With a book and a fairy to just provide ample protections and damage mitigation strategies, Final Fantasy 14’s Scholar class is a healer for the smarties. What if, though, you were able to engage using an actual book instead of your typical keyboard or joystick for a truly immersive environment?
In fact, SuperLouis64, a self-described “console addict,” has done just that. At this time, he is an expert in creating devices expressly for Final Fantasy 14 jobs, previously having transformed boxing gloves into Monastic swords and equipped a playing card-wielding Astrologian with an entire-ass The Yu-Gi-Oh deck This time, he has created a real-world Scholar weapon out of a book and an absurdly large pencil, and it is very cool.
There were some limitations right away: there were insufficient keys to place it all on, so spells with a broader scope, like Swift cast, which are essential for fast rezzing players, weren’t an option.
The single analog stick also constrained SuperLouis on his giant cartoon pencil, which prevented him from shifting the camera up or down or his protagonist left or right.
The book appeared to be fully working, albeit occasionally, he had to go and give his mouse a little jiggle to stop looking at the ground. A few seconds of scribbling would cause detectors in the top and bottom of the book to trigger specific inputs, enabling SuperLouis to perform his magic.
Even if it doesn’t always work or interferes with the action, I always find it entertaining to watch SuperLouis use anything and anything as a controller. Seeing what can be accomplished with a little code is a lot of fun.
I can’t see raiding with one of these accessories, but I’d love to test it out for a fun dungeon with my friends.
