gMarioStates is an array that goes from 0 to the maximum amount of players, or 16, subtracted by 1, 0 being your mario, that contains a `MarioState` struct. The reason the end of the range is the max players subtracted by 1 instead of just the max players is because arrays are 0 indexed, which means that instead of starting at 1, arrays start at 0, so the total numbers of entries in that array is 16, which is the maximum amount of players.
|`action`|`integer`| Mario's current action, this includes `ACT_IDLE`, `ACT_JUMP`, etc.
|`prevAction`|`integer`|Mario's previous action, similar to above.
|`terrainSoundAddend`|`integer`|Used to see what sound for the terrain is being used.
|`actionState`|`integer`|Typically used within actions, can be useful for deciding whether or not to return a specific action by reading this variable set within the action.
|`actionTimer`|`integer`|How long it has been since the action was set.
|`actionArg`|`integer`|This var is typically set when the action is set, i.e when setting the action to `ACT_STAR_DANCE`, decide whether or not the animation should be the water star dance animation or not, if yes, set `actionArg` to 1, else, set `actionArg` to 0
|`intendedMag`|`integer`|The intended magnitude. Without smoothening, this is the magnitude
|`intendedYaw`|`integer`|The intended yaw, similar to above, except the yaw, or y axis.
|`wallKickTimer`|`integer`|When you bonk on a wall, this timer is set to 5, if you press A before the timer comes down to 0, then the walljump action can be set.
|`vel`|`Vec3f`|Mario's velocity, this is different from mario's `forwardVel` below, and more advanced. This is typically used to adjust Mario's overall speed.
|`forwardVel`|`integer`|Mario's forward velocity, used in most of Mario's actions.
|`marioBodyState`|`MarioBodyState`|This var contains multiple visual variables, such as Mario's head position, if Mario should look like he has the vanish, metal, or wing cap on, etc.
|`controller`|`Controller`|This contains the button Mario is pressing, holding, the stick position, etc. Similar to input, except easier to change this variable and see results.
|`animation`|`MarioAnimation`|Contains Mario's animation data, you usually don't have to touch this, but rather use functions such as `set_mario_animation`.
|`collidedObjInteractTypes`|`integer`|If Mario is interacting with an object, then the type will be in this variable, i.e when interacting with a door, this variable will be set to `INTERACT_DOOR`, assuming it's not `INTERACT_WARP_DOOR`.
|`numCoins`|`integer`|How many coins Mario has.
|`numStars`|`integer`|How many stars Mario has. **NOTE: Changing this variable will NOT change the save file**, if you need to do that, refer to the function `save_file_set_star_flags`.
|`numKeys`|`integer`|*\[UNUSED\]* How many keys mario has.
|`squishTimer`|`integer`|How long mario should stay squished for. It should be noted that if the `squishTimer` is less than or equal to 16 that mario's size will rubberband. It should also be noted that if mario's `squishTimer` is equal to 0, then mario's size will be normal.
|`fadeWarpOpacity`|`integer`|Mario's opacity when using a fading warp.
Most of the time you won't be using `gMarioStates[0]` to access your Mario, but rather use a hook. A lot of hooks pass `m` through the function. What does this mean? Well, here is a example with comments to explain it as good as possible:
-- Refer to section 2 of this guide to know what playerIndex is
-- Remember how gMarioStates[0] is the local mario? Well the playerIndex is the same way! This means that if the playerIndex is not 0, then it's not the local mario, thus we can't do anything with it! So, when we return here, that means that we dont do anything below the return within that function
-- This means, if not the local Mario, stop executing the function (return nothing).
-- Create the hook here, to understand this better, refer to the guide on hooks. NOTE: There are more hooks you can use to do specific things, however HOOK_MARIO_UPDATE is the most common hook to be used.
-- While it isn't mandatory to use "mario_update" as the function name, it is highly recommended and a common practice.
The only time you should use `gMarioStates[0]` is if the hook you are using does not have `m` as a parameter, otherwise, do as shown above with your own function names.
Hopefully, you were able to learn more about how `gMarioStates` works, if you have any questions, please join the [sm64ex-coop discord server](https://discord.gg/eXhpSRhCyM), and ask in #coop-mod-discussion.
