On December 20, 2004, Daisuke Amaya released Cave Story as a free download for Microsoft Windows users.Discuss the gameplay, bosses, plot, soundtrack, the legacy, and the potential future of this iconic indie classic in this thread.
cave story is 4chan culture
bnuuy and kot
The game is fine, but the fanbase is 80% furfags, just like with Undertale.
cave story is a christmas game???
I still have not beaten hell.I have made it to the boss there, and got a literal inch away on the health bar and then somehow I lost track of my guy and just fucking ate shitHave never made it anywhere near as close.
how do i install it on wine
>>11457265I'm sure there's a native Linux port somewhere.
>>11457265>>11457278You can find all downloads on the cavestory dot org website
>>11457279oh wow site doesnt even look gay
>>11457265Nxengine retard
>>11457115you got further than me. i basically got to him once or twice and got disgruntled with the runback and said i'll go back to it later.. one day..
My first memory of Cave Story is a short clip of it in Arfenhouse 6- the very beginning of the Hell section where the player tries to glide down the corridor and immediately falls on the spikes.Had no idea what it was at the time, I only downloaded and played the game years later.I remember one winter I spent unemployed, and after hundreds of tries, I finally defeated Ballos. My memory is spotty for a lot of that game, but that last dungeon is so brutal and unforgiving, with the only checkpoint at the very beginning. So many gotcha instakill things everywhere, then another annoying miniboss, and then the actual boss has like 3 forms. One of the most satisfying moments I've ever had in gaming.
>>11457062Replays reveal how dreadful the game structure is. It has great gameplay and controls, but the way the adventure unfolds is so tedious and unfun you realize how much better it'd be just being a succession of action levels.
>>11457352>how much better it'd be just being a succession of action levelsNo
>>11457115I only beat him once and that was because I got lucky with missile spam.
>>11457082I remember when I first wanted to play cave story I didn't think to google it and I went to /rs/ and the .zip I downloaded was just a bunch of mimiga porn
>>11457440Hell level spells it out loud.
GIMMIE YOUR BEST CURLY
Shout outs to the 3DS for getting both a full 3D game with ridiculous perspective that makes it super hard to judge distance and also a more appropriate 3D effect layered sprite art port.Might have been nice if they sold them both in one package
>>11457597
teaching us valuable life lessons like delayed gratification
>>11457597My favorite take on the machine gun too
>>11457062this game is 100% fandom circle jerk. nobody ever actually talks about the game itself. its only ever "omg this game is so good" with zero details, character gushing, shitty memes, and more "omg this game is so amazing" with zero details.
>make a further enhanced edition>lock it just to the Nintendo switchhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQyfN4OzOw4Why are they like this.
>>11457686Okay. I like the weapons, specifically the Spur because of the completely fucked up charge attack that lets you fire a giant laser that kills the shit out of anything that isn't a boss. The Machine Gun deserves special mention because you can fly with it.Really the whole trade sequence thing with the Polar Star is cool as fuck, it offers you like 4 different outcomes with it: The Machine Gun, the Snake, the Spur, or just keeping the Polar Star. This is gonna get into deeper autism territory but I also find the jumping in Cave Story to be satisfying too, Quote's got some real weight his floaty ass jumps and it's fun to steer him, this gets even better once you get the Booster 2.0and on that subject, I still get mad thinking about you save Booster by ignoring him. It's one thing I consider complete bullshit in this game.
>>11457695The tow rope location was kinda bs too.
>>11457698I can forgive that because there's a least a sparkle where you find it. But Booster needs to be straight up ignored and abandoned to ensure his survival. Like damn man.
>>11457695When ever I replay the game the beginning seems so hard because I always think about the handling once you get 2.0 booster. On one of my replays I couldn't platform for shit when I was trying to get all the dogs because of it.
>>11457706How many times have you missed a jump and got chomped by one of those sand fuckers?
Is this the current playable open source version?https://github.com/nxengine/nxengine-evo
>>11457695>>11457703I have mixed feelings about the best ending conditions. I feel like the design of the game is to make it so you get all the endings but there is so much time between Boosters fall and the end that you might as well replay the whole game then just try from that last save before going after him.I think I tend to forgive it as a design because this was the end of the era of game design of hidden stuff being actually hard to find and the beginning of the "look everything up online" era.
>>11457708A lot on my first playthrough and at least once for every replay.
>>11457712You know, they mention mods here but what kinda mods are out there? I've only half-assedly searched for "NXengine mods" but now I'm curious.
I never really cared about any of the drama with Nicalis but it pisses me off that still to this day when you click on Studio Pixel on the steam page for Cave Story+, it still links to Nicalis's page.
>>11457703True, but the sparkle doesn't show up until after the boss fight. If you see that corner during the fight, you won't think of going back there afterwards unless you know.
>>11457728There's no drama. It originates from a 4chan thread about Pixel being interviewed after the Wii version was released. The "drama" was a mistranslation and in the same thread it was posted it was corrected.
>>11457784That’s a relief, I was always imagining these horror stories like indie gaming’s earliest win was also its easliest cautionary taleNow that I know + is cruelty free I will buy it since it’s 80% off
post some quality gameplay.
>>11457714Yeah, it's very playground rumor coded, to the point where I think just about every secret you could have done someone will allude to after the fact.
>>11457062meh never liked it, imo it sucks
>>11457597Sadly this board won't allow it.
>>11457728That's the case for a lot of devs, their page just redirect to the bigger publisher publishing all their stuff
>>11457115>have to redo the whole level as well as the sub-boss each time you die>and the unskippable lore scenes as well>while the whole thing is full of trial and error>as well as a lot of RNG due to the falling blocks, explosions and enemy spamSome of the worst design choices I've seen in a metroidvania.Pro-tip: play the PSP port on the emulator, and use the power of save states.
>>11458013They already have them listed under publisher and developer. So they have two links to Nicalis on the store page. Why redirect Studio Pixel's link to them?
The great debate
>>11458029Soul vs soulless
>>11457082>>11457106Probably showing my newfag here (as if that's even a relevant term anymore), but I never saw anyone discussing this as a 4chan game. I remember Katawa Shoujo being /our/ game back in the day, but never knew Cave Story was like that too.>>11457495I remember browsing /rs/ back in the day, but somehow I can't remember a single thing that I've ever gotten from that board. I kinda miss Rapidshare culture in general, waiting for the free download timeout sucked but was sovl.
>>11458048It was just simply extremely massive if you were online and on 4chan and co back then
>>11458057Must have just been before my time then, I was in the summerfag class of '11 so looks like I missed the release of this game by seven years.
>>11458029>forced to mercy kill her>the victory fanfare doesn't play when you beat her.
>>11457627Funny that 3D has the map on the extra screen at all times but not 3DS Ware
>>11458084I guess since it’s a more direct port of the sprite assets they’d have to redraw the map and they didn’t feel like it
tfw i can't unsee the green nose quote sprite
>>11457703It is funny that also has an indicator but instead it's just a red mark indicating where you have to jump from to make the gap
>>11457352it is a bit awkward how padded the early game feels, both the grass and desert area make you do busy work that involves going back and forth across the map multiple times.Taking a spare jelly back for the Bubble gun is a fun extra reward for being observant, but you still need to get the jelly three times on top of that just to complete the area.
>>11457495Do you still have the mimiga porn?
>>114580291x > 2x > 3D
Here's the N64 port posted to /hbg/ earlier this year. I don't think the lack of audio ever got fixed.https://files.catbox.moe/wi7wee.zip
>>11457279i like that it basically has homebrews for all the consoles even obscure retro systems like dreamcast
>>11458029Nicalis and everything they did to Cave Story can fuck right off.
>>11459425Dreamcast isn't obscure. Tell me when it gets ported to the Nuon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jjrV6bwEK0SiIvaGunner made a special album for the anniversary, also includes a mod that replaces game music with the ripsAlbum: https://jearchive.bandcamp.com/album/caveman-storyMod: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1YV0RtS7q64PIlpN9FTtxYGMp_UCGvWLNAlso, listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0SLSUXAEK8
>>11457113Every game is like that nowadays. Stay away from "communities".
>>11457352Gameplay for SRS GAMERS MUST BE SRS LIKE YOU
Hey I still got it.It's not too hard once you get past the first two rooms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKXrXtBRT8Y
>>11459643Backtracking and fetch quests are poison to gaming.
>>11457352That's what Pixel did for Kero Blaster.
>>11457352I beat this game on Human mode (First time playing the game) using the Machine gun. It's top tier for me.
>>11457062I honestly cannot believe it's 20 years old
>>11457686cave story is amazing because curly causes blood to rush to my penisThe game being made entirely by a single passionate guy and being free to play both feel like the primary factors for why it's such a cult hit. Not to say that the game isn't enjoyable just as a product, but I highly doubt that it'd be regarded as well as it is if it was worked on by a small group of guys and had a mandatory cost attached to it.
>>11459438This. Even if they didn't personally screw the creator out of money, all they've ever done for Cave Story is release significantly worse and often appallingly lazy versions. There's zero reason to ever play anything besides the OG or one of the great fan ports people have put real work into. Personally I'm a big fan of the genesis version, it feels so close to the real thing.
>>11457062Played it blind for the first time recently. Was pretty good even if I think the difficult spike of the final boss was too intense. Kinda want to try it again at some point to find a few more secrets and save Curly.
>>11460505>It's top tier for me>First time playing the gameReplay it a few times.
>>11460618>curly causes blood to rush to my penisThere are people like this.
>>11460662every 8-bit inspired game should have genesis port. not only because it's easier to develop for with less limitations than pure nes, but it also one of the consoles whose emulation been perfected so that allows it to be used on any device under the sun
>>11461052
>>11457597Unfortunately mine is too big for this board.
>>11457106Kawaii
>>11457062there's some free xmas addon on steam rn, is it ok if I play it first and then get started with cave story or is it gonna be completely wrong?
>>11457686If you were into metroidvania type games back then the options were pretty slim. On top of it being a quite good example of that genre, it has a charming story and characters with a simple but solid aesthetic, good replay and on top of all that it was made by one guy as a passion project and released for free. It's pretty easy to understand why it's so highly praised.
>>11461725I'm sure it's just fine. The game is made with replays in mind so it will be all good. Might be a great first experience with an awesome game.
This game seems to have inspired other media, like MIA, Undertale, and a lot of modern indie games.
>>11460103But don't you dare say anything le bad about The Thousand Year Door and most 3D Zelda.
>>11457686This, it's not even the best indievania.
>>11460103backtracking is both desirable and necessary to make a compelling explorable world.
>>11462312Poison to gaming.>>11462267>The Thousand Year Door and most 3D ZeldaRadioactive.
>>11460103I am more on the side of >>11462312 zI d think it's necessary per se, but side quests in games that get you to revisit places does giive a sense that there's more to the world than just a series of dugeons to clear and never think about again.
>>11462312qft. "backtracking" is such a meme word. People want to see the same locations again, to actually get to know them. Sometimes you go through a game, you hit a location and you don't want to see it again. Other times it's nice to come back to the same place again and explore it more after you did other stuff. >t. dk64 enjoyer.
>>11462312ttyd didn't do it right
>>11460103cave story has backtracking?
>>11462462Well you gotta backtrack into the labarynth to get the whimsy star
>>11462462getting jelly in the grasslands, and finding jenkem's dogs in dustlands
>>11457349I played Cave Story on an X24 Thinkpad running Windows 2000. I couldn't beat the Ballos level until I realized if I unplugged the laptop the game slowed down.
>>11460015Holy shit what the fuck
Game Boy demake in the workshttps://x.com/RepugnantBounty/status/1870328208211792166
>>11462735Why is it running so fast? Is this nigger building off of the fucked Nicalis version?
>>11462897It's unfinished.
Someone on /v/ leaked the original source code, apparentlyhttps://anonsharing.com/file/53d1eb9baf03a49b/doukutsu-src.zip
>>11462971Ah yes, I also punch incorrect values into my unfinished clone projects when I could just use the correct ones in the first place.
>>11457278https://github.com/doukutsu-rs/doukutsu-rs
>>11463003wdym leak? the source code has been out for years legally despite what Nicalis is gonna tell you.>>11462735this guy is a dick who was driven out of the retro dev community.
>>11463517>the source code has been out for years legally despite what Nicalis is gonna tell you.Nigga, this is the real deal. Not CSE2.
>>11463565pixel literally released the source code nearly a decade ago, what are you on about???
>>11461725Upd: finished the xmass thing. It's a cute lil game, but doesnt represent actual cave story at all, which I started cave story+ and cant wait to get back to it.Now people here are saying og is better. Is there an actual reason for it or is it just le older = le better contrarian bs?
>>11463641The physics are a little different since the original was designed around running at 50 fps but + changes it to 60
>>11457062I beat it once though I got the bad ending.
>>11463641Also wtf is it with indie games and THE MOST RETARDED FUCKING DEFAULT CONTROLS EVER.JUMP WITH Z, SHOOT WITH X? WTF HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED ANYTHING WITH YOUR KEYBOARD FUCKING AUTIST?
>>11463641Worse music, worse translation, worse graphics.Play the original if you care, it's certainly better, but it's not that big a deal.
>>11463678You can choose music in the setting and I like remake one fine. Eh maybe if I wanna replay it on higher difficulty I'll go for og
>>11463687The remake is "fine".But the original is great.
>>11463570Pics or didn't happened.
I can't fucking believe this game is 20 years old. I remember still reading articles reviewing the original release.
>>11463667You didn't really beat it unless you at least got the normal ending imo.
>>11460015lmao. PIXEL YOU SLY DOG
>>11462312Depends on the genre and aims of the game.>>11460103ADHD zoomer opinion.
>>11460618I remember playing it some time between 2006 and 2008 and being blown away. My knowledge of Freeware games of that time was shmups and things like I'm OK and I Wanna Be The Guy, things that just seemed like a continuation of shit you'd see on Newgrounds - the indie scene was like Xbox arcade stuff, shit like Castle Crashers, VVVVV and Braid. Cave Story blew me the fuck away, especially because at that time I'd opted not to get a PS3 or 360 'cause I didn't really like where gaming was at at that time. I was amazed at the scope and vision, the writing, the baffling but very funny game design choices, and it was the perfect level of challenging for me. Still one of my fav games ever made. The fact it's a solo dev passion project is lovely, but honestly, I think you just had to be there at a particular time, before Steam indie games existed and whatnot and the gaming industry completely fucking changed. It was so ahead of it's time.
>>11463790>I didn't really like where gaming was at at that timeit haven't recovered since then, whatever you do, never try to look at modern gaming, you are blessed, and keep the ignorance
>>11463650It's not "a little different" it's the same physics but 20% too fast as they made it 60fps without adjustments, something any fan port managed to do properly yet the one commercial port didn't.
Actually why does the Switch port have dynamic water what does that add.
Did you know that the witch-woman Jenka once had a brother?
If I made a game it would just be a cave story clone
>>11464543> hurr what does it addIT'S FUCKING COOL AND BETTER YOU NPC FAGGOT.
>>11464582>mixels>better>>11463674>JUMP WITH Z, SHOOT WITH XYes. What is your problem?
>>11464591>Yes. What is your problem?It's fucking retarded, no normal game has this control scheme and IT'S AWKWARD AS FUCK
>>11457668So when should you accept it?
>>11463003Fake leak. Just like that "proto" from earlier this year.
>>11463641The new translation is worseAlthough it is funny that AG messed up "Litagano Motscoud"
any actual gameplay clips?
>>11464568same
>>11464959Literally any competent PC platformer uses ZXC
>>>/v/698112386
Happy holiday!
5 Soundtracks over the years sure is a lot.Original/Organya - Obviously the best that everything else has to be compared to. I really love getting to the Grasslandhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8smb_XuiSUNew/Wii/Cavestory+ - This is a very weird soundtrack with more lows than highs. There are a lot of flourishes added to different songs and yet it overall feels empty. Like they expanded the songs outwards but just created a lot of empty space. Though to say something nice about it, I feel Moonsong does benefit the most from this treatment, the slow silent intro phrase does at least fit the mood of the Outer Wall.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SViCdYr5qM43D/Remastered - This is pretty good, worth salvaging from the otherwise not great 3DS version. This is more straight forward just the original soundtrack but modernized without all the flourishes of the Wii soundtrack, if you wanted to go all in on the remastered experience this is probably the best pairing for the new graphics. Though there is a lot of reverb on a lot of the tracks, which made sense for how more cavey the artstyle of the 3DS version made everything but is a little out of place herehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3nyH5JVkkoFamitracks - This is an interesting addition for the Switch version, it's cool to have a chiptune to be reminiscent of the original, but it also feels a bit redundant when the originals are there to choose.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7riPt_KsU60Ridiculon - I really don't know what we're doing here, both the added soundtracks for the Switch port feel off. They're serviceable rock covers of the soundtrack I suppose, but at no point do they ever feel appropriate for bgm in the game. You'd think Running Hell would at least be cool, but it kind of isn't.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xn6zYRL3aM
>>11465969> competent> ZXCPick one
Still the comfiest xmas game for me...
>>11468246how is it xmas?
>>11468250It is for me because the first time I finished the best ending was around 2008, when I visited my parents over the xmas holidays. Also, it's generally a comfy game, especially on the 3DS.
>>11468250Santa gives you a present
>>11466640>>11464959okay wise guy what are the TRUE keyboard controls then?
>>11468493WASD/Arrows + space + all the shit around WASD
Try out the Mega Drive port. It's great.
>>11469494it better have god like ost. by 2004 fm synthesis was figured out
>>11468264>especially on the 3DSit uses gimmicks like 3d and split screen nonsense? into the trash it goes i guess. i thought it was 8-bit knockoff
>>11469583It’s very 3D, in a single room the camera can swing around several times
>>11468684Cave Story isn't 3D retard, if you can't use ZXC in a 2D platformer it's nothing more than a skill issue on your part
>>11470112Maybe if you're a God-forsaken left handed user.No, ideal keyboard control scheme is WASD for movement, and then use the arrow keys as action buttons.
>>11470116Try again, I'm right handed
>>11470128Then how can you possibly say you're comfortable mashing action buttons with your off-hand? would you play an arcade game with the movement stick in your right, and the buttons under your left?
>>11470130Movement is the primary action in a platformer the buttons are secondary
>>11470130Because I am?I can adjust to WASD + arrows for buttons pretty easily but it's still not better even if I can tardmash well with my right finger
>>11470184You don't kill bosses in Cave Story by dodging.
>>11470194you won't do it by being hit either; all your weapons will level down creating a snowball effect where taking a few hits means you can no longer do any reasonable damage
Can't believe Nicalis put a gun against Pixel's head and made him praise them. Fuck them.
>>11470449I think that was just an urban legend
>>11470449They also raped his daughter in front of him. Crazy fucks.
>>11458021>metroidvaniacave story is not a metroidvania, most of the game is very linear
Huh, I don't remember this line last being there... or has it? Very strange.
>>11457113case in point>>11471248
>>11470116>zoomer who never played games designed for arrow keys
>>11466464good post, interesting how they chose to let you have 5 soundtracksi appreciate the option though
>>11471461Nah. I just realized after awhile that my right hand is shit for navigation, and my left is shit for tapping action buttons. So I got to the point where I'd cross my arms for some games, and where possible I'd swap it for WASD for movement and arrow keys for actions. That's how I played NES and SNES on my shitty PC for a long, long time.
ignoring booster should have been communicated betterinstead of having to make a tricky jump, maybe speaking to him was mandatory and gave you a choice to either take the booster or let him keep it>"We're done for... The only chance one of us can make it is with my Booster, take it.">YES/NO>"You refuse? Well, if you're that sure there's another way, I'll try holding on a little longer..."it makes you seem more heroic than ignoring a man who is seemingly going to perish
>>11472531Fool, left hand used arrow keys
>>11472549That's a good idea. Ignoring Booster only makes sense from a "technically correct" point of view:>"Problem: if I talk to Booster, he dies">"Solution: do not talk to Booster"I kind of like it as it is, though. Feels like a proper secret or a metroidvania skip, the sort of thing you can only find through experimentation.
>>11457062Any similar quality games? Either home-made or from a publisher front, think platformers. At the time I was playing An Untitled Story with La-Mulana, so these two come to mind as they also have established story settings.
