The Smoke Room Build 33: "And When You Sleep You Remind Me of the Dead."
Added 2024-03-01 04:24:15 +0000 UTCDownload links below...
Hey folks. George here. We're at a point in Nikolai's route where our choices are coming to a head. The next TSR update has been scheduled for April, and it will be more of William's route, which will includie some reorginizations for some of his scenes (similar to some structural shifts done in Cliff's route once certain assets were in place), plus new scenes for alternate choices.
This update includes:
-Writing from @GeorgeSquares
-Editing from @Cafealopex and @not_opossum
-Backgrounds, coding and illustrations from @limekardamom
-CG's from @solosolosolomon
Links:
PC: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SXBkOYkLrdE5x-Gw5goPvNdfp_B5BsSQ/view?usp=drive_link
Mac: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17cxluvW1bvz7hb41oC_GiLdaSZd65dD1/view?usp=drive_link
Linux: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YpcsbvPOzHJM9rAFfVPhVxh39snqobXD/view?usp=drive_link
Android: https://www.mediafire.com/file/eymgda0jhac1zm5/TSR_33_-_release.apk/file
Comments
Is it possible to play this game without nuking the install - could I copy files over between builds and repackage myself? This has been a barrier for me wishing to invest time into this universe
Nocti5
2024-04-18 01:31:13 +0000 UTCThis is a furry VN patreon
ABC
2024-03-26 23:29:15 +0000 UTCCringe
noname default
2024-03-26 19:30:39 +0000 UTCNo i am not disconnected from the source material. The comparison with game of thrones was not even about their narratives, but about how they both were recieved by audiences. You missing the point of the comparison kinda tells me it´s you who did not understand what the point i was making was. I suggest you reread it again.
ABC
2024-03-16 13:58:36 +0000 UTCI know this conversation is like two weeks old, but I just have to chime in. I think the issue you're having with that scene just seems to be a disconnect from the source material. George has already been open about the things that have been inspiring the events of The Smoke Room, which is why folks have brought the BDSM and living as a queer person in that time period. I think you're reading that scene from a very narrow perspective and being too logical with it, and it looks like you're dismissing those themes despite them being point out to you. I just think your frame of reference for how a story should progress is very misplaced. You're comparing it freaking Game of Thrones, which is a wildly different story.
Pascal the Otter
2024-03-16 03:49:08 +0000 UTCwhy? my comfort character 😭😭😭
Luke Wooten
2024-03-13 15:13:18 +0000 UTCWell f*
Lyk
2024-03-11 17:00:16 +0000 UTCIf you are still confused, i suggest you read what i wrote again. I can´t explain it more clearly if i wanted to. I don´t even understand why you mention the him being virgin or being into BDSM thing. The behaviour we don´t like isn´t that he´s fucking and into BDSM. I find a moment that is very much comparable to this scene is the ending of Daenerys in game of thrones. Could you see her becoming crazy? Yes. Could you see her murdering tons of innocents? Yes, sure. But all of that needed a huge amount of context and character development that the show didn´t get. That´s why people didn´t like it. With this William scene it´s the same. Could we see him having sex with other men besides Sam? Sure, go for it man, be happy. Could we see him becoming submissive and into light BDSM with ****? Oh, there wasn´t a single doubt about it. But the reason i and other´s dislike the scene so much is the exact same reason as to why everyone disliked the ending of GoT. The context necessary for that scene to weave naturally and make sense is completely missing. And again, i´d rather suggest changes when the project is mid development and they can actually act upon them. When the VN is finished, it´s finished, and it´s much harder to change big moments like this.
ABC
2024-03-03 13:31:19 +0000 UTCI guess it just confuses me why you "and a lot of other people" are hung up on this one scene. Sexuality isn't always linear and doesn't always play out the way you might expect. Will is certainly not a virgin, and it is well established he's into BDSM. I don't really see his behavior as aberrant to his character, nor do I think it is for Sam to encourage him to let himself go and try what turns him on. IMHO, it fits just fine. If anything, Todd's behavior seems more surprising, but within the context of the rest of the story, its not completely unexpected. You obviously love TSR, are clearly are very invested in the characters, and that is awesome. But we've only just really crossed the halfway point of the entire VN. We haven't even seen anything of Will's route since the barn scene, so we have absolutely no idea where any of this is going. Perhaps before suggesting it needs a rework from the ground up, let George continue to tell his story and see where it goes.
Weetu
2024-03-03 04:33:38 +0000 UTCI like how the story is playing out? I only dont like one scene, that a lot of other people have issues with. I am a patreon and at the very least i think i have the right to offer my opinion on the thing i pay for, right? Even if we are not listened to in the end. I dont know if you actually read what i said(?) but i eventually sugested just adding more story and more context to make the scene fit. The biggest issue is that the scene just does not fit the moment in the story it happens. How William acts previous to that update and how he does in that update are two completely different people. I think we all agree that a sexy scene with **** was inevitable, that is not my issue at all. My issue is that the scene writes William in a way that, in my and other´s opinion, that makes no sense in the moment. He needed a different character context, a more developed context, for that scene to take place and make sense. Thus why i eventually suggested simply adding a previous scene where William and Sam do stuff by themselves first where Will is the submissive one, because it doesnt make sense for him to let go of control at the snap of his fingers for a stranger, but it does make sense for him to do that with Sam, the person he trusts the most at that moment. Like, imagine that. Sam and Will do that, Will experiments, gets a bit more comfortable, and later he and Sam talk about **** and Sam encourages him trying with someone other than him. It just fits better, and fills the missing context that the final update, in mine and many other´s opinion, is missing. In the end i am simply giving feedback in the most honest way i can. I am not demanding anything, i am not harrassing anyone, i am simply hoping that, having in mind that this is a WIP project that can be changed at any time, this can be solved. Thats all. I love TSR with all my heart (i have a TSR tattoo and Sam´s plush is literally sitting on my pillow), and William is one of if not my favourite gay character in media. Someone i relate to deeply. I just want him to be written the best he can be, the best i know he can be. Because previous to the last update i just simply couldnt give you any negatives for his route. Sorry for going for so long, i just want you to know all im saying comes from a place of absolute love and apreciation.
ABC
2024-03-03 01:49:06 +0000 UTCWith all due respect, just because you don't like how a story is playing out doesn't mean you should ask, nor insist, that the author to change it to something you like.
Weetu
2024-03-03 00:40:01 +0000 UTCJust finished playing this update and OH MY GOODNESS!!! I trusted yao so now I am not so sure. Shocked, Surprised, Gooped and Gagged.
FlurryBC
2024-03-02 03:29:41 +0000 UTCI would prefer if none of them were "ruined" lol
ABC
2024-03-02 01:19:51 +0000 UTCAlso, George, the fact that you can elicit such care and emotions about your characters in the fanbase proves what a talented writer you are. Keep up the good work!
WereRat92
2024-03-02 00:53:04 +0000 UTCI admit i got my hopes up for a Will/Kane rework until i started reading the other comments. But even if some of us think Will's route is "ruined" by what we perceive is a jump-the-shark moment, there's still 3 other stories to get excited about. Plus you never know, it's not like the VN forces us to pick that option in Will's route. Perhaps there's still a satisfying conclusion to his character arch for those of us that have such strong opinions against picking the Kane option.
WereRat92
2024-03-02 00:52:12 +0000 UTCI dont think you are understanding my complaint, if that is what you are refering to with this comment here. I dont think theres any problems with William´s story or his character arc.
ABC
2024-03-01 19:19:17 +0000 UTCOH! And please excuse my poor English. I used so many tools for completing my opinion.XD
HaraKuma
2024-03-01 19:17:43 +0000 UTCAnd thank you for so many wonderful stories. I like every route and every character. I`ve also read every route of Echo many times, and they are all brilliant. Jenna`s my favorite.
HaraKuma
2024-03-01 19:05:54 +0000 UTCDo some people really know William？Do they really mature to understand the William`s story or William himself? There has already been so many flashbacks scenes and implications about William` past, his personality, his mental pressure and his desire. I DO NOT think there`s any problem with William`s story or anything wrong about his character arc now. I think the whole story made him more real and full(also more complex). PLEASE DO stick your story to your original plan.
HaraKuma
2024-03-01 18:57:50 +0000 UTCI know that.
ABC
2024-03-01 18:28:51 +0000 UTCFWIW Will had experimented with men before Sam. This was in one of his flashback scenes.
George Squares
2024-03-01 16:51:53 +0000 UTCI genuinely believe the only thing we need to make that scenario 100 times more well recieved than it was would be a previous scene of Sam and Will experimenting by themselves. Having a conversation where they discuss and try stuff only the two of them.
ABC
2024-03-01 16:08:43 +0000 UTCI agree with you that the last William Update didn't feel earned. I'm not a writer so I can't give any more help then that but I agree that the pacing with his decisions felt a bit rushed. However I could also see a real person rushing into to something that they have repressed for years, but I think there just needs to be an acknowledgement on Will's part of how out of the blue it was/maybe him having second thoughts or regrets or something. I'm rambling at this point but yea lot's of love for this project and all you are doing. If you take this criticism and readjust or just say screw that and keep going the way you were I fully trust y'all's ability to write a great story.
FlurryBC
2024-03-01 16:04:36 +0000 UTC"There are important themes there about bdsm, repression in a lethally homophobic time era, and the casual sex for queer men being possible on the western frontier that I am not going to gloss over. " I wouldnt want you to, and it is not the feedback im trying to give here.
ABC
2024-03-01 14:19:53 +0000 UTC"I do not think presenting a character as who they are, in all their desires and their hesitancies, is a poor narrative choice. " I dont think so either! Like i originally said, i fully expected a scene like this to happen. The act itself is not a problem, i was waiting for it for a long time. The issue is the timing, the pacing, the character development. There is a lot of it that is missing, and i´m not the only one who thinks this way. Hesitancy is they key here. Will would be way more hesitant to do what he did with a borderline stranger, even after the shots he had. It´s just too much of a big ask to have the reader ignore his previous development just for that scene. There are many ways i think this issue could be solved, but my first instinct would be to have Will and Sam just... do something previously, just the two of them. After all, Sam is the only person prior to this moment in the story he would trust enough to even consider doing that kind of stuff with.
ABC
2024-03-01 14:16:30 +0000 UTCI honestly hope the scene is revised in the future personally. I genuinely want TSR to be the best it can be, and i dont think blindly praising every single choice as a yesman is helpful for an, ultimately, work in progress VN. You guys have a golden oportunity not many other projects have. I hope i didnt come off too negatively here, i have seen how a certain space from twitter has acted towards you and other VN writers lately, and i disagree with all of it. I wouldnt want to add to the negativity pile, so i hope i am understood to be honest. <3
ABC
2024-03-01 14:06:47 +0000 UTCYes it is, and i completely understand that, but Will was written to be a person that at the point that moment happens just would not trust any other person than Sam to do it with. That is how he is characterized by the story. Will has huge trust issues, but he lets it all go to blindly trust Sam to do the very same thing that left him traumatized in the first place? Wouldn´t it make sense for him to trust himself to Sam first? The change is too sudden, it feels like a lot of development and context is missing at the time it happens.
ABC
2024-03-01 14:02:03 +0000 UTCI remember that when Will´s last update released you mentioned that you might revisit it in the future. Is that something you are still thinking about doing? I speak from a place of love, i really, genuinely want Will´s route to be the best it can be, but that scene was just too out of place. I understand a lot of people misinterpreted it when it came out, but outside of those people there are still many like me who really wish to offer honest and constructive feedback.
ABC
2024-03-01 13:58:17 +0000 UTCThat is not the scene getting reorganized so much as some resequencing of events around the animatic and events that occur at marcy's home. Doing a project this large with complicated assets sometimes means having to work around when we have those things available. It can sometimes lead to pacing issues, which get revised in future editing passes. Will becoming more reflective of his choices regarding his sexual desires, which have been presently stated and foreshadowed in the route, through his relationship to Sam and the things he can do with Sam's counsel, is critical to his character arc. I do not think presenting a character as who they are, in all their desires and their hesitancies, is a poor narrative choice. William has versatile desires, and events in his life have influenced some of the things that make him tick. That's just who he is as a person. There are important themes there about bdsm, repression in a lethally homophobic time era, and the casual sex for queer men being possible on the western frontier that I am not going to gloss over.
George Squares
2024-03-01 13:53:37 +0000 UTCI honestly think the William scene doesn´t need a "reorganization" of the scenes, but a complete rework from the ground up. It does not make sense for William as a character to do what he did, period. As long as that is the case, how the scene is organized won´t matter, it´s just a matter of a poor narrative choice imo. I am not dumb, i knew Will and **** were gonna do that from the moment he first appeared on screen, that was something everyone accepted as a truth, but for that to happen Will needed SO much more development as a character. At the point in the story it happens in, the scene just plain does not make sense, and does not read as an honest choice in service of the narrative. I love William with all my heart, he is probably my favourite gay character in media, probably ever, but i really, really hope you guys do him justice. The way he was written last update was not it.
ABC
2024-03-01 13:19:43 +0000 UTCI know that cg implies a very serious, maybe even dire situation but all I can see is Sam reaching for Nick's belly 😶
JokumaTheBear
2024-03-01 04:26:58 +0000 UTC
