Prerelease:Cave Story

This page details prerelease information and/or media for Cave Story.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

To do: Finish adding tracks from here. Video footage both from here and here. Add translations for some of the Japanese text present on screenshots and write them here in their corresponding sections. Maybe add subpages? The page is getting a little bit long.

Cave Story changed drastically over the course of its development. Outside of sharing the same main character, most music, and some graphics -- Cave Story had little in common with the version of the game that was released in 2004. This version of Cave Story was nearly finished when Pixel announced he would be formally restarting development of Cave Story on June 3rd, 2002 in his personal blog, after receiving feedback from a friend who said the game wasn't interesting to play through.

Pixel agreed with his friend, feeling that he was approaching development in a "careless" and "unorganized" manner. He decided to start over from the ground up with a more focused vision, and around two years later, Pixel would finally release Cave Story on December 20, 2004.

Pixel currently has no intentions of releasing these older versions of Cave Story, believing them to be very buggy and unpolished. However, he has released several images, videos, and music from this version of Cave Story over the years, and he additionally showcased a pre-reboot build at both the Game Developers Conference 2011 and an event at Tokyo Culture Culture.

Development Diary

To do: Document the contents of the diary aside from the images.

While he worked on Cave Story, Pixel jotted down his thoughts and other ideas into a development diary that he hosted on his website. Surprisingly, a backup of the diary exists on the Internet Archive, dated July 16, 2001, allowing us to get a glimpse into the game's development process.

While many of the images below were created after the archive's cutoff point, we are still able to discern the date they were uploaded based on their filenames.

Screenshots

Date	Image	Description
November 16, 2000		Appears to be a map editor, with the map in question possibly being the one featured in the screenshot below.
December 13, 2000		A debugging area of sorts, using placeholder tiles that were uploaded earlier. The text translates to:
February 4, 2001		A screenshot of the blue cavern area with two pathways shown. Some soap enemies (including a single lighter one) can be seen here.
February 4, 2001		A small intermission area in the blue cavern area, with a Mimiga near a flower, and a shopkeeper of an unknown species.
February 4, 2001		An area in the blue cavern that has the player jumping down a hole lined with fire enemies.
February 18, 2001		A image that was posted as a joke to imply that Cave Story had become an RPG.
February 26, 2001		A view of what appears to be an early inventory menu. Early versions of the Polar Star (here named the "Doggy"), Snake (originally named the "Frontier"), and the Fireball, all of which have an ammo count of 999.
March 8, 2001		Curly Brace battles Puu, the early version of Balrog. Notably, the boss health bar is located on the top of the screen, next to the player's current weapon, whereas the final version moved it down to the bottom.
May 5, 2001		A room with a Mimiga NPC that the player can talk to. The Mimiga would later reappear in the final game's Plantation, under the name Chie. A potted cactus and another shopkeeper are also present here. The text translates to:
July 17, 2001		Another screenshot of the blue cavern area, with the player sporting an early Missile Launcher. Yet another shopkeeper is present over to the right with some flowers. The cave is filled with sponge-like breakable blocks that resembles those seen in Ikachan. A similar block can still be found unused in the final game's files.
July 17, 2001		A sand-filled area, with streams of sand that pushed the player the player around. A red dragon and several small crocodile enemies can be seen, the latter of which resemble the Sandcrocs that appear in the final game. In fact, almost all of the tiles in this area were eventually used verbatim in the Sand Zone!
October 2, 2001		A thick, overgrown cave filled to the brim with bat-like soap enemies that fire bubbles at the Curly Brace, while the player counters with their own bubbles courtesy of an early Bubbline. This grassy location may have served as the basis for the final game's Bushlands.
November 16, 2001		Look familiar? This is the same room that appears in the background of the February 26, 2001 screenshot! Here, it is more apparent that this is some kind of settlement, with a building containing a Mimiga, a shopkeeper, and several potted flowers.
February 18, 2002		Continuing the trend of callbacks, here's the room with Chie again! The shopkeeper was replaced by an elderly Mimiga, who would also go on to appear in the Plantation under the name Zett, and the room has overall received a massive graphical upgrade.
February 18, 2002		A maze-like area composed primarily of white bricks, featuring a dragon enemy and a flying soap enemy. The weapon the player is holding here resembles the Fireball, but it has a fancy white appearance. Perhaps it was an upgrade?
February 20, 2002		The camp area again, this time with the player inside a shop menu. At this point, the tileset graphics are basically identical to those seen in the final game's Plantation.
April 7, 2002		Curly Brace firing his Missile Launcher at a flock of black bat-soaps flying over a bridge. This area bears more than a passing resemblance to the bridge seen at the beginning of the Plantation, which also sports a flock of bats patrolling it.
April 8, 2002		Appears to be the same map as the above screenshot. This time, the player is in an area where they must traverse blocks with faces on them, which are all patrolled by saws.
May 9, 2002 (according to the last modified date)		A screenshot of the game window, showing what appears to be the starting area, which bears a striking resemblance to the Start Point in the final game.

Drawings

Date	Image	Description
June 4, 2001		Curly Brace and an early Sue. Behind them are characters from Pixel's webcomic, Ame.
June 9, 2001		Curly Brace glancing towards the camera, while a soap enemy with a propeller on its head floats nearby.
June 10, 2001		A completely pitch-black picture, save for the white Curly Brace in the center.
October 29, 2001		Rough concept art of a boss labelled the "Almond", which evidently became the Core in the final game. In fact, the Core's graphics file is still named "NpcAlmond" internally!
November 7, 2001		Art depicting an early version of Sue, who served a somewhat similar role in the plot as the final version of Sue, though instead of being a human-turned-Mimiga, this Sue is simply a Mimiga who doesn't get along with the others. This early design depicts her as slimmer, wearing a green vest and a backpack, and not having the scar of the final version.
November 21, 2001		Another drawing of Sue. Here, it is more apparent that she is in fact wearing a backpack.
January 19, 2002		A drawing of Curly Brace that somewhat resembles his "final" design (before the reset, that is). He's got blue clothes, a green cap, and red eyes, but has an oddly skin-colored face. The Hard Mode coloration for Quote in the Nicalis versions of Cave Story seems to be a reference to this drawing, as it also has human-like skin.
February 27, 2002		A humorously buff Curly Brace leading the way for a confused Sue. Notably, his tank top has a picture of a cat on the front, something
May 23, 2002		A very sad Sue turning towards the camera. The text above her head says:

Sprite Sheet & Tileset

Date	Image	Description
August 12, 2000		A (seemingly) placeholder tileset filled with green blocks, and a brown rock pattern that resembles the background from Ikachan.
August 23, 2000		A walking animation featuring an early Quote/Curly Brace design. The floor doesn't resemble anything from any known build of the game, though it may simply be an example drawing made to help illustrate Curly's walking animation.

Art by Pixel's Friends

During development, several pieces of art featuring characters and situations from Cave Story were created by some of Pixel's friends. Given that these pictures were drawn at different points in the game's history, they help provide an insight into certain aspects of Cave Story's development.

Naoku's Drawings

To do: There's an additional picture of the Doctor that the Internet Archive didn't back up. Is it lost to time?

Date	Image	Description
N/A		A red Curly Brace traversing a cave, in front of an extremely thin pathway.
N/A		A sepia-toned picture of Curly Brace and Sue walking through a cave, being pursued by a group of soap enemies and a shadowy, Puu-like figure (Puu Black?). Notably, instead of his name, Curly Brace has a picture of the main character of Ikachan on his cap. This detail is seemingly referenced in the Nicalis rereleases, as the squid character was added to the back of Quote's hat in a few upscaled credits images.
N/A		A drawing of Curly Brace with an early version of the Blade, back when it was more gun than blade. He is holding a tiny soap enemy in his right hand, and appears to be holding another gun in his left. The drawing was originally posted alongside a reference image, which, strangely enough, appears to be a cropped version of the April 8, 2002 screenshot from the development diary, but with Curly and the Cynical Blade having different colors. In particular, the Cynical Blade looks more like its inventory sprite, and Curly does not have red eyes.
N/A		An ultra-wide view of Curly and Sue doing some tricky platforming.
September 30, 2003		Curly listening for something/looking out for something, while pointing his gun ahead. Given the similar art style this drawing has compared to the picture above, they might be from around the same time, though it's hard to be certain.
December 14, 2003		Sue trying to convince a green Curly Brace to feed her a flower. At this point, Sue has switched to her final design.
February 20, 2004		Quote and Curly Brace (the real Curly Brace this time) standing next to each other.

Torai's Drawings

Date	Image	Description
N/A		An early Sue sitting outside in the sunset with Puu and Oscar.
N/A		The scene above, but now it has turned to nighttime, with Sue appropriately yawning.
March 8, 2003		A chibi Sue whistling.
March 9, 2003		Curly Brace, Sue, and a couple of characters from the Ame manga running away from Balrog and Oscar. This drawing reveals an interesting transitional point, as Balrog is using a design very close to final, yet Oscar is present here instead of Misery. Notably, Oscar has a propeller in this picture, something that wasn't seen in previous appearances.
March 10, 2003		Curly going fishing with an absurdly tiny Sue.
March 11, 2003		Sue sitting down, holding a seal from Azarashi, another game made by Pixel.
March 15, 2003		To do: What is the joke here?

(Source: Pixel's old website)

Screenshots from Shuhei Miyazawa's Blog

To do: Maybe write up on details revealed in the text of the posts?

After the Cave Story event at Tokyo Culture Culture had ended, Pixel's friend Shuhei Miyazawa made a few posts on his blog describing the game's development.

Image	Description
	Curly Brace blasting his way through an enemy-filled cave using the Fireball. This room also appeared in the Game Developers Conference footage, where the chest on the ledge above is notably absent.
	The room where Sue was held captive. Curiously, Puu sports thick eyebrows and glasses in this screenshot, both of which he lacks in later builds. Perhaps an early attempt to differentiate his design from the other soap enemies? The text reads:
	A completely full inventory. Compared to later versions of pre-reboots Cave Story, almost of the inventory items are blue and brown, whereas later builds would add some variety in that department.
	The pre-restart equivalent of the Sand Zone. The player is using the Cynical Blade to pop a bubble (or egg?) containing the small, hopping crocodile enemies.
	An area greatly resembling the Waterway from the final game. Curly is leading a snorkeled Sue through this underwater path, with eel enemies in the way.
	A section of the Thicket. The player is fighting a large, bat-winged soap enemy surrounded by smaller enemies, which may have been the basis for the similar Orangebell enemy in the final game. Strangely, Curly Brace is green in this screenshot and the one below, but red in the images above. Maybe the last two images were from a different build?
	Curly fighting Puu and Oscar with a Missile Launcher-type weapon.

(Source: 洞窟物語のウラガワのウラガワ・過去作品補足編)

Image	Description
	Arthur's House, just before entering the Sand Zone. This screenshot is pretty much identical to the final game, apart from the door and the chalkboard having a distinctive blue tint. Kazuma's pants and the teleporter are also a tinge bluer compared to in the final game.
	The Bushlands, just outside the Execution Chamber and Kazuma's room. The bike is yellow instead of pink, and the "LEVEL DOWN" text is in English, whereas in the final version it is in Japanese.
	The Sand Zone. Nearly identical to the final version, except for the fact that the teleporter is placed right next to the Beetle section. It seems that at this point, the hallway where you first see Curly hadn't been implemented yet.
	Almost identical to the final version, save for the Labyrinth's door having a blue color, like in the Arthur's House screenshot.
	The Outer Wall. The Night Spirit enemies have a noticeably different face, and the sign marking the location of the 270/Nikumaru Counter has yet to be drawn.

(Source: 洞窟物語のウラガワのウラガワ・デバッガ隊編)

Miscellaneous Graphics Released by Pixel

Source	Image	Description
Originally uploaded on Pixel's old website.		A tileset consisting of a few blocks, a cave background, and a tall door. According to Pixel, these were some of the first tiles drawn for the game.
		A collection of photos seemingly intended for the ending of the game. One image shows the island the game takes place on, while another is a shot of Puu, Oscar, and several smaller soap enemies. The other two images, however, show Curly Brace and Sue with two other characters not seen anywhere else. According to Pixel, the human girl was an early version of Misery, while the elderly man is Curly Brace's creator, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Tetsuzou, the Hermit Gunsmith from the final game. Given that many pre-reset assets were reused within the last few months of the game's development, and the fact that the Hermit Gunsmith is the second-to-last map listed internally, this may be more than just a coincidence.
Prerelease image set released by Pixel.		A tileset with various metal blocks and chains.
		Various early sprites depicting Curly Brace, a few Mimigas, and some soap enemies, including preliminary sprites for Puu and Oscar. There are a few guns and projectiles that don't resemble any seen in the final game.
		Shows a picture of Curly Brace resting, with a Pignon angry at him. Here, Curly Brace wears a tank top with a cat face and, notably, a hat with his name printed on the front.
Unknown		Art showing various characters and enemies, most notably showing some soap enemies, as well an angry squid enemy that resembles the main character from Ikachan. There are also rough level concepts for a few maps seen in pre-release screenshots and footage, including the room with the fire enemies on the sides, as well as a boss arena for Puu.
Unknown		A timeline showing the rough progression of the game's development, apparently created for Cave Story's tenth anniversary. Contains a wide variety of prerelease sprites, most notably a few scrapped outfits for Curly/Quote, including a scuba diving suit and a strange, frog-like costume. Additionally, sprites from extremely early on in development can be seen on the left side, showing that the player character was originally a human.

(Source: Cave Story Tribute Site)

Music

To do: Add more tracks along with the various revisions of each track and document any notable differences between said revisions and the final. Also, move the music to a development page, since we have the original files.

Over the course of the game's development, Pixel released several revisions of a music player program called "OrgView", which each contain different iterations of the game's soundtrack at that time. Most of these versions were lost to time, until a zip file containing all 19 versions was uploaded onto the Cave Story modding site Doukutsu Uploader on November 18, 2011.

From these programs, it becomes apparent that most of the final game's music was present in the original Cave Story, albeit with notable differences. However, four of the released tracks, "Pier Walk", "Meltdown", "Untitled", and "People of the Root" ultimately ended up getting scrapped after the development reset, and an additional track, the infamous "Wind Fortress", was composed specifically for the post-reboot versions, only to also be cut.

PiyoPiyo Music

To do: Add the other PiyoPiyo music files that were confirmed to have been made for Cave Story: Deep Sea and Foreign Land.

PixelMusicData (.pmd) was the music format Pixel used for a few of his earlier games, most notably Ikachan, before it was superseded by the Organya format. PiyoPiyo, the tool Pixel developed for creating tracks in .pmd, came bundled with several example tracks, some of which were originally created to be used in Cave Story.

Magman (マグマン.pmd)

This track can be heard in the footage shown at the Tokyo Culture Culture event. Seems to have been generic stage background music, or perhaps a placeholder?

Cave Story (洞窟物語.pmd)

An early main theme for Cave Story that bears very little resemblance to what eventually got used.

Manual Screenshots

To do: Properly compare with comparison screenshots.

The manual that the original freeware game came with contains several screenshots from various near-final builds of the game. Having "last modified" dates ranging from a month-and-a-half to six months before the game's release.

A title screen, with a placeholder version number, 2004.11 as the date, and a completely black background to make it even more modest than it currently is. Quote is one pixel lower.

The Sand Zone. The star blocks have the same palette seen in this blog post, and the Polar Star is a different color.

Grasstown. The tileset is more green.

The inventory. The ARMS and ITEM texts are in English, while in the final Japanese release, they're in Japanese written in hiragana. The colors on items are also different.

These two pictures seem to have very slightly different colored tilesets compared to one another, but it's unknown if they weren't just saved improperly.