This Is No Cave news & patch notes

• Filled in some holes in secret level
• Improved cameras at the end of the secret level
• Limited ghosts to 5 minutes to avoid performance issues

• Fixed an issue where jellyfish achievement would not reset upon death
• Switched restarting from level 1 from pressing V key to holding V key to avoid accidents

Improvements

• Added jelly combo: if you alternate 1 burst and 1 jellyfish popping quickly enough, the jellyfish force will be higher and higher, up to 2 times higher after a 5 combo streak

• Placed gems at more interesting and easy to reach locations

• Added two new keyboard shortcuts for burst: I and J

• Added two new keyboard shortcuts for hook: U and K

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug where players could go through a wall on level 9

• Fixed a bug where intro cinematic music would behave strangely when skipping texts

• Fixed a bug where color unlock notifications would not disappear when clicking outside the box

Improvements

• Gas clouds will now slow the player after 0.1 second, which mean you can now chain them without losing momentum

• New keyboard shortcut: Press Space to jump

• New keyboard shortcut: Press E to attach hook

• New keyboard shortcut: Press WASD to turn around / move

• New keyboard shortcut: Press R to restart level

• New keyboard shortcut: Press F to die on the spot

• New keyboard shortcut: Press G to reload the level (it will load the scene again)

• New keyboard shortcut: Press V to restart from level 1

• Improved tutorials to reflect those changes and make onboarding less confusing

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue where level 25 background would be hidden

• Fixed an issue where exporting ghosts would only work on one difficulty

• Fixed various tutorials

• Fixed an issue where french translation would make menu text overlap

• Fixed an issue where end of level overlay would be cut at the bottom of the screen

• Fixed an issue where end of level camera could be triggered without ending the level

• Fixed an issue where gas clouds would stop slowing player

• Fixed holes in black background

• Fixed an issue where players could go where the worm is coming from in level 30

Hey guys,

New features

• Manual running: players can now disable automatic running in the difficulty menu to play with traditional 2D platformer controls

• Decoy: new player power-up in endless mode: spawns a player decoy that attracts the worm’s focus

• Falling rocks: new boss power-up in endless mode: rock debris will periodically fall from the ceiling

• Mind missiles: new boss power-up in endless mode: small missiles that follow the player

• Added an intro cinematic scene when starting a new game

• Ghost sharing: you can export and import ghosts in the level list menu. Imported ghosts from other players will be shown in red

• Translate the game in Simplified and Traditional Chinese

• Added more variety in endless level generation (about 33% new level design content)

• Added new character color options that you can unlock by getting all the gems in a given difficulty

• Added a big secret in the game. Clues will be posted on discord on a regular basis

Improvements

• Added last level leaderboard and global leaderboard before end game cinematic

• Added a skip button for end game cinematic

• Improved gamepad slinging gameplay

• Made endless mode boss more menacing and harder to run from

• Improved multiplayer player slinging

• Added a way to reload the level instead of restarting it by pressing G

• Added a fallback to automatically turn around when reaching the end of a running platform

• Added a new difficulty option to be invincible for beginners and people who want to play multiplayer without stress

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue where boss would stop chasing the player if it was too far

• Fixed an issue where players could pass through the power up checkpoints in endless mode when going too fast

• Fixed an issue where alt tabbing during end game cinematic would cause the player to be stuck in the cinematic

• Fixed an issue where the burst indicator would disappear

• Fixed an issue where players could restart the game while on pause menu and then the time would be stopped

• Fixed an issue where player ghost would look like a giant ball

• Fixed an issue where the game would pause at start when a wireless controller is connected

• Fixed an issue where a gamepad would continue vibrating while the pause menu is active

• Fixed an issue where air ambient sound would not reset properly when restarting a level

• Fixed an issue where players could sometimes die when still having shields in multiplayer mode

• Fixed an issue where players could sometimes go through a wall without breaking it

• Fixed an issue where multiplayer camera would sometime keep focusing on a dead player

• Fixed an issue where triggering a gas cloud at the exact same time in multiplayer would sometimes make the game freeze

• Fixed an issue where plugging in a controller after game launch would sometimes lead to it not being recognized

Imagine you're stranded on an unknown planet after a thrilling crash. Just as you are at a loss for what to do, a cute Cat carrying a buttered slice of toast appears before you... Meow!

Today marks the official launch of our Chinese version! We are also thrilled to announce a bundle collaboration with CATO: Buttered Cat, another platformer indie game by Gcores Publishing!

High-speed platforming parkour and clever platform puzzles—the platformer genre holds endless fun and variety. Get both games now for an extra 10% discount! Let the Astronaut and the Cat Encounter in Space!

About This is No Cave

A minimalist, space-themed click-to-run platformer. Playable with just a mouse! Use your jet boosters and grappling hook to dash through layers of levels, and skillfully utilize strange alien flora and fauna to progress on your journey. Supports single-player, two-player, or up to four-player local co-op!

About CATO: Buttered Cat

A puzzle platformer where you control both the cat and the toast simultaneously, based on the Internet meme: "The Buttered Cat Paradox". The game features 200+ levels, 70+ skins, a Boss Battle, and mini-games!

Hey guys, I've been wanting to update the gems positions for a long time to make them less unfair, I finally had time to do it! Improvements:

• Replaced most gems to more suitable locations

• Added number of deaths on full run leaderboard (not retroactive)

Bug fixes:

• Fixed a bug where multiplayer player hook would not work correctly

• Fixed a bug where turning around with a controller in multiplayer mode would turn everyone around

• Fixed a bug where gems would not reset properly

• Fixed a bug where gems would stay in inventory if players went back to gather them after crossing checkpoint

Improvements:

• New sound for fireballs, laser, gravity burst, after images, snake charmer and wind vacuum

• Reworked after images so they blink the player forward and freeze the worm in place for 2 seconds

• Added an animation for hook points

• Added a global timer when players start a new game

• Reworked laser: cooldown now starts at 20 (previously 15), but the laser is quicker to fire the higher its level

• Made waveburst harder to perform to prevent accidents

Bug fixes:

• Fixed a bug where players could commit suicide during a cinematic

• Fixed a bug where rope would sometimes become elastic after too much time spent on the same level

• Fixed a bug where pausing the game just after selecting a power up would freeze the game

• Fixed a bug where character would be mute when restarting a level after crossing the finish line

• Fixed a bug where end of game cinematic would play at wrong speed on chill and hardcore difficulties

• New features

  • Wavebursts are now more accessible and can be executed with a controller: when running on a platform, aim your burst under the platform forward to waveburst. Do it multiple times to gain more speed.

  • Steam cloud support: your progress can now be shared across multiple devices

  • More keyboards options for the lazy: turn around on platforms using arrows, commit suicide to return at nearest checkpoint using F and press V to restart at level 1

• Improvements

  • Improved shrink worm visuals in endless mode

  • Greatly improved leaderboard load times

  • Worm in endless mode will now follow its path and stop unfairly lunge at player

  • Endless mode bonus will no longer feature shield restoration when all players have 4 shields

  • Fireballs cooldown now starts at 4 seconds (before at 2 seconds)

  • Display level name even when toolbar is disabled

  • Added a restart button on endless mode

  • Level buttons in level list are now colored depending on the difficulty level you finished them in

• Bug fixes

  • Fixed a bug where game speed would change after a tutorial or when exploding a gas cloud

  • Fixed a bug where gaining infinite bursts in endless mode would not refresh bursts

  • Fixed a bug where ghost ropes would still appear when ghost was disabled in settings

  • Fixed a bug where losing a shield during the restore shield animation would trigger a permanent shield artifact on UI

  • Fixed a bug where entering a gas cloud when invincible would add a bubble on the preview ghost

  • Fixed a bug where invincible achievement would not trigger when restarting level 30

• Fixed multiplayer end of levels not loading next one

• Fixed multiplayer camera zoom being too high when players were too far away from one another

• Fixed multiplayer off screen indicators triggering when players were still visible

• Fixed ghost trembling glitch effect

Hey guys, we just received a message from Valve saying they were testing out the Steam deck compatibility of our game and gave us a list of things to change so we made a Steam deck update.

• Made all UI easier to read and navigate on smaller screens

• Improved slinging directions with gamepad sticks

• Fixed an issue with cameras being updated on 50FPS.

• Fixed some other frame rate issues

Seems my life nowadays is fixing bugs and creating new ones.

• Adapted bonus pickups colliders to their shape

• Fixed an issue where the ghost would play sledge hammer sounds

• Fixed an issue where the ghost would be upside down

• Fixed an issue where the ghost running animation would be stuck

• Fixed an issue where restarting would make the character lose some of its sounds

• Fixed an issue where restarting on level 25 would consume a shield

• Fixed an issue where clicking far away from the player would not trigger burst

• Fixed an issue where leaderboards entries would merge together

• Fixed thinker achievement duration

• Removed an invisible rock on level 9

• Fixed an issue where one of the hook points in endless would be hard to latch to

Hey guys, lately we've been attentively watching our top players interact with the game and we decided that we could help them, this is the goal of this update. Without further ado, here are the changes:

• Added best time ghosts on each level: players runs will now be recorded locally and their best time will be replayed as a ghost. It can be enabled or disabled in the pause menu.

• Improved grappling hook: we removed all cooldowns or hindrance when latching to a hook point or slinging.

• Improved the leaderboards: they will now only show top 15 + player's best score

• Added checkpoints on level 3 and 4 because new players were hating us

• Level 1 intro will always play at the same speed no matter the difficulty settings

• World record achievement was unfair because it was less accessible the more players speedrunned the game, so we reworked it

• Worm will now have smoother rotations and will not curl up weirdly anymore

• Fixed Gosu achievement not being able to obtain anymore

• Fixed a bug where rope length would sometimes vary after spending too long in the same level

• Fixed a bug where bursting would be impossible when clicking on a hook point

• Fixed a bug where players would glitch through the ground in endless mode

• Fixed a bug where bursting would not trigger if cursor was too far away from player

Hey guys, time for our second patch. Here's what we changed:

• Gamepad users can now use left stick + A button to sling (right stick also works)

• Fixed an issue on level 23 where players respawned inside of a wall

• Improved various tutorials

• Fixed an issue where camera on level 1 would sometimes be stuck when restarting the level

• Fixed a bug that would prevent players to register or display their score on Endless mode

• Fixed an issue where shrinking the worm in endless mode would only shrink its head

• Fixed an issue where game would round down the endless mode meters score

• Fixed an issue where timer would not stop during pause

This is no cave - Release Announcement

Well, this is it. The big day. Our game This is no cave just released. I would like to tell you it was a breeze but I would be lying. It was NOT easy. We spent 2 years getting rejected by every publisher we talked to. "Marketing a 2D pixel art platformer is suicide", they said. They were right. Marketing the game was sooooo tough. And we still needed to develop the game without funds. Bottom line is, never go into game dev unless you're already rich and you want to have fun. Because this was so fun. I regret nothing.

Current State of the Game

• 30 levels, each with a leaderboard in case you like speedrun

• 3 difficulty presets and other accessibility options in case you did not come here to suffer, you just thought the little yellow guy was tough

• 2 ways to play the game: mouse only or gamepad. Mouse is obviously more accurate and FPS players will be extremely skilled at the game, but I kinda like game pad too because then I can play from my couch

• Local multiplayer, because games are meant to play with friends. No pressure, I can be your friend if you lack some, ping me and we'll play on steam remote play together

• Endless level with roguelite elements, we like buzzword and it was a nice programming challenge

Roadmap

Here's what is on our roadmap if we manage to get enough money with the sale to keep on working with a roof over our head:

• Online multiplayer

• 30 new levels in the jungle (probably a DLC or something like that)

• Workshop support so you guys can create your own levels and make players suffer like we did

• Consoles port

• More localization

• New power-ups for the roguelite mode

• New gameplay elements

Day One Patch - Changelog

Oh and of course we had to patch the game day one because we noticed players had some issues with some of the gameplay elements, here's the changelog:

• Added a tutorial for gas cloud (that's for you Joj)

• Added a minimum force when exploding a gas cloud (also for you)

• Made chinese characters visible on the leaderboard (sorry guys)

• Added an icon for your desktop

• Made the bonus pickups invisible until you finish the game for the first time so it does not distract newbies

• Better preserve velocity when latching to a hook point in front of you (to avoid losing too much speed because of it),

• Selecting the difficulty when displaying the leaderboards in the menu will also change your difficulty settings,

• Fixed a bug when grappling hook rope would become corrupted after too much time spent on a level and would start randomly changing size when swinging,

• Fixed a bug where multiplayer leaderboard did not appear at all,

• Fixed a bug where toolbar option in pause menu would not be selectable using a gamepad

• Fixed an issue where ambiant sound would not be lowered by SFX slider

• Fixed an issue where timer did not start even when player was running

• Fixed an issue where timer ran during pause

• Fixed a bug where slinging would sometimes be extremely weak

Release date: Oct 17 (CEST)! v1.0 includes • 30 handcrafted levels (from tight sprints to set-piece chases) • 4-player couch co-op (chaotic revives & clutch saves) • Endless roguelite mode with evolving perks

Steam Fest feedback improved movement feel, worm telegraphing, and level readability — thank you! If you like what you see, add the game to your wishlist. See you in the caverns on Oct 17.

Major Updates

• Reworked Boss:
  • Space worm now screams.
  • Space worm now make screen shakes.
  • Space worm now generate rock particles in its wake.
  • Space worm now brings shadow upon its surrounding.
  • Made space worm AI less predictable.

  Minor Updates

  • You can now choose the jump direction while running.
  • Grappling hook now has a minimum velocity.
  • Improved tutorials visuals.

  Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where chinese, japanese and korean nicknames would not appear in leaderboard.
  • Fixed an issue where some hook points would not be accessible because of a checkpoint between them and the player.

Major Updates

• Reworked Bonuses:
  • Placed all bonuses at better spots.
  • Made sure bonuses can be picked up even in hardcore mode.
  • Reduced number of bonuses to 3 per level.

  Minor Updates

  • Added Russian language Support (Thank you u/Jamato-sUn).
  • Greatly improved performances when boss is on screen.
  • Removed the frame cap.
  • Reduced time slow factor when entering a gas bulb.
  • Added a time slow when tutorial text appears on screen.

  Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where difficulty would not update correctly in settings.
  • Fixed an issue where pause menu would fail to appear.
  • Fixed an issue where animations would be stuck in one state.

Major Updates

• Reworked Controls:
  • Hooking and swinging is now performed with right click.
  • The grappling hook will attach to the closest hook point from the cursor, eliminating the need for precise aiming.
  • Pulling the rope while swinging is now done using left click.
• Reworked Gas Bulbs (or black holes depending on who you ask):
  • Players will slow down when entering them.
  • Trajectory is now more coherent when bursting.
  • Adjusted the duration during which players can break walls after exploding a gas bulb.
• Added 3 Difficulty Levels: Chill, Speedrunner, and Hardcore.

Minor Updates

• Added Multilingual Support: Game is now available in French, German, and Spanish.
• Reworked Tutorial: Added gamepad indications and improved explanations on how to play.
• Set Framerate to 120FPS: Performance enhancements.
• Adapted the Game to Wide Screen Resolutions: The game now supports wide screens.
• Added a Suicide Button: Allows for quick restart.
• Set Up Pause Menu on Escape Press: Easy access to the pause menu.

Fixes

• Fixed an issue where players would appear multiple times in the leaderboard.
• Fixed an issue where the leaderboard would not appear.
• Fixed an issue where nicknames would be truncated to 8 characters.
• Fixed an issue where the life bar would display bubbles when none were configured.
• Fixed an issue on the endless level where entire level chunks would disappear.
• Fixed various UI issues.
• Added UI controller support.

It's official! This Is No Cave is coming soon

Discord Server

Stay tuned!