Honey Badger

Woot! I can breathe again!

Sorry I haven’t posted for a while, those power pool bugs weighed heavy on me! Thanks for all you beta posters reporting bugs and leaving feedback on the new powers and power pool customization, it was all very helpful! I’m really glad when I get to make so many of you happy!
Let’s get to answering some of your posts here:

OmniNogard – I believe there is a breath fx included in the Beastly Rage aura, could that work for you?
Kheprera – This Ethereal aura is very doable, but a number of players in the past expressed concerns with having their costumes hidden by things like auras. I could consider it though, maybe you could rally support troops?
Yogi Bare – Setting up alternate FX takes just as long as creating new fx. This is not to say that we won’t do Eyes, Mouth, or pinkie toe version of powers in the future, just sayin it may be a while.
DerangedPoly – That kind of was the idea I had while making them. I am waiting on tech to make purchasable alternates, that way I can justify the time it will take to do complete makeovers for old powersets.
Daveyj – Again, I would love to redo some of these old sets, see above.
Vyver – Ah, so that was it. Ok, I’ll note that.
Snowzone – yes, sorry.
Paradox – The cracks on the ground (the term for them is splats) are not tintable due to both design and function.
Sam Tow – I saw that one when messing with power pools. Not much I can do about that at the moment, I’ll add it to the your list of woes :P
Zyphoid – Thanks! Glad you like them! As for your suggestion, I was kind of thinking of doing something like that when I get to doing that Radiation Armor set
Redlynne – Power Pool Customization – win! BTW, saw that they worked that mouse pointer for giant monitors thing you were talking about at the summit. First World Problem -fixed! LoL
Angelxman – Unfortunately, we only had time to make the power pool fx tintable for customization. Makeovers will have to wait, sorry.
Forbin Project – Auras can only have a single costume slot, this is why we cannot mix and match that way.
Telepath – yeah, inherent powers did not (and may not ever) get customization love. I’m thinking of updating the fx for the biggest offenders, which right now consist of that domination one and the sprint. Again, it may be a while before you see that, so don’t hold your breath!
Jack Nomind – That is a design call, the powers are very dependent right now on those mechanics.
Stonehead – I get that, noted!
Fireheart – I’ll look at that next time I mess with auras

Hey guys!
Just caught a little break so I thought I’d check in! I’m crazy busy these days finishing up all the powers we announced at the summit, so I’m sorry I haven’t been able to respond very quickly here.

Lots of great ideas, so let’s get right to it:

daveyJ3- Yes, Synapse is the genius number-cruncher to send your powers requests to. Wind Blast was one of the many suggestions we got at the player summit, and like we said, we kept all suggestions! So rest assured we know all about that one!

ScarletShocker- That’s a great idea, I will definitely explore your suggestion for dark auras. The clunker aura, with the trail only option might work for you though! I made that one specifically to look like leaking oil, so you can tint it black! It won’t be as dark as a dark aura version may one day be, but maybe it could hold you over until I make one?

Angelxman- There should be an incoming improvement for Penny Yin’s pet. And don’t lose hope, PP customization is on backorder, not shelved!

Zyphoid- I approve that message, it has a lot of potential! It unfortunately carries the stigma of requiring UI work (much like PP customization). I can guarantee you we’re looking into it though!

Sam Tow- You’re welcome, told you guys I read all the posts here! :P
Your suggestion for an Earth Judgment is definitely like some of the things I try consider when making powers. I personally loved Avatar’s take on Earth-bending, and how it definitely had a more reactive feel to it as opposed to being some kind of mind control over the element. Unfortunately however, I often come late in the process to setting up powers, so by the time I get it, it already has all the (character) animations and behavior set in place. This is not to say that I can’t push a little when I feel it necessary to change it, but I can’t do that often. I would say Design (synapse) is the best place to send your suggestion for that, as they are the ones that usually drive the powers through and gives the animator a direction.

Morgan- All great ideas for CC and regular Emotes! Definitely noted!

SnowZone- Changing the color pallete would affect everyone's color selections, and from what I hear, people don't like that very much. Lets just cross our fingers that I may get some scheduled time for alternate FX on these older powersets some day. And keep your eyes out for Nature Affinity :P

Vyver- I heard somewhere that hair over one eye is becoming a leading cause of eye stigmatisms, you really want your hero to be flawed? *wink* In all seriousness though, hair options would be a great request for Dink in the "All Things Character Art" thread.

Thanks guys! We’ve built up quite a collection of ideas for auras and CCemotes now, but I could always use more! I want to hoard them until there's enough to dive in all Scrooge McDuck style! Keep ‘em comin'!

Hey guys!


Thanks for all the replies for the flight only path aura option, I’ll definitely give it a shot! Thank you for your suggestions.


Seebs- I care more than your average honeybadger!


Sam Tow- your bugs are noted as well.


Angelxman- Thanks! The entire art team put a lot of effort in DA! I sent the environment artists your feedback about the water, since we didn’t have any to do with that. Your idea for some earth-based Judgement power is cool, and I had a lot of fun making those Talon powers! Please pitch it to our powers designer, Synapse!


Redlynne- TSK TSK… comments like that keep us from making things like waterfall loin-cloths! :P

What’s up yall, I am incredibly thrilled at the number and quality of ideas coming in. Keep ‘em coming!

This week I want to answer a few questions and pass on some suggestions for you:


Ironik- There was a light bulb emote in the Steampunk pack! I think it was called “inspired”

Kheprera- Have you seen the stone block CCemote that is similar to the ice block?

Stonehead- Keldian CCemote bug is noted.

Kurrent- Scrubbing bubbles MM would be cool too! Pitch that over to the powers designers, Stat!

Sam Tow- "aura-only body parts" would be character costume stuff. A concept would have to get approved, then an artist would have to fill in the shoulder-hole if there was to be no arm, and then I could work some magic with it. Pitch it on the original All Things Art thread!

Kalistoh- We have to offset the eye auras away from the face so they won’t clip into the foreheads/hair/hats etc. The character in all those images is looking down so they will appear to be in her cheeks and we generally design them to look best when the character is at in-game size. The Peacebringer one does indeed look off however, and I will look into it. Thanks!

FlashToo - Character animation is one more discipline on the list of stuff we don’t do, but your suggestion for laying down and seated-pose emotes could have a place on another thread. And uh… a Kirby-esque aura… outlook is promising.

Unfortunately, a generic aura for weapons is out of the question. We’ve researched it, weapons have far too many shapes and sizes for us to make one work for all, and far too many weapons to allow time on our schedule for adding bones to them. However, we have recently come out with several weapons that have aura fx on them, and one that is made entirely of fx. We look forward to making more like these.

Surface auras similar to Victorian Décor are something I’m looking into.

Would you guys really like “Flight-Only” as an option for path auras? There are so few that I think I could look into this.

Thanks for the warm welcome. Already I’m seeing several new ideas that sound intriguing! I have a few things I’d like to mention in no particular order:

-I have been following this thread from beyond its inception. No need to re-post your previous requests to Tunnel Rat, I assure you I’ve seen it! **COUGH** power pool customization **COUGH**!

-There is a definite distinction between auras and costume pieces. So something like glowing bones is a neat idea, but if we were to do it with fx, it would end up looking like the Donnie Darko skeleton t-shirt print. I’d recommend passing that over to a character art thread combined with a reference image(s). Same goes for inner eye glows, glowing costume pieces, costume textures, and chest decals. These are not part of the FX pipeline, they are for Character Artists.

-Lord_Kalistoh: Female Eye auras, which ones are offset wrong? Please elaborate, there are many.

-Alternate FX for legacy powers: we’re looking into this. Trust me, we’d love to do this too!

Hey dudes and gals,

For those who don’t already know me, I’m Leo. I have been an FX Artist here at Paragon Studios for just over a year. Some of you may wonder, “Why Honey Badger?”

I begrudgingly took this red-name after a failed joke I made during one of the weekly USTREAM “Coffee Talk” sessions. Players on the chat box were joking with my partner in crime, Tunnel Rat, about what my red name might be. When some ridiculous animal names started cropping up, I threw out the honey badger as a joke, knowing how the memory of that internet clip would make her crack up on camera. Little did I know that it would stick and that YOU PEOPLE WOULD NEVER LET IT DIE THEREAFTER. AAAARRRGHH!!!


…ok, it’s kinda funny. Whatever.


Anyhow, I am posting to announce that I am gonna be helping out the Tunnel Rat with answering queries on this thread. It has been quite an experience reading your suggestions, and an even bigger thrill to be able to fulfill some of ‘em! I wish to continue this tradition, and welcome any suggestions for new Auras, Emotes, Costume Change Emotes… hell, anything we can feasibly do with VFX is game here. Specifically the Aura part. I don’t care how dumb it sounds, it might spark an idea for something we could possibly do. I mean it! I need MOAR! GIMMEH MOAR! MOOOOOOAAAAARRR!

…ahem…

That’s it, I gotta get back to work.


Party on dudes!