Heroes of Newerth Interview with S2 Ari

Heroes of Newerth (HoN Interview) with S2 Ari
When HoN 2.0 was 1st released, GosuGamers' hydro.thunder paid a visit at S2 Games' art department and interviewed the S2 artist, Ari.

Valkyrie artwork by S2 Ari

HoN Interview: S2 Ari

So how many people work here at the Art Department?
S2 Ari: We have 10 here, and the sound guy is in Canada.

2.0 has been released, what has been your favorite art project for HoN and for 2.0?
S2 Ari: Well we all really love working on the heroes of course its the most fun. For 2.0, they told us about the idea of alt avatars a while ago, and it was a bit strange at first, but once we got into the swing of it we really started to enjoy it. We had to think about what some heroes could possibly be.

Was there an alt avatar you enjoyed working on?
S2 Ari: Well the moon Queen hero I wasn’t really too happy with, and the alternate avatar for her was my design, it was my take on it. To be fair its a lot easy to think of an alternate because there is existing material, and you can just extrapolate from that.

So you didn't like the bug model?
S2 Ari: Well i think the bug idea is still there, but it wasn't as graceful as it could be. Some people still like that old Moon Queen. We had an older version of the Pollywog, and we didn't like it so we just redid it. But even if there is a million people who like a model, theres always going to be one person who does like it. What I like about the old Moon Queen, she has a different shape from the other heroes people would talk about a lack of quadrupeds, and she moves differently and has a different feel from the other heroes.

How much work does it take to make these alternate avatars?
S2 Ari: It depends on the extent of the rework. If its just the texture, its pretty simple. Then you can have basic texture reworks, with some small changes to the model. For example the Pimp Slayer alternate has a texture rework, and we added some things like his cane and the cup. Thats like the second level of change. The highest level of change is a total rework, including the model. We usually keep the same effects as well, which makes the process a bit easier but taking out the model and the texture out of the pipeline makes things much faster.

Some people have been wondering if Pimp Slayer’s cup is a Blood Chalice?
S2 Ari: Haha no its not a Blood Chalice, its just a Krunk Cup like Lil Jon, and I just drew some purple stuff in there I don't really know what it is...maybe wine or something haha.

A lot of the HoN community doesn’t understand what is put into making a brand new hero. Do you want to shed some light on that?
S2 Ari: Well, it depends on if we are doing new heroes and we also do ports. They both have their pros and cons on difficulty. When we are doing ports, its generally easier because they already have gameplay. We already know what the hero is going to do, we just have to think of a concept that would fit the hero, that cant copy the original.

A new hero, is difficult because there can be an influx, where the programmers will change its abilities around, and we have to rework the concept to fit the changes.

The first thing, is to come up with a general concept, or something iconic, that people can latch onto, that they can use to distinguish the hero. We just have to figure out what is going to be the icon that will make this hero, and then we can work on the art.

How do you guys brainstorm, or go about the “idea” process?
S2 Ari: Its different all the time. Sometimes we have had meetings, other times someone has had such a good idea that we jumped right into it. I personally like it when we get to sit down for a little and talk about it but generally if everyone is excited about, it turns out really well.

Is there any element of the game you would like to change?
S2 Ari: I would personally like to see some of the buildings reworked. No one really pays attention to them but i think we could definitely do some thing cool with them. I made the “Meatball building” and I was just trying to add a little something to it.

Will we be seeing continuous content being released to the in-game store?
S2 Ari: Yes we are constantly working on new alternates and things, as well as creating new heroes. We will always prioritize the creation of heroes and ports, over alternates, but yes you can expect new content regularly.

Where do you guys get inspiration from for the creation of heroes?
S2 Ari: Well especially lately, Michigan has been pumping out many ideas and general themes and abilities, and really giving us a lot to work with. This really gives us a chance to come up with cool stuff for it to look like. They(Michigan) know that if we come up with something really cool, they will just go with it.

Here at the Art Department, do you guys play HoN?
S2 Ari: Oh absolutely. We definitely play at least an in-house a day. I play it on an Alt account, and we always look forward to the in-office game haha. There is a constant rivalry here.

For the new map “Grimm’s Crossing,” how much of that did you guys work on?
S2 Ari: Well actually I think Nome made a post stating it was a rework from “Darkwood Vale,” and it was going to replace it but actually a lot of people still play it so they kept it. The people at Michigan pretty much did that map themselves, but they wanted a new theme so I had some snow textures from when we do christmas, so it was just a matter of fine-tuning them and making them work for the whole map.

Do you have a favorite hero you like to play?
S2 Ari: Well I guess from DotA days, I don't play him too much any more, is Voodoo Jester. The whole mechanics of the cursed ground is just so cool, anticipating the kill and wondering if you did enough damage.

Is there an S2 member who you have equal in skill with?
S2 Ari: Well it would be here at this branch, and it would probably be S2Shippy. We always seem to be on opposite teams and we seem pretty even.

Get to know more about Ari Targownik:
Educational Background:
1997-2001:
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting)
Merit Scholarship student; graduated with Highest Honors
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

1993-1997:
F.H. LaGuardia High School for Music & Art
and Performing Arts
New York, NY

S2 Ari's Blog:
S2 Ari Blog