Video game

DEADWATER

Katharine Harris

Issaquah, Wa

Advisor: James Coltrain

Artist Bio

Katharine Harris is a senior Game Design student with a specialty in game art and worldbuilding. Growing up in Issaquah, Washington, they were introduced to video games at a young age with games like Castle Crashers and the various LEGO game adaptations. They developed an interest early on in all things fantasy and sci-fi, shaping the worlds they have worked on over the years. Fond of unique worlds and styles, Katharine values marrying the style to storytelling and immersion, making sure that the. While they come from an illustrative background, they’ve found a love for creating both 2D and 3D assets for games, hoping to delve deeper into experimental styles in 3D just as they do in 2D.

Artist Statement

DEADWATER is a narrative detective game exploring the isolation and struggles of infection and caring for the ones you love most. Investigating the disappearance of a research crew, the player discovers that something more sinister happened. The player must utilize odd hallucinations they have begun to experience since boarding the crew’s research base. The game should challenge the player’s morals, presenting characters that are complex and morally grey instead of a perfect black and white story.

I have always been passionate about fiction and the hearts that can be touched through it. When deciding what to do for my senior project, I chose to explore what I could tell through a completely fictional world of my own, giving me free reign to push what can and can’t happen. From my artistic background, I wanted to take advantage of the game medium to create visuals to enhance the story I want to tell. I value challenging myself with my work, so I wanted to create an environment to make the player feel as immersed in the world as the character is. Research has been an important part of the process through not only creating an alien environment, but also one based in reality due to the similarities between the planet of Daocarro and our own Earth. I hope I can show just how much visual creativity has affected me through the game and inspire that same awe in those who play DEADWATER.