In my thesis "Decaying Majesty," I explore the intricate process of creating a AAA-quality video game character in Unreal Engine. This character dynamically transitions from an alive to dead state. The character is a depiction of Queen Elizabeth I as if she was played by the actress Anya Taylor Joy.

This project focuses on three core masteries: Historical Accuracy, Realism, and Organic Decay. The first mastery covers extensive historical research that was required to accurately recreate the dress and styling of Queen Elizabeth I. The Realism mastery is focused on creating a realistic looking character, and covers my methods and techniques used to do so. The final mastery demonstrates a realistic transition from alive to dead, showing how the queen's body and clothes decay over time.

The artifact is an Unreal Engine level with the Queen character, with user controls to begin a transition from alive to dead and back, as well as toggles for each garment.