## FAQ for Iron ChIF Season One Episode 1 (Feb 22 2026)


Following are **Frequently Asked Questions for Iron ChIF**, the intfiction.org version of Iron Chef.

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[details="Q: What is Iron Chef?"]

Iron Chef was a television show originally created in Japan in the early 1990s. (See its [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Chef).) It gained a certain level of popularity in other countries.

On the TV show as presented, two chefs are given a previously-unannounced "challenge ingredient" and have one hour to create five dishes using it. The dishes are served to a panel of judges, who score each dish and decide which chef is the winner.
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[details="Q: What is Iron ChIF?"]

Iron ChIF is an adaptation of the show to the the format of an intfiction.org forum game. It is similar in structure to the real television show, but not the same.
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[details="Q: After which version of the original show is Iron ChIF modeled?"]

Although there were several attempts to create ["local" versions of the show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Chef#International_editions), we feel that the original Japanese version is the best, and that's the model for Iron ChIF.
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[details="Q: What are the most important differences between the TV show and Iron ChIF?"]

The main differences are:

1. **Number of dishes** -- Where the chefs on the TV show prepare five different dishes for tasting, the chefs for the forum game produce only one "dish," a short game that integrates the challenge ingredient.

2. **Nature of challenge ingredient** -- The TV show is based on cooking skills, so the challenge ingredient is always a food item. Iron ChIF is rooted in writing, programming and high-level craft, so the challenge ingredient is based on concepts. (See "What is the format of a challenge ingredient?")

3. **Winner selection** -- On the TV show, judges' scoring of the dishes results in a point value for each chef which is used to determine the winner, with a special bonus round of additional cooking in the event of a tie. For the forum game, the **audience choosees the winner**, with the judges' choice of winner being used as a tiebreaker if necessary.
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[details="Q: Why are you doing this?"]

There are several reasons:

* **Fun:** Iron Chef was a very fun show. Lots of people thought the pilot episode was fun. Everyone likes fun.

* **Education:** New arrivals to the forum frequently ask for advice about which development system is the best, but this is a question best answered by personal experience. It is hoped that showing various systems in use, with under-the-hood peeks of examples in each system, will expose more people to the pros and cons of each platform.

* **Advancing the Art:** Although coding is obviously a major portion of the effort in creating IF, there is a level of craft that goes beyond both coding and writing. The judges will be providing expert commentary to help participants hone their craft, and the audience will be able to benefit from these lessons.
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[details="Q: Is Iron Chef (the TV show) real?"]

The common wisdom is that it is not "real" in the sense that the events and timeline which are presented are what actually occurred in real life. Some consider it to be a total fabrication on the order of professional wrestling.

The show is certainly edited to make it as high-energy as possible.
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[details="Q: Is Iron ChIF (the forum game) real?"]

Yes! Competing chefs have agreed to strict limits on the time that they will have to work with the challenge ingredient: **120 hours (5 days)** from the start of the development period until the time that their dishes must be turned over for judging.

This "show" is "broadcast" live, with no editing.
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[details="Q: When will the next episode be?"]

The next episode will be **Season One Episode 1**, and it will be conducted from **Friday February 20** to **Tuesday March 03** in 2026, right on this very thread.
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[details="Q: What are the main roles in the show, and who will fulfill them?"]

A *lot* of people have volunteered to help make this effort a success! Each of them will participate in one of the following roles:

### Iron Chefs

A fixed cast of Iron Chefs, each of whom is a distinctive expert for their chosen development system, has agreed to defend against challenges using that system. At present, the Iron Chefs are:

* Iron Chef Inform 7: **Ryan Veeder** (Afterward)
* Iron Chef Twine: **SV Linwood** (svlin)
* Iron Chef Dialog: **Daniel Stelzer** (Draconis)
* Iron Chef TADS: **TBD**
* Iron Chef ZIL: **Max Fog** (SomeOne2)
* Iron Chef Inform 6: **Garry Francis** (Warrigal)
* Iron Chef Adventuron: **Dee Cooke** (dee_cooke)

### Challengers

Before the pilot episode, sixteen confirmed challengers covering five different systems stepped up to contend with the Iron Chefs. They are (in alphabetical order by handle):

* **Mike Tarbert** (BadParser)
* **Caleb Wilson** (caleb)
* **Ellric** (Ellric)
* **FLACRabbit** (FLACRabbit)
* **John Ziegler** (johnnywz00)
* **JJ McC** (jjmcc)
* **Onno Brouwer** (Lancelot)
* **Lucian Smith** (lpsmith)
* **Sarah Willson** (malacostraca)
* **Nils Fagerberg** (nilsf)
* **Norbez Jones** (Norbez)
* **Pacian** (Pacian) [who challenged Draconis in the pilot episode and won the judges' verdict]
* **Phil Riley** (rileypb)
* **Roger** (Roger)
* **Vyner Vanderhumeken** (Vyner_Vanderhumeken)
* **Zed Lopez** (Zed)

### Judges

A pool of fifteen judges, selected from among prominent authors, reviewers and critics, have volunteered to scrutinize each dish and to entertain the audience while the chefs work. Listed alphabetically by handle, the judges revealed so far are:

* Talented new author **Amanda Walker** (AmandaB)
* Prolific author and IFComp winner Chandler Groover (CMG)
* Rosebush editor and #3 IFDB reviewer **Mike Russo** (DeusIrae)
* Choice author and noted critic **Emery Joyce** (EJoyce)
* Uniquely exuberant #6 IFDB reviewer J. J. McC (jjmcc)
* Record-holding player and two-time ParserComp winner Brian Rushton (mathbrush)
* Game enthusiast and #5 IFDB reviewer **Rovarsson** (rovarsson)
* Creative juggernaut and noted critic **Wade Clarke** (severedhand)
* Five-time XYZZY Award winner and Rosebush associate editor Victor Gijsbers (VictorGijsbers)

Six other judges have agreed in private to participate in future episodes, but their identities have not yet been disclosed.

### Technical Advisors

To ensure that judges and audience get the most insight into what the competing chefs are doing, additional experts for the various platforms have volunteered to provide answers to questions about technical details of the system in use. At present, they are:

* Adventuron: **Christopher Merriner** (ChristopherMerriner), author of *Custard & Mustard's Big Adventure*
* Dialog: **improvmonster** (improvmonster), author of *Frankenfingers*
* Inform 6: **Fredrik Ramsberg** (fredrik), co-creator of the PunyInform library
* Inform 7: **Zed Lopez** (Zed), the original Mad Scientist
* TADS: **John Ziegler** (johnnywz00), author of *How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title*
* Twine: **Greyelf** (Greyelf), community Twine expert
* ZIL: **Tara McGrew** (vaporware), creator of ZILF

### Audience

That's **you**! Unlike the real TV show, in Iron ChIF the audience members play an active part in the show. (See "How does an episode work?" and "How can I participate as an audience member?")

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[details="Q: How does an episode work?"]

Here are the steps of the typical show:

1. **Challenger intro and opening interview** - The selected challenger is welcomed, and a short biography of the highlights of the challenger's IF career is presented, followed by a pre-match interview consisting of between 6 and 10 questions. Season One Episode 1's challenger will be **Lucian P. Smith** (lpsmith).

2. **Challenger's opponent selection** - The selected challenger makes a formal challenge to one of the Iron Chefs. In doing so, the challenger is also selecting the development system that will be used for the match. Audience members who have joined the official Tasters group can send in suggestions for the episode's challenge ingredient during the week before the event. (See the question "I'd like to suggest a challenge ingredient! May I?")

3. **Introduction of judges** - The judges for the episode are introduced. Each episode features a panel of five judges drawn from forum participants. Season One Episode 1's panel will consist of: **Chandler Groover** (CMG), **Victor Gijsbers** (VictorGijsbers), **N. Cormier** (Encorm), **Brian Rushton** (mathbrush), and **J. J. McC** (jjmcc).

4. **Announcement of challenge ingredient** - The challenge ingredient for the episode is announced. Following the successful formula used in the pilot episode, the Iron Chef and challenger are presented with **three choices** for the challenge ingredient on the day before the development period, and each chef has the opportunity to veto one of them. The remaining choice is the ingredient used. Note that this allows the competing chefs **an additional partial day** to think about the challenge ingredient before the development period begins, but chefs are honor-bound to not begin coding until the development period officially starts.

5. **Overview of platform** - The episode's technical advisor provides an overview of the platform to be used, as an introduction to its unique strengths.

6. **Development period** - The two competing chefs have 120 hours (5 days) to create their "dishes." During this period, each chef posts at least daily to provide "WIP bits," i.e. peeks into their development process. (See the question "What is a WIP Bit?") Judges react to these in a wide-ranging conversation, and may call on the technical advisor for the platform in use to provide additional context about its features or to explain the function of any code that is shared. When the development period ends, the chefs release their finalized dishes for play by the judges and the audience. 

7. **"Post-game" interviews"** - Short interviews (3 to 5 questions) with both challenger and defending Iron Chef are conducted, to discuss how the match went and how they feel about their dishes. One chef's interview is posted each day. During this two-day period, audience discussion of the two dishes is encouraged, and judges submit their numeric scores for each dish. (See the question "How are dishes judged?")

8. **Announcement of Judges' Scoring** - 48 hours (2 days) after the dishes have been released, the judges' scores are posted. Although the judges post their choice of the winner, the **winner is not yet determined at this point**.

9. **Audience voting** - The audience has another 48 hours (2 days) in which to cast votes in favor of one dish or the other. During this period, the judges post their in-depth written evaluations of the two dishes as they finish them, explaining the reasoning behind their scoring and offering other observations and constructive criticism.

10. **Declaration of winner** - When the period for audience voting ends, the vote is closed. If the audience vote is not a tie, the winner is declared immediately based on the audience choice. **If the audience vote is a tie**, the judges' verdict (worst case 3-2) acts as tiebreaker.

11. **Wrap-up and news** -- The winner is congratulated, judges make closing remarks, and brief announcements are made about what to expect next from the show.
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[details="Q: What happens if there is an emergency affecting one of the participants?"]

For chefs:

* If there has been no contact from a chef for 36 consecutive hours, an announcement will be made to prepare the audience for a possible cancellation.
* Should there be no contact from that chef within the next 12 hours, i.e. at 48 consecutive hours of no contact, the match will be canceled.

For judges:

* If there has been no contact from a judge for 36 consecutive hours, an alternate judge will be selected from the pool of those not participating in the episode.
* Should there be no contact from that judge within the next 12 hours, i.e. at 48 consecutive hours of no contact, the alternate judge will be announced and will fill the role for the remainder of that episode.

For the technical advisor:

* An announcement will be made to notify the audience, but the show will continue without technical advisor input.
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[details="Q: How are challengers being selected?"]

An open invitation to sign up as a challenger was included in the [original post suggesting the event]((https://intfiction.org/t/would-you-want-to-be-a-contestant-on-if-iron-chef/75416)). Sixteen brave individuals signed up and confirmed their acceptance of the ground rules for challengers, which were:

1. **No use of AI allowed** -- Use of generative AI by competing chefs is strictly forbidden.

2. **Daily posting requirement** -- Challengers must agree to post something from their development materials at least once every day (i.e. 24-hour period) during the five-day development period. Almost anything relevant to the production process qualifies here: code snippets, screenshots, sketches, references, short dev log entries, etc. It will be up to each chef to decide which materials to share.

3. **Challenger selection vote** -- The premier challenger (for the pilot episode) will be decided by audience vote. Those not selected will be eligible to participate as challengers in future episodes.

To decide which challenger became the Premier Challenger, an anonymous vote was held with voters allowed to choose up to five candidates. The winner, Pacian, was the Premier Challenger for the pilot episode. Season One challengers are being selected from the highest-voted challengers for each platform.

Note that two platforms, Inform 6 and Adventuron, have not yet received any challengers. Anyone interested in being a challenger for one of those platforms should send a PM to @otistdog.
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[details="Q: What is the format of a challenge ingredient?"]

A challenge ingredient generally takes the form of **one story element that has one defined behavior**.

A "story element" generally means an object or NPC. A "behavior" is something that the object does within the game, which may or may not be under the player's control.

As examples, these were the challenge ingredient candidates for the pilot episode:

* a device that emits one or more mysterious messages in a non-human language
* a person who is awake only one day per year and does not age between those days
* an experimental time camera that allows one to take Polaroid-style pictures of the past
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[details="Q: How can I participate as an audience member?"]

There are several ways that you can participate:

1. You can **sign up as an official Taster**. Doing so lets you use the official Taster flair icon to show your support, and gives you the chance to submit challenge ingredient suggestions.

2. You can **contribute to the audience discussion thread** which will be started at the same time as the main "broadcast" thread. This thread will be set up to allow anyone to make comments about the ongoing action without interrupting the broadcast, but it's important! The audience commentary thread will be actively monitored so that we can answer questions, make clarifications, etc.

3. You can **play the games and rate them on IFDB**. Like any author, the chefs are making these games so that others can enjoy them. Enjoy the fruits of their labor of love!

4. Importantly, you can **cast a vote for the winner**. Although the panel of judges will be subjecting both chefs' dishes to rigorous scrutiny, it's the *audience vote* that determines the winner of each Iron ChIF battle. The judges' verdict determines the winner only if the audience vote results in a tie.
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[details="Q: I'd like to suggest a challenge ingredient! May I?"]

If you're an official Taster *and* you're using the special group flair (a fork icon), you can submit suggestions for challenge ingredients **starting one week before the start of the episode**. Suggestions will be accepted up until the point that the challenger formally issues a challenge to the defending Iron Chef. See the question "What is the format of a challenge ingredient?" for guidance about the form your suggested ingredient should take.

To join the Tasters group, go to [the official Tasters group page](https://intfiction.org/g/Iron-ChIF-Tasters). Just click the "Join" button at top right, and you'll immediately be able to use the distinctive Taster flair via your account preferences. (The specific control is a few items below selection of your avatar image.)
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[details="Q: What are the chefs supposed to do with the challenge ingredient?"]

As part of the format of the show, it is required that the story element defined by the challenge ingredient be incorporated into the game that is produced. The competing chefs are given wide latitude in their interpretation of the challenge ingredient, but the central challenge is to make it an integral and substantially significant part of the produced dish, and one of the categories for judging is dedicated to this aspect.

Chefs with more inventive interpretations are likely to do better, but the contest is ultimately one of high-level craft and audience appeal.
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[details="Q: What if a chef doesn't like the challenge ingredient?"]

They're called "challenge ingredients" for a reason! Some of the most famous episodes of the TV show involve challenge ingredients that are very difficult to work with.

In order to ensure the best possible results for the audience, however, for Season One **the competing chefs will be allowed to choose** the challenge ingredient to be used from a group of three options. (See next question.)
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[details="Q: What?? Chefs get to choose the challenge ingredient? What kind of nonsense is that?"]

The person choosing the challenge ingredients has absolutely no relevant experience when it comes to making complete games on a tight deadline. In order to ensure that the competing chefs are not given something completely unworkable, a process was developed to allow the competing chefs to winnow out one of three possible challenge ingredient candidates.

The feedback from competing chefs in the pilot indicated that this approach was beneficial, so it has been adopted as the standard format for Season One. If the two competing chefs both wish it, they can elect to hold a "no warning" challenge in which neither has an influence on the choice of ingredient and they learn it only at the start of the development period.
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[details="Q: Are chefs allowed to use pre-developed code?"]

Yes. Chefs are allowed to use code from extensions (both their own and those available to the public), segments from their own previous projects, or even suitable public source code from another author. The intent is to make it possible for the chefs to make better dishes within the tight time constraint, and not to force them to reproduce basics during the contest.

Chefs are forbidden to create any new code for their dish until the start of the development period, even if they know the challenge ingredient slightly in advance.
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[details="Q: Are chefs allowed to obtain beta testing for their dishes?"]

That question is being decided over the course of Season One.

For the pilot episode, beta testing was not allowed because (oh, so ironically) it never came up during planning discussions. For Season One Episode 1, judges have approved a liberal beta testing policy that allows the competing chefs to recruit and make use of as many beta testers as desired. These testers can be consulted at any point during the development period, as often as desired.

For transparency's sake, chefs must name all beta testers consulted via in-game credits.

This policy is provisional and at present has been approved for Season One Episode 1 only. Different rules may apply to future episodes.
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[details="Q: How are dishes judged?"]

Judges provide a numeric score for each of the two dishes produced in an episode. There are five (5) categories for numeric scoring, with a range of 1-10 per category for a total of 5-50 points per dish.

Categories are defined via a list of questions to be considered when determining the score. Scoring is explicitly based on each judge's interpretation of the relevant questions, and is specifically to be given in terms of *relative score* between the two dishes as opposed to an absolute score according to some externally-defined ideal. This means that scores between dishes that are prepared in different episodes (with different judging panels) are only loosely comparable.

The five categories and their questions are:

1. **Writing**
	- How effective and engaging is the prose?
	- Does the dish have a distinctive narrative voice?
	- How well does the output prose flow in response to the player’s commands?
	- How well are mood and atmosphere conveyed?
	- Do stylistic choices cohere into an overall style?
	- Is the story compelling?
	- Does the story have satisfying dynamics?
	- Is the story thematically coherent?
	- Are any narrative tropes used well?
	- Are any twists effective?
	- Are characters distinct and/or well-drawn?
	- Do the characters change over time (in personality or behaviour) if the dish demands it?
	- If the PC is a specific character, are default responses in-character?
	- Do any NPCs feel like people and not obstacles?
	- Does the world convince on its own terms? Examples: Does an inhabited world feel inhabited? An abandoned world feel abandoned? Can the player imagine the world beyond the map?
	- Is the PC appropriately integrated into the setting?
	- Is there any backstory or lore that is revealed naturally?
	- Does the setting change or develop over time?

2. **Playability**
	- Is the central play experience interesting and satisfying?
	- Do gameplay mechanics work properly? Are they easy to understand? Are they engaging?
	- Is the implementation solid? Are any bugs or oversights negatively affecting the dish?
	- Is the player’s relationship to the PC clear to the player?
	- How novel are any puzzles? Are they appropriately clued? Are they unified with the gameworld?
	- Are the map and any navigation coherent?
	- Did the first taste of interaction make me crave more?
	- When I interact with this piece, am I playing, i.e. engaging in a fun and curious manner with the work, no matter if it’s easy or difficult or scary or comedic?

3. **Design**
	- Do the design choices add up to a coherent and effective overall design?
	- Is there a harmony between whole and parts or does the dish feel lopsided?
	- Do the writing and programming work together to cause the fiction’s ideas and feelings to be sustained in the player’s mind?
	- Has the chef worked with their chosen platform to best effect?
	- Is the player’s relationship to the PC presented consistently?
	- Are any mechanical tropes used well?
	- Is the whole greater than the sum of its parts?

4. **Inventiveness**
	- To what extent has the chef responded to the overall challenge in a fresh, surprising or original way?
	- Were game mechanics inventive?
	- Was the use of the platform clever, inventive or novel?
	- Has the author shown originality within the scope given to them?

5. **Challenge Ingredient**
	- How has the challenge ingredient been used? Well? Harmoniously? Sufficiently? Or just incidentally?
	- Is the whole dish suffused with the challenge ingredient concept?


Note that many questions are recognized to be applicable to only some dishes, i.e. several questions under "Writing" about characters would be less applicable in a dish that has no NPCs (though the PC also counts as a character). Whether or not this results in a lower score is highly judge-dependent; in general, the judges are prepared to judge each dish on its own merits, so a well-executed dish without NPCs but with a well-constructed PC should do fine for those questions. Likewise, a "puzzleless" story-oriented game would not necessarily suffer under "Playability" due to a lack of puzzles. However, chefs are advised that, all other things being equal, a better-balanced and coherent smaller dish is likely to do better than a more ambitious but unevenly-developed dish.

Also note, and importantly: **Judges are allowed to choose a winner in contradiction to their numeric scoring.** The main purpose of the numeric scoring is to provide feedback about the chefs' relative accomplishments across the five dimensions that the working group decided were most important for this contest; the working group intentionally left room for "X factor" elements not covered by the category rubric to be decisive.
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[details="Q: Is any other feedback provided by the judges?"]

In addition to the numeric scoring, judges provide a written evaluation that generally (but not always) is in the range of 500-1000 words in length. The contents of written evaluations are the domain of each individual judge.
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[details="Q: How and when will I get to play the games made by the competing chefs?"]

The two dishes will be posted to the episode thread (as ZIP files) shortly after the end of the development period, and will be available for immediate play by the audience. Audience voting will begin 48 hours after the end of the development period, following the posting of the judges' numeric scores.

After the match, the games will also be submitted to the IF Archive and listings created on IFDB. Authors may choose to make their games available in other places; if this is done then the associated IFDB page(s) will be updated to include appropriate links.
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[details="Q: What is a WIP Bit?"]

A "WIP Bit" is the nickname for an item posted by a competing chef during the development period. WIP Bits are analogous to the brief shots of the chefs at work on the TV show. They are the basis for quite a bit of the banter between the judges, who speculate about what is being made and ask questions about the ingredients and techniques in use.

Both Iron Chefs and challengers post these during the development period to illustrate some aspect of their development process. A WIP Bit can be just about anything that the competing chef chooses to release: short dev log entries, design notes, code snippets, screenshots, sketches, references to inspirational materials, citations from documentation, etc.

Judges react to these and may ask clarifying questions to be answered by the technical advisor for the episode.
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[details="Q: Who was 'Fukui-san,' and is there someone like that for Iron ChIF?"]

"Fukui-san" was [Kenji Fukui](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenji_Fukui), the primary announcer for the TV show during the matches themselves. There is no direct equivalent for the forum game, but the role will be partially fulfilled by the master of ceremonies (outside of matches) and technical advisors (during matches).

The person who most often said "Fukui-san?" on the TV show was [Shinichiro Ohta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinichiro_Ohta), another announcer who would interrupt Kenji Fukui with information from the floor of the kitchen arena.
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[details="Q: Who came up with the name Iron ChIF?"]

That honor goes to @caleb, who proposed it on the original thread.
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[details="Q: Who came up with the concept art, flair icons, and other graphical assets?"]

That honor goes to @FLACRabbit, who developed all of them.
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