The study behind Martha Is Dead reviews some of the characteristics and points out the importance of new technology in the recreation of horror games.
Martha Is Dead is a dramatic psychological thriller with photorealistic graphics that will be released on Steam and PS4 and will be set in Italy, during World War II. Its developers, LKA, have talked with GamesRadar about how the power of PlayStation 5 will influence horror games. "The specifications of PS5 are incredibly exciting," says Luca Dalcò, head of the study. According to his words, the additional potential and the ray tracing effect particularly benefits them. "Our study has come a long way over these four years and Martha Is Dead will mark the goal of photorealism," he confirms.
The study asserts that the new generation hardware will offer them the opportunity to reinforce their creative vision to offer it to the players. The extra power with respect to PlayStation 4 will give free rein to “incredibly detailed” textures, although it explains that the game will also work in the current generation with “as detailed as possible” textures. Even so, “PS5 will give us the option of using an incredible texture density”, which means that the “visual” aspect will be completely detailed also in higher resolutions. It is one of the most important advances in the visual field, ”he says.
Martha is Dead
What does ray tracing and SSD provide?
Ray tracing will be one of the main features of the new generation of consoles. It is an "amazing technology (…) for independent studies," he says. “It allows games to reach new levels of realism without the need for large teams. As technology matures and improves its implementation, I believe that the space of independent games will change. This generation of consoles is destined to transform the market. ”
Another novelty is the SSD hard drive, which will improve the loading times of the games. “High quality resources are naturally of a larger size, so they will benefit from faster loading times. Above all, Martha Is Dead has a wider world than anything we have created before in the studio ”, although it is not an open world game. It is designed in sections, which can be accessed on foot or by bicycle, but without “constant” loading screens. "The SSD will definitely help in those transitions."
Martha Is Dead developers see the game as a medium. "Regardless of the medium you choose to tell your story, you must take advantage of all its attributes to spark the imagination of your audience." Therefore, although the game focuses on its realistic aspect, the team has put a lot of effort into the playable aspect.
