Cave Story Sound Track Sources

Apr 10, 2012 at 9:58 PM
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So I've answered this somewhat subjective question on StackExchange.Gaming and in the process came to wonder how many different "official" versions of the Cave Story soundtrack there are and where they came from.

What are the different versions of the sound track and where did they come from?

So far the versions that I have distinguished are:
  • CS Original Sound Track - Pixel - seen on the fansite which I assume comes from the original completed release of Cave Story by Pixel.
  • CS+/Wii/3D(?) Sound Track - Yann van der Cruyssen rearrange - used in the Wii Soundtrack which appears to be the same one used in Cave Story+ on Steam and the Humble Indie Bundle - are they the same? From playing CS+, the org versions appear to be the same ones in the soundtrack included with the HIB and in the steam Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\cave story+\data\base\Ogg folder +/- a few tracks. Is the 3DS soundtrack different from these? As far as I can tell, it seems to be the same as the +/Wii versions.
  • These files in Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\cave story+\data\base\Ogg11 - ??? - In my searching, I found that this folder contains music files for the game almost all split into an intro and loop, which, when combined, each sound different from either of the previously mentioned soundtracks. It sounds closer to a rearrange of the original CS soundtrack for the most part. What is this and where did it come from? Is this more of Yann van der Cruyssen? I would post them somewhere, but I don't realy have anywhere convenient to host them atm.
  • Where does the PSP version fit in?
Tracks unique to different sources:
  • Wind Fortress - CS+/3D/Wii(?)/Ogg11 folder - Not included in my steam's Ogg folder or in HIBST, but is in the Org folder and obviously plays in-game.
  • Halloween 2 - CS+/3D/Wii - When does this play? On Halloween? I read something about this replacing Hero's End on Halloween?
  • Squid - CS+/3D(?)/Wii(?)/HIB Sound Track - I can't remember if this actually plays in game - like when you get the Alien Badge. I don't see the file in the Org folder so I assume that it doesn't.
  • Intro Menu - CS+/Wii/Others?/HIBST - Not sure which versions use this menu music. I assume Wii and I believe CS+.
  • Wii Credits - Wii/Others?/HIBST - Not sure which versions actually use this credit music. I assume Wii if nothing else.
  • Jenka 1b - HIBST - Included with the Humble Indie Bundle Soundtrack for Cave Story+. It appears to be another rearrange of Jenka 1. I don't think it's used anywhere though.
  • For some reason White wasn't included in HIBST even though it's in my ogg and org folders. Strange. I thought I read Wii and/or 3D didn't include this track? Maybe that's why.
  • wanpaku_ending (Mischievous Robot Ending?) - Ogg11 folder - What is this supposed to be? It sounds just like a rearrange of Mischievous Robot.
  • Last Cave 2 - Ogg11 folder - It again sounds just like another rearrange, this time of Last Cave.
Probably over-loading the question with the next bits, but they should be short to answer if answerable at all:
  • Where did the "unreleased" tracks listed on the music page came from? Did Pixel say, "here you go fanbase" and just hand them out or something?
  • Where did the community accepted titles for the tracks come from? wanpaku->Mischievous Robot, but wanpak2->Scorching Back doesn't seem to connect for me. Did Pixel come up with these? Was it the fanlators?
 
Apr 10, 2012 at 10:13 PM
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I can't answer all of them right now but I can answer a few.

1) The files in Ogg11 are the songs for the remastered soundtrack (not by Yann van der Cruyssen but by K-Wix and Danny Baronowsky). Also known as the Cave Story 3D soundtrack
2) If the music is switched to "New" and you go into Wind Fortress, no music will play because there is not music.
3) That is an alternate music track for the last cave in CS3D, I think. not sure how to get that to play in CS3D or CS+, but one is made by K-Wix and the other by Danny Baronowsky.
4) Unrelesed tracks came form the older versions or OrgView that have been released before the Cave Story we all know and love was released. These are not in the actual original .exe
5) Community-Accepted titles came from the translation. The ones that come from the translated version of OrgView come are from AGTP. The "official" translation of the tracks are almost identical, witht eh exception of "On to Bushlands" instead of "On to Grasstown" Stuff like wanpaku came from Pixel himself (original japanese) [or at least I think], while the stuff like "Mischevious robot" came from the translators.

edit: Answering more..
1) I have never owned a PSP so I can not say, but as it was released before the Nicalis Ports, I would assume that they use the original .org tracks from the original Cave Story.
2) to my knowledge, none of the ports used special credits music. Most likely, it's an unused track. Same goes for wanpaki_ending and Jenka 1b.
 
Apr 10, 2012 at 11:19 PM
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I can't answer all of them right now but I can answer a few.

1) The files in Ogg11 are the songs for the remastered soundtrack.
2) If the music is switched to "New" and you go into Wind Fortress, no music will play because there is not music.
3) That is an alternate music track for the last cave in CS3D, I think. not sure how to get that to play in CS3D or CS+, but one is made by K-Wix and the other by Danny Baronowsky.
4) Unrelesed tracks came form the older versions or OrgView that have been released before the Cave Story we all know and love was released. These are not in the actual original .exe
5) Community-Accepted titles came from the translation. The ones that come from the translated version of OrgView come are from AGTP. The "official" translation of the tracks are almost identical, witht eh exception of "On to Bushlands" instead of "On to Grasstown" Stuff like wanpaku came from Pixel himself (original japanese) [or at least I think], while the stuff like "Mischevious robot" came from the translators.

So to clarify and ensure that I am understanding:
  1. The files in the Ogg11 are for the "remastered soundtrack" which my search just told me is the "Cave Story 3D OST, arranged by Danny Baranowsky". Which I now realize my Cave Story+ has given me access to all along with the option to change which soundtrack to use. So Ogg11 is Remastered arranged by Danny Baranowsky and present on 3DS. Ogg is New, arranged by Yann van der Cruyssen and used on Wii. Org is the Original created by Pixel initially + a few tracks that were not previously released into the game's build.
  2. Based on 1., any folder not having a track for Wind Palace would not have music in Wind Palace. Ogg11 has Wind Palace so Remastered will have music and Org has Wind palace so original should have it too. Ogg has the exact same tracks copied over from Ogg11 it seems so wouldn't that mean that New would have music, but it would just be the same as that of the Remastered? So then it's just a question of which sources included those files or not - obviously the original did not but in CS+, they added it in. I'd love to test it myself, but I have yet to beat Ballos, although I was so very close once.
  3. So Last Cave and Last Cave 2 were arranged by two separate individuals for the remastered soundtrack mentioned in 1. I would imagine that by changing the filenames, you could probably swap out one for the other on PC, but I don't know of an explicit way to do this yet in-game.
  4. Fair enough. I was just looking at the beta music stuff and most of those unreleased tracks listed on the music page aren't even listed there so I was wondering if there was a different story behind them or something.
  5. "Official Translation"? Where would one find something like that? Aside from one article referring to On to Grasstown as Onto Bushlands, I've yet to find an "official" translation. Even the ST included with the HIB used original filenames so that track was weed.mp3. Wanpaku generally translates as mishievous or naughty and since you're playing as a robot, I guess that's implied as Japanese often drops the subject from sentences so that one makes sense more or less, but I was more confused as to how wanpak2 became Scorching Back.
So In general, to answer my main question, you are saying that:
  • There are generally 3 sound tracks (Original, Remastered, New)
  • In each release, certain subsets of each of these sound tracks have been released so the "unique" songs that I mention in the original question are moreso release specific than sound track specific. So for example, 3D only used remastered and some tracks may have been cut, and Wii may not have had white which is present in +'s version of new.
Does that about cover it?
 
Apr 10, 2012 at 11:45 PM
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"Official Translation"? Where would one find something like that? Aside from one article referring to On to Grasstown as Onto Bushlands, I've yet to find an "official" translation. Even the ST included with the HIB used original filenames so that track was weed.mp3. Wanpaku generally translates as mishievous or naughty and since you're playing as a robot, I guess that's implied as Japanese often drops the subject from sentences so that one makes sense more or less, but I was more confused as to how wanpak2 became Scorching Back.
You have Cave Story +, right? Any port/remake by Nicalis uses the official translation. The original and the ports before the Nicalis Ports have the fan-made AGTP tranlation.

Does that about cover it?
Preety much.
 
Apr 11, 2012 at 1:31 AM
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You have Cave Story +, right? Any port/remake by Nicalis uses the official translation. The original and the ports before the Nicalis Ports have the fan-made AGTP tranlation.

I see what you did there. Not quite what I was getting at, but not entirely incorrect. As this question is in the Music section asking about the Sound track with this point specifically made in a discussion of the song titles, I thought it would be given that I was referring to an "official translation" of the song titles. Knowing that the Nicalis port/remake is "the official translation" doesn't really help unless there's an in-game music player that lists "the official translation" song titles - is there and how do I access it? Otherwise, where can I find an "official translation" of the song titles?

So then all that's left unaddressed is the "unique" songs that have seen inclusion in one place or another.
  • Wind Fortress - some version is likely included with any releases that have that extra mode and omitted from those that do not.
  • Halloween 2 - I think I read about this playing especially on halloween. It's only in the Original sound track though so I wonder which releases would include this one.
  • Squid - Ika-chan reference in the New sound track, but I'm not sure if it actually plays at any point in time.
  • Intro Menu - Strange entry in the New sound track. It seemed that it would a least be in the Wii version, but after watchin some videos, it appears they went with a short lick tumult's re-arrange of Cave Story for the Wii dashboard entry and the actual in-game menu uses the Cave Story from the New sound track, albeit horribly butchered by the Wii like most of the sound track I've heard played on the Wii.
  • Wii Credits - I'll take your word if you say they all use the same credit/ending music included in the selected sound track type, regardless of what release as I neither have the Wii version nor have I listened to the credits on the Wii. Strange extra inclusion I guess? I'd love some official word on this, but I don't expect it.
  • Jenka 1b - Was pretty sure this one was just an extra that is not played in-game in any release with any sound track.
  • I guess some versions cut White. Hmmm. Strange.
  • Mischievous Ending - you haven't said anything about this item in the Remastered sound track so it's still a question, but as we don't know how to trigger it in-game, it seems to just be extra.
  • Last Cave 2 - you don't seem sure which version was arranged by whom, but as with mischievous ending, if you can't play it in-game, then it's extra.
Either way, I'll just treat all of these as bonus tracks for now and leave it at that.

Thankyou ShinyElectricBlueTiger.
 
Apr 11, 2012 at 11:57 AM
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Stuff like WANPAKU and REQUIEM are the internal names for the songs. This is because the org resource names in the original cave story were limited to 8 characters. The full names came from OrgView and the in-game credits of the original game. Since there is no CS+ OrgView or track listings in the credits it is likely that there are no official names besides "Onto Bushlands". The AGTP translation is the best you're gonna get in regards to the released tracks, four of the unreleased ones were translated by Jackalope (I think that's correct), Wind Fortress was translated as Fortress of the Wind by fatguy previously, it didn't take much to later figure out that it was named after the level, Unknown was never named, and since Halloween 2 is too long to be an internal name I just assumed it to be the full one. Is that everything?

The unreleased songs were mostly extracted from an early version of OrgView, same for the beta tracks. Pixel released a grand total of 17 versions of OrgView during Cave Story's development. Every version of OrgView came hardcoded with what was the Cave Story soundtrack at the time, which were listed in a dropdown playlist menu by their full names.

The Ikachan theme plays on the title screen during Pixel's birthday btw.
 
Apr 13, 2012 at 10:36 AM
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Cool beans. Thanks andwhyisit.

Stuff like WANPAKU and REQUIEM are the internal names for the songs. This is because the org resource names in the original cave story were limited to 8 characters.

The originally imposed brevity on the filenames is glaringly obvious from a simple look at the names of the files themselves on my machine.

The full names came from OrgView and the in-game credits of the original game.

OK. That was unclear before. I mean things like wanpaku which is JP for mischievous or naughty make sense. It was just the bigger stretch for a title like wanpak2 becoming scorching back that seemed like a stretch, but if you say there were full names listed for them somewhere to translate, then it makes much more sense that the title could be so different.

there are no official names besides "Onto Bushlands".

I only asked about "official" name translations because ShinyElectricBlueTiger said, "The "official" translation of the tracks are almost identical" implying that there was an official translation of the track names. The only one I knew of was Onto Bushlands, hence why I asked where one would find such a thing as "official" translations of the track names. I didn't think that there were any until ShinyElectricBlueTiger's comment suggested that there were.

The AGTP translation is the best you're gonna get in regards to the released tracks, four of the unreleased ones were translated by Jackalope (I think that's correct), Wind Fortress was translated as Fortress of the Wind by fatguy previously, it didn't take much to later figure out that it was named after the level, Unknown was never named, and since Halloween 2 is too long to be an internal name I just assumed it to be the full one. Is that everything?

It's everything I guess. I wasn't really all that concerned about the source of the translations as much as the source of the tracks themselves. I figured out that the track titles were fanlated and I had no further questions about that until ShinyElectricBlueTiger's comment made me think again. When I listed the "unique" tracks as I put it, it was more of a list of tracks whose origin and purpose were in question, which is why the notes beside them described where and what they seemed to be rather than where their names came from.

The unreleased songs were mostly extracted from an early version of OrgView, same for the beta tracks.

OK. The description on the beta music page explained that well enough for the beta tracks, just not for the unreleased tracks so their origin was a mystery to me until ShinyElectricBlueTiger and now you have shared that with me.

The Ikachan theme plays on the title screen during Pixel's birthday btw.

Ooh. That's cool. I didn't know that. Any clue what platforms that's on? Just CS+? On Wii too?

So here's what is known about the tracks unique to different releases then:
  • Wind Fortress - some version is likely included with any releases that have the Wind Fortress level and omitted from those that do not. There is a version for the Original and Remastered sound tracks and it seems the New sound track uses the Remastered version.
  • Halloween 2 - I think I read about this playing especially on halloween. It's only in the Original sound track though so I wonder which releases would include this one.
  • Squid - Ika-chan reference in the New sound track that apparently plays on Pixel's birthday. Ditto about which releases include this one - still unsure.
  • Intro Menu - Strange entry in the New sound track that was included in the Humble Indie Bundle's sound track for Cave Story+. It seemed that it would a least be in the Wii version, but after watching some videos, it appears they went with a short lick tumult's re-arrange of Cave Story for the Wii dashboard entry and the actual in-game menu uses the Cave Story from the New sound track, albeit horribly butchered like most of the sound track I've heard played on the Wii. Not sure if it's ever used.
  • Wii Credits - I'll take your word if you say they all use the same credit/ending music included in the selected sound track type, regardless of what release as I neither have the Wii version nor have I listened to the credits on the Wii. Strange extra inclusion in the HIB sound track for the New sound track Iguess? I'd love some official word on this, but I don't expect it.
  • Jenka 1b - Was pretty sure this one was just an extra that is not played in-game in any release with any sound track. Also included with HIB's version of the New sound track.
  • White - Appears to have been strangely cut from some versions and was not included in the HIB's New sound track.
  • Mischievous Ending - you haven't said anything about this item in the Remastered sound track so it's still a question, but as we don't know how to trigger it in-game, it seems to just be extra.
  • Last Cave 2 - either this or Last Cave in the Remastered sound track was done by K-Wix while the other was by Danny Baronowsky. Not sure how to change then in-game aside from changing the file name.
So yeah. Like I said before, I'll just treat these as "bonus" tracks for the respective sound tracks (Original, Remastered and New) of which they are a part and leave it at that. It's not like distinguishing between which releases use which is going to change anything all that much.
 
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