Originally posted on 2019-12-29
Pre-orders for the ninth entry in the DARK SOULS × TORCH TORCH Ring Collection series, the “Chloranthy Ring,” actually began quite a while ago.
It’s already been over a month and a half since pre-orders began, but I’m finally able to sit down and write this blog post. Sorry it took awhile…
Part of it was because other projects were moving forward at the same time, but more than anything, we were putting a lot of effort into making this “Chloranthy Ring” as good as it could possibly be.
The “Chloranthy Ring” was actually one of the three rings included in the very first proposal when we began the Ring Collection series.
(The other two were the “Silvercat Ring” and “Havel’s Ring.”)
Below is a quote from the blog post written two and a half years ago when pre-orders for “Havel’s Ring” first began.
==========
But once we actually started moving forward with it, we quickly realized just how difficult the Chloranthy Ring would be to make. What were we supposed to do about the green stones in the petals? There are thirty-two of them. Would we carve each one individually from natural stone? Use epoxy resin? Transparent colored resin? Even if we could make it work, the cost would become absurd, and we weren’t even sure it could still be kept at a wearable size.
At one point we found teardrop-shaped green Swarovski crystals, but using them would mean reducing the number of petals, and even then the ring would become enormous. There’s also another flower visible along the band itself, and probably one on the opposite side too. The more we studied the structure, the more parts kept appearing.
We explored every possible option because we really wanted to make it happen, but in the end we decided that releasing something this expensive so early into the series just wasn’t realistic. So, reluctantly, we decided to put the Chloranthy Ring aside for the time being.
To everyone who was hoping for it, I’m truly sorry, but for now there are no future plans for the Chloranthy Ring.
==========
I really flat-out said “there are no plans,” didn’t I? At the time, I genuinely thought it would be impossible, but looking back, that was maybe a little too honest…
Even so, the Chloranthy Ring is such a major ring in DARK SOULS that it’s hard to imagine any player never having used it at least once. There’s no real way to check the exact numbers, of course, but it honestly feels like one of the most-used rings in the entire game.
A lot of people who follow the games had actually read that old “Havel’s Ring” blog post, so whenever we had the chance to talk at events or conventions, the topic would often come up:
“So… Chloranthy really isn’t possible after all?”
And honestly, having a Ring Collection lineup without the Chloranthy Ring never quite felt right to us either.
In the blog post announcing the “Ring of Favor,” I wrote this:
==========
Ever since we first announced “Silvercat” and “Havel’s Ring” in the early days of the series, we’ve received just as many requests for this one as we have for “Chloranthy.”
*As for “Chloranthy”… let’s just quietly put that topic back on the shelf for now. I hope you understand…
==========
Looking back on it now, it’s kind of funny and a little sad that I still felt the need to bring it up. We really didn’t know what to do at the time.
※ ※ ※
But as we continued releasing entries in the Ring Collection series, we gradually built up more and more knowledge and experience when it came to making accessories. Along the way, we were also lucky enough to meet some truly incredible production partners.
At a certain point, it started to feel like the only way forward was to actually try making it. Maybe we’d finally built up enough of a foundation to somehow pull it off.
So, we decided to restart development on the project we had once given up on.
And as you all know, this single in-game illustration was all we had to work from.
I had a feeling the green stones in the petals might actually be peridot.
I really didn’t want to use epoxy resin or colored resin if possible. Those kinds of materials just don’t feel like they belong in the world of DARK SOULS. But peridot? That somehow feels like it could exist there. (Though what exactly counts as the “real” world of DARK SOULS is another question entirely.)
So, after being shown some internal DARK SOULS design reference materials for development purposes, we were able to confirm that the petals were indeed meant to be translucent green gemstones rather than painted details or colored parts. The exact type of gemstone wasn’t specified, but after looking into it further, we felt peridot was still the best fit.
The round rose-cut stone in the center seemed manageable enough. It’s round, after all.
The real problem was the surrounding petal stones. The teardrop-shape!
The tricky part was the edges. Some petals are pointed, others more rounded… and recreating every single variation just wasn’t realistic. In the end, we decided to use the same specification for all of the petal stones, and instead create variation through the shape of the stone settings themselves.
Custom-cut gemstones would dramatically increase the production cost, which would have a huge impact on the final price of the ring. So the first step was searching for existing standard-sized stones that could get us as close as possible.
The closest match we could find was this 5mm × 3mm pear-shaped cabochon stone. Just to be safe, we decided to do a quick simulation to see what the overall shape would actually look like when assembled into the ring.
The image above shows what happened when we tried matching the petal count properly. It ended up looking way too chunky and cramped, and at 24mm across, the overall size was too big.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any standard stones that were a closer match, so it was back to the drawing board.
Gemstone sizes are specified in 0.5mm increments, so we kept adjusting the dimensions little by little to find the most realistic balance. The result was the version shown above. With a flower diameter of 21mm, it finally started to feel “right.” A teardrop-shaped stone measuring 4.5mm tall by 2mm wide seemed to be the best fit.
Then the workshop proposed another idea to help keep costs under control:
What if we modified existing standard stones instead?
There’s a standard gemstone shape called a marquise cut, which has pointed ends on both sides, so…
The idea was that by grinding down one side of the stone, it could be reshaped into a teardrop form, which would hopefully keep the costs much more manageable.
We gave it a try, but… honestly, it just didn’t quite feel right.
Unfortunately, the only photo we still had was one from testing, all blackened and dirty, but it looked something like this. The surface sat too high, and without a smoother shape, it just didn’t capture the right feeling at all.
At that point, it became clear that the peridot stones really would need to be custom cut after all. There was nothing we could do.
…
(Time passes)
Through negotiations with a gemstone supplier the workshop had connections with, we somehow managed to get the stones custom cut for almost the same price as standard stock stones!
I can’t really go into the details, but just imagine somebody using a secret weapon art.
In any case, the gemstone problem was solved. Somehow, things really do work out sometimes. We’re constantly supported by the incredible people we work with.
For the sculpting work, we once again turned to Masato Ohata, who has handled most of the Ring Collection series so far. He’s a sculptor we trust completely, especially when it comes to capturing delicate little nuances perfectly.
So first, we started by putting together a rough structural draft.
This was the first sketch I drew up. When I brought it to the workshop to discuss it, their response was basically, “Well, we won’t know until we try… let’s give it a shot.”
At that point, there was nothing to do but move forward, so I put together a fairly detailed specification sheet.
We decided to set aside the finer nuances for the moment and first had Ohata-san work out the overall shape and structure.
And then this came back on the very first pass. Seriously, the man’s a genius.
The side of the ring with the small flower isn’t shown in much detail in the original artwork, so there was a lot we simply couldn’t know for sure. After discussing it, we decided to try approaching the sculpting in a similar way to the “Ring of Life.” Rather than asking the supervision team (FromSoftware, Inc.) what should go there from a completely blank state, we figured it would be easier on them if we presented an actual proposal first, even if it was only temporary.
When we asked them to specifically check the side details, the response we got back was:
“The side looks good, but if possible, could you make the arrangement of the upper petals more uneven and distorted to better match the original illustration?”
…Which was funny, because we hadn’t even touched that part yet. Still, hearing that the side details were approved was a huge relief.
Once we relayed that feedback to Ohata-san, he absolutely nailed it. He distorted the petals beautifully and even added subtle height differences between them. Again, genius.
After a few more small adjustments, the sculpt approval process went surprisingly smoothly.
Well… at least the sculpt approval part did.
This photo shows a test casting from around the beginning of this year.
As far as the overall shape goes, it was mostly there. You can probably notice that the small flower on the side of the ring is silver instead of gold. Since this was only a test piece, it was made entirely in silver rather than brass, and the flower wasn’t a separate part yet but integrated directly into the ring itself.
At a glance, the test casting looked pretty good, but in reality it was full of problems.
Out of all of them, the biggest issue by far was the gemstone fitting.
The process goes something like this:
First, a rubber mold (female) is made from the original 3D-printed sculpt (male). Wax is then poured into that mold to create a wax model (male), and multiple wax models are assembled together into a tree. That tree is embedded into plaster to create a plaster mold (female). Once heated, the wax melts away completely, leaving hollow spaces behind. Molten silver is then poured into those cavities to create the final cast.
This process is called lost-wax casting.
That was the simplified explanation, but the important point here is this:
Cast pieces shrink compared to the original sculpt.
And they shrink every single time they’re copied.
The tricky part is that there’s no perfectly predictable amount. People generally say around 7%, but sometimes it’s only 4–5%, while other times it can shrink by nearly 10%.
If you’re working with simple stone shapes, it usually isn’t a huge problem. But when you have tightly packed teardrop-shaped stones arranged all the way around like this, even tiny differences become a nightmare. If the stone settings end up slightly too small, the stones won’t fit properly. If they end up too large, everything becomes loose.
The stones themselves are hand-cut rather than machine-made, so there are naturally slight variations between each one as well.
To find the exact stone setting size that would both fit properly and still look good, we ended up adjusting things over and over again. Even after the sculpt approval had technically been finished, I still kept asking Ohata-san for tiny little revisions again and again.
The kind of correction notes you almost feel bad sending.
EPSON MFP image
An increasingly desperate set of correction notes after countless rounds of trial and error.
We ended up constantly tweaking the structure too. Seriously, sorry Ohata-san…!
After all of those twists and turns, we finally made it to the announcement stage.
…Or so we thought.
…
…
After the reveal, we started hearing comments like:
“Compared to the in-game illustration, doesn’t the flower feel a little too closed overall?”
“The edges of the petals seem a bit thick.”
It definitely wasn’t a huge wave of criticism, but still… Those comments stayed with me.
The truth is, there actually was a reason the petals were designed to be slightly more closed, and I had specifically asked Ohata-san to approach them that way. I’d like to properly talk about the reasoning behind it in the Dengeki PlayStation interview that should hopefully be happening in the future.
Anyway, pre-orders had already started at this point.
So the question became:
Is it really okay to change the sculpt after reaching this stage…?
I honestly struggled with that.
So I talked to the workshop first.
The upper petal parts all share the same size, which meant production casting had already begun for mass manufacturing.
But they told me:
“Don’t worry about that. If it’s going to bother you, let’s make the changes now so you don’t regret it later.”
Then I spoke with Ohata-san.
His response was:
“I actually think that kind of commitment is really great. I’d be happy to do it.”
In the best way possible, these people are crazy…
Feeback notes I was somehow able to keep making, mostly thanks to being surrounded by incredibly generous people.
To be honest, we weren’t even sure this would be possible in the first place. But thanks to all the trial and error leading up to this point, and especially thanks to Ohata-san’s unbelievable craftsmanship, we somehow managed to pull off what turned into a pretty massive overhaul.
More than anything, it really reminded me how lucky we are to be working with such incredible people.
When we announced the sculpt revisions on social media, we were genuinely happy to see so many positive responses.
The whole process ended up being incredibly unusual and pushed right up against the deadline, but looking back, I’m really glad we decided to go through with it.
The version on the left is before the revisions, and the version on the right is after.This piece truly became something we poured everything we could into.
And thank you, for sticking with me through such a long post.
Until next time.