Highlights
- A Final Fantasy 10 player created a Python script that makes dodging lightning bolts in the Thunder Plains easier, receiving praise and criticism from fans.
- Dodging lightning bolts is considered one of the hardest challenges in the game, and 200 successful dodges are required to obtain a key item.
- The script simulates controller inputs whenever the screen flashes white, reducing the manual input required from players. Some fans view it as cheating, while others support its creation.
A Final Fantasy 10 player chose to turn down the difficulty of one of the game's most notorious challenges by creating a method for dodging lightning bolts in the Thunder Plains with relative ease. The Final Fantasy 10 player posted their strategy on social media, where other fans and players both praised them for the effort and jokingly condemned them for trivializing the lightning bolt challenge.
As one of the highest-rated entries in the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy 10 sees players assume the role of Tidus, a rising blitzball star from Zanarkand who finds himself transported to the land of Spira. He joins the young summoner Yuna on her pilgrimage to defeat the monstrous Sin and becomes one of her guardians alongside characters such as her cousin Rikku, who has an irrational fear of thunder. Yuna's pilgrimage takes her through the desolate and stormy Thunder Plains, which is home to the lightning dodge challenge that is notorious among Final Fantasy 10 players. However, one player decided to make the challenge of dodging lightning a thing of the past.
On Reddit, a user named MarionetteScans shared a script they wrote in Python and shared it on the r/FinalFantasy subreddit. Given that it takes dodging 200 lightning bolts to obtain the Venus Sigil, which is necessary to fully power up Lulu's Celestial Weapon, Final Fantasy 10 players considered the challenge to be among the hardest in the entire series. However, MarionetteScans' script sought to minimize the input that players would have to enter by having the Python script simulate a controller button press anytime the screen flashes white, which is the tell that players will have for a lightning strike coming their way.
The OP advised Final Fantasy 10 players to turn off random encounters, place Tidus on a Cactuar-shaped alcove in the Thunder Plains, and click back into the game by clicking on a dark part of the screen in order for the script to work. The post from MarionetteScans received over 500 upvotes on r/FinalFantasy in under a day. While some Final Fantasy fans jokingly referred to the script as cheating the challenge, other users wondered if Remote Play on Steam or a PlayStation console could be used to run the script. While the OP stated that Remote Play would add some input lag and make the timing tricky, they said it was theoretically plausible.
Though Final Fantasy 10 has a variety of mini-games and challenges for players to take on, dodging lightning bolts has now become simpler thanks to MarionettesScans' efforts. It remains to be seen how many players will use their Python script.
Final Fantasy 10 HD Remaster is available now for PC, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Switch, and Xbox One.
