VN Ren'Py Beyond Redline (Street Racing, Heists, Romance, Harem) [Development Thread]

[HardlySoft]

Welcome to Beyond Redline!
​

Hello, fellow degenerates!
I'm here to present the AVN project I've sunk so many hours into that turning back isn't even an option anymore. Beyond Redline is my passion project, the AVN I always wanted to play.

I've been working on this on and off for way longer than I should, close to 6 or 7 months now. I've written and rewritten arcs, drafted scenes, sculpted character bodies, tested renders, tweaked fashion styles, and reshaped personalities over and over again. In February, I finally said, "screw it let’s make this thing real". That pile of ideas became an actual project. And this thread is me telling myself I'm fully committed. No turning back now, lol.

Scope & Plot:

The main goal with this project is to create a racing/heist-themed harem game. I grew up on early Fast & Furious movies and Need for Speed games, and that's somewhat the vibe Beyond Redline is going to have, but with more emotional depth and way more sex appeal. I don't want to create another soulless harem where every girl wants to bang you because, well, you're the MC. I want the characters to matter. Real connections, actual tension, meaningful arcs, personal stakes, both in romance and in story. The story is built with various character arcs in mind. I'd like you to think of Beyond Redline as a romance/harem game with a racing/heist setting.

The Setup:

You play as Nathan (name changeable), a 21-year-old guy who had it all: money, cars, women... the privileged son of Richard Williams, a retired racing legend who turned into a cold-blooded CEO. After your mother's tragic death (yep, she's the dead parent in this one, so no incest, sorry), your father gave up racing and buried himself in status and wealth, a lifestyle where his image and name matter more than anything else. He tossed money at you like it was a parenting tool. You grew up spoiled, neglected, and broken in ways nobody really saw. You became reckless, impulsive, and craving for adrenaline and speed.

One fateful night, you sneak into an exclusive underground event, a show run for the most infamous racers in Aurora City. There you meet Hector, the first major threat in the story. A short-fused, power-control psychopath. You bet your money-dumped GTR just to enter the race.

And you lose. Badly. Hector plays dirty. Your car ends up wrapped around a wall. A big pile of scrap metal. Now not only did you make a fool of yourself in your first actual street race, but you owe Hector a car. The worst part? Cops, cruisers, helicopters, the whole thing was a setup to bust the city's infamous racers.

Your father bails you out one last time... and he's done.

After your biggest screw up so far, Dad decides he's had enough of your shit. But instead of sending you to some therapy retreat or boarding school, he wants to ship you off to your uncle on the other side of the world, out of sight, like that's gonna fix anything. That's where the story could've ended, but you decide otherwise.

You escape.
No money, no plan, and a huge debt over your head.

This is where Beyond Redline truly begins.

You're on the run, broke and hunted, stumbling into Aurora City's criminal world. Each step you make, you'll find yourself deeper and deeper in the mess. You'll meet many women along the way, some more dangerous than others. You'll fall in love, you'll fight for a second chance, chase revenge, or maybe something deeper.
Glory? Redemption? Love? We’ll see.

Planned main tags:
3DCG, Male Protagonist, Animated, Cheating, Teasing, Romance, Harem, Lesbian (Avoidable).

Excluded tags:
NTR, Incest.

Characters & Romance:
The game counts with 11 love interests (This is probably final, I have no plans to add more for now), each with their subplots. They all were designed with MC development in mind, each one has their part in the plot/sub-plots to help MC grow, learn, and overcome obstacles (while also giving him many more).

Spoiler: Full cast of LI + MC

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Where in development am I now?
As I write this post, April 6th, I have 80% of the writing for v0.1 done and revised.
I finally found the "look" I want for the renders, and I started making them. I have 160 renders done so far; not exactly sure how many will be there in v0.1.
I've also spent some time crafting the soundtrack and sound effects, that's actually something I'm excited for you guys to experience!

The challenges I'm currently facing:
Animations and UI design.

Maybe because Honey Select sucks at making animations? (IDK, I've never animated anything before). I'd rather have static renders than shitty animations any day, but at the same time I think the whole racing/action setting would really improve with good animations, so that's something I'll probably spend quite some time on.

And for the UI design, I just don't want to have the basic Renpy UI, I'm trying to go for something minimal that matches the game vibe, but graphic design is definitely NOT my passion.

My main goal for v0.1 is to have major characters introduced, an introduction to Aurora City’s underworld and your place in it, and the first erotic scenes (kissing, teasing). Basically the introduction to the game and the problems you'll face.

I'm learning most of it on the way, and it has been a fun journey so far. I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts on the premise and any feedbacks!

Here's a little preview from the renders I've done:

 

[Ratatuss]

Holy smokes... This looks and sounds fking amazing... I don't even have words, legit excited for the game. And I haven't felt like this since reading eternum. I was just going to post my thread when I saw yours... (think i'll post-pone it, I can't compete with this xD)

Also absolutely LOVE the last two renders. Looks badass and sexy asf! Good luck! I'm really looking forward to it!!

 

[HardlySoft]

Holy smokes... This looks and sounds fking amazing... I don't even have words, legit excited for the game. And I haven't felt like this since reading eternum. I was just going to post my thread when I saw yours... (think i'll post-pone it, I can't compete with this xD)

Also absolutely LOVE the last two renders. Looks badass and sexy asf! Good luck! I'm really looking forward to it!!

OMG thank you, man! Those two renders are my favorite too
Eternum is a crazy high bar to be compared, I’m just trying to build something I want to play!

Also, don't even think about postponing your thread! We're all just doing our thing, and the more stories out there, the better. I'd love to check it out when it's up!

 

[SatinAndIvory]

Cool stuff, good to see a fellow aspiring dev working in HS2! I'm wondering if you built any race tracks or custom city environments for the racing scenes. I built a house and a university from scratch from the objects available in studio for my VN and it took me ~100 hours, I couldn't imagine having to build a whole city you can race around (though it sounds like fun).

 

[HardlySoft]

Cool stuff, good to see a fellow aspiring dev working in HS2! I'm wondering if you built any race tracks or custom city environments for the racing scenes. I built a house and a university from scratch from the objects available in studio for my VN and it took me ~100 hours, I couldn't imagine having to build a whole city you can race around (though it sounds like fun).

Thanks, man! I'm trying to rely as much as possible on pre-built maps. Thankfully the HS2 modding community is insane, there's so much good stuff out there to work with. I did end up building custom sections for the race scenes though, just to avoid repetition. I'm doing my best to use creative camera work to sell the scale without having to go crazy with massive environments (also because my PC can't handle too many objects).

Outside of that, I try to customize existing maps to match the vibe I'm going for. Here's a before/after of one location that's gonna be important in the story. Still a WIP, but it's slowly getting there!

Spoiler: (WIP) Before and after

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Would love to see your VN sometime, btw. Sounds like you put in some love with that university build!

 

[voronkov]

Очень хорошо. Мне всегда интересно видеть игры сделанные с помощью HS2. Сам несколько делал. Так что могу сказать что качество изображений хорошее, а то что на картинке столько много персонажей это значит что хороший компьютер для создания в студии. Для меня настройка света в студии вообще сложно. Обстановка тоже не очень удачно выходит. Делать много материала с персонажами это легко, анимация тоже для меня довольно легко как только понял как это делать. Вполне легко делать анимацию интима, можно передвинуть руки или ноги во встроенной анимации и уже считай другая. Анимация продолжиться и плавно, а выглядеть будет всё равно плавно. Свою анимацию я делал с помощью VNGE, тоже вполне легко. Начало. Потом меняешь позу на в разные отрезки времени. Если надо ещё другую анимацию добавляешь. Потом просто записываешь это и всё. К сожалению запись с помощью VideoExport теперь не включается при нажатию VNGE, по крайней мере у меня. Так и не смог решить это. Но если записываешь по другому или она работает то вполне легко можно сделать свою анимацию.
Насчёт сюжета пока ничего сказать не могу. Надо будет увидеть как это будет идти в самой игре. Но раз много разных женских персонажей то будет много разнообразного интима с ними.
Не очень понял как это будет. Вроде не линейная игра. Игра с выбором? Выбор будет сильно влиять разветвления сюжета? Или может это игра песочница где обычно не особо выбор бывает. Только надо нажать в определённое место и набрать определённое количество например симпатии для продолжения сюжета.
Ради интереса ссылка на одну из игр ниже которую я делал. Там анимации нет. Специально не стал для игры делать анимацию, но много переходов от одного изображения к другому. Так же могу пример анимации скинуть в сообщение. Это я очень давно делал игру в процессе обучения HS2 и программирования. Там только стандартная анимация записанная просто с экрана. Это к тому, как можно делать анимацию даже со стандартными методами.


Very good. I am always interested in seeing games made with HS2. I have done several myself. So I can say that the image quality is good, and the fact that there are so many characters in the picture means that it is a good computer for creating in the studio. For me, setting up the light in the studio is generally difficult. The environment is also not very good. Making a lot of material with characters is easy, animation is also quite easy for me once I understood how to do it. It is quite easy to make intimate animation, you can move your arms or legs in the built-in animation and consider it different. The animation will continue and smoothly, and it will still look smooth. I made my animation with VNGE, it is also quite easy. The beginning. Then you change the pose at different intervals of time. If you need another animation, add it. Then you just record it and that's it. Unfortunately, recording with VideoExport now does not turn on when you press VNGE, at least for me. I could not solve this. But if you record differently or it works, then it is quite easy to make your own animation. I can't say anything about the plot yet. We'll have to see how it goes in the game itself. But since there are many different female characters, there will be a lot of varied intimacy with them.
I didn't quite understand how it will be. It seems like a non-linear game. A game with choices? Will the choice greatly influence the branches of the plot? Or maybe this is a sandbox game where there is usually not much choice. You just need to click on a certain place and collect a certain amount, for example, sympathy to continue the plot.
For the sake of interest, a link to one of the games below that I made. There is no animation there. I didn't make animation specifically for the game, but there are a lot of transitions from one image to another. I can also send an example of animation in a message. I made this game a long time ago in the process of learning HS2 and programming. There is only standard animation recorded simply from the screen. This is about how you can make animation even with standard methods.

Spoiler

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[HardlySoft]

Очень хорошо. Мне всегда интересно видеть игры сделанные с помощью HS2. Сам несколько делал. Так что могу сказать что качество изображений хорошее, а то что на картинке столько много персонажей это значит что хороший компьютер для создания в студии. Для меня настройка света в студии вообще сложно. Обстановка тоже не очень удачно выходит. Делать много материала с персонажами это легко, анимация тоже для меня довольно легко как только понял как это делать. Вполне легко делать анимацию интима, можно передвинуть руки или ноги во встроенной анимации и уже считай другая. Анимация продолжиться и плавно, а выглядеть будет всё равно плавно. Свою анимацию я делал с помощью VNGE, тоже вполне легко. Начало. Потом меняешь позу на в разные отрезки времени. Если надо ещё другую анимацию добавляешь. Потом просто записываешь это и всё. К сожалению запись с помощью VideoExport теперь не включается при нажатию VNGE, по крайней мере у меня. Так и не смог решить это. Но если записываешь по другому или она работает то вполне легко можно сделать свою анимацию.
Насчёт сюжета пока ничего сказать не могу. Надо будет увидеть как это будет идти в самой игре. Но раз много разных женских персонажей то будет много разнообразного интима с ними.
Не очень понял как это будет. Вроде не линейная игра. Игра с выбором? Выбор будет сильно влиять разветвления сюжета? Или может это игра песочница где обычно не особо выбор бывает. Только надо нажать в определённое место и набрать определённое количество например симпатии для продолжения сюжета.
Ради интереса ссылка на одну из игр ниже которую я делал. Там анимации нет. Специально не стал для игры делать анимацию, но много переходов от одного изображения к другому. Так же могу пример анимации скинуть в сообщение. Это я очень давно делал игру в процессе обучения HS2 и программирования. Там только стандартная анимация записанная просто с экрана. Это к тому, как можно делать анимацию даже со стандартными методами.


Very good. I am always interested in seeing games made with HS2. I have done several myself. So I can say that the image quality is good, and the fact that there are so many characters in the picture means that it is a good computer for creating in the studio. For me, setting up the light in the studio is generally difficult. The environment is also not very good. Making a lot of material with characters is easy, animation is also quite easy for me once I understood how to do it. It is quite easy to make intimate animation, you can move your arms or legs in the built-in animation and consider it different. The animation will continue and smoothly, and it will still look smooth. I made my animation with VNGE, it is also quite easy. The beginning. Then you change the pose at different intervals of time. If you need another animation, add it. Then you just record it and that's it. Unfortunately, recording with VideoExport now does not turn on when you press VNGE, at least for me. I could not solve this. But if you record differently or it works, then it is quite easy to make your own animation. I can't say anything about the plot yet. We'll have to see how it goes in the game itself. But since there are many different female characters, there will be a lot of varied intimacy with them.
I didn't quite understand how it will be. It seems like a non-linear game. A game with choices? Will the choice greatly influence the branches of the plot? Or maybe this is a sandbox game where there is usually not much choice. You just need to click on a certain place and collect a certain amount, for example, sympathy to continue the plot.
For the sake of interest, a link to one of the games below that I made. There is no animation there. I didn't make animation specifically for the game, but there are a lot of transitions from one image to another. I can also send an example of animation in a message. I made this game a long time ago in the process of learning HS2 and programming. There is only standard animation recorded simply from the screen. This is about how you can make animation even with standard methods.

Spoiler

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Thanks! Yeah, I'm trying to stay away from default animations, since everyone uses them and they start to feel samey fast. Right now I'm struggling with custom ones, not only for sex, but for race scenes. Getting car movement to feel natural, simulating body roll, wheel speed... it's a whole thing

As for the game's structure - yes, there will be choices! The main story will be mostly linear, but how you approach challenges will vary. I want to have multiple endings but I also want to avoid branching the plot too early, that stuff gets out of hand fast and I want this project to be doable.

Something like this:

Spoiler: flowchart

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While the main plot moves forward, you'll have side stories, character focused events and romance routes. You can opt in or out of those love interests of course, and build your harem the way you want. Even if you skip a romance, the character will still be part of the story and won't impact directly on the main plot direction (at least at early stages), you just won't see the romantic/sexual content with them. Later down the line, I plan to have key decisions that affect the endings.