lol this works even in optics multiball

I identified the exact bit that enables spawning of a lot of balls.
It just so happens that in your corruption, 0x80 flips the first bit at EEmem offset 0x15FC16 (in NTSC-U), which enables it.

This area of memory probably stores the ball limit in some form, but I'm unsure how exactly.

"thebumphitballinnepalsep"

I figured out the texture mapping! I have not yet added any normals, so there is no shading. Here are the same models with textures applied:

Something very similar happened to me when I was playing the Geometry A stage.

If you move the paddle towards the ball as it's falling towards it with very specific timing, you can go through walls (also I think the ball has to be angled in a way where it goes towards a wall).