“In our productions the territory is one of the major protagonists. So it was for The Town of Light and so it is for Martha is Dead“: to speak is Luca Dalcò, founder and director of Lka, an Italian development studio based on the outskirts of Florence.
From his debut in the world of video games with The Town of Light, set in the former asylum of Volterra, to the new investigative horror work in development for Xbox and computers, the Lka studio has a somewhat atypical vision of Tuscany, as Dalcò explained to us: “I am not thinking of the landscapes of the collective imagination, but of the submerged realities that the territory hides in abundance. And when we talk about horror as a medium and not as an end, the real place acquires even more value “.
In video games, the environment is of crucial importance, because we must learn to orient ourselves, to know the places where the experience takes place, the paths: in the films we leave the director the task of guiding us, while in the game the knowledge of the environment is a direct component.
Contrast is an amplifier of emotions
Martha is Dead covers the Chianti area of unprecedented and sometimes disturbing shades, Dalcò told us: “Darkness, next to light, becomes even darker. The game exploits a pleasant and harmonious landscape environment to contrast a dystopian story, set in a dystopian historical period”.
In the game, the landscape is the mirror of the protagonist: “His 21 years they are well represented by summer and a lively and harmonious panorama. But it won’t all be nice and laughing, especially in a dysfunctional family during a war. At times the environment will transform, it will become disturbing, it will make us lose, continuing to be the mirror of ourselves as players, which we see through the eyes of the girl “.
War in the background
Lka’s new work takes place in 1944, the last period of the Second World War, which was particularly bloody for Central Italy: “For most of the time the war remains something indefinite, but still always present – explained Dalcò – Its consequences are tangible and have a strong impact on the life of the family” .
The soundtrack of Martha is Dead it is particularly evocative: on the one hand the studio has reconstructed the characteristic sound of the historical period, on the other the music enhances the atmosphere of the game. In the words of Dalcò: “We were lucky enough to working with Francesca Messina, aka Femina Ridens, who did a major job of bringing the 1940s flavor back to life in a series of cool retro tracks. Francesca has reinterpreted very famous pieces in a dystopian style, marrying them perfectly with the atmosphere of the game and composed traces of atmosphere “.
In addition to Femina Ridens, also Davide Terreni, already author of the music of The Town of Light, is committed to the soundtrack: “He has the rare ability to create that sense of discomfort that sound, perhaps more than any other element, is capable of provoking and of which a title like ours is in great need “.
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A good translation
Luca Dalcò is a supporter of the so-called localization, he thinks that especially in narrative video games a translation into multiple languages is necessary to allow players not to lose details or nuances, but “of course quality is needed, because bad localization kills everything. Imagine what happens when a good actress recites a poorly translated text: you spent a lot and you get the result of looking like an amateur. “And for the localization errors there is no mercy (especially in the reviews on Steam), demonstrating that when addressing an international audience it is essential to take care of this aspect.
The importance of funding
Martha is Dead got the co-financing of Creative Europe, a framework program dedicated to cultural initiatives, a great help that has allowed Lka to also obtain funds from private individuals: “Having a European contribution means offering itself to other investors with very important institutional recognition and with a portfolio that is not entirely empty. Two elements that radically change the negotiations” .
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The problem is that developing a game is very expensive and takes a very long time in which there is no income to cover the many expenses. Which is a combination that can be lethal. But Dalcò did not lose heart: “I have always been a gamer and I have always wondered why video games did not imitate cinema in becoming bearers of cultural values while remaining within the confines of entertainment“. And if a small team like that of Lka has managed to establish itself with dignity in the markets of almost the whole world with a low-budget product such as The Town of Light, where could Italian creativity go if it had concessions and financing?
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