Dev Blog : Gronkh made us do it!
Hello again, we hope you enjoyed our dev blog update last week where Luca took some time to go through the reactions to the Martha Demo and shared some insight into the development process of putting it together!
This week we have an anecdote from Achim Heidelauf, the Creative Producer behind the game - who upon seeing well known content creator Gronkh streaming the demo, recalled a hair raising encounter from the past, and his thoughts on watching him explore Tuscany for the first time. Enjoy!
[h2]The Rod To Gamescom[/h2]
I haven’t met Gronkh often, but one of the occasions I did really stuck in my mind:
When a mutual friend of ours, let’s call him Mr. P., one of the nicest German game writers, drunkenly jumped onto a decorative, massively huge sewing machine (yes, you heard it right*** ) at a Gamescom industry party, I couldn’t forget the face Gronkh made in sheer terror. Because that sewing machine had this long, rusty rod sticking out of it and Mr. P. jumped exactly onto that and the rod immediately fully drilled through his foot.
Carnage, I tell you. But luckily Mr. P. was so drunk, that he either didn’t really realize or even perhaps enjoyed the feeling?!
Anyway, the face that Gronkh made in that moment must be pretty close to my expression when I watched him stream the Martha Is Dead Demo, recently. But not just for seconds – that sheer terror was baked into my face for perhaps half an hour? It felt like two lifetimes.
After patiently listening to cooking ideas and noodle preferences discussed between Gronkh and his following, the time had finally come for him to kick off his Martha Is Dead stream. Exciting! And I always enjoy listening to him, and personally, I like Gronkh a lot, so that was something to look forward to.
[h2]Home Comforts[/h2]
But then Murphy’s Law kicked in, in full effect.
I did not mind so much that Gronkh somehow decided to not leave Martha’s and Giulia’s bedroom for a long time. I mean a loooong time. That just spoke for its visual detail and that feeling of exploration in games is something we all enjoy anyway. So, after a few minutes he decided to go down the stairs of that dreamy, atmospheric place Giulia is living in with her parents. No Martha there, as Martha is dead. D’oh.
Then the horrors started.
Erich K., Giulia’s Papa (aka Udo K. – Mr. Udo Kier, one of my true heroes, acting the role) left a camera on the kitchen table for Giulia to go out and take photos with. So, yeah, Gronkh took the camera. And decided to not leave the house. Like forever.
He missed a tutorial message thing that we had included, rather sloppily (yes, we have learned from all this). With the camera in his hands, Gronkh did the perhaps obvious: to not waste time and try to take photos right away.
The open door into Martha’s world, just in front of him, sunbeams streaming into the house, was still not invitation enough for him to leave the house. So, let’s take photos of the newspaper, let’s go back upstairs, all the way back to the bedroom we had spent a long time in already, to shoot photos there. Perhaps one out of the window, showing the landscape and wonderful weather, that is just waiting for you to come, come, come outside! 😊
[h2]Free As A Bird[/h2]
So, now Gronkh headed back down into the breakfast room. Towards the open door! Yes! And now a hard right turn into the other part of the house. Indeed not outside, no, no, let’s see more of that house and perhaps take more photos there.
At the moment when Martha’s corpse in the coffin in the living room (that’s what you got in Italy at that time – dead people in living rooms) totally surprised Gronkh when he turned around, I started getting really tense. It got frustrating to see the obvious trap that we had not thought about when creating the demo. If the game doesn’t give you a much clearer hint at that time that leads you towards a little cute bird just right outside the house, that is just waiiiiting to be photographed by you, then all this can happen.
And Gronkh is the last person to blame. In fact I’d like to thank him for this, as it really made us adjust and polish quite a few things regarding that part of that chapter of the game. It is now much better, thanks to Gronkh and him insisting to not go into the sunlight and rather stay inside and hang out with a corpse. He just seems to like that more! (okay okay, yes, I am still frustrated too, obviously.. haha!!).
Now Gronkh finally left the house. …ah, no, he actually did not… He walked back towards that door with the sunli.. you know you know… and then stopped. Turned right. Looked at the stairs to the basement and that was the moment I started screaming at the tablet I was watching the stream on.
“No Gronkh, NOT THE STAIRS!!!”. Although I did scream loud, yes, he did not listen. He went down into the basement. Nice red room there for photos to develop that Gronkh did not have yet!! And then, a long dark corridor, a wine storage, to stumble through and go towards the OTHER exit of the house.
The exit that normally is closed at that point in the story. But we had to open it for the demo, as gameplay is different there. And THAT gave me the final kick-in-my-face. When Gronkh finally left the house, but through the frikkin’ basement, while the little tiny cute bird is still waiting elsewhere, I knew this was probably the most confusing kind of experience his viewers had in quite a long time, but hopefully it was not frustrating for them to watch.
I had to stop watching at that point. Seriously -- if I would have continued at that point, I would have probably gotten a heart attack or some trauma or something. So I decided to save myself and switch off and then rewatch the entire piece in the safety of being able to fast forward.
And I did. And actually I got the impression that nobody really cared that much about all this. The comments were very positive. And Gronkh spoke nicely about the game and was definitely impressed by it. He loved the visual style and the music and sound atmosphere. And he was certainly shocked by the scenes that should shock you.
I mean, just LOOK AT HIM! :)
We have addressed all this in the meantime and have added a few more polished details to these described scenes as well.
So, thanks, Gronkh, for this experience! Looking forward to our next meet – hopefully live and without Mr. P. causing a bloody carnage.
Yours truly
Achim Heidelauf – aka Creative Producer, Martha Is Dead, @ Wired Productions
***It looked a bit like this, just more rusty: :)
So there you go, a little insight into the train of thought behind game creatives watching well known influencers display their games to the masses for the first time - and maybe a new found anxiety of sewing machines...
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/
Wired Facebook | Wired Twitter | Wired Youtube | Wired Discord | Wired Instagram | Wired Twitch | Wired Reddit | Wired Imgur
This week we have an anecdote from Achim Heidelauf, the Creative Producer behind the game - who upon seeing well known content creator Gronkh streaming the demo, recalled a hair raising encounter from the past, and his thoughts on watching him explore Tuscany for the first time. Enjoy!
[h2]The Rod To Gamescom[/h2]
I haven’t met Gronkh often, but one of the occasions I did really stuck in my mind:
When a mutual friend of ours, let’s call him Mr. P., one of the nicest German game writers, drunkenly jumped onto a decorative, massively huge sewing machine (yes, you heard it right*** ) at a Gamescom industry party, I couldn’t forget the face Gronkh made in sheer terror. Because that sewing machine had this long, rusty rod sticking out of it and Mr. P. jumped exactly onto that and the rod immediately fully drilled through his foot.
Carnage, I tell you. But luckily Mr. P. was so drunk, that he either didn’t really realize or even perhaps enjoyed the feeling?!
Anyway, the face that Gronkh made in that moment must be pretty close to my expression when I watched him stream the Martha Is Dead Demo, recently. But not just for seconds – that sheer terror was baked into my face for perhaps half an hour? It felt like two lifetimes.
After patiently listening to cooking ideas and noodle preferences discussed between Gronkh and his following, the time had finally come for him to kick off his Martha Is Dead stream. Exciting! And I always enjoy listening to him, and personally, I like Gronkh a lot, so that was something to look forward to.
[h2]Home Comforts[/h2]
But then Murphy’s Law kicked in, in full effect.
I did not mind so much that Gronkh somehow decided to not leave Martha’s and Giulia’s bedroom for a long time. I mean a loooong time. That just spoke for its visual detail and that feeling of exploration in games is something we all enjoy anyway. So, after a few minutes he decided to go down the stairs of that dreamy, atmospheric place Giulia is living in with her parents. No Martha there, as Martha is dead. D’oh.
Then the horrors started.
Erich K., Giulia’s Papa (aka Udo K. – Mr. Udo Kier, one of my true heroes, acting the role) left a camera on the kitchen table for Giulia to go out and take photos with. So, yeah, Gronkh took the camera. And decided to not leave the house. Like forever.
He missed a tutorial message thing that we had included, rather sloppily (yes, we have learned from all this). With the camera in his hands, Gronkh did the perhaps obvious: to not waste time and try to take photos right away.
The open door into Martha’s world, just in front of him, sunbeams streaming into the house, was still not invitation enough for him to leave the house. So, let’s take photos of the newspaper, let’s go back upstairs, all the way back to the bedroom we had spent a long time in already, to shoot photos there. Perhaps one out of the window, showing the landscape and wonderful weather, that is just waiting for you to come, come, come outside! 😊
[h2]Free As A Bird[/h2]
So, now Gronkh headed back down into the breakfast room. Towards the open door! Yes! And now a hard right turn into the other part of the house. Indeed not outside, no, no, let’s see more of that house and perhaps take more photos there.
At the moment when Martha’s corpse in the coffin in the living room (that’s what you got in Italy at that time – dead people in living rooms) totally surprised Gronkh when he turned around, I started getting really tense. It got frustrating to see the obvious trap that we had not thought about when creating the demo. If the game doesn’t give you a much clearer hint at that time that leads you towards a little cute bird just right outside the house, that is just waiiiiting to be photographed by you, then all this can happen.
And Gronkh is the last person to blame. In fact I’d like to thank him for this, as it really made us adjust and polish quite a few things regarding that part of that chapter of the game. It is now much better, thanks to Gronkh and him insisting to not go into the sunlight and rather stay inside and hang out with a corpse. He just seems to like that more! (okay okay, yes, I am still frustrated too, obviously.. haha!!).
Now Gronkh finally left the house. …ah, no, he actually did not… He walked back towards that door with the sunli.. you know you know… and then stopped. Turned right. Looked at the stairs to the basement and that was the moment I started screaming at the tablet I was watching the stream on.
“No Gronkh, NOT THE STAIRS!!!”. Although I did scream loud, yes, he did not listen. He went down into the basement. Nice red room there for photos to develop that Gronkh did not have yet!! And then, a long dark corridor, a wine storage, to stumble through and go towards the OTHER exit of the house.
The exit that normally is closed at that point in the story. But we had to open it for the demo, as gameplay is different there. And THAT gave me the final kick-in-my-face. When Gronkh finally left the house, but through the frikkin’ basement, while the little tiny cute bird is still waiting elsewhere, I knew this was probably the most confusing kind of experience his viewers had in quite a long time, but hopefully it was not frustrating for them to watch.
I had to stop watching at that point. Seriously -- if I would have continued at that point, I would have probably gotten a heart attack or some trauma or something. So I decided to save myself and switch off and then rewatch the entire piece in the safety of being able to fast forward.
And I did. And actually I got the impression that nobody really cared that much about all this. The comments were very positive. And Gronkh spoke nicely about the game and was definitely impressed by it. He loved the visual style and the music and sound atmosphere. And he was certainly shocked by the scenes that should shock you.
I mean, just LOOK AT HIM! :)
We have addressed all this in the meantime and have added a few more polished details to these described scenes as well.
So, thanks, Gronkh, for this experience! Looking forward to our next meet – hopefully live and without Mr. P. causing a bloody carnage.
Yours truly
Achim Heidelauf – aka Creative Producer, Martha Is Dead, @ Wired Productions
***It looked a bit like this, just more rusty: :)
So there you go, a little insight into the train of thought behind game creatives watching well known influencers display their games to the masses for the first time - and maybe a new found anxiety of sewing machines...
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/
Wired Facebook | Wired Twitter | Wired Youtube | Wired Discord | Wired Instagram | Wired Twitch | Wired Reddit | Wired Imgur