Hello folks, and welcome to the next part of our Martha Is Dead blog series!
This time we'll be diving into the personal diary of Luca Dalcó who is sharing his notes from over the course of creating the recent release date trailer for Martha Is Dead, and getting to grips with the exciting new Metahuman technology that was also seen in the Matrix Awakens tech demo for Unreal 5! (If you haven't seen the trailer yet - you can see it here!)

We'll be breaking the diary down into two posts, so keep your eyes peeled next week for the conclusion! But for now, onto the diary of Luca!



Making a trailer is something important, but I feel that my perception of it goes beyond the real importance of the trailers themselves. I love to conceive and realize trailers, but this feeling isn’t shared by the rest of the LKA team and I perfectly understand why!

Making a trailer is very time-consuming, the time required for their creation is often taken from the highly valuable development schedule and they can end up being completely time-wasting. If I was to quote from one team member who repeats this like a mantra:

“Who is right, who is wrong?”
“Nobody.”
“Again it depends on your point of view.”

Marketing teams look at trailers as one the most important assets in their arsenal, maybe sometimes even more important than the game itself. With small teams, the developers must spend time to make them which leads to less time to develop the actual game - and if you still have ample time to continue development it’s like stealing food from a hungry dog! … You risk your hand!

Someone out of stress, pessimism and time constraints would say that trailers are useless and may even damage the game. But what’s my point of view?

As I said, I like making trailers and I think that some of the best trailers come directly from the development team. Especially for a game like Martha Is Dead.
It's best to conceive a trailer between the hidden folds of the narrative, this is something which requires my creativity and time as I am the author of the story in the first place - it is part of my head and only in my head.

Ok, the creative part is defined.

We could make everybody happy and myself happy to conceive the trailer, by booking another company who creates it. This would certainly make the LKA team happy.

But that is not easy.

Another company can put its hand into the project by creating sequences which need extensive work and preparation. But this is way too expensive in my mind. We already have our hands on the game and we can create the required assets in a fraction of the time it would take them.
Marketing people are often concerned about our excessive creative impulses that don’t always take into account their needs. This problem is never solved.

Keeping the scales balanced is almost impossible and could result in a weak trailer both commercially and artistically.
So which way do you tip the scale?

Fortunately Wired (our publisher) really appreciates the artistic aspect and believes, like us, that it’s important to communicate it with this game.

The team still curses at the thought of making a trailer, but that is always the case!

Would you think that the team is bad-tempered? …

I don’t think so, they are just aware of what making a trailer means for them!
They know time is always too strict and they know that I will have some ideas during the process… we’ve worked together for almost 10 years!

Take a look at the following diary I tried to write while we were making the previous release date announcement trailer with MetaHuman tech - I think you’ll understand!

I’d like to start it with an epic sentence by our Creative Producer, Achim.
The deadline was already so strict and the potential result was not clear and tough to estimate, we were only just starting the work with the new tech. In a conversation with Achim, I said that in Italy, other than saying good luck, we have a very popular superstitious gesture when it comes to talking about luck and unluck.

When I thanked him for something, he remembered that, he obviously had a laugh and wrote:
"You guys are working your butts off and we are only touching balls." …might even be a good title for this blog.  (Editor - Yes, but also no)


Time was strict and we needed to make the trailer using Metahuman, and not a normal character of Metahuman. We had to find a way to modify a standard metahuman character to make it look like our main character; Giulia, and her sister Martha.

It was not easy. We were still searching for a smart solution when work had already begun on the trailer.


It seems that our initial problems are solved and we’re now able to modify the model in order to make it look like Giulia. Martha needs further modifications to her mouth and ears.
Lorenzo No sent some screenshots and for the first time, the model looks familiar to me… I think we are heading in the right direction.

In the meantime, Lorenzo Co and Antonio are working together to start the animations. Lorenzo Ca is trying to make Martha cry… just a little.
I would like a single tear to appear in one eye, stay there for a while, almost trying to go back but then fall down, if the visuals are good enough we’ll go for a more close-up framing, otherwise, we’ll stay with the established framing we already have.

If no problems occur… I think we can do Scene 2 (without speaking) and Scene 11 with voice, I then must find something to put in between, before and after to reach one minute or so.

I don’t have a final idea yet but I feel that it would be nice to use something with Giulia’s voice, this way we can give the impression of greater use of the character, we may also not see her in a few scenes.

Tomorrow I’ll figure out “what that is”.

As for the hair, we are forced to use one of the few Metahumans options. Modifying it is taking too long. No time for that.
We have three possible options (note: the model shown below is not the modified one):

   

This one is not good. Too puffy! The style doesn’t match the character nor the epoch!


 
This one is better, but there is something wrong too polished, too ‘good girl’ for Giulia. Giulia is not like that, she’s more savage!

                                             
This is the best one in my opinion.
It’s timeless and matches well with the character and her raw nature. Moreover, it looks similar to the hairstyle used for the key artwork.

We are going to work over the weekend… I promised my team a 3 day break after this :( I will be joining them of course!

I'm still not optimistic out of superstition and also out of character.

Let’s see… I don't know what else to say here, but in Italy as mentioned before, we say - in addition to fingers crossed, let's touch our balls! So all of you please… touch your balls! - For good luck!


It rained heavily yesterday evening and the temperature has dropped… from spring to winter in a single day. It’s better this way really, as we won’t suffer so much having to stay in front of a screen for 16 hours. ;)

Antonio is working on the draft animation. A draft because he is working on a different model which he will then bring onto the final model when the animation has been reviewed and corrected.
We’re trying to set everything right, but the feeling is to have a too short blanket :(

The model is going on.
Lorenzo No is working to make the model as similar as possible to Giulia and also on Martha’s mouth and ears. We guess it will be finished today.

Lorenzo Ca is working with Houdini on the tear, but he is just defining the way it will work because he needs the final model in order to produce the final effect.

Unfortunately, Lorenco Co (yes, we have 3 Lorenzos!) is not with us due to personal problems and this is quite an issue because he is the one who takes care of rigging, adjustment and everything else needed to have the model in UE, ready to be animated and rendered. So right now we must wait for tomorrow to see if everything will be fine, in the meantime - Still something to reshape a bit!



At least the model is now beginning to match the original human model (her name is Livia) almost perfectly! Time to add a few extra details (and remove others!)






Monday has started.
A new Channel on Discord was created a couple of hours ago, you already need more than a minute to scroll through all of the messages.
The modified model is making its trip from Maya to UE. We received very bad news - The main animator will be off until Wednesday. PANIC!
Francesco is already animating the hands and he will also do the facial animation, at least to create a draft with which we can set up the scene.
I’m waiting for a UE scene with the models in it, to work out the framing, lighting and to start testing some close-ups.
The atmosphere is tense.

Right now Lorenzo Co is pushing the SK of Martha and Giulia in the project, it will take a bit. It is the moment of truth...

Okay folks we're gonna leave that one there for now! We'll have part two up for you NEXT YEAR! (Editor - Don't be dramatic, it's only a week away)

For more information on Martha Is Dead, be sure to wishlist the game on Steam, join our Discord and follow our socials!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/515960/Martha_Is_Dead/

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Tis the season to save money! Fa-la-la-la-la la-la-lala!

The Steam winter sale has just begun and you can save up to 84% on a range of our publishers eclectic indie titles! Which ones we hear you ask? Try this for a stocking filler or two!


https://store.steampowered.com/app/986800/AVICII_Invector/


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https://store.steampowered.com/app/428660/Deliver_Us_The_Moon/


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https://store.steampowered.com/app/396900/GRIP_Combat_Racing/


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That's a LOT of Moolah saved, what are you gonna do with it all? We'd suggest buying more indie games - but what do we know!

You can start saving RIGHT NOW by heading over to the Wireds Steam page and pick yourself up something nice, you've earned it (And hey, maybe wishlist an upcoming game or two along the way whilst you're at it)

The Steam Winter Sale

Happy Holidays from everyone here at LKA and Wired!

Innovation and Unreal Engine take ’indie’ gaming to new heights, learn more about the work that goes in to crafting a masterpiece with our brand new teaser for Martha Is Dead, and an interview with LKA Games Creative Director Luca Dalcó!

Watch the feature “Crafting a Masterpiece”:


The term powered by Unreal engine, is more than just a marketing saying – the innovation the team at Unreal help developers unlock is unimageable, as seen through the recent Matrix tech demo. They also give us the chance to push further on game quality giving us economical support on development. We’ve utilised features but also have managed to place LKA at the cutting edge of new tools, being early adopters of the MetaHuman technology, which we’re excited to continue to reveal more on”. - Luca Dalcó




The interview covers a whole range of subjects surrounding the game - from the usage of next generation Unreal technology, mechanics such as photography, as well as the legacy of The Town Of Light and using the Tuscan setting as a vehicle for storytelling




Built in Unreal® Engine 4, Martha Is Dead combines real-world locations, working in links to historical events during the latter stages of World War II, superstition, folklore, and deep psychological distress. The game opens in the depths of the Italian countryside as Allied and Axis forces turn the nation into a pincered playground.

Martha Is Dead will also be getting a physical release on PlayStation and a soundtrack on triple vinyl.

You can check those out HERE





For more information on Martha Is Dead, be sure to wishlist the game on Steam, join our Discord and follow our socials!


https://store.steampowered.com/app/515960/Martha_Is_Dead/

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Martha is Dead is our second project. It has many more horror overtones than its predecessor, The Town of Light, even though that game also presented some very disturbing situations.

The use of disturbing images and situations is a topic often discussed in the media.
"Why do you use these kinds of images?" This is one of the questions that I have to answer most frequently.

Before I go any further, changing my point of view for once, I will answer this question once again:

The use we make of disturbed situations and images is functional to the narrative of the game. They are not images used for the sake of creating a shock, but to accompany the narrative. The protagonist is going through terrible experiences and in order to communicate her emotions we create these situations and images in an attempt to convey to the player some of the discomfort that the protagonist is experiencing at that moment.

This is nothing new. Cinema has been using this language for years and has given birth to true masterpieces through it. But video games are something else, there is less tolerance and more attention.

Is this fair? Is it not fair? I can't say exactly. I personally believe that asking and understanding why violence and disturbing scenes are used is never wrong. If the author can't give an answer, maybe something is wrong!



Having said that, however, no one ever asks what the people who make these scenes suffer.
Perhaps people think that those who work on this kind of production are a bit sadistic and are inclined to enjoy seeing, or rather, to make, the most horrendous and disgusting things.
Nothing could be further from the truth, at least in our case!

Personally, I'm fond of horror language that is aimed at describing inner suffering... and it's quite obvious since I'm the one writing the script. But the others? The ones who create the mangled, amputated models, who create the bloody, putrescent and disgusting textures, who animate the whole thing giving it life, who create the mechanics to interact with this disgusting material? Are they all fans of this genre? Do they seek out the latest and greatest horror film in their private lives?

Obviously not.



They are modellers, animators and programmers first and foremost. Within LKA, apart from me, only a couple of guys are used to following the horror genre and they are the ones who least work on the "horrors" of Martha is Dead.
And the others? The others don't watch horror movies because... yeah, because they're scary.
Imagine having to work all day on horror!

Actually, it's very different to see a finished scene once in its context than to see it born and grow for weeks, months. Somehow you lose sensitivity.

And here comes one of the great difficulties in developing a video game. Maintaining sensitivity and judgement towards what we see every day, for years. Sometimes it's necessary for me to step away from the game for a while. I continue to work on the game of course, but without playing it! Maybe I make a trailer, or go on a live shoot, or maybe I write a blog! After a few days there is a reset, even if only partial, and you can have a clearer view of what you see.

Finding the balance is difficult.



One must not become a victim of what the team is doing, perhaps noticing every little thing that only we will ever notice (who said 3D artists?) while perhaps losing sensitivity to the whole.
This is one of the most challenging roles of art direction, and it is something you cannot expect from someone who is immersed full time in the creation of assets, animations and effects.
You need a bit of detachment from the technical and production issues in order to maintain an objective overview. Critical, but not hyper-critical, careful, but not unnecessarily maniacal, and above all not linked to the specific problem of the moment, but to how everything works as a whole.

Hello again folks, it's time for our final blog entry looking at the work behind some of the VFX in Martha Is Dead!

This week we are keeping it with fluids again, but thankfully - a little less morbid than just blood.

We'll be talking about the systems in place to help generate the important weather effects, and how to get that fluid in the dark room sloshing around *Just right*

Settle yourself down and get the kettle on, enjoy!



For the previous examples I had started from Emitters, but as different example, for the development tanks seen within the Photography Darkroom I had to start with containers already full of liquid. I took the model of the photograph (That the player produces from the camera) which was a simple plane, created the thickness to make it collide well with Houdini's particles and attached its animation to it.

By exporting everything as alembic, it kept the cache and I therefore limited myself to "soaking" the model of the photograph in the liquid. Here too, like the gushing of the blood the effect was exaggerated. The model in the photo plunged into the liquid that created full on tsunamis rather than generating small settling waves (To imagine the scene just think of putting fruit in the blender but forgetting to put the lid on. Fruit goes everywhere!). With some adjustments to the parameters it improved a lot.

For this animation I made two caches, one of the sheet that enters the water, the other of the sheet that comes out. To do this, it was necessary to create a frame in which the two animations were perfectly identical to be able to swap them at the right moment.

All the dynamic exports made in Houdini are extremely optimized alembics so performance isn’t impacted.



For my very last example, let’s talk about rain! This is an effect that always works very well but is not particularly difficult to achieve, but I couldn't make simple rain of water, we wanted it with blood!

The procedure of creating rain is very simple: a system is created that allows the spawn of particles in a well-defined area (shape and size to your liking). You move the spawn pretty high and make it product lot of particles - more or less depending on the size of your emitter (And GPU requirements). A gravity knot is attached to it and we adjust the shape, size and colour of the drops and that's it, it's raining!

Based on our needs however, this wasn’t enough, we had to create a sequencer in which the camera framed from above and reached the ground. In Niagara I added an extra system, that generates very fast splashes on the ground to simulate the small drops that are created when the largest raindrop hits a surface. I created a plane, folded it into a cylinder with a transparent material that made it look like a splash of water at the edge of its parabola, then I animated its scale on the Z axis based on the duration of its life to simulate a wave animation. At the beginning of its spawn the particle measured zero on its Z scale, in the middle of its life it measured one and eventually returned to zero. Animating its opacity, the effect wasn’t bad.

In order to have as few particles as possible on the screen, I made sure that the drops were eliminated as soon as they hit the ground. If I wanted to create the "splash" exactly in the point where the drop falls I could have done it using a "death event ". A "death event" is an event that, once the rain particle was extinguished, it would send the data of its position and the moment in which the event happened to the splash system, allowing it to create the splash in the right place.

In our case this wasn’t necessary because it rains so much that you could not feel how often and where the drops were falling.



And with that, we conclude our dive into the magic that goes on behind the curtain of some of Martha Is Deads VFX!

We hope you've enjoyed learning a little about how some of the stunning visuals in the game are put together, and the team at LKA have most definitely got more than a few more surprises in store for you...

We'll be sharing a new set of blogs with you very soon as we speed towards February 24th - so sit tight!

In the meantime, if you want to catch more Martha content across the internet, then hit the links at the bottom of the blog! And as always, make sure Martha is on your wishlists - and tell your friends!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/515960/Martha_Is_Dead/

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Hello again folks, we took a little break from our Martha blogs last week in order to make room for our exciting release date announcement, which if you haven't caught up with yet - is now on February 24th!

Check out our teaser trailer announcing it!



All caught up? Wonderful - let's dive into the next of our dev blogs!
We're continuing to talk about the masterful VFX work included in the game - mainly because there's so many fascinating parts to EVERYTHING from the birds to the flesh flies, and as you're about to learn... It's even in the blood...

(Disclaimer for folks, this blog does contain screenshots of blood and rendered 'wounds' so proceed with caution if squeamish!)



Now we must talk about something I deal with a lot in the field of FX … the more "disgusting" areas - What is a horror without a little blood?

Generally for blood textures, decals are used to apply them where necessary. But our goal for Martha Is Dead, however, was to recreate copious amounts of animated blood!
In the early days of development, there were several options I could try but most of them turned out to be unsuccessful. At first we created a plan, made it to match our needs and animated it but it did not render the materials or animation well. Sometimes we can’t use animated textures for how we have optimized the UV of the models, so the best effect we could get was just a cache with Houdini.

When I started working on the blood, It was originally my first experience using Houdini (almost), so I initially had to familiarize myself with it and its many ‘quirks’. After several headaches I managed to export an animated cache of a fountain, it turned out to be an excellent result but not convincing in the form of blood. I was trying to emulate blood gushing from one of the characters mangled body, which has now been seen within the Demo.

It took me a while to find the right parameter setting to be able to create a convincing liquid. The whole system was based on emitters, which simply emits particles at different degrees of viscosity and scale that collide on the characters body.
The mesh had already passed a procedure of removing the “laminate mesh” (non-3D mesh
composed only by a plane), closing the holes that the model could present. Houdini does not react well to this type of mesh "flaw". In this way the fluid remained liquid but viscous enough to simulate blood. The cache with a material that included the Tither Temporal AA on the channel of the mask, perfectly fused the blood on the body of the victim.

Please see the example below but be warned!



Keeping this one vague to avoid spoilers … A similar task occurred later, in which I had to create more blood that was flow on the belly of a different character. The belly had a very particular deformation animation, deformation that proved to be a headache to create!

In the simulations the blood was splashed from all sides, as if the victim was alive and was butchered by a savage! Instead, the body in which I was focusing on was meant to be dead for days, so the blood had to reflect this. Therefore it had to be more dense and viscous than normal ‘alive’ blood.



The solution I found was to create an animated texture that can be applied to the surface of the belly. A texture that animates the emission of particles and forms the design of the blood flow. I set gravity to a minimum and simulated it with the animation of the texture. To match the blood cache with the belly animation I used a simple latex on Maya. By animating the vertices of the lattice, the simulation was able to follow the deformations of the body. This produce the exact result I was looking for, thick lifeless blood!



Well now you know more than you did an hour ago about designing blood to look ;just right', and yet again a perfect example of the attention to detail in the smallest of things that are going into the game.

If you want to catch more Martha content across the internet, then hit the links at the bottom of the blog! And as always, make sure Martha is on your wishlists - and tell your friends!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/515960/Martha_Is_Dead/

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Last night at the Golden Joysticks awards we dropped a brand new teaser for Martha Is Dead, not only that, after two years... we have a release date and it's only weeks away! Launching February 24th, Martha Is Dead combines real-world locations, working in links to historical events during the latter stages of World War II, superstition, folklore, and deep psychological distress. Martha Is Dead has been a long journey for the team at LKA, but we’re now nearing the point where the whole world will get to play it and we cannot wait. It's an experience curated to be faithfully accurate to the era, from our authentic recreation of the Tuscan countryside through to the impact that WWII had on Italy.



Not only did we reveal the date, but also physical versions of the PS4 and PS5 release (launching same day)



PlayStation 5

PlayStation 4

... AND (!) we also revealed an official triple vinyl soundtrack LP will be available to order soon too!


Triple Vinyl

On behalf of everyone at Wired and the team at LKA, than you for all your support so far... see you all very soon!

Tonight was the first showing in the world of our Martha Is Dead release date trailer. We are absolutely thrilled to be invited and involved with the show.



and YES.

We can confirm it will be releasing on February 24th 2022.



Want to buy a physical copy?


Head here to find a store.

WHERE TO BUY

We will be showing the trailer and...

...even more news tomorrow. ;-)

Make sure to check back.

Hello again Martha fans! It's time for another behind the scenes look at development, this time with part 2 of our visual FX focus, once again written by Lorenzo Cardile from LKA.

We'll be taking a look at how the mysterious White Lady from the lake was given her ethereal appearance, and then a small peak at how the worms quite literally turn. Enjoy!




Let’s go on to talk about particle effects!

Creating the smoke seen amongst the White Lady was a challenge. We knew what kind of effect we wanted but it was tricky to get right. An effect was needed that would render the aura of mysticism and ephemeralness of the Lady; I did a lot of rehearsals without success.

Using Niagara, the first attempt was to make the mesh emit a lot of GPU particles. These particles had to be the same colour as the vertex from which they were to be emitted from, in such a way as to simulate a kind of trail using the curl noise node. I helped myself by dividing the linear trail to give it a smokier effect, similar to the movement of smoke from a cigarette.

We immediately realized that we didn't like the result, where there was more density of vertices there were more particles, so her head was full due to the hair, while other areas such as shoulders and arms were practically empty.

In an attempt to make the effect better, I added some particle systems that emitted from the empty areas of the mesh, but even then, we didn't like the result at all. By removing the very first effect I created which was emitted from the whole body and then adding other emitters instead, the result already seemed more in line with what we wanted.

I tried adding a map on the refraction channel which improved the result a lot, the model even occasionally disappears and reappears thanks to the refraction map which was exactly what we were trying to achieve!

In the end we were undecided which system to use. In some scenes the version in which involved the whole body emitted worked better, in others it worked well when there were only the specific emitters. In the end we optimized everything by lowering the size of the textures and we used both solutions by dosing them according to the scenes.

Finally, I tried to make a flipbook (a texture that contains a series of looped images, that if run one after the other, simulates an animation) using Houdini by mixing a smoke effect and a fire effect. Applying it to the material of the emitters, the result that was unnerving with an even deeper break in the reflections and an interesting play of colours and opacity. So thus, the key to the White Lady's smoke was born!




As a teaser for the final part of my trilogy of blogs focusing on FX, let’s completely change area of focus and talk about… the maggots which appear on Martha's corpse!
For the maggots, the pipeline was quite simple. Using Maya I modelled a cylindrical ‘worm’-like shape, I then created some horizontal extra loops and scaled them to achieve that classic maggot texture seen on their bodies. This would be familiar to those who like to go fishing! I then applied a ramp to create the classic colours of the worm finishing the model, time to switch to the rig.



To give some variety I created three different versions of the worms and therefore three different rigs as well. The first which allowed the worm to move in a serpentine manner, the second which allowed it to twist at both ends and then finally another that could do a mixture of both animations.

I animated them and then inserted them into the game (In a scene which won’t be available until the games release). The result is really disgusting to say the least!

If you want to catch more Martha content across the internet, then hit the links at the bottom of the blog! And as always, make sure Martha is on your wishlists - and tell your friends!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/515960/Martha_Is_Dead/

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Hello again and welcome to the latest Dev Blog for Martha Is Dead, last week we shared the story of how Gronkh streaming the game made Achims heart pound! Take a quick scroll back to catch up if you haven't already!

This week we have an in depth look at the creation of some of the stunning visuals in the game - supplied by the talented Lorenzo Cardile, one of the 3D artists at LKA!

This is the first in a multi part series of blogs looking at the visuals of the game and techniques used, so please feel free to comment with any questions you might have, and we'll cover them in future updates!

Without further ado - I hand you over to Lorenzo!



Ciao! My name is Lorenzo Cardile, I am a 3D artist at LKA working on Martha is Dead. My Job within the group is primarily to take care of the game's FX. There are many graphical effects within Martha Is Dead that mainly serve to make the environment richer and more alive when combined with SFX.

If you imagine walking in a forest for example, numerous elements should come to mind… All of those insects… the leaves that fall… water that flows… the dust that moves under the weight of a step. There are many microelements that we often ignore in life but when they are absent, we feel a sense of emptiness. One of these particular effects that I have created is a flock of birds and I'd love to tell you about it.

First of all, it was essential to find birds that could actually be found in Tuscany (The games setting), but also a species which would be common to see flying in August. I wanted to create those beautiful movements that flocks make when they turn, that kind of synchronized dance that makes them all move as one.

So, I tried to find a way to reproduce a bird or silhouette at the lowest polygon count and with the smallest texture possible. These birds are to be seen from far away and I don’t need to worry about the player seeing them up close. The photo camera accessible to the player is of a period which cannot zoom in like our smartphones can today!
Once the mesh and texture was made, it was time for the shader. We chose to use Niagara to create our effects and not wanting to weigh it down too much, I chose to animate the bird's wings directly from its material, not by creating a skeletal mesh. I did this by connecting the world position offset channel with a black and white gradient that inverted the colours when asked.



By doing it this way I was able to make the rhythm of its wing beat parametrically.
As one bird was now created, a system was needed where the bird is duplicated and made to behave like a real flock.
By using Niagara, I created the classic spawn nodes, substituted the mesh for the particle and created two points of attraction of the particles that were able to move in a random way. The effect wasn’t bad… if the intent was to launch these birds into space!

The motion they produced and the force of attraction meant that after a certain period of time, they acquired such a force as to make them end up both underground and in a distant galaxy! – So a limit was required.



So I limited the area of movement of the attractive fulcrums to a much narrower area, and increased the resistance with the air so that the flock never reached the speed of sound.
I made two instances of the flock to create a little more variation and scattered them around. The result seemed satisfactory to me, what do you think? …





With this newly created system, I was able to duplicate it which helped me to create other similar effects; such as gnats and moths that go around the street lamps at night and the insects that wander in the woods.

Obviously I had to make some changes. For the moths and night flies it was not necessary to create all of the variations of directions, so I simply exploited the point of attraction system. Animating the velocity of the particles with a sine curve meant that I always kept them close to the fulcrum, I also created some variation by simulating the wind slightly and breaking their trajectory with a curl noise.
These nodes, working in synergy with the point of attraction and the vortex velocity, perfectly simulate the chaotic and rambling movement that midges do around summer street lamps in real life.



I used a very similar expedient to create woodland insects such as blow flies but with less chaos. In this case the player is very likely to see the particles up close so I once again had to take advantage of the static mesh. Their wings are animated in the same way as birds, with an animated black and white gradient that acts on the world position offset pin of the material, all at the lowest resolution textures possible (To maintain performance).



Pretty fascinating right? And another reinforcement as to the intense attention to detail that LKA are putting into the smallest of things within the game that really makes Martha stand out from the crowd!

If you want to catch more Martha content across the internet, then hit the links at the bottom of the blog! And as always, make sure Martha is on your wishlists - and tell your friends!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/515960/Martha_Is_Dead/

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