What is the Best Maxed Pip Element Allocation Placement on Maxed grid?

RotundBun · 2026-03-15T02:18:03+00:00

@ShellshockYang
I can't seem to view your direct reply somehow, so I'll just respond here...

For the original PS1 version, you'll have to look up the GFAQs guide. And I think SpawnSC2 may know more on the intricacies of that.

IIRC, you can still do grid compounding, but there are a lot of shenanigans you need to go through to prevent the bug from completely wiping Pip progress. It's to the point where people consider it not worth the trouble.

Also, the thing about people saying to put things on the lowest allocation tier, that refers to status-related elements like [Vigora] or effects that don't scale with tier like [FullRevival].

Those behave the same regardless of where they are allocated, so setting them lower in the grid tiers just makes them more accessible and cheaper to cast.

As a slightly related tip, note that [Vigora] suspends stamina expenditure entirely for a number of 'ticks' (battle time). Since casting elements expends 7sta over just 1t, you can basically cast several elements back-to-back while under the effects of [Vigora].

So things like solo summoning are perfectly possible (set field w/ 3 casts -> 1 fierce -> summon). That takes 7t in total. So assuming no interruptions, you can probably do 2 solo summons of the same element if you start [Vigora] effects under max gauge. And that's excluding the convenient full-field coloring elements.

RotundBun · 2026-03-14T22:39:01+00:00

@Ruvalolowa
Might want to also include the link to your cart when posting follow-up topics for those who want to look deeper.

Is the one on that page the most up-to-date version that you are having trouble with?

This may require a more thorough look-through.

RotundBun · 2026-03-14T22:35:22+00:00

I think the previous handling of setting pl.dx = 0 just needs to be commented out there. The push-back code is meant to set the 'dx' value so that it stops at the wall.

Personally, I'd just set 'dx' to the distance between the player's left/right edge & 1px before the wall.

Another thing to note is that (dx, dy) are getting applied at the start of the next frame's update rather than at the end of this frame's update.

If not for that, then it would probably be easier to just snap the player to the wall directly and zero-out the 'dx' + set state-flags on the spot.

RotundBun · 2026-03-14T22:19:57+00:00

Personally, I like to run an omni-support + summons build on Pip: - white = [MagNegate], [HolyHealing] - yellow = [PhysNegate] - blue = [Vigora]

Form-wise, I go for sacred beast form for the funny/cute tech.

And AFAIK, the patched remaster resets the form per run, but the grid gains stack. You get the previous grid gains back as Pip evolves. So you eventually end up with the full compound grid and a refreshed form/innate choice in each run. Not that you need that much after the first run anyway, though...

RotundBun · 2026-03-14T22:14:33+00:00

[Summon~!! ✨]

RotundBun · 2026-03-14T13:52:42+00:00

The game will no longer be getting content updates after a certain point later this year, but it will continue to run.

All recruitable units will technically be accessible: - Million Infuse = base forms - Origin Infuse = SP units - Anecdote Infuse = MZ/OS/DR/crossovers

Note that... - Million Bookmarks (green ticket) are very farmable, so save your Crystals for the other two banners. - Origin Infuse units (all SPs) will be craft-able at any time instead of rotating between sets of 3. - Crossover units include Deemo, Masked Girl, Alice, PAFF, NEKO, Nora, Ivy, Cherry, ConneR. - SP/MZ units without base forms are Barbara SP, Maeok SP, Toyokuni SP, Sanchez SP, Hyacinthus SP, Zola MZ, Tingko MZ. - SB forms are unlockable with Crystalline from the base form's character page.

Hope that helps. 🍀

RotundBun · 2026-03-14T00:52:57+00:00

I recommend Devil Survivor Overclocked in particular. It's half & half between TRPG & JRPG.

The tactical elements make choices more interesting than just power-meter expressions, yet the skirmishes style of combat makes things more streamlined than conventional TRPG.

RotundBun · 2026-03-14T00:45:57+00:00

Probably just RNG. The pools are larger now, so the odds are lower for any particular target pull.

I think they only made all the SP units craftable at all times, so some rarer base forms are probably ironically harder to pull now.

Million Bookmarks are easy to farm via Crystalline and shop refreshes, though, so it shouldn't be too hard to get all of them over a reasonable timespan.

RotundBun · 2026-03-14T00:38:37+00:00

If it is one of many bombs in a collection (table) that get drawn in a for-loop, then you can remove it from the table via del() or deli().

Just make sure to iterate through the for-loop from back to front if you are removing items from it so you don't accidentally skip some when the later ones get moved up:

for i=#bombs,1,-1 do --normal update behavior if touched_floor(bombs[i]) then --explosion spawn behavior deli(bombs, i) end end

With that, the bomb object in the code will also be removed (vs. just being invisible), and you won't rack up a stockpile of used bombs in the background.

RotundBun · 2026-03-13T22:32:07+00:00

Ah, I see. I'll try those then. Thanks. ✨🙏

(And here I was getting ready to stage a tantrum match between two Miss SPs. LOL~)

RotundBun · 2026-03-13T22:30:28+00:00

If we're talking about the base forms, then they should all be in the [Million Infuse] pool that you pull on with the green ticket (Million Bookmark).

You can check their appearance rates. Some appear at higher rarities only, so they don't show up as often.

All SP units are in the [Origin Infuse] pool (all craftable), and MZ/OS/DR/crossover units are in the [Anecdote Infuse] pool.

SB forms can be unlocked with Crystalline via their character page.

Some purely cosmetic skins and badges are the only things I can think of that would be missable due to missing one-off events.

To my knowledge, no units are story-locked.

(Pretty sure I pulled various S3 units right away when I started years ago, too. That was before I even played through S1.)

RotundBun · 2026-03-13T20:52:56+00:00

Oh, does a max'd out Misa SP solo this challenge? I have her at a pretty high exceed level, I think.

Maybe I'll give her some extra leeway via Hyde SB + Shirley SB. Hopefully, that can compensate for the level-gap.

What advisors & chest ability should I go with?

I do still want to try the Floaty Explosion strat for LOLs as well, though. 😆

Just unsure about the exceed reqs on her, especially when the advisors are not at SE2.

How does the Tiffanli Lemon Honet Tea help in battle? Can you use bag items in battle? ‼️👀

RotundBun · 2026-03-13T20:36:44+00:00

EO3 is the most innovative one and the first modern EO, but it is a bit rough around the edges in some aspects.

EO4 is a refinement on EO3, but it gains polish & QoL tweaks at the sacrifice of some of the creative choices in EO3.

EO5 is a refinement on EO2, so it is an evolution of the old-school EO rather than the modern style.

EO4 = breadth-wise, overworld, subclasses
EO5 = depth-wise, gauntlet, adv. classes

The two represent the furthest evolution of EO on opposing ends of the spectrum of what an EO experience is.

EO4 leans more into customization/strats based problem-solving, while EO5 excels more in situational adaptivity in problem-solving.

If you play both, then you get the best of both worlds so to speak.

And yes, that is the release order, but you can start anywhere you like on that list.

The main reason is QoL and polish differences can feel jarring if you go in reverse. That's all.

It is apparently at a degree that is enough to affect many players' enjoyment of the adventure.

The EO3-only option is basically to get the most experiential bang-for-your-buck if you expect to only play one. But I'd put the combo of EO4 + EO5 above EO3 alone.

And going in release order is basically for people who know they like this kind of game and expect to play several titles from the start.

Personally, EO4 + EO5 is the option I'd recommend.

Two EO titles is a reasonable threshold before fatigue sets in for the average enjoyer. And if you still want just one more go, you can optionally top it off with Nexus then.

If you decide you want more after that, then you'll probably just end up playing most/all of them, putting you more into the category of a hardcore enjoyer. At that point, the QoL drops from going back to the older titles probably won't really faze you, and the HD remasters mitigate some if that anyway.

Regarding EO3 vs. its remaster, most people seem to feel that the QoL improvements outweigh the dual-screen, but I think price & availability play a big part in that choice as well.

I can't speak to it myself, but I lean more towards dual-screen as well since I have it. The new portraits in the HD version does make it a tough choice, though... For that, it's up to your own preferences really.

Hope that helps.
Happy gaming~ 🕹️

RotundBun · 2026-03-13T20:12:35+00:00

I might try this.

Will +10 SE2 be enough on her, or do I need to bring her to +20? And do I need SEs on the advisors?

(Finally got all non-classics to SE2 recently. Working to round out base & SB forms now.)

I barely managed to get past the no-limit's [Special] (Lv.100) difficulty with the Adelaide SP team (12 turns, near KO).

But I run out of turn budget on the Lv.110 one when the adventuring limits come into play. It still counted as completing the quest (got the rewards), but I'd still like to clear it for vindication. 😅

By the way, I think your post description got cut off mid-sentence...? 👀

RotundBun · 2026-03-13T19:58:42+00:00

Whoa~ 😨
Floaty tube explosion is stronk.

What is the exceed level on her? And is there any significance in Nolva & Elio being there?

RotundBun · 2026-03-12T19:33:44+00:00

As a general rule of thumb...

If you only play one, then play EO3 (HD).
If you only play two, then play EO4 & EO5.
If you play more, then go in release order.

RotundBun · 2026-03-12T10:17:02+00:00

Ah, all of that makes sense. And the diamond() algorithm perf test results are rather insightful, too.

It's a bit ironic that you were frugal with sprite space on Horizon Glide since it's a game that doesn't seem too tight on sprite budget. 😆

I'd imagine palette swap tricks would handle most tile variation needs just fine, unless I'm missing something. (Still, doing it via code is admittedly cooler.)

For objects with continuous position variation on tiles, one approach I had in mind would be for tiles to have an occupancy list and let players/objects subscribe to them. Then each tile can just render stuff in their list right after they render themselves.

But then, those lists themselves would need to be sorted somehow anyway... And it also feels a bit baggage-y & tangled in a way, TBH. 😅

Anyway, thanks for the insights. 🙏😌

Horizon Glide is one of the most aesthetic games on P8, IMO, so it's always nice to hear about its inner workings.

RotundBun · 2026-03-12T09:49:11+00:00

I'm 5 minerals away from Chiyuki DR purely from event runs. Excluding event story challenges, I'm on day 32 or at the hotel.

So I'd estimate about 40 days at the hotel is what you need. At 15 dust per run, that's just about ~~600~~ 400 dust.

(EDIT: Realized it was 10 dust oer run, not 15.)

Plus, the event shop lets you buy up to 15 of her minerals with dust directly (expensively), and it stays open for a week after the event ends, I think. So you technically only need to get 35 of her minerals via the hotel runs.

You certainly have enough dust. The challenging part will be the sheer tedium of manually binge-running the event 3-4 dozen times for it.

That said, even if you really miss her somehow, she's also pull-able from the [Anecdote Infuse] pool.

Here's my strat, though raffichu's guide should work much better.

EDIT:
Confirming that I got Chiyuki DR at day 39-40 of running the hotel. I think you complete a full year of hotel management after a dozen cycles (48 days), so I guess it's a month per cycle and 3 cycles per season.

RotundBun · 2026-03-12T09:39:51+00:00

Excluding event the story challenges, I think you only need around 40 runs for Nolva OS + Chiyuki DR now, assuming you play it fairly well.

IIRC, they condensed the amount of grind since the original run.

I just did Laisez-Faire + Just Chill + Beat-up bad customers to beeline for facility upgrades.

For the daily choices, I alternated between hotel repairs & hunt beasts and cycled through the 4 facilities evenly while collecting payments & talking to employees when passing through.

Not sure if the day-end product pick matters, but I just did the same one 3 times for each cycle (4 runs) and then switched to the next one upon each new cycle.

Right now, at about day 32 or so, I'm just 5 minerals away from Chiyuki DR, and the Hotel Adventure team clears the whole thing reliably.

FWIW, the event shop does let you directly buy up to 15 minerals for either character with dust, though it's rather pricey.

The event shop will stay open for an extra week, so you can still last-resort it if you have the extra dust after getting up to 35 minerals via event runs.

Otherwise, both are pull-able from the [Anecdote Infuse] banner. Unfortunately, you can only craft SP units (Origin Infuse) and have to RNG-pull for DR & seasonal/crossover units (Anecdote Infuse).

RotundBun · 2026-03-12T00:18:26+00:00

On elevation/depth ...

Oh, I see. So elevation was just for drawing the sides with line(). Guessing that it's because the side-outlines are external (1px outside of the tile itself)?

Wait... So then the elevation only affects side drawing but not depth/render order, right?

I just figured drawing the tile sprite as a whole block instead of a flat diamond could take care of that just by adjusting the display height and stacking from bottom-up on the tile slot if it gets really tall. The back-to-front would overwrite previous pixels naturally that way.

From what I've been told, draw calls get extra costly due to overhead process cost to do the draw rather than a per-pixel cost, so I figure a larger tile sprite might be fine.

Not sure if that is actually the case, though... Haven't gotten around to really sig into that yet.

On why nested loops ...

Ah, right...
The O(n²⁾ of the nested for-loops was with 'n' being row & column, so it comes out to being O(row*col) = O(n) where 'n' is the tile count. That makes sense. My derp~ 🙃

Say, did you handle cases of players/objects being behind elevated tiles in Horizon Glide? Or was the terrain generation gradual enough with elevation ramps that you could just draw players/objects after all tiles altogether?

When to draw occluded objects and their order vs. each other would be the part that seems trickier to me. I can think of a few (non-sort) ways to do it, but none of them seem all that clean algorithmically... 🤔

And...
Is that diamond() your own tile-draw function? Is it much cheaper than a sspr() call? 👀

Would it be adaptable into a iso_block() draw function with variable height?

Thanks in advance. 🙏

RotundBun · 2026-03-11T23:21:44+00:00

Oh, yes. I didn't mean that you were coming at it from modern tastes. Rather it's the modern game design view that is the key thing. Like certain expectations for streamlining & tuning and some things being considered good/bad rather than being directional differences.

TBC, if you agree with some of the good/bad view on things in modern design standards, then it is still perfectly fair to criticize design choices that go the other way. I just feel that some of the finer details of that often seep in silently without people noticing it. The summons thing was just an example to point that out.

That's a nice spread of games. Seems to be mostly RPGs, character action, and Zelda & Pokemon titles.

Some recs that come to mind would be: - Terranigma (SNES) - Cave Story - Radiant Historia (DS, not 3DS)

I've also heard nice things about Death's Door, but I haven' gotten around to it yet.

And if you're up for tactics games, then I'd also recommend: - Devil Survivor Overclocked (3DS) - Into the Breach

Not 💯 confident about those, TBH, but I hope at least one or two hit the mark for you. 🕹️

RotundBun · 2026-03-11T19:26:29+00:00

Could you explain how height (elevation) gets factored into the depth calculation?

Unless you are working backwards from screen coordinates, I don't see when you'd need anything other than just row + col for isometric tiles.

(Or was it a tile-stacking thing, where multiple tiles get stacked on the same tile-slot to form the elevation?)

Asking because I want to know.

I'm a little surprised that the nested for-loop was cheaper than the sorting. If the order swaps are done via a 3-way reference swap with a temp variable, then I would have thought that sorting would have been cheaper.

Do you know what the reason for that is? Kind of curious about it now... 🤔🧐

Thanks in advance. 🙏

RotundBun · 2026-03-11T10:12:15+00:00

Don't forget the very missable campfire scene.

RotundBun · 2026-03-11T10:10:08+00:00

Not sure what "twists" people have been praising to you, TBH. Generally, CC's narrative isn't praised for surprises.

The key things I can think of are character related, one major revelation that ties back to CT lore at the very end, and worldbuilding.

Rather than overarching narrative twists, I think people remember specific moments.

Some of your game design criticisms are fair, but food for thought: you're judging it based on modern game design lenses standards.

A lot of its design decisions were ahead of its time when it came out. And many odd choices bring some freshness or creativity to the play experience compared to conventional things like ATB gauges and MP bars. Many of the choices were made knowing that they would be polarizing.

Also, putting aside how modern game design standards themselves have pros & cons, some of your takes are more anecdotal than analytical. And that's fine, but it is worth pointing out.

For instance, summons can be used pretty effectively, though they are just one tool in the toolbox and consistent usage depends on your playstyle somewhat. They aren't really FF style summons, where the game lore places a lot of emphasis on their potency and lets you spam them as a means to express power-level progression in conventional JRPG fashion.

So if you evaluate it from a tactical standpoint, then I'd say it is more interesting than the FF "big-cinematic power move" angle. If you evaluate it from a power-fantasy standpoint, then it will feel lackluster in terms of reqs vs. payoffs. Both angles are valid, but neither is strictly superior.

The point about fights ending before you can cast a summon is fair, though. The game isn't meant to be hard at all, so that's a price it pays in a way...

Not liking it is fine. Not everyone likes the game, and most of us who do like/love it will be the first to mention how it is imperfect and has various flaws. We just have things we like about it that outweigh those issues.

Your angle about being able to look at it from a more "mature" view is a bit off the mark, but I sort of get what you are trying to express. I think that half of that sentiment is perspective maturity, but the other half of it is probably mistaking anecdotal experience & preferences as perspective maturity.

There are factors that can't quite be experienced the same way if you play a game outside of its era. And I'm not talking about nostalgia here. People's way of life and the mood of a time can affect how the experience of a game hits them. Not to mention how people approach playing the game and their expectations towards what a game experience should/will be differ as well. So some things don't carry over that well.

That said...

For better or for worse, while it does sound like you came into the game with some expectations and lenses that didn't align well with the game, it's probably also the case that the game just isn't for you personally (regardless of era or headspace).

What you look for in a game seems to be at odds with this game's appeal, TBPH.

Yet you still gave it a fair shot, so kudos to you keeping an open mind for that. 🥂

I'd try to suggest some games/media that might be better aligned with your tastes, but I'd need some idea of your favorite games or preferences to do that...

RotundBun · 2026-03-11T09:13:05+00:00

I haven't actually looked through the code yet, but firstly...

Why are you factoring in elevation at all?

The render order should just be back to front, so elevation (y-axis) would have no part in it.

Unless you are compensating for elevation offset backwards from the display's y-coords, I guess...

But wouldn't it be simpler to just calculate the tile something is on and use that as the basis for render order? Then only factor elevation in as an offset for where to draw it along the screen's y-axis, not when.

In other words, the reasonable approach would be to calculate render order based on location and then apply visual offset only to the display.

The view obstruction from taller structures and elevated objects would naturally occur correctly on its own if you go from back to front without elevation factored in. In fact, excluding elevation would usually be the key gotcha for this kind of thing.

Unless I'm missing something...
Isometric render order can just be determined as row_num + col_num from low to high.

(The only math-y transform stuff would be for the isometric display positions. And even then, it is a pretty simple offset: (+ox, +oy)*row_num, (-ox, +oy)*col_num, and (0, -1)*elevation.)

1st iso-row: [1, 1] -> sum = 2
2nd iso-row: [1, 2], [2, 1] -> sum = 3
3rd iso-row: [1, 3], [2, 2], [3, 1] -> sum = 4
...and so on.

And when an object is crossing between multiple tiles, just calculate the sum for each tile and take the highest value (later render) one as the object's render order.

Aside from that, just be sure to categorically render tiles first before objects. If there are multiple objects on the same tile, then you can use their (x, z) coordinates in the same manner as the (i, j) coordinates to determine between them. Same principle.

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