Translation Release #50 - Cave Story

[Tallgeese]

What the... You can't have the mask AND the Booster can you? You NEED the Booster to navigate the spike traps.

[Gigafreak]

What the... You can't have the mask AND the Booster can you? You NEED the Booster to navigate the spike traps.

Remember, you're not in the HIDDEN Final Cave. The normal Cave's traps are negotiable with normal jumps. You've beaten the Sacred Passage in six minutes. Don't tell me you need some silly jetpack to make your way past a few spiked pits.
(If you need a game save that still has the mask on, I can post the necessary profile.dat for you.)

Also, there is a point where it seems you can't jump high enough to proceed. I'll give you a hint: some of those spike traps are fake. Try dropping a fireball down one of them. If it doesn't hit the bottom, maybe you should jump down yourself...

The pictures in the ending, such as the one showing Sue fliailing about in the Sky Dragon's grip, still show the player unmasked, though.

...Well, fine. We've spoiled enough in this thread...

QUOTE's face is unmasked in the ending non-sprite pictures.

And, as for savegame hacking... How do you do that? I open Profile.dat in notepad, but I can't figure out what you're doing.
It looks like a jumble:

Code: Select all

Do041220O       \       2   (          ¶       ( 
                  
      
                                   d   d   	                                                                                       	   
                  &                  !   '                                                         q     r     s     t     u                                                                                                                                                          FLAG           ð   Â    ôõ  `Àû à µ 0   @   À   @ ~    # @ 5 À Ð      Ѓ  ° V Ð    Àm        	 0       àiž     p  0             À      0     @     >                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

This data gives you 40/50 (had 50, got hit once while leaving) health and 30/30 Missiles after completing the game, in front of the Sacred Passage. Have Spur, Super Missiles, Fireball, Bubbler, Blade all at or near max EXP. Have Life Pot, Map thingy, Red Demon's item, and the required items to access the Sacred Passage. No Alien thingy. I've little to no experience hacking, could you demonstrate or something? (I know the hexidecimal number system, but that's... about it.)

[Johan_H]

Spoiler Alert!!!



Played it through this weekend. This is one of the best games ever made! The story is sad.
I need to play it again...
Is there any way you can make Curly not die?

[kieran_]

Played it through this weekend. This is one of the best games ever made! The story is sad.
I need to play it again...
Is there any way you can make Curly not die?

You could have made a spoiler alert....

[Johan_H]

Sorry...

[Tallgeese]

...Johan, I congratulate you on being so dumb YOU CAN'T EVEN READ THE THREAD YOU JUST POSTED IN FOR YOUR ANSWER. Christ.

---

Gigafreak, the Booster 2.0 is a requirement for even getting INTO the Sacred Grounds last I checked. Some of the spike traps are impossible without it, ane there're many instant kill spike traps.

[Zuzma]

And, as for savegame hacking... How do you do that?

Well I don't really know what I'm hacking since it's mostly just guess work. Converting hex to dec helps sometimes but more complex stuff I have to guess on by changing bytes around. Comparing two or more different save files can be useful too. Also you can try the hex editor I use if you want.(xvi32)

[Noxious Ninja]

And, as for savegame hacking... How do you do that? I open Profile.dat in notepad, but I can't figure out what you're doing.

1) Get yourself a hex editor and a compare program that does binary.

2) Do something in-game, save, copy your profile.dat, do something else in-game, save again, and compare the two copies. Basically, you're trying to find a correlation between what you did in-game and what bytes changed in profile.dat.

[Zuzma]

You said it better then I did. Also do you know of any binary compare programs for windows? I've just been comparing them by using my own eyes. It would be harder on a larger file but I've just been doing small saved games mostly.

[creaothceann]

Try WinHex (no installation) or Hex Workshop.

[Noxious Ninja]

I use UltraEdit, which comes with a light-weight compare program. The company also makes a more full-featured compare program called UltraCompare. As far as I can tell, it is almost worthless for text files, but it works great on binary files. It's not free, though.

http://www.ultraedit.com/

[Gigafreak]

Okay, so I just need a program to decode the... code.

Thanks for the replies, people.

[Zuzma]

Ah thank you, those work pretty well.

Edit: Finished. The list is pretty sloppy but it has all of the maps. Mess with the bytes to the right of the addresses I gave in my last post to get the guy to load up in the proper spot. I really need to work on figuring out where the guy will load up on the map rather then just making random guesses.
http://home.graffiti.net/zuzma/maplist.txt

[Gigafreak]

If you shoot off all four vulnerable bouncy miniballs from Ballos's third form, you can stand on his head and just drive missiles or Blades into his scalp. If you're out of missiles and don't have the Blade, you could also use Curly's Nemesis. If you don't feel liks jumping, you can also just drop Fireballs on him. Or if you are inhumanly good at buttonmashing, you can try rapid-firing the Spur.

I managed under 5 minutes on a hacked run (255 health, infinite missiles) this way. The title screen changes again, this time to Toroko with her trusty bappin' stick and a calm tune I only remember hearing on the music player, Organya View.

...Now that I know how to hack the save file, I am SO going to NewGame+ this with a Spur, Machinegun, and Infinite Super Missiles. Hee. (Bubbler? SCREW the Bubbler!)

[Starman Ghost]

UGH. HOW ON EARTH DO YOU GET THE ALIEN MEDAL!? I can't seem to get the Main Artery boss fish to drop it anymore!

Easy. Just kill him in a single round of attacks. I destroyed him with missles in less than 5 seconds.

And about Curly. What happens if you say to leave her in that shack? Maybe she'll pop up somewhere later?

[Tallgeese]

Nope, leaving her there makes it so that she just vanishes forever.

--

Also, I do that with Blade... By single round, do you mean he can't even get to the right of the screen the first time?

[Starman Ghost]

Nope, leaving her there makes it so that she just vanishes forever.

--

Also, I do that with Blade... By single round, do you mean he can't even get to the right of the screen the first time?

I mean on his trip to the left of the screen, you take him from full health to zero.

[Tallgeese]

Ahhh, you can't start pounding him as he first goes to the right then? I see...

[Starman Ghost]

Actually I can't seem to get it anymore. Maybe I was wrong, or it's a one time only thing or something.

[Tallgeese]

No, I managed to get it three times during my Curly testing. I can't figure out how.

[Gigafreak]

Hrm. Does either of you remember the Alien Medal's actual in-game description?

(Bloody Holyland in five minutes is just BARELY possible if you're either God or hacking. I just played another hacked speed run: five minutes and seven seconds. I only cleared it by 0.3 seconds the first time.)

[Tallgeese]

I believe it was: "Medal with an alien insignia. It has no use."

[Noxious Ninja]

I'm working on hacking the items now. I've found some rather interesting things. I'll post a list when I'm done.

[Noxious Ninja]

-- marks my comments. ??? are items I haven't seen in-game.

Code: Select all

Items:

0D8: Item 1
0DC: Item 2
0E0: Item 3
0E4: Item 4
0E8: Item 5
0EC: Item 6
0F0: Item 7
0F4: Item 8
0F8: Item 9
0FC: Item 10
100: Item 11
104: Item 12
108: Item 13
10C: Item 14
110: Item 15
114: Item 16
118: Item 17
11C: Item 18
120: Item 19
124: Item 20
128: Item 21
12C: Item 22
130: Item 23
134: Item 24

Value listing for item slots:
		00 = No item in this and following slots
		01 = Arthur's Key
				The key to Arthur's house.
				It was hidden near Arthur's
				gravestone.
		02 = Map System
		03 = Santa's Key
				The key to Santa's house.
		04 = Silver Locket
				A silver locket in the shape of a fish.
				From the condition it's in, it looks
				like it's been treasured for years.
		05 = Beast Fang -- ???
				A sharp fang found at the
				Yamashita Farm. Is its owner still
				alive...?
		06 = Life Capsule -- Worthless, as it can't be used.
				A life capsule.
		07 = ID Card
				An ID Card found in Egg No. 06.
		08 = Jellyfish Juice
				A fluid that can quench
				fireplaces.
		09 = Rusty Key
				A rusty key.
		0A = Gum Key
				A tag says "Gum".
		0B = Gum Base
				A clump of gum.
		0C = Charcoal
				Taken from a fireplace.
		0D = Explosive
				An explosive for blowing up doors
				and such.
		0E = Puppy
				Jenka's pet dog.
		0F = Life Pot
				This will restore your life,
				but only once. Will you use it?
		10 = Cure-All
				Apparently, this cures
				anything and everything...
		11 = Clinic Key
				It says "Labyrinth Clinic".
		12 = Booster v0.8
				Push the jump button again in
				midair to fly even higher.
		13 = Arms Barrier
				When you take damage, the amount
				oweapon energy lost will be halved.
		14 = Turbocharge
				Increases the rate at which the
				machine gun replenishes ammo.
		15 = Curly's Air Tank
				You can breathe underwater with
				this. Curly used to use it.
		16 = Nikumaru Counter
				A fully automatic stopwatch.
				You can't see any buttons.
		17 = Booster v2.0
				Push the jump button in midair and
				you can move in any direction.
		18 = Mimiga Mask -- It can't be worn
				A Mimiga mask Sue's mother made.
				It's a bit big...
		19 = Teleporter Room Key
				A key fish out by a certain
				Mimiga.
		1A = Sue's Letter
				Will you read it?
		1B = Controller
				Necessary to make a rocket.
				Pride of Itoh, the cowardly man.
		1C = Broken Sprinkler
				A busted water sprinkler.
		1D = Sprinkler
				It's brand-new. ...Perhaps.
		1E = Tow Rope
				A tow rope for robots.
		1F = Clay Figure Medal
				Small and profoundly heavy.
				It has no use.
		20 = Little Man -- ??
				Hey! We there yet?
		21 = Mushroom Badge
				The mushroom badge you got from the
				mushroom. It has no real use. To be
				honest, you don't really need it...
		22 = Ma Pignon
				Allegedly, it has the power to
				restore memories...
		23 = Curly's Underwear -- ???
				Retreived from beind the wall.
				Yellow-green panties with a cute
				little insignia. They have no use.
		24 = Alien Medal
				Engraved with the silhouette of an
				alien. It has no use.
		25 = Chaco's Lipstick -- ???
				Red lipstick.
				It has no use.
		26 = Whimsical Star
				A little trinket you got from
				Chaba in the labyrinth.
				A whimsical star.
		27 = Iron Bond
				Your tie to Curly Brace, the only
				warrior you would trust your back to.
				Surely you will meet again one day...
		28-29 = No Item
		
		Note: I haven't tested item values above 29, but I assume they all are "No Item"

[Tallgeese]

23 = Curly's Underwear -- ???
Retreived from beind the wall.
Yellow-green panties with a cute
little insignia. They have no use.

What the...

I recognize the rest except for Beast Fang and Chaco's Lipstick...

---

You acquire the Clay Figure Medal by clearing the Hidden Cave, the boss drops it all the time I think.

The Little Man is that little guy in the Graveyard, talk to his wife in the Outer Wall first.