Why did freeware ver. cavestory run at 50tps?

Recently I wanted to play cavestory again using doukutsu-rs and noticed that the settings show a frame rate of 50fps, but as far as I know Japanese consoles are supposed to be 60fps.
I was curious as to why cavestory chose a frame rate of 50fps, so I registered an account to ask this question on the forums.
Wait what is the difference between tps and fps?

 

If I recall it was originally 60fps for the majority of the game's development, but lowered to 50 for compatibility on computers from certain regions

 

I think tps means "ticks per second", like in Minecraft. It also says "Game timing" and not frame rate.

 

but as far as I know Japanese consoles are supposed to be 60fps.

Cave Story wasn't made for consoles.
50 was likely indeed chosen for sake of compatibility.

 

Right from the Destructoid interview with Pixel that was published in March 2010:

To the uninitiated, the PC versions of Cave Story run at 50 frames per second (fps). The Wii version runs at 60fps. Can you explain why the PC game is 50 frames per second (fps)? Was Cave Story designed for, 60 fps or 50 fps?

No matter what environment (PC), if it runs well on 60fps, then I will always choose 60fps, without a doubt.

However, at that time, there were lots of PC setups that weren’t 60 fps. There were environments that could set the refresh rate through the program, but there were other environments where you couldn’t. Most PC’s were at a refresh rate slightly higher than 60fps. When that happens, with a one to two second cycle, the periodical scroll of the screen shook erratically and this affected the game experience–which I didn’t like.

In the end, I made it 50 fps because there were no environments at 50 fps. Regardless what environment it’s run on there would be no adverse issues. It’s very important that the movement or motion is consistent no matter what the environment.

At first I had contemplated that it was a refresh rate problem. The environment is restricted, but when I saw how smoothly the game scrolled on 60 fps I thought there couldn’t be any other choice than 60 fps. There were several other people on the Internet who’ve had similar thoughts, but then I saw points like it’s more important to make a fun game than to fixate on the refresh rate. I remember at that time feeling like I finally reached a solution.

 

If only tps and fps can be separated. Just so I can say I'm playing in 60's physics, with the compatible framerate. Like hell am I gonna waste time in just modifying the vanilla physics just for that, when I can just change the framerate.

 

same reason as to why PAL games from that era were so slow, back then framerate was tied to the refresh rate so developers had to make it run slower to avoid timing issues

 

Actually, I have a less relevant question, I'd like to know which word is the "P" in AGTP

 

Actually, I have a less relevant question, I'd like to know which word is the "P" in AGTP

Projects

 

Actually, I have a less relevant question, I'd like to know which word is the "P" in AGTP

It's what everybody doesn't expect it to be. Thanks, @andwhyisit.

 

It's what everybody doesn't expect it to be. Thanks, @andwhyisit.

Wow so unexpected
This makes me even more curious about the origin of the Aeon Genesis name, which at first I thought came from the Neon Genesis Evangelion

 

If only tps and fps can be separated. Just so I can say I'm playing in 60's physics, with the compatible framerate. Like hell am I gonna waste time in just modifying the vanilla physics just for that, when I can just change the framerate.

they indeed are in d-rs, hence why option in question exists in first place