What would happen if per say, the island fell before cave story?

If the island fell before cave story, would everyone just be dead or alive? Would the chat Kazuma does on the computer uses at the beginning of the game still work?

 

A lot of the island is shown to still be kept together in the neutral ending, I'm assuming to some degree it's traversable if Balrog was able to find his way back to the labyrinth after having assumedly escaped it with Quote and Curly earlier.
Booster is also still able to meet up with Jenka, whose puppies were still able to give birth. He's notorious for dying when he has to talk to people of his own volition so this implies that the island is traversable enough for him to get to Jenka's house, and the route there from Arthur's House isn't designed for traversal by old men I don't think, it would've taken a very specific chain of events for him to get from where he was previously to where he ends up.
If the island isn't traversable in the way we knew it before, then new pathways opened up.

 

It also kinda depends on what point would the island have fallen, with how the island being in the sky itself became an influence for human interventions like exploration or worse, starting a war over, since you stated "before Cave Story", that could've just happened at any point. It would've been pretty interesting, if during the war 10 years prior, if Team 9 succeeded in destroying the Core, just by not knowing what it was, like how Quote and Curly managed to do. Would the Undead Core still have become a thing, or would Miakid just forgo it and let the island fall to the surface in a blaze of glory? And end up dead, but disappointed that everyone in the island still survived.

 

I mean like... maybe a couple of minutes before Quote woke up? Or however long it takes for the island to crash before Quote wakes up.

(Going to be honest, I didn't acknowledge logic about this one. I just wanted to know what would happen if the island crashed and then Quote woke up.
It's also surprising that old men can survive an island crashing into the ground. When, what I believe in the neutral ending, most of the animals die when the island crashes.)

 

I mean like... maybe a couple of minutes before Quote woke up? Or however long it takes for the island to crash before Quote wakes up.

Then pretty much the second ending would be happening much sooner, everyone would still be alright, except for Ballos since the island falling is him trying to go kamikaze on himself. The Doctor would probably become powerless and Balrog and Misery would just turn on him when given the chance. Now, for what may have caused the island to collapse would be a mystery, cuz even should anything happen to the Core or Jenka, one or the other would still survive, keeping the island safe either way.

 

If the island fell at the beginning of the game for some reason... Perhaps the island would be in a pretty bad state. I'm picturing Egg Corridor after its disaster, except for many parts of the island. The game would probably flow differently as well... Quote might be focused on finding and rescuing characters in new ways. Maybe there would be more Mimigas still at the village as well? Assuming something changed the course of the Doctor's plans enough to bring down the island.

Would Ballos still be sealed? If there is no main Core keeping the place afloat or if something happened to it, how much flooding would have occurred in the Labyrinth or surrounding areas? How much of the waterway will have changed? Perhaps the Doctor will need a new base of operations, depending on the state of the Throne Room area? The helicopter would likely be gone or totaled...

And where did the island crash? In the middle of the ocean? In the same spot? Near some populated area? How fast would outside forces react to the island's new circumstance, would they know?

Its up to your imagination!

What if Toroko or Misery hadn't been there when Quote met Balrog for the first time? Perhaps no battle would have taken place, and you return with Balrog to meet the Doctor? Perhaps Quote/the Player would even perform missions for the Doctor if not antagonized. The place is a wreck and The Doctor needs help getting things back on track. Balrog brings back Quote who is basically a blank slate, and who knows what strange new universe you'll end up in if you follow your imagination The island is being invaded by the surface! Help the Doctor hold back the invaders!

 

If the island fell at the beginning of the game for some reason... Perhaps the island would be in a pretty bad state. I'm picturing Egg Corridor after its disaster, except for many parts of the island. The game would probably flow differently as well... Quote might be focused on finding and rescuing characters in new ways. Maybe there would be more Mimigas still at the village as well? Assuming something changed the course of the Doctor's plans enough to bring down the island.

Would Ballos still be sealed? If there is no main Core keeping the place afloat or if something happened to it, how much flooding would have occurred in the Labyrinth or surrounding areas? How much of the waterway will have changed? Perhaps the Doctor will need a new base of operations, depending on the state of the Throne Room area? The helicopter would likely be gone or totaled...

And where did the island crash? In the middle of the ocean? In the same spot? Near some populated area? How fast would outside forces react to the island's new circumstance, would they know?

Its up to your imagination!

What if Toroko or Misery hadn't been there when Quote met Balrog for the first time? Perhaps no battle would have taken place, and you return with Balrog to meet the Doctor? Perhaps Quote/the Player would even perform missions for the Doctor if not antagonized. The place is a wreck and The Doctor needs help getting things back on track. Balrog brings back Quote who is basically a blank slate, and who knows what strange new universe you'll end up in if you follow your imagination The island is being invaded by the surface! Help the Doctor hold back the invaders!

That'd be an interesting Mod Idea.