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Transistor Devs Q&A

If you didn’t attend the Transistor Anniversary Chat, or if you weren’t there for absolutely everything, you might have missed the Supergiant developers being in chat, or might have missed some of their answers. I can’t promise that I picked up every answer (if you know what I missed please show me) but I compiled a list here of what they did answer and say. Please note that this is heavily edited due to Tinychat’s constraints!

  • When asked if there was something that incited Transistor:
    kasavin: Incited how so…? It was a bunch of things I guess but broadly wanting to do something in the sci fi genre
    kasavin: Yeah that’s right. The “mute woman with talking sword” idea dates back to 2011 or so and we ended up pursuing it
    kasavin: Many aspects of the game came together in a pretty roundabout way since we don’t do a lot of planning in preproduction.
    kasavin: Just a long phase of throwing ideas at a wall and seeing what if anything sticks.

When asked if Transistor had any connections to Little Mermaid:
kasavin: Little Mermaid connection not deliberate at least initially, though I did reference the Hans Christian Anderson- (this part got cut off)

  • When asked about the untranslatable words in Transistor looking like ascii:
    kasavin: It is roughly meant to look like something like that, encrypted gibberish that’s vaguely recognizable but you can’t read it

When asked about the Camerata being a reference of the Florentine Camerata:
kasavin: Florentine Camerata reference not an accident. Transistor’s Camerata are like a group of cultural critics who decide to take m(atters into their own hands)

  • When asked about his penchant of putting companions like the squirt and Luna into the games:
    kasavin: Worlds of our games can feel so cold and lonely at times that having a little companionship in there is important to- (this part got cut off)

When asked how Royce’s hair ‘does the thing’:
kasavin: You can be anything you want in this town!

  • Darren Korb likes Old Friends best because it helped him set the tone of the game.

When asked about what genre he’d say Transistor’s music is:
darrenkorb: I suppose you could call it “Old-World Electronic Post-Rock”?

  • When asked if there is a longer version of We All Become:
    darrenkorb:  the one on the soundtrack IS the longer version :) The original one was only about a minute.

When told people like the bass track from Impossible:
darrenkorb: if you just hang out in the area where you first see royce in person, the solo bass track from impossible p(lays)

  • When asked if he set out a specific melody for the hummed tracks, or if he let Ashley improvise:
    darrenkorb: a bit of both really. Sometimes I’d record a scratch melody for Ashley to sing, sometimes we’d sort of figure- (this part got cut off)

Talking about the hummed tracks:
darrenkorb: I see the hummed versions as companions to the instrumental versions
darrenkorb: it wasn’t until after the game’s release and we actually had a lot of requests for the hummed versions that we decided to release them

  • When shown the remix “Seeing Red”:
    darrenkorb: it’s funny, this remix reminds me a bit of Imogen Heap, whio was actually a big influence for me when working on the soundtra(ck)

When asked which Bastion ending was the true ending:
kasavin: Bastion endings were always conceived as a pair, so one is not more important than the other in that sense.
acatienz: with the way new game + goes, the bastion endings fit best when you choose one, then the other after new game +
kasavin: Yeah that’s true. We briefly considered forcing one before the other

  • When asked what music he’d recommend to inspire someone:
    darrenkorb: I mean, really whatever moves you! That’s the key. My inspirations won’t be the same as someone else’s.
    darrenkorb: I listened to a ton of different stuff growing up
    darrenkorb: everything from They Might Be Giants and Weezer, to Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, to Bjork and Imogen Heap, and everything in between

When asked how much thought he puts into naming characters:
kasavin: I spend lots and lots of time on naming.
kasavin: Tonality, implication, semantics, separation from other names, etc. etc.
kasavin: Names are inherently meaningful so they’re worth giving a lot of thought.

  • Talking about how so little is known about the Man in the Transistor and about naming
    kasavin: We had a lot about Mr. Nobody written and for various reasons almost none of it ended up in the game.
    kasavin: Red, as a matter of fact, was probably the most controversial.
    darrenkorb: Yeah, Ashley is great. It’s been a lot of fun to work with her on these games.
    kasavin: Being the main character and all.
    kasavin: Actually the Boxer / the Transistor as well
    kasavin: It was pretty immediate in terms of what she could be called, question was whether it was sufficient in itself.

fytransistor: and I guess I’m interested why her character decided to continue despite the mentioned uprisings
kasavin: Music was an important part of Red’s life and who she was.

  • When asked if they would make any DLC for Transistor:
    kasavin: No plans for DLC at this point. Goal was to make a complete-feeling game. Hopefully you felt that way about it…!

transistorchat: In a way, would you say the people of Cloudbank viewed Red to have the same ideas as the Camerata?
kasavin: The people of Cloudbank saw Red as having some progressive or unorthodox views through her music yeah.

  • When asked if they’d written any songs after Transistor for it:
    darrenkorb: Signals was actually written AFTER the game was finished, just for the soundtrack :)

When asked what the first song he wrote for Transistor was:
darrenkorb: the first song I wrote (with lyrics) for the game was The Spine
darrenkorb: I ended up rewriting the music pretty substantially later on, but kept the lyrics/melody part the same
darrenkorb: I think the 2nd one was We All Become

  • When asked if he worked on a song all at once or in parts, and which song was tough for him to write:
    darrenkorb: Not usually, I often try to finish it [the song] all at once, whenever possible.
    darrenkorb: I think Paper Boats was a challenge for me, since I felt a lot of pressure to really sell the ending
    darrenkorb: emotionally speaking

When asked which song was easiest to write:
darrenkorb: probably Signals. It just came together really quickly/naturally

  • When asked who was his favorite character:
    darrenkorb: hmm, tough one…I really like Sybil a lot…

When asked how much of their good ideas got into the game:
amir: I am one of the developers – almost all our power ideas made it in to the game

  • When talking about why the Spine made Boxer sound drunk:
    darrenkorb: Re: The Spine, I think it’s due to the magnitude…

Upon talk of Grant and Asher being married:
kasavin: It’s as canon as anything. Was important to depict a world that didn’t suffer from the same kinds of social issues as ours.

  • Talking about what programs were used to make the game:
    kasavin: Mostly off-the-shelf stuff. Our own tech written in C#, Photoshop/Maya for art, Logic Pro for sound, Visual Studio
    darrenkorb: On my end , I use Logic Pro for composing/making sounds/recording VO, then use FMod Studio for integration

When asked about roleplaying:
kasavin: roleplay/cosplay stuff is amazing and flattering.
kasavin: Some people probably do it just because they think a character looks cool but for many I know it’s very personal.

  • When asked if they’d worked on other games before making Bastion:
    kasavin: Several of us did. Amir and Gavin (the cofounders) and I worked at Electronic Arts, on the Command & Conquer series
    kasavin: Andrew our CTO worked on Modern Warfare 1 and 2.

When asked about people comparing Transistor to Bastion:
kasavin: The comparisons were to be expected. Overall we’re happy to see people compare and contrast.
kasavin: Certainly it invites a lot of direct comparisons but I think resists a lot of others & hopefully that’s interesting.
kasavin: Our approach with it was to try and make a game with its own distinct identity so in the end we weren’t concerned, since it’s its own thing. Really difficult to say. We churn through a lot of ideas I think.

  • When talking about the Camerata being relatable:
    kasavin: I think we want our characters to be challenging. We want them to be empathetic but that doesn’t mean you can relate to them
    kasavin: I think that’s how it is with almost everyone, yeah. I make the distinction between “villains” and antagonsts.
    kasavin: Stories are mostly just a matter of perspective.

kasavin: We don’t consider the ending to be strictly sad.

  • When talking about Red’s motives possibly just being to get Boxer back:
    kasavin:  Red’s motivations are open to debate. I think it’s fair to say she had a lot on her mind.

Roboenza: Who is your favourite character and why?
kasavin: It’s like asking me to pick a favorite child. They all mean a lot in different ways.

  • When asked if there were any influences from Yasumi Matsuno
    kasavin: Matsuno storytelling a big influence on me for sure.

When asked about Flourish and humming:
kasavin: Flourish is meant to make you flourish and exists to let you flourish when you want.
kasavin: Yep. In an otherwise combat-intensive game, we think it’s important that you be able to interact in other ways.

  • When asked about how Cloudbank seemed to be in the middle of a change between tradition and new:
    kasavin: Yeah, the city is suggested to be in the midst of some cultural / generational changes.

When asked if there’s anything out there beyond Cloudbank:
kasavin: Other than Fairview and the Country (and the sandbox), we don’t know anything beyond Cloudbank.
kasavin: It’s a suburb but technically part of it yeah. Sorry didn’t mean to imply that.

  • A funny exchange in the chat:
    transistorchat: Kasavin’s still here. Just been AFK for a long while.
    dionysosagrios: aah
    fytransistor: They were very sweet and answered a lot of good questions from the fans.
    dionysosagrios: amazing
    transistorchat: They’ll still be popping in and out, they said.
    deadpan_fran1: I was probably out for Amir
    kasavin: Who dares summon me?!

When asked if the Sandbox is always that way or simply like that for Red:
kasavin: Whether the appearance of it is fixed or specific to the inhabitant isn’t revealed one way or another since you only see it from R(ed’s perspective)
kasavin: Red is presumably the one who gained the backdoor access or was authorized.

  • Talking about the pursuing nature of Paper Boats:
    kasavin:  You get some of Red’s personality in there. She’s not a shrinking violet.

I was a little late for this part, but the Transistor devs apparently still play D&D, and Amir is the DM for them.

  • osiriskun: what would you say was the biggest challenge with the writing for transistor?
    kasavin: Giving the player enough to understand what’s going on at the beginning.
    kasavin: Also making the relationship between a mute woman and a talking sword believable.

Talking about Grant and Asher, and Red’s ring:
kasavin: Well like, the institution of marriage such as we know it doesn’t necessarily exist in Cloudbank, right?

  • When asked where Luna and Asher’s cat went:
    kasavin: Luna probably went wherever the rest of the Process went.
    kasavin: Asher’s cat probably went where everything else went.
    kasavin: Transistor spin-off game “All Cats Go to the Country”

Re: Fetches looking like any type of dog breed:
kasavin: They look a bit like greyhounds maybe but aren’t meant to be a specific breed.

  • osiriskun: did grant feel more at fault for the process’s actions, leading to his actions? or was he not as stable as the other camerata?
    kasavin: It was probably a disastrous worst-nightmare kind of situation for him.

When asked how he went from being an English major to working at EA:
amir: there was a video game class at my university. instructor liked my project
amir: …and I ended up working for him at ESPN
amir: …and I ended up in the EA internship program
amir: …and I ended up at EA in LA after college
The project was one he worked on with Logan and someone else

  • kasavin: Hard to pin down a single thing but just having another chance to make a game on our terms meant a lot.
    osiriskun: kasavin -can- we call you greg
    transistorchat: That’s one of the coolest things about Supergiant, isn’t it? You guys get to work on what you want without pressure to make it a certain way.
    kasavin: Of course!
    amir: it is everything that we get to make games our own way
    amir: we are very grateful that our players have enabled us to continue to do that

On the Man in the Transistor again:
kasavin: We had ideas there but in the end never revealed his face or much about him.
transistorchat: Kasavin was the triangle design that features so prominently in Transistor your idea or Jen’s?
mossy_toes: Would it be too far of a leap to assume this was so that he could serve as one form of a player insert?
kasavin: That was Jen yeah. I guess we were already bouncing around the ‘Transistor’ name at that time.
kasavin: just based on the visual of the “sword”. The visual came before the name.
kasavin: @mossy We wanted players to think about the relationship between him and Red, and what it might have been like

  • transistorchat: How much of a hold does the OVC have on normal life? It seems to be where they get every single bit of news apart from other people. It seems more than just a news station, yet not quite administration
    kasavin: They do seem to have a monopoly over the distribution of information, though the news is by-the-people…
    kasavin: A guy like Wave would probably spend hours discussing that topic.

nobodyspecial: Royce was very competent w/ Transistor, how did he lose to Red?
kasavin: Royce seemed to think the Transistor had a mind of its own. Maybe it did and just didn’t like him.

  • When asked if Unnamed could see Red during her encounter with Royce at the end?
    kasavin: He doesn’t seem to be there then..

Talking about the Country
kasavin: The people of Cloudbank do regard it as a real place where people go.

  • osiriskun: Does Unnamed speak through the Transistor because he was killed by it, as opposed to killed by the Process and captured with it?
    kasavin: You’re on to something. There’s something special about him

sophtopus: But when Boxer jumped into the fray
sophtopus: the ownership got tossed into a roulette?
kasavin: That’s the right idea – it was not something the Camerata expected to happen.
kasavin: There are things they didn’t understand about it.
kiramay: Is Boxer the name of ?
kasavin: It’s not a given name but it was one of the terms we used to refer to him during development.

  • fytransistor: Wasn’t his voice heard because Red carried it? The ones carrying it hear the voices of those they know.
    kasavin: Royce does say that.

Also on what Cloudbank is (real or virtual). Kasavin said he doesn’t like to talk about stuff that’s not said in the game, lest it deviate from canon.

Thank you again for attending and talking with the devs!

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