Cave Story

Cave Story is an indie game released for free from Japan, with program, art, music, character design, and everything all coming from a single man in his spare time. It was later picked up by publisher Nicalis and has since been butchered into (really, really rushed) purchasable downloads for WiiWare and DSiWare, the Apple App Store, Steam and two 3DS versions with a sequel to the original on the way.

This page is primarily about the original PC version, as Nicalis is too lazy to actually change or add anything other than new graphics, MIDI music, and mods from the cavestory.org (previously miraigamer-hosted) forums.

Balrog (Shooting)
Balrog, a recurring miniboss throughout the game, has several objects for when he's doing different things, including one for dropping in from the ceiling, one for bursting in through the wall, one for standard cutscene animations, one for every boss battle, and even a major boss for when he transforms into a giant frog.

This object in particular is one of the miniboss battle versions of him which was never used. It consists of a very simple pattern of shooting three of his energy bubble projectiles, jumping to the opposite side of the room in one giant leap, shooting three more, jumping all the way back, and repeating.

Various forms of Balrog can be seen in the prototype art and screenshots, so this AI is probably left over from a much earlier version.

Hidden Objects
These are difficult to find even with a map editor because Pixel's work style is to make an object for every single event, including ones that don't need a new object to function.

There are many many objects scattered throughout all of the maps, and you can't even depend on the object type to determine if it is used or not because an event might change them into something else to make them "appear".

Pixel also probably couldn't fully delete objects from his maps as he was making them, so instead he simply reused them as something else, set them to have an event and type value of 0, or pushed them into a wall where they would not be noticed.

This section is for looking at the latter of those. The objects which are set to all 0 are not worth listing.

First Cave
This screen contains some spikes surrounding the lion head doorway near the bottom. When pushed out of the wall in the direction they're set to face, you see them on either side above the lion's head, providing some interesting atmosphere and a slight jumping challenge to cross the gap there.

It also seems that, since the map "Pole" (the Hermit Gunsmith's abode, where you get the polar star) is so late in the map list, and there is a deleted NPC above the doorway, originally there was simply a chest there which contained your first weapon, probably the Snake. As the Snake cannot break the tiles blocking the exit, there is also another deleted NPC on top of the uppermost of the three blocks, which was probably used as either a vertical script trigger or something similar to the laser system seen in egg corridor, which would block you from exiting without a weapon despite the breakable blocks not being there. The Snake was probably replaced by the Polar Star there later, but the Pole map still was not necessary until the Spur came into existence, so this chest probably lasted a long while.

A nearby mostly-deleted and probably related NPC pushed into the wall on top of the spikes carries the unused event number 220. This was likely a talking NPC of some kind (and less likely a second chest) which would have been situated on the far ledge, as 1xx events are used for doors, 3xx events are used for items like the beast fang, 4xx events are used for life capsules, events 200 and 201 actually already exist in the script for the original chest (containing only <END), and the 2xx range of events seems to be used for those general purposes.

[[File:CaveStory_05.png]] Beast Fang
A sharp fang found at the Yamashita Farm. Is its owner still alive...? Found in the Yamashita Farm, as the description states. It is one tile below the ground where the Life Capsule now rests, suggesting that is where it was originally placed. The text that should appear when you collect it is: You see something gleaming... Got the =Beast Fang=.

[[File:CaveStory_06.png]] Life Capsule
A life capsule. This is used for the small image in the dialogue box when you collect one, but never available in the inventory.

Unused Text
The scripts in Cave Story are very easily decoded as plain text, so we can see all of the text that falls outside of specific dialogue box events and such. Things in this section may have been intended as dialog or cutscenes, or may just be leftover comments.

ArmsItem
Item names and descriptions.

<PRI<EVE7002<MPJ7002<MSGNo data for this floor.<NOD<CLR<END Present between the description of Arthur's key and Santa's key. It likely appeared in levels where Pixel didn't want the player to use the map. However, using CaveEditor will quickly highlight an error with the editor's built-in syntax checker. The  command is currently unknown ("jump if the player has the map"?), but even before that supposed conditional jump, there is an obligatory jump to event , which just shows the map. So even if something links to event 6002, and even if the  command works, the "No data for this floor." text never appears.
 * 1) 6002

Head
Global events such as health refills, death, and drowning.

XX: head.tsc  4000 - 4099 4000:Almond水難 This appears at the bottom. The only part that's significant to the game is "4000:Almond", where Almond is the name of the Core boss battle room, and 4000 is the flag that's set upon its defeat. This sets up an alternate script jump for drowning, so that when you drown in Almond with flag 4000 set, instead of the usual death script, it runs event 1100 and gives you the air tank. The two kanji mean, appropriately, "drowning".

Eggs
The Egg Corridor.

-0505 <PRI<MSG<FAC0013What...?<NOD<CLRWhere am I...?<NOD What did I...?<NOD<CLRWho are you?<NOD<END

This event (numbered 505, but rendered inactive; the first character should be "#" instead of "-") occurs between the events for the boss battle with Igor at the end of Egg Corridor. It shows that, originally, Igor survived to say those lines if talked to after the battle, and had a large profile face for the dialog, numbered 13 (which was later replaced by Jenka's face). Oddly, there are no commands in this event which would play a 'getting up' animation (implying that he would simply change back to normal immediately) and the script freezes the entire game state while it's running so nothing can move or animate anyway.

Unfortunately for Igor, he is no longer interactable after combat and instead falls to his knees before flopping to the floor and laying there, dead. You killed him, forever.

MazeI
First room of the Labyrinth.

The following text can be found at the bottom of the script file: 37: MazeI     0640 - 0659 0640:初到来 0641:扉開く 0642:ライフカプセル

Translated: 0640:First arrival 0641:Gate opening 0642:Life capsule

Jenka1
Jenka's house, before being raided by Balrog.

Each puppy says something different after you return him/her, and they're all aligned next to Jenka. The joke was that the first puppy would bark once "Arf!", the second would bark twice "Arf arf!", the third three times "Arf arf arf!", the fourth would perform a combo breaker and say "Booop.", and finally, the fifth would say "Five!".

However, when you enter the door to Jenka's house with the fifth puppy on your head, the game takes you to  to show Balrog stealing the key. From there on, Jenka2 is the map you're taken to. As such, the fifth puppy never gets in line (said line being in ) and the last part of the joke is lost.

MazeO
The Camp in the Labyrinth where Curly is.

The mysterious robot, Monster X... Your chance to attack is when its hatch opens.

Someone should've told you when to attack the Labyrinth's mid-boss, but this text is never used.

Almond
The Core's room in the Labyrinth.

Once the core is destroyed, the doors to the main room close and the first terminal reads "ERROR" when you try to inspect it. The underwater terminal is programmed to do the same, but the problem is that when the core is defeated, the elevator that leads to the underwater terminal is blocking you, so you can never read its "ERROR" message.

Blcny2
The Balcony, when it's crumbling.

In the regular Balcony, when it's not crumbling, if the player gets too close to the left edge, the message Any further and you're going to fall! appears. The script for this message is also present when the island is crumbling, but doesn't play since you need to jump off the edge.

Cent
The Plantation.

<PRI<FLJ1030:0151<MSGIt's still too early to come here...<NOD<END
 * 1) 0150

This message appears if you try to enter the door to the Final Cave before the rocket is ready. Unless you're cheating or using an exploit, you can't pass through those side Presses alive.

<PRI<MSG.....<NOD<END <PRI<CMU0000<MSGYou're one of those killer robots!<NOD<FAO0004<MYD0002<CLR Oh, you got me...<NOD<TRA0057:0094:0011:0014 An alternate script for the guard grabbing you when you try to use the teleporter, and taking you to the cell where Sue was. It mutes the music, shows this text, fades the screen to black, and takes the player to the cell. The trigger no longer exists, most likely overwritten by the used script.
 * 1) 0299

The "Oh, you got me..." line is a strange alternate version of "You were caught...".

Momo
Momorin Sakamoto's hideout.

<ITJ0018:0202<ITJ0023:0203 <MSG<FAC0022What I need right now is a Booster.<NOD Now, who would have one of those...<NOD<END
 * 1) 0201

Sue's mother needs a booster to complete the rocket, and she says this if you don't have one with you. However, by this point you either have the Booster V0.8 or V2.0 mandatorily.

Ring2
The King's Table, where you battle against the Doctor.

<PRI<FLJ1270:0222 <FLJ1271:0221 <MSGOh hey,<NOD you're that...<NOD<END
 * 1) 0220

When you talk to Santa, the Mimiga to the right of the Doctor, the game checks if the battle has ended. If so, it runs event #0222, where he reminds you who he is. If the battle is taking place, it runs event #0221, where he says "Look out! Behind you!". If neither of those is true, it shows that text. One problem though. The battle starts when you get close to the Doctor, and you can't talk to Santa without getting through the Doctor. In other words, you can't talk to Santa before the battle, so this text is never used.

Hell2
The second Sacred Ground level.

There's a script that hides the HUD and displays the message There's no going back... It is currently unknown how this is triggered.

Demo Finishers
During development, Pixel released some prototype versions where the storyline would only go to a certain point, after which a message would be displayed noting that the rest of the story will be added later.

MazeB
Labyrinth B, the room where Prof. Booster appears.

If the player tried to leave through the door in Labyrinth B, the following message would appear: Thank you. This is as far as it goes for now. 2003/09/27 Studio Pixel This message doesn't appear because the script that takes the player to the Boulder Chamber runs before the message's script.

Oside
Outer Wall.

If the player tried to enter the door that leads to the Storehouse where Itoh is, the message That's all... would appear. As with the previous message, the script that transports the player plays before the message's script.

Also in the Outer Wall, there is an NPC inside the wall, to the left and below the door that leads to the Storehouse, with almost no info, and named "Debug cat". Its sprite is used in the credits, as the first person credited in the special thanks section. This NPC triggers the following message: Thanks for helping with the debugging. This is as far as the game goes for now. I'm thinking I'll make this next stage the last one. Wonder how far I can get in just two months...

Blcny1
Balcony, first arrival.

There is a Cthulhu burrowed underground, a bit to the left of the entrance to the Throne Room. When spoken to, the game hides the HUD and displays the message Nice job.

It then fades out, displays the message Ending. and rolls the credits.

Blcny2
Balcony, when it's crumbling.

The same Cthulhu as above, when spoken to, hides the HUD, plays the credits song, writes Thank you for testing! The next part is still under construction... and restores the song that was playing before.

Unused NPCs
There are graphics inside  that show someone from the Droll family. This bitmap stores sprites of the enemies used in the Plantation. He only has sprites for standing still and jumping, so that might have been how he attacked. This sprite was not revamped for the Wii version.

The sprites for this owl can be found inside, on the top-right corner. Note that the eyes and beak in this image are black to make the sprites easier to understand, but they should be transparent. #000000 is considered transparent in this game. This enemy was meant to appear in the Egg Corridor, after it's destroyed. This wasn't revamped either.

This little frog with a sword appears in, the bitmap with the sprites for the enemies in Grasstown. Once again, no revamp.

A puppy... with wings... Present in, among the Sand Zone's NPC sprites, this one was actually revamped in the WiiWare version!

A Polish without its blades. The Polish is the enemy in Sand Zone that when defeated releases small critters known as Babies. The Sun Stones use a similar graphic. It's found in, next to the regular Polish. It was also revamped.

A Skullhead or Skullstep with blue, half-open eyes, with no sprites for an open mouth. It's found next to the regular Skullhead/step sprites in. While this one was revamped, it was done really badly.

You're never told at any point during the game to jump. This wasn't revamped for the WiiWare version.

A Gaudi, the main enemy of the Labyrinth, flying horizontally and crouching. The flying sprites were revamped and used in the Wind Fortress challenge in Cave Story+, and probably would've been used in the original game had the Wind Fortress not been cut.

Human Sue portrait
Present among the portrait images (the pictures that show who's talking) is a picture of Sue as a human. This is never used, as the only time Sue is seen as a human is during the credits, in a small animation.

It was later butchered into a portrait of the main character for Curly-mode in the Wii port, which is why he looks so off-model and effeminate. At least it was improved in the PAL version.

Other Graphics
A cursor that looks like Ikachan, which can be found by editing the main executable with a resource hacker. There is currently no known way to get this cursor in-game.

This text, found next to the "Lv" graphic, seems to have belonged somewhere on the HUD. It either showed the experience points or some score. This was actually revamped better than the Lv icon for the WiiWare version!

Unused Menus
Two menus can be seen with a resource hacker that aren't used. "Debug Save" and "Mute".

Creating a blank file named "mute" (no extension) in the same folder as the executable will reenable the Mute menu. Selecting it will give you this:



The tick-boxes will disable certain sound channels, but not those used by drums or sound effects.

Debug Functions
Like above, creating a blank file named "fps" (no extension) in the same folder as the executable will enable an fps counter at the top-right of your Cave Story window. The original release ran at 50fps, so the number will average at around this.

Also, a blank "s_reverse" file will cause the weapon-toggle keys to swap.

These functions are not present in Cave Story+.

Main Artery's secret


In the Main Artery, where you fight a boss from Ikachan, it looks as though you're traveling through an infinite canal. If you use a map editor, though, you can see that the action only really happens in a small 23&times;16 rectangle, with a scrolling background. However, Pixel felt like using some more space.

To the left of the main rectangle is a pixel-art Ikachan made of iron blocks, and to the right is some text written in iron blocks as well, that reads "→ No damage." in both the original Japanese version and the English patch. In-game, you can see this using the map. As such, it is most likely intended to be a hint for how to meet Ikachan and receive the Ikachan Badge (defeat the boss without taking damage), given only to players clever enough to attempt to view the map in this particular area.

Now, what probably wasn't meant to happen was for the player to be able to swim out of the map from the border's top-left corner. This was fixed in the Wii versions.

Quick Tidbits

 * There is an unused duplicate of the door to the second jail in the Plantation, under the first block of the tunnel that leads to the hideout.
 * When Sue's mother tells you that the Mimigas on the Plantation can't talk to humans, she asks "Are you with me so far?" After that, the current script ends and another starts that continues the conversation. This split indicates that there might have been a Yes/No prompt.
 * The sprite for the word "AIR" appears twice in, and they both look the same.