brawler,
you get 16 spaces. And if you add up the base game spaces (75 with random included) with the 16 entries,
you get a total of 91.
I originally thought that the limit of the CSS was due to technicality reasons, like they might've just forgotten something. It imagine it may happen sometimes in game development.
However, after looking at the math,
I think this was a very deliberate choice by the team.
And no, in my opinion, the Max CSS being square would not be a good supporting reasoning for this. Yes, it looks badass, but CSS square positions I've learned are the
least reliable way to tell something in speculation. And even moreso with Smash 4 and Ultimate, since those CSS's can grow.
It just stems from the fact that those placeholders work out so well with this limit, that I personally think it lines up too much to be a coincidence. I mean, sure, it's still definitely possible, but even as a coincidence, they're still weirdly placed together imo.
And not to mention, looking at a game like Smash Wii U,
it's CSS barely had any realistically defined limits that crashed the game as far as I'm aware (if anyone actually knows, please correct me.) The CSS would break after adding 60 CSS icons
graphically, but would
at least continue to function and not crash.
To me, it's normal for a game like Smash to leave some leeway for content in the future. It's a given and helps the team. But when that leeway is
finite, to me, that's when it gets weird.
This is a limit, that as I'm aware, was present since the base game. And to possibly speculate, was something, given the nature of the placeholders, the team either knew about as some sort of bug and worked around it,
or it was intentionally implemented.
Now, the game
did have
30 placeholders within its executable at launch. But during the purge that was update v2.0.0, it was removed in its entirety along with other datamined stuff. The only things that still exist in this game as of the latest update are the placeholders in both param files mentioned earlier.
To me, if I were to speculate. The executable placeholders being removed maybe showed that they were accidentally added in possibly. While maybe the param placeholders still being in the game is more accurate to their original planning methods?
Again, that part is just unfiltered speculation and is not really definitive.
But in regards to the CSS limit, if that was
intentionally implemented,
then it could mean a lot of things.
Now, I don't want to get into all that speculation, because there are thousands of things that it can mean. But, what I will say is, in my opinion,
this limit might have had a factor in planning post-game content.
What does that entail? I honestly don't know. All I know is, based off the data alone, my theory is that this was a pre-determined limit.
But again... who knows. Future observations might entail something different, meaning none of this is truly definitive. But just something to think about.
I do want to stress again though that
this does not mean 11 characters in total are coming as DLC. Again, development can change to go below the limit, or beyond the limit. It is a possibility.
But all I wanted to do was bring my two cents into this and say why I think this limit could have pre-planned. Along with the weirdness around it.
If you have any additional inputs on this at all, and whether you think this limit was pre-planned for just coincidental, definitely let me know. This is a weird thing that I think could definitely spark some discussion.
Once again, I'd like to thank Ehm for making me remember the WoL placeholders! Without him, this wouldn't have been all pieced together.