Post-match interview with Premier Challenger Pacian
Pacian was quick to answer a handful of post-match questions. We turn the camera to this most impressive challenger to hear his thoughts in the aftermath of the first ever Iron ChIF battle…
Q: You were concerned about scope management going into this, and during the planning stage you described scoping too much work as “something I seem to be incapable of learning not to do”. Are you happy with how you handled that challenge this time?
CEJP: It actually seemed to work out really well, but I suspect it may be more luck than good planning. And at times I definitely wondered if I’d bitten off more than I could chew.
Right out the gate, I implemented the intro and ending, which I think was the right way to start. Only making a single action available also definitely helped. But I feel like I also didn’t hold myself back much. One emergency keeping me late at work, one morning where I overslept… in that case I don’t think I would have reached a point I was happy with.
Q: As befits your historical style, you took the challenge ingredient in a pretty unconventional direction. Did this scenario spring to mind solely in response to the challenge ingredient, or were there elements you’d thought up before and were able to deploy here?
CEJP: Years ago I was toying with the idea of a game where players would explore a Bloodborne-esque Gothic city. You’d be able to pick between different classes of character, each with different strengths and weaknesses. That was where I first came up with the idea of a male spider in a trench coat. But the project never went anywhere, and that character went back into the big pool of character ideas in my head.
For this competition, I’d decided that I didn’t want to make a science fiction story if I could help it, and when I was considering what non-human characters I could include in a fantasy setting, this guy popped back out.
Developing exactly what he was doing and who he was with… that was probably a bit more of a case of borrowing existing archetypes than I usually like to do, but it worked with the time constraints. The most important spark of inspiration was realising that the stranger needed to be the foil for a PC who, well… Let’s just say they both have challenges with understanding their situation.
Q: Several people took notice of the fact that you chose a challenge ingredient with a language theme. What drew you to that option? Were you concerned about giving Draconis a home turf advantage?
CEJP: Quite simply, of the two ingredients available to me, I dismissed the one where I could only see one game I would make with it, and kept the one I had lots of ideas for. Honestly, I looked at the “non-human language” part and thought, “Ah, good. Language for Draconis. Non-human for me.” Then I turned up to make my first post and Draconis had already posted about the nature of fictional languages, what kind of puzzles you can do with them, how they would use unique features of Dialog in making their entry… And I post like, “Okay everyone, what if a spider wore a coat and a hat? You wouldn’t know it was a spider, right?!”
But I always knew I wouldn’t beat Draconis at a technical level, so what does it matter if I’m outclassed in two different kinds of technical knowledge? R-right? 
Q: Did you discover anything new about Dialog while working on your dish?
CEJP: Nothing at all! As I said, I knew I couldn’t beat Draconis at a technical level, and I knew scope is my Achilles heel, so it was important to me to use the simplest building blocks that I could.
Q: How do you feel about your final result? How will you celebrate if you win?
CEJP: Even though they didn’t exist a week ago, I feel like the stranger and the fairy are old friends of mine now, and I’m glad to have told this little part of their stories. Really, I’m always happy to have made something, even if it’s a bit wonky and kind of silly. I do expect that there will be a post-competition version once people start breaking it…
If I win, I will walk that little bit taller; act with just that little bit of extra superiority and smugness; thank the Goddess for making me so perfectly- Wait, no, that’s what the fairy would do. Um, given the timing of the announcement, I’ll celebrate by having my birthday a few days afterwards?!
Q: What advice would you offer to future challengers?
CEJP: Keep your entry as simple as possible while still showing off whatever you can show off. Make sure your idea has points where you can trim it down if you get low on time. Don’t try and learn anything new during the competition period. Don’t get too fussy about your writing or small bits of polish.
In terms of being able to quickly fire off a lot of prose in a short time, I personally found it really helpful to have a PC with a strong voice and viewpoint - other challengers may see it differently.