The Science of Cave Story

Well, it's come to this:
I am fairly certain I can explain the science of Cave Story...
Weapons, Physics, Creatures...
Ask away, as the only thing I don't know is where to start.

 

I did ask about the missile launcher in another thread. Bah, no point mirroring the same question.

Do you believe in jinxes? I'm pretty sure its the only explanation why Booster lives when you ignore him and dies if we talk to him.

And WTF was the reason that the island stayed up after hell. What negative energy does Curly mean?

 

Emm I believe theres a thread on this about the fireball working underwater... maybe SP could merge the thread and change the thread title?

 

No man, this thread is about Ask Swami DB.

 

Answer the questions in that thread then! D:

 

why do entities fall at constant velocity?

 

Answer the questions in that thread then! D:

Just because it says I'm online, doesn't mean I'm here...
I never have to log out.

In awnser to the question about Booster, it's *probably* that Quote doesn't have any medical skills and perhaps kept Bootster from tending to his injuries for that critical time period, thus killing him. I mean, Quote is a war machine... Or maybe Booster turned the Teleporter into a life/ammo refill station when you were fighting Balrog in teh boulder chamber.

As for the negative energy, I am fairly certain it refers to Ballos's wild magic. But, to pretend for a second that "magic" is some undistcovered form of energy, it would appear to have the following properties:

• It can be positive or negative.
• It can easilly be converted into electric energy (Recall: Ballos Lightning).
• It can be stored withing living tissue.
• It has a repulsion (when positive) effect against the Earths magnetic field.
• It has an attraction (when negative) effect towards the Earths magnetic field.
• When stored in living tissue it can cause spontaneous mutautions and increases in mass.
• It can form mass spontaneously.
• It can change the state of objects while maintaining their integrity.
• It can be generated by some entities internally, probably through their food intake or special chemical reaction.

From this I can infer that the Core was a (the) source of the positive "magic" that kept the island afloat and Ballos was the source of the negative that sought to bring it down. Upon creating the island, Jenka must have known about the negative energy of her brother, and so created the Core, a source of the positive energy, to counterbalance her brothers effects, but just enough so the island won't crash down or sail into space. As for how the island remains afloat after the redemption ending, it was most likely Jenka's magic, perhaps with Misery's help.

But this is all speculation based on unknown factors. After all, I'm explaining how "magic" would work scientifically in the confines of a (great) video game.

 

why do entities fall at constant velocity?

Umm...
Gravity affect all things equally. In the abscence of air resistance, all objects exerience the same pull, thusly fall at the same rate.

However, I'm fairly sure (for god knows how many reasons) the island's atmosphere isn't a vacuum, so the only way I can explain this is either:

• All objects in the game have the same drag coeffecient.
  ~Or~
• Gravity (for some reason - "magic" as defined below?) effects the objects at different rates in some proportion to their drag coeffecient.

 

why do entities fall at constant velocity?

Because Cave Story doesn't use Havok. ;P

 

Because Cave Story doesn't use Havok. ;P

Well, yes...
lol
But the point is "in-game" explainations.

 

Just because it says I'm online, doesn't mean I'm here...
I never have to log out.

In awnser to the question about Booster, it's *probably* that Quote doesn't have any medical skills and perhaps kept Bootster from tending to his injuries for that critical time period, thus killing him. I mean, Quote is a war machine... Or maybe Booster turned the Teleporter into a life/ammo refill station when you were fighting Balrog in teh boulder chamber.

As for the negative energy, I am fairly certain it refers to Ballos's wild magic. But, to pretend for a second that "magic" is some undistcovered form of energy, it would appear to have the following properties:

• It can be positive or negative.
• It can easilly be converted into electric energy (Recall: Ballos Lightning).
• It can be stored withing living tissue.
• It has a repulsion (when positive) effect against the Earths magnetic field.
• It has an attraction (when negative) effect towards the Earths magnetic field.
• When stored in living tissue it can cause spontaneous mutautions and increases in mass.
• It can form mass spontaneously.
• It can change the state of objects while maintaining their integrity.
• It can be generated by some entities internally, probably through their food intake or special chemical reaction.

From this I can infer that the Core was a (the) source of the positive "magic" that kept the island afloat and Ballos was the source of the negative that sought to bring it down. Upon creating the island, Jenka must have known about the negative energy of her brother, and so created the Core, a source of the positive energy, to counterbalance her brothers effects, but just enough so the island won't crash down or sail into space. As for how the island remains afloat after the redemption ending, it was most likely Jenka's magic, perhaps with Misery's help.

But this is all speculation based on unknown factors. After all, I'm explaining how "magic" would work scientifically in the confines of a (great) video game.

Though this theory is very possible, if not scientific compared to my own, I believe that "negative energy" refers to some sort of malicious of dark magical power in typical Anime fashion as opposed to anything of that nature.

 

Though this theory is very possible, if not scientific compared to my own, I believe that "negative energy" refers to some sort of malicious of dark magical power in typical Anime fashion as opposed to anything of that nature.

Well, power to you.
Although this does agree with you in a way; it just defines "magic" as a form of energy, rather than, well, magic.

...

For all we know, Pixel could've been going for a Disney-style of magic.

 

Answer me this: How can Quote change direction while in mid-air? Before he owns the booster?

 

why do entities fall at constant velocity?

Umm...
Gravity affect all things equally. In the abscence of air resistance, all objects exerience the same pull, thusly fall at the same rate.

That's not entirely right. In the absence of air there is no air resistance, so if you drop a feather and a brick at the same time in vacuum and a non-zero gravity, they will both hit the ground at the same time. This doesn't mean however that they will keep a constant velocity, they will continue to accelerate by the force of gravity.

velocity(time) = velocity(0) + acceleration * time

Cave story doesn't seem to follow this particular law of physics, but that's not true either, according to the code it has a maximum limit for downward velocity (I can't remember the exact number, but as you see in the game, it's not high)
To explain this phenomena we can either make the hypothesis that the Cave story world has ridiculously strong (and mysterious) upward-winds or that Quote just weighs a few grams!

*PUTS UP A FORCE FIELD AROUND THE CATGIRLS*

 

Please Explain Monster X [the machine, the cat, his purpose] and his demise [fall off screen through ground?] and dare I mention Balrog?

 

*PUTS UP A FORCE FIELD AROUND THE CATGIRLS*

Thankyou.
No catgirls were killed in the making of this post.

 

Please Explain Monster X [the machine, the cat, his purpose] and his demise [fall off screen through ground?] and dare I mention Balrog?

Balrog is a robot.
The tunnel was most likely a long track across a chasm. 2d remember?

 

That's not entirely right. In the absence of air there is no air resistance, so if you drop a feather and a brick at the same time in vacuum and a non-zero gravity, they will both hit the ground at the same time. This doesn't mean however that they will keep a constant velocity, they will continue to accelerate by the force of gravity.

velocity(time) = velocity(0) + acceleration * time

Cave story doesn't seem to follow this particular law of physics, but that's not true either, according to the code it has a maximum limit for downward velocity (I can't remember the exact number, but as you see in the game, it's not high)
To explain this phenomena we can either make the hypothesis that the Cave story world has ridiculously strong (and mysterious) upward-winds or that Quote just weighs a few grams!

*PUTS UP A FORCE FIELD AROUND THE CATGIRLS*

Perhaps Quote has some sort of rudimentary booster-like device?
I mean, his jumps are rather phenominal...
If each block was, say, 5 feet, he can jump about 20 or so feet...
And 5-foot blocks are not too unreasonable...
That makes Quote just over four feet with the hat...
It's no wonder he wasn't seens as a robot earlier - he's the height of a 4 year old.
...
Last time I looked, four year olds aren't know for secretly being killer robot scout assassins.

 

Balrog is a robot.
The tunnel was most likely a long track across a chasm. 2d remember?

What?
Balrog = robot?
Then who built him?

But yes, Monster X (tangent: has anyone noticed in Sue's it's listed as "Weapon X"?) probably falls through a chasm...
I've drawn a pic of what it might look like from above:

So...
As for the cat, my guess is it was some failed attempt at a mechanically-enhanced version of a living animal...
Who knows, maybe Balrog really is a cyborg toaster from the same series of experiments.

 

What?
Balrog = robot?
Then who built him?

But yes, Monster X (tangent: has anyone noticed in Sue's it's listed as "Weapon X"?) probably falls through a chasm...
I've drawn a pic of what it might look like from above:

So...
As for the cat, my guess is it was some failed attempt at a mechanically-enhanced version of a living animal...
Who knows, maybe Balrog really is a cyborg toaster from the same series of experiments.

FACT: Balrog isn't a toaster.
FACT: Balrog isn't a briefcase.
FACT: Balrog isn't a lunchbox.
FACT: Balrog isn't a tv.
FACT: Balrog does not have a handle, that is just the top of the door behind where he was standing.
FACT: The balrog-is-a-toaster thing started because he looked like one and someone drew a balrog on the side of a toaster.
FACT: Malco is proof that there is more types of robot than the soldier type.
FACT: Balrog shoots missiles.

He is a friggin' robot. I already made this point on another thread.

I have no idea who made him though.

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