New Transistor Documentary
Noclip's just done a great 40-minute documentary about the difficult development of Transistor. I always like seeing what changes in story and character, so here were some of the highlights for me:
Earlier titles seem to include Tether and Auden.
The original kernel of the story was a concept tossed around by Greg Kasavin and Jen Zee on a car ride – even before Bastion's release. They came up with the idea of a barmaid who falls in love with a wizard. To her horror, he's killed by a group of assassins, but his soul enters a mysterious “demonic rune sword” which she takes control of. As much as they liked the idea, they let it fall by the wayside, and it was not the original premise of Transistor.
Sword boyfriend/Auden was the original protagonist, with a face and everything. He was a boxer who, for some reason, has glowing golden fists. The design on the back of his jacket wasn't always a triangle. They wanted him to come across as very manly and badass, and his design feels very angry – none of the softness you see in the final game.
There was always going to be a disembodied character. For some reason, Auden had a “spirit friend” who seems to be genderless or male (and tethered to his magical fists, I think). They also have a red/white outfit and cigarette in one design, leading me to wonder if they were an early inspiration for Royce – Royce is, after all, nothing but a voice to you at one point.
Red was in the game. Sort of. Her name looks like it was “Faye Peridot”, and she was a singer, and Auden's dead girlfriend. At one point, she had much darker skin and glowing golden eyes. I guess part of Auden's quest was to avenge her? I'm so glad the final game avoids the whole fridged dead girlfriend trope. Nothing I saw hinted Red was even going to be a disembodied voice. There was no Transistor at this point.
The team became very frustrated with the project, and then Greg Kasavin and Jen Zee remembered their barmaid-wizard-sword story. Kasavin doubted it could be translated into a sci-fi setting, but Zee insisted on making some concept art.
The first thing she drew was Red almost identical to her final design, though they'd experiment with lengthening and shortening her hair. At one point her name became Muse. There are also some fantastic designs of Red merged with the Transistor, which seem to have been used for her Superuser form.
It’s a good documentary. It's fascinating to watch the creative journey, and you can see how they refined their ideas into something much fresher and more interesting than their original concepts. I would've liked to learn more of course – What was the original plot of the Auden-based narrative? Who was the fifth member of the Camerata? – but then I always want to know more.