Jecht Sphere, FFX - Overview

05.10.22

Introduction

Welcome to the Overview for a project to make a Jecht Sphere from Final Fantasy X.

Here I can offer you a little insight into the item that demanded attention, and the world that brings it to life!

While this unlicenced replica is can be used for decorative purposes or as a cosplay prop, the main reason for building it is that I just really love FFX! I can’t have enough projects on the go from that game.

Jecht Sphere

The world of FFX is home to many kinds of spheres for many different functions: Cloister of Trials, save points, grid unlocks, keys, and recording memories to name a few.

As well as many functions, they also come in a range of appearances across Spira. The one that will be the focus here are the ones used to capture and store memories.

Huge plot points and sweet sentimental moments are delivered through them, and they are critical in powering up Auron and seeing more of a past pilgrimage.

There are a number of names used for this item: Memory Sphere, Jecht Sphere, and Movie Sphere, but I’ll be going with Jecht Sphere, almost purely because Google. Because Google… But even within the same named items, there are a number of variants available between concept art, in-game, and the sequel FFX-2.

The one pictured above is, in my opinion, the most recognizable and will be the primary image I’ll be basing the design on.

The Item

A Jecht Sphere consists of a repeating-patterned golden ring that surrounds the lower part of a glass dome that sits central.

The glass dome is usually depicted as blue, however it also plays memories somewhat like a screen. The widest part of the glass dome sits in the upper part of the ring, rather than at the very base of it.

The pattern is a somewhat simple set of shapes, and the front of the ring has a slightly raised part with further patterned cuts into it. In the middle of the raised section sits a very small red gem.

The Process

While the dome itself should be as easy as making a hemisphere with a rim, the detailing around the gold section may be a little problematic. The detailing is a pattern that is repeated, but I may need to do a little trial and error to get the size and placement of it just right if I hope to use a circle pattern.

While this project is largely unlike many others I’ve done, the very basic electronics I used with the Symmetra Turret would be a great match for this. Very little would be needed: a battery, switch, resistor, LED, and some shrink wrap! Easy! Making this light up from within would be very cool and achievable. I wonder how easy it’d be to get a circular screen and a raspberry pi tucked away to play vide- Nevermind, one step at a time…

The size in-game is shown as handheld, and given its shape, it should be entirely printable on most standard resin printers. This makes my options for building it wider, and also means I needn’t worry about separate files for the Raw Build and Print It Yourself versions.