Kroener has been working at Frankfurt-based publisher Deck13 for a couple of years, and prior to that he held a position at an online game magazine. However, long before he found his way into game media, he was performing speedruns on several Castlevania titles over livestreaming platforms. The importance of speedruns was bound to come into play when he finally created his first game. Game Rant spoke to Kroener about speedrunning and how it came to influence Lunistice.
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Lunistice Was Designed to be Breakable One Way or Another
It would take years for Kroener to force himself to get a working game prototype together. Eventually, his idea for a rail shooter turned into a 3D platformer, though the name Lunistice carried over from the project’s previous stage. After the core of Lunistice was built, the hard work of making it into an engaging game began. This revolved around making sure levels offer the right amount of challenge, and that the goal of the game was in-line with the players’ interests.
While his Twitch community helped come up with ideas, implementation was in Kroener’s hands. This is where his experience as a speedrunner came into play, having even held a Castlevania world record for some time before it was broken a few years ago. While he said there weren’t enough hours in the day to go back to speedrunning for world records, his mentality as a runner hadn’t changed.
Lunistice had to be “breakable” in some ways, according to Kroener. In the speedrunning community, to “break” a game means skipping parts that are typically a primary completion path. While that often includes tricks and skips that weren’t intended, sometimes developers knowingly create hints, movement features, or environments so a speedrunning community can enjoy the experience in a different, often more difficult way.
For example, Quake accidently included a movement mechanic that allowed players to increase and conserve their speed. While this was originally a bug, iD software decided to include a similar mechanic in upcoming titles because it made the experience more fun. Nintendo also created rooms in the NES Super Mario Bros. where players could skip entire worlds if they perform specific movements.
Speedrunners Quickly Found Glitches in Lunistice
While Kroener was determined to use some speedrun-friendly mechanic in Lunistice, it wasn’t immediately clear how this would play out. He started adding a lot of little ideas that would give hints about possible faster way to move around the maps. While it didn’t allow skipping worlds like in Super Mario, it did add some more challenge.
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However, while he intentionally wanted to make Lunistice breakable, it was speedrunners that would truly break the game. As Kroener allowed his Twitch community to test the game, a bug emerged that allowed people to traverse the terrain in a new way. Just like the bunny hop from Quake, this emerged accidentally in the hands of enthusiasts.
The exploit allowed a character to jump higher than originally intended by combining two different jumping abilities. Kroener loved that it allowed players to break his game in a manageable way. It didn’t ruin the experience, as for casual players it wouldn’t become a main way to jump, but it augmented potential speedruns.
Lunistice is Still a Game for All
Although Kroener loves that Lunistice can be broken, he wants to deliver a solid product. Bugs that would completely break the game or make it less fun had to go. It was certain that the game would be ran after release, but Kroener still had to create an experience for the greater public. He wanted Lunistice to be enjoyable for the largest demographic, and his Twitch community would help with this too. Before launch, Lunistice was solely ranking competition in terms of time - which makes sense for speedrunners, but isn’t optimal for others.
One of the game’s testers had a very critical opinion about the level ranks, frustrated that it would dissuade him from gathering all the game’s collectibles and exploring the whole level. This struck Kroener as a valid criticism, and he took it to heart, ultimately changing the way Lunistice ranked level completion. At the full release, only the collection of the paper cranes - its coin equivalent - and deaths would determine the two ranks given; speed is no longer a completion factor.
While Kroener loved the speedrunning aspect of the game, it was more critical that the game was enjoyable for everyone. This also meant developing a competitive leaderboard gave way to more important aspects. While speedrunners would likely enjoy seeing a real-time placement after levels, or in a separate menu, for Kroener it was enough to focus on popular websites that already track speedruns. It seems this was for the best, as Lunistice launched being a solid 3D platformer for the wider public, and also ended up being an excellent fit for the speedrunning community.
Lunistice is available now for PC and Switch.
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