Orbs of Oculi

[WolfieMario]

When I was looking at the Orb of Oculus article at Runewiki, I saw this piece of concept art made by Jagex:

I was already at the article to make a 3D model of the in-game Orb of Oculus, so it occured to me, why not try modeling Jagex's concept arts as well? So I did. But I didn't stop there...

I made 8 orbs of oculi. One's based on the in-game one, two are based on Jagex's concept arts, and the other five are inspired by Chrono Trigger.

 

Anyways, each orb has a name. The first, of course, is just a normal Orb of Oculus. The second is a Gazing Stone. The third is the Eye of Malediction (which makes reference to what inspired the design). The fourth is Sphaera Vigiliarum (Latin for Sphere of Viewing/Vigilance). The fifth (first on the bottom row) is a Scrying Orb (Jagex's original name for the Orb of Oculus on the concept art sheet). The sixth is a Box of Viewing. The seventh is a Sphere of Sight. Finally, the eight is called the Depths of Vision (again, vaguely referencing my inspiration for it).

 

Here are Grand Exchange Database and inventory sprites of all of them:

 

Here's a front view:

The spoiler has side, back, top, and angled views:

 

 

 

Now, all of those images were orthogonal (no perspective). So here are a few views with perspective:

 

 

 

Also, here's a large version of the item versions (yes, they are somewhat different models. Mainly I made them lower detail):

 

Also, here's a shot to give you a small idea of the detail in some of the models:

 

Finally, I made an animated GIF of my favorite one. I plan on rendering a video and showing all eight like this soon.

(Click here if it won't show).

 

Honestly, I know most don't seem all that RuneScapish. At any rate, the Eye of Malediction and Depths of Vision (the blue and red ones) definitely aren't possible with RS's current graphics (well, maybe they could do something similar to what I did if they used particles... I didn't use particles for the glow effect; I used UV-mapped texture masks, which Jagex has said can't really be done yet). But I don't think they're too unrealistic - maybe some have a higher-than-normal polygon count, but they'd otherwise be possible (if we're not talking about textures, then all of them are possible :P).

As far as RuneScapish-ness, the one I'm most satisfied with is the second one (Stone of Gazing). But the one I like best visually is the Eye of Malediction (blue one).

 

Feel free to give me CC, tell me which ones you like/hate, and which ones you can imagine in-game :P

 

 

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Contest

This is a contest running between my fakes, where you can find inside jokes and hidden fakes, or figure out how I faked things, in order to win points. These points are kept on a scoresheet alongside a few other stats, and I add you to the list automatically just for playing. You can spend these points on various prizes ranging from simple underbanners to interesting emotes to 3D models to entire fonts - all custom-made in whatever way you want! Or, you could just play for the fun of it, whatever suits you :P.

For more details on the contest, click here. Info about rewards can be found here. For questions/concerns, feel free to consult the FAQ or ask me.

How to play: look at the list below, and see if you can answer any of the questions or find any of the things listed. Be the first person to post it, and you win the points!

 

Here is a list of questions you can answer for this fake to get points:

 

Understanding references:

1. What game have I referenced with the designs of my custom orbs? Hint: think of an RPG where you visit diverse enough locations that each of these orbs would have a place. Also, the game's graphics aren't 3D. 5₧ [2 incorrect guesses] Chrono Trigger, found by Chaos23456 (Zybez).
   
2. The order of the orbs is not random. They are actually placed in an order that references something specific from the game I mentioned above. What exactly does the order reference? 6₧ The order refers to the order of background styles in Chrono Trigger. See this image. Found by jjjon123 (Tip.It).
   
3. [4 Finds] The Stone of Gazing, Sphaera Vigiliarum, Scrying Orb, and Sphere of Sight (2nd, 4th, 5th, and 7th orbs) could all fit in particular time periods in the game I mentioned above. Match each orb with its time period. You get 2₧ for each. 8₧ {Sealed by Understanding references #1} [3 incorrect guesses] The Stone of Gazing represents the prehistoric period. The Sphere of Sight represents the future. The Scrying Orb represents the Antiquity. The Sphaera Vigiliarum represents the Medieval period. The Stone of Gazing and Sphere of Sight ones were found by kasame10 (Zybez). The Scrying Orb and Sphaera Vigiliarum ones were found by jjjon123 (Tip.It).
   
4. The Depths of Vision (last orb) makes a reference to a dungeon from the game mentioned above. What dungeon does its design represent? 2₧ bonus: why is the orb's name fitting? 4₧ bonus: the orange symbols on it do not reference the dungeon - what do those reference? 2₧ (+6₧) [2 incorrect guesses] The design represents the Ocean Palace (a design also used by the Sun Temple). The orb's name is fitting because the palace is deep under water. The orange symbols come from the eighth interface background style (see this image). Question and both bonuses answered by jjjon123 (Tip.It).
   
5. The Eye of Malediction (third orb) makes a reference to another dungeon in the above mentioned game. What dungeon does its design represent? It actually references the dungeon in two different ways - you get 3₧ bonus for each of the two you figure out. 3₧ (+6₧) It represents the Black Omen. Its shape is based on the floating dungeon's exterior, while its color and glowing effects are based on the blue rooms deep in the dungeon. Found by jjjon123 (Tip.It), but only with the first bonus.
   

 

Figure out how I made it:

1. What specular shading algorithm did I use for the shiny parts of the Sphere of Sight (7th orb)? Note: although I made this in Blender, knowledge of Blender is not necessary to answer this question - the algorithm is not unique to Blender, and I will accept any name that refers to the right algorithm. 7₧ bonus: what diffuse shader did I use, and how did I get it to create the faux-reflections? (You're more likely to need to know Blender if you want to answer the bonus). 3₧ (+7₧) [1 incorrect guess] I used the Ward anisotropic (WardIso in Blender) shader for the specular highlights of the lens. I used the default Lambert shader for the diffuse, but made faux-reflections by giving the shader a color ramp. Found by Capt Hunter (Sal's Realm) (bonus not earned).
   
2. This image shows the "item versions" of my models. Similar to how Jagex makes their inventory/dropped models less detailed than the equipped versions, I have reduced the quality for some of my item versions. Ignoring textures, how many item versions are not any lower quality in item form? You also get 1 or 2₧ bonus for each model you correctly say is unchanged. 2₧ (+7₧) Five orbs are not any lower in quality - they are the Orb of Oculus, Stone of Gazing, Sphaera Vigiliarum, Box of Viewing, and Depths of Vision. All five have been found by Capt Hunter (Sal's Realm).
   
3. What was the base shape I used to create the Depths of Vision (last orb)? Don't say "sphere", because you can't have a perfect sphere in 3D modeling. But if you know a little about 3D geometric shapes you should be able to get this even without knowing about modeling. Note that my starting shape is actually a modification of one of the platonic solids, so it has four times the amount of faces the true platonic solid has. 3₧ An icosphere - specifically, one with 80 faces. Found by Capt Hunter (Sal's Realm).
   
4. What is the source of the stone texture for the Sphaera Vigiliarum (4th orb)? Hint: it's from the same game mentioned in Understanding References #1. 4₧ [1 incorrect guess] The fourth window type in Chrono Trigger has a stone tile texture like that in its background. Found by jjjon123 (Tip.It).
   

 

 

Here is the current scoresheet:

Note: Please press Ctrl+F5 to refresh the above image!

Here is a key defining the various columns/rows of the scoresheet.

You may click here to see a list of people who have won trophies from earning many points.

 

A total of 0₧/62₧; are left to obtain in this fake. There are 0/12 finds remaining.

[Bows]

Wolfie, you never cease to amaze me. Fantastic work.

[Helm_Lardar]

Sweet. That eye of malediction is amazing, followed by the red rock with the yellow light sticking out. (dat one thingy wut?).

 

Nice stuff-it's just a shame our characters look so ridiculous holding them anyway.

[pulli23]

I want an orb to look like the companion cube!

[Den]

Wolfie, you never cease to amaze me. Fantastic work.

 

This. They all look great. |^_^|

 

If you equipped them to an RS character and made a video of them holding the different ones, I could see you getting some serious views on YouTube. ;)

 

P.S. The gif is broken it seems.

[WolfieMario]

Thanks guys :D

 

I've now added my contest to this topic.

Wolfie, you never cease to amaze me. Fantastic work.

 

This. They all look great. |^_^|

 

If you equipped them to an RS character and made a video of them holding the different ones, I could see you getting some serious views on YouTube. ;)

 

P.S. The gif is broken it seems.

Actually, now that you mention it, I should make a vid of my char holding them ingame. Since I've already made a model of my character, all I have to do is animate an imitation of the pose they hold them in, and stick him into an area with it :P

I've rendered spinning animations of all the orbs now, but they're all too large to GIF, so I'll save that for the video too.

 

And about the GIF being broken - try this link? You may also have to hit Ctrl+F5. Google always seems to have a problem when I upload animated GIFs, large or not.

[Den]

That link worked, just had to download the picture from google. Looks hot. |^_^|

[Gandorf61]

Great work as always Wolfie. :thumbsup:

 

I'd also second what Den said about making a video or .gif of someone holding one of the orbs.

[Gradeskip]

:thumbup:

[WolfieMario]

Alright, it seems nobody has a clue what game most my contest questions refer to. I'll give a few more hints. If that doesn't work, then I'll be opening the questions to Sal's Realm (currently it's only on Tip.It and Zybez). Finally, if nobody at any of the three forums can figure it out by the time I'm ready to release a video of these (may be a week or so), I'll just say what the answer is.

 

Anyways, I won't give all the hints I can at once. For today, I'll reveal the following: I have heavily referenced the game in an RS video (actually, sort of an animated screenshot fake) of mine. This should be a good enough clue to figure out what game I mean even if you haven't played it - my video actually had a character and dialogue/text straight from the game. Remember, you guys are allowed to use Google :-P. Also, this and this can help you look through my fakes/videos.

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Thank you guys for your comments and votes :grin:

I love how most the orbs voted a lot as RuneScapish had the least votes for being favorites, and vice versa :roll:

 

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EDIT: Okay, here's another hint: The game was manufactured by Square Enix (only Square at the time), originally for the Super Nintendo. It has also been remade for Playstation and Nintendo DS.

 

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EDIT: Alright, I'm opening the contest to Sal's Realm as well, because hopefully three forums will have at least one person who can get it :P

 

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EDIT: Well, someone at Zybez got it. The game is Chrono Trigger. I hope that means someone here can try getting the other questions? :P

Edited April 6, 2011 by WolfieMario

[Danqazmlp]

They are incredibly good. I Think the Sphere of sight you made is actually closer to their own concept art than the one they ended up with. Definitely my favourite.

[Crocefisso]

Personally, my favourite is the Eye of Malediction. But, hey, they're all pretty great. Well done.