User:DavidJCobb/Loading Points
Loading points are used when a map is very large.
You see, sometimes, a map is too large to (conveniently) fit in RAM... in one piece. So what developers can do is, they can chop the map up into sections, and then place a loading point between the sections. When the player passes through the loading point, the area they're coming from is removed from RAM, and the area they're going to is loaded into RAM.
This is done with several maps. The Gerudo Fortress is one such map -- its loading point is between the main Fortress area and the archery range, as at least one glitch demonstrates.
It's also done in the Temple of Time; the loading point there is in the hallway connecting the outermost room with the Master Sword chamber. Here's a fun thing to try. Go to the room with the Master Sword in it, then go back to the hallway leading to the room with the Spiritual Stones in it. Now, very slowly walk down the hallway while looking very carefully at the walls of the room you're walking into. About halfway through that hallway, the walls should suddenly change -- enough that you'll notice it if you're looking. You just passed through the loading point.
Generally, the unloaded side of a loading point has its terrain loaded, but none of its actors are loaded. Most of its terrain is also invisible -- the textures aren't loaded, either. This can be seen when glitches are used to bypass a loading point and seems to be consistent across games -- a glitch in Super Mario 64 DS that bypasses a loading point in the level "Wet-Dry World" behaves the same way: no actors or terrain textures loaded.
Glitches involving loading points
The glitches on this list range from those whose effects are entirely due to the mechanics of loadings points... to those that merely have an interesting side-effect involving them.
