Cuphead

Cuphead

Also known as: Cuphead in: "Don't Deal With the Devil"
Developer: StudioMDHR Entertainment
Publisher: StudioMDHR Entertainment
Platforms: Windows, Xbox One, Mac OS X, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Released internationally: September 29, 2017 (Microsoft), October 19, 2018 (Mac OS X), April 18, 2019 (Nintendo Switch), July 28, 2020 (PS4)

This game has unused enemies.
This game has unused graphics.
This game has unused items.
This game has unused abilities.
This game has unused music.
This game has unused sounds.
This game has unused text.
This game has debugging material.
This game has a hidden level select.
This game has revisional differences.

This game has a prerelease article

Inspired by 1930's animation (specifically the works of Max Fleischer, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks) and tough-as-nails platformers such as Contra and Gunstar Heroes, Cuphead is a run 'n gun platformer/boss rush game in which you play as two brothers who have to collect soul contracts from various people, or else the Devil will take their heads.

Oh, and they're also walking drinkware.

Known for being just as hard, if not harder, than the games it was inspired by.

To do:

Test levels, more graphics, unused code, and unused sound effects.
There is a good amount of prerelease content, including videos of early gameplay (of both the main game and The Delicious Last Course) from Studio MDHR's YouTube channel, as well as its various E3 showings from 2014 - 2017.
Very Recently, MDHR added a new "Anniversary" update to Xbox at the moment. Tons of new beta material is seen in the "Bonus" area in the start menu in the new update, do they need to be added here?

Sub-Pages

Unused Graphics
This sub-page will get red hot!

Unused Boss Behaviors
Remnants of what could have been and what probably should not have been.

The Delicious Last Course
Who left all these translator notes in the recipe?

Debug Console

--Outdated, This only works on v1.1.4, This will be updated as soon as a new Console is uploaded/found!--

There is a debug console in the game that can be re-enabled with a patch. This console serves several purposes such as toggling invincibility, boosting the player's damage and accessing the level select among other things. Place the files into the same folder as the game executable and then press F5 while on the map or in a level to open it.

Download Cuphead Debug Console Patch

File: Cuphead Debug Console Patch.zip (1.10MB (compressed)) (info)

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Level Select

A fully functional level select can be accessed from the debug console with the command scene.select. Difficulty, Weapons, Super, and Charm can be changed at will until a level is chosen. Clicking on a level will load it after a few moments. As of the v1.1.4 update, clicking on airship_jely, retro_arcade, airship_stork, pachinko, or light will softlock the game due to their assets having been removed;

As of The Delicious Last Course's release, the Level Select contains 12 Categories. These consist of

Bosses

Pirate
Flower
Train
Veggies
Frogs
Bee
Mouse
Dragon
Airship_Jelly
Flying_Bird
Flying_Mermaid
Flying_Blimp
Slime
Baroness
Robot
Clown
Sally_Stage_Play
Flying_Genie
Devil

Levels

Tutorial
Retro_Arcade
Mausoleum
1_1F
!_2F
2_1F
2_2F
3_1F
3_2F

Dice Palace

Domino
Card
Chips
Cigar
Booze
Roulette
Airship_Stork
Pachinko
Rabbit
Light
Flying_Horse
Flying_Memory
Eight_Ball
Main

Difficulty

Easy (Simple)
Normal (Regular)
Hard (Expert)

Weapon 1/2

peashot
spreadshot
plane_peashot
arc
homing
exploder
charge
boomerang
bouncer
arcade_peashot
plane_laser
wide_shot
plane_bomb
arcade_rocket_peash
plane_chalice_3way
accuracy
firecracker
firecrackerB
upshot
pushback
plane_chalice_bomb
crackshot
splitter

Maps

map_world_1
map_world_2
map_world_3
map_world_4
map_world_DLC

Cutscenes

cutkingdice
cutintro
cutdevil
cutoutro
cutcredits
cutworld2
cutworld3

DLC

old_man
snow_cult
saltbaker
chalice_tutorial
cutdlc_ending
shop_DLC
graveyard
chess_knight
chess_pawn
chess_queen
chess_rook
chess_bishop
chess_castle
cutdlc_credits_comic

Unused Sounds

To do:
There might be more unused files in other sharedassets files.

Listen	Sound Summary
	Unused sounds for Cuphead and Mugman's intro animations. In-game, they're silent.

	Weepy's Crying is actually 10 seconds long while only 5 seconds can be heard in-game.
	Leftover sounds from the 2015 demo.











	Possibly the Bomb special in airplane sections laughed before exploding.

	Was most likely intended for the unused Triple Laser/Wideshot weapon, which uses the Peashooter's sounds instead.








	Cagney Carnation originally had sounds for being defeated in his 2nd phase, but he's silent in-game. Strangely enough, it plays when he's defeated in early demos.
	Possibly planned for when Cagney is defeated in Simple mode. It doesn't play in the demos, with the 2nd phase death sound used instead.

Unused Music

Unused Title Theme

bgm_title_screen.fsb

A completely unique theme can be found under the name of bgm_title_theme.fsb in the files. It's a faster, more upbeat rendition, and the last "Cuphead" towards the end sounds identical to the fanfare that plays on the overworld once you beat a level. It seems to have been composed during an early stage of development, as the lyrics describe a considerably different plot than the final game. It possibly was composed when the game was still going to be simply a boss rush, judging by the tournament aspect. It is worth noting that the tournament theme was borrowed for the tourney in the flying palace in The Delicious Last Course, so some remnant was used to an extent.

Cuphead, who gambled away his last dime,
Entered a tournament to buy him time.
If he can't win, his head will be shorn,
And this was how the adventure was born!

bgm_level_flower(temp)

An early version of Shootin N' Lootin. The filename suggests that it was originally intended for the fight against Cagney Carnation.

Unused Strings

Bosses

Coin Op Bop (Lunar Williams)

A scrapped Run N' Gun level, taking place in Isle 2's Arcade!

QuoteRetroArcade:

RetroArcade:   Lunar Williams

Arcade_W2_S2_GotHiScore_Line1_B:   

Arcade_W2_S2_GotHiScore_Line2_B:   

Arcade_W2_S2_GotHiScore_Line3_B:   

Arcade_W2_S3_GotArcadeCoin_Line1_B:   

Arcade_W2_S3_GotArcadeCoin_Line2_B:   

Arcade_W2_S1_NoHiScore_Line5_B:

Placeholders

Text	Description
This is a somewhat long achievement name	A placeholder long achievement name.
hi my name is what? my name is who?	A placeholder text string with lyrics from My Name Is by Eminem.
Content Text	A generic placeholder string.
Three lines of text would look like this, don't you see?	A string testing 3 lines of text.
DEBUG CONSOLE --------------	A header for a debug console.
ENTER A COMMAND	Text for a command line.

Help (01)

Found in the Construction for the Pause Menu and World Overlay, There's this text that says

DROP DOWN FROM CERTAIN PLATFORMS

Unused v1.0 Dialogue

In v1.0's localization file, there's quite a bit of unused dialogue intended to be used when Mugman is the first player. This couldn't happen at launch, and when playing as Mugman alone was implemented, all dialogue was made cup-agnostic.


Good luck, you brave mug!! | Would have been used if playing as Mugman in 1p, replaced by "Good Luck, You troublesome little mugs!!" when Mugman in 1p was released

Remember to collect all of those soul contracts, Mugman! | Elder Kettle reminding Mugman to collect every soul contract

Why, you're making fine progress, Mugman! | I have no idea, its labelled as World 1 Scene 4, So maybe the World 2 Intro?

I'm so proud that you helped save everyone from evil, Mugman! | Talking to Elder Kettle after beating game with Mugman

On your way to becoming an expert, eh, Mugman? | I think halfway beating the game

Looks like I mighta underestimated ya, Mug-Muffin. | King Dice speaking to Mugman during cutscene in World 2 Die House

Leftovers from Demos/Conferences

World Map

ShopWorldMapSubtext: SPEND YOUR RICHES HERE!

A bunch of Strings that just say " DEMO TUTORIAL"
BossBattleWorldMap: BOSS BATTLE

Unused Bosses

Note: All of these names besides Pachi-Pachi are merely guesses.

Please elaborate.
Having more detail is always a good thing.
Specifically: Describe these bosses a little more in-depth.

Pachi-Pachi

To do:
Add the rest of the sprites.

"Cling-cling, clang-clang, your bell has rang!"

pachinko_intro_0001
pachinko_intro_0002
pachinko_intro_0003

kd_pachinko_bg_backdrop
kd_pachinko_bg_ball-spouts
kd_pachinko_bg_flames
kd_pachinko_bg_frame
kd_pachinko_bg_glass-glare
kd_pachinko_bg_lightbar
kd_pachinko_bg_pegs
kd_pachinko_bg_platforms----placeholder (covered by other platform sprites in-game).
kd_pachinko_bg_rainbow_left_loop
kd_pachinko_bg_rainbow_right_loop
kd_pachinko_bg_rainbow_top_loop
kd_pachinko_bg_rainbow_loop_shadows
kd_pachinko_star-discs
kd_pachinko_bg_star_0001
kd_pachinko_bg_star_0002
kd_pachinko_bg_star_0003
kd_pachinko_bg_star_0004
kd_pachinko_bg_star_disc_lights_0001
kd_pachinko_bg_star_disc_lights_0002
kd_pachinko_bg_star_disc_lights_0003
kd_pachinko_bg_star_disc_lights_0004
kd_pachinko_bg_vignette
kd_pachinko_platform

A boss named "Pachi-Pachi", labeled and designed as a Pachinko machine, can be selected in the game's debug menu. The boss' only attack is a non-animated flame that comes out of its head. Throughout the fight, blue/black colored balls fall; though not colored the same way as other parryable objects, the black balls can be parried. Upon defeat, it will perform a seemingly complete death animation, and take you back to the King Dice fight. This boss has a death quote, but the boss picture is missing.

Light

Also found in the debug menu is a boss called "Light". The boss is basically a crudely drawn thing and is in the middle of an array of rotating lasers, some of which can harm the player and some that don’t depending on their color. When the battle begins, cutouts of Jared Moldenhauer's head fly in a straight angle. It also lacks a death quote.

The concept of this fight was reimplemented into the DLC as the second phase of The Moonshine Mob’s fight, which consists of a phonograph that plays strings of music from the center of the screen, changing from green to yellow to a harmful red.

Card

This boss was apparently cut early, as all of the assets are crudely-drawn placeholders, and it lacks a hitbox for the player to damage them.

The fight uses a falling block matching-game gimmick: blocks would fall down in a grid, above where the player is standing. If unmatched pieces drop onto the highest point of the grid, a spiked platform above the player would lower to allow the next set to land on the highest piece, no more or less than a single space will always be available. The platform could be raised, either by matching 3 or more pieces horizontally or vertically to lower the highest piece, or clear all the blocks, if the highest piece exceeds the grid's set maximum size.

DicePalaceTest

This test level uses a pixel-art grass platform, and features cutouts of developer Jared Moldenhauer's head flying in from left and right. There is also a white platform at the bottom of the room.

The quote used upon death, "You are not a warrior, you're a beginner" is a reference to Street Fighter II, where it is Sagat's victory quote. The same message is shown if you somehow die on the tutorial, such as by using the unused Ranger weapon.

Early Sally Stageplay

This shows an early version of the level Dramatic Fanatic. In this version of the level, the transition to phase 2 is different; instead of Sally riding with her husband, the husband dies by the chandelier. With it being unfinished, the second phase shows us at a nunnery instead of a nursery in the final game, and instead of babies throwing bottles, it's replaced by nuns throwing something; also the pope is there instead of the husband in the bushes. In the third phase, the husband comes back, but this time in his god form; he would throw berries at the player.

This version of Dramatic Fanatic became fully playable in the 1.2 patch that released on April 20th 2019, by having the player stand on two platforms in the first phase of the battle. The nuns will throw rulers and the babies have been moved to the phase with the husband's god form. Not much has changed.

Unused Weapons/Charms

There are four weapons and one charm that are unused in the game. These unused items can be used using the level select.

To do:
May have some names mixed up. Please fix if it isn't correct, and improve information.

Arc

This weapon flies in an arc, sticks to the ground upon impact, grows after a short moment, and explodes when any enemy touches it. This weapon has 3 different damage values, dealing the most if it explodes midair, lowest when it first lands, and a medium amount after it has grown while on the ground. The EX attack fires a quick shot in a downward arc, sticks to the first surface it touches, and explodes after a few moments.

It uses the placeholder EX move sound from earlier builds and the art assets that are used for the chaser.

Ranger

This weapon appears in early videos of the game with somewhat finished assets, though the assets got removed in the final version of the game, so a simple filled circle acts as a placeholder instead. Though sometimes referred to as "Exploder" in the files, "Ranger" fits better since the weapon's damage increases depending on how far it travels.

The EX attack will fire a fast-moving projectile in a straight line until it has hit something, which causes it to launch another shot backwards toward the player, damaging the player if it manages to hit them. The DLC had some more work on it but still not in the game but you can still access it with Melon Loader and unity explorer.

Triple Laser

This weapon is similar to the spreadshot weapon in the game, but can be more focused in a certain direction if the player uses the aim button while shooting. This weapon is the only one that can pass through objects to hit an enemy, though compared to all the other weapons in the game it's one of the weakest ones.

This weapon was cut before an EX version was programmed. However, in the DLC there is a weapon called Converge which has the same concept.

Laser

This weapon is exclusive to the plane fights, similar to the first weapon in the game, when using a card, multiple shoot out in a circular angle similar to the earlier builts of the default shooter's EX. This weapon is somewhat weak, but it can build up EX cards quickly.

Shield

This charm prevents damage from pits, and increases invincibility frames. Most likely removed due to being overpowered. Interestingly, this charm got nerfed in the v1.1.3 update.

Easter Egg

After activating the bad ending by agreeing to join the Devil, the title screen music will be reversed once you’re booted back. After going into the main menu, input a variation of the Konami code: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, and for the final two inputs press the button that goes back and the button that selects (varies between platforms, obviously). This will trigger a much more sinister version of the theme.

This file, referred to internally as MUS_Intro_DontDealWithDevil_Vocal_666, contains the main opening song, but slowed down to roughly 83%, reversed, given a reverb and a louder track of static audio, with the laugh of King Dice at 0:29 - 0:39. From 0:42 to the end, the isolated lyric of "dice by" begins to repeatedly play…

…as encoded spectrogram waves depicting the Devil's boss fight partially drown out the looping noise. Within the file, sliding sounds like those of chips in a casino (much like the Devil's Casino) can be heard in tandem with the imagery forming. These images are all taken from the fight in his first phase (with the middle being cut off), his transition phase, and his second phase.

This is the same audio from earlier but pitched up by 20%.

Because of the somewhat obscure method of activating it, this file was assumed to be completely unused for 6 years before YouTuber GioTGM unveiled it in action. During this time, a ton of theories cropped up on what the file was supposed to be used for, with the most infamous one claiming it replaces the standard title screen music when a pirated copy of the game is being played (Cuphead contains no anti-piracy measures).

Revisional Differences

1.1.3

Fixed various freezes caused by controller disconnection/reconnection.
Fixed a glitch where the controller would rumble incessantly.
Fixed various freezes and soft-locks and crashes.
Improvements to saving and loading.
No longer possible to duplicate Mugman to absurd amounts.
Fixed a rapid-weapon-swap damage glitch.
Slight Charge weapon damage reduction.
Charge weapon charge is now maintained during parry.
Now possible to unequip secondary weapon, Super, and Charm from equipment menu (Press "Y" to unequip).
Mr. Chimes no longer gets stuck or goes offscreen.
King Dice’s Start Over square will now only trigger once per attempt.
Player 2 now appears in the King Dice board after being revived at the end of a mini-boss level.
Dice Palace score now properly resets when retrying the level.
Fixed improper hit boxes on the Devil's snake attack.
Fixed Devil's goat attack so it hits ducking players.
Elevator on Rugged Ridge no longer locks if Player 1 dies.
A+ grade now possible on Funfair Fever and Treetop Trouble.
It is no longer possible to damage bosses that are offscreen.
Fixed rare crash when parrying on Carnival Kerfuffle.
Fixed Roundabout shots not coming back on-screen on select stages.
Baroness Von Bon Bon death results now properly display progress on phase 3.
Dr. Kahl's Robot death results now properly display progress on phase 1.
Fixed various minor collision bugs.
Various art and animation polish.
Minor sound effect fixes and polish.
Added a new, spookier Mausoleum announcer.
Cagney Carnation's spore attack in his final phase causes a disorientation effect.

1.1.4

Fixed a softlock that could occur when the player parries and dies at the same time.
Fixed an issue where the game appears in a tiny resolution.
Fixed a rare issue where the loading screen plays forever.
Fixed Cagney Carnation's face attack so it consistently has proper anticipation cue timing.

(Source: https://cuphead.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_patches)