Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 News

[p]This update (v12.1.3) sees the addition of a Japanese translation of the game! There are also some map fixes and balance changes sprinkled in as well.[/p][p][/p][p]At long last, we can finally say that Japan(ese) is confirmed![/p][p]The translation was a major effort by community member mineship2, who did the majority of the translations, with legacy translations sourced from a partial RO1 translation by \[RMF]RIKUSYO. ありがとうございます！[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p]To use this translation in DH, make sure to set your Steam Interface Language to 日本語 (Japanese). Follow this guide on how to change the game's language.[/p][p]
This brings the amount of supported languages up to 8! We are currently looking for Portuguese, Italian, Chinese and Korean translators. If you would like to help translate the game to your native tongue, please drop us a line on Discord![/p][p]This is the culmination of a lot of effort to streamline the localization and font generation pipeline in order to support large CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) character sets.[/p][p][/p][h2]Technical Challenges[/h2][p]Unlike modern engines which can render vector fonts (such as TTF, OTF) scalably with ease, our engine (UT2K4) still relies on rendering raster fonts that must be generated ahead of time at every size and font combination that we make available.[/p][p]This creates a combinatorial mess that's feasible to ignore in languages with a relatively small set of latin-derived characters. However, it becomes much more of a headache when dealing with CJK characters, where there are thousands of unique glyphs that must be loaded into memory, read to be displayed at any given moment.[/p][p]We've mostly solved the issues by generating a smaller set of CJK characters (reducing the combinations of sizes, fonts etc.), and only generating characters which are actually used in the text of the game. This should keep the font sizes manageable size without destabilizing the game.[/p][p]Note also that due to prioritizing minimizing RAM usage for the majority of players, you will not be able to see Japanese characters in the game's chat unless you are using the Japanese translation. Some kanji will also be unavailable since it's not feasible to generate tens of thousands of characters just for use in-game chat.[/p][p][/p]

• [p]Fixed column headers being displayed incorrectly on scoreboard totals.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Berezina[/h3]

• [p]Fixed incorrect AT guns being available to Soviets.[/p]
• [p]Fixed missing "no arty" volumes for both team's spawns.[/p]

[h3]Carpiquet Airfield[/h3]

• [p]Removed ability for the Axis team to recapture objectives.[/p]
• [p]Adjusted Danger Zone and objective spawns to coincide with above change.[/p]
• [p]Removed ability to construct Pak 36 AT gun.[/p]

[h3]Pariserplatz[/h3]

• [p]Fixed issue with Axis team losing despite still holding objectives when the time limit runs out.[/p]
• [p]Removed mortars from Soviet team.[/p]
• [p]Slightly increased capacity of German main supply cache (from 1000 to 1500).[/p]
• [p]Updated some old interiors around the Platz.[/p]

[h3]San Celeste[/h3]

• [p]Fixed an issue where players could not call artillery on valid locations.[/p]
• [p]Added a slight skew in team balance towards Allies.[/p]

[h3]Yaryshivka[/h3]

• [p]Fixed insufficient spawn hints in both team's main spawns.[/p]
• [p]Fixed spawn protection mine volumes lacking sufficient depth to kill players before they could pass through them in a truck or other fast vehicle.[/p]
• [p]Restored missing fence and corpse models.
  [/p]

[p][/p][p]As a little treat for those who actually read these change logs, here are some WIP shots of a few assets from the upcoming mounted machine gun update. We'll just keep this a secret between you and me, okay?[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p][p]On timelines, mounted machine guns should realistically be a mid-to-late 2026 addition. This is because we want to provide each faction with an appropriate mounted MG, and each piece is very art intensive, requiring detailed models, complex animations and unique player interactions (e.g. picking up and deploying the guns, different mounting heights etc.). We truly want these to be the best mounted machine-guns in any FPS game.[/p][p]We are very excited for this as we think these will make a significant difference for defenders to create and maintain defensive hard-points built around these guns. We will go more into the specifics of the new mechanics as we continue to show off the progress in the coming months. [/p][p]We know times are tough these days, but if you can afford to and want to help us fund the continued server hosting and development infrastructure costs, please consider supporting us on Patreon! [/p][p][/p][p]戦場で会おう、[/p][p]ダークライトゲームスタジオ[/p]

[p]We're back with another big one! Here's the tl;dr![/p]

• [p]San Celeste, a brand new Italian map![/p]
• [p]Counter-Battery mechanics to spice up artillery gameplay.[/p]
• [p]A new Mortar Pit construction to protect your mortars.[/p]
• [p]Complete 🇫🇷 French game localization.[/p]
• [p]New death status on the scoreboard.[/p]

[p]Read on below for more details and pretty pictures![/p][p][/p][p]A new Italy map has hit the shores! This is a fictional map meant for 8-32 players, and so should be a good map for low population games![/p][p][/p][p]As Sicily falls into allied hands, and the fight centers around mainland Italy, a US company is dispatched to secure the small island of Salina.[/p][p]On the island, specifically in the town of San Celeste, the last die hard fragments of the ‘Livorno’ division dig in for a final stand What is supposed to be a walk over for the allies turns into a much fiercer battle than allied high command could ever expect.[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p]The deep lore behind this map is that Razorneck started playing Mafia 2 and got inspired to make a pretty little Italian village![/p][p][/p][p]In this update, we are adding a new (somewhat experimental) mechanic that we think will add some depth and complexity to the current artillery gameplay. We call this system "counter-battery"![/p][h2]How it Works[/h2][p]When you fire an artillery piece, enemy players will be able to see a short temporary marker approximating the location of your gun.[/p][p]The accuracy of this mark is dependent on the size of the gun, where larger guns (e.g., 10.5cm howitzers) have more accurate marks than smaller ones (e.g., 8cm mortars).[/p][p][/p][p]As the gun is continually fired, keen-eyed observers can estimate a position of the enemy gun and mark it for counter-battery fire. To aid in this, there is a new "Enemy Artillery" spotting type that can be marked on the map.[/p][h2]Motivation & Goals[/h2][p]In the current meta, long-range artillery pieces are virtually immune from attack unless the enemy can get a direct sight on them. This is at odds with the battlefield reality of the time, where sophisticated artillery ranging equipment was deployed to locate enemy guns with acoustic listening posts, a technology birthed out of necessity in the Great War, and significantly improved during World War 2.[/p][p]We hope that this change will have the following effects:[/p]

• [p]Create a meaningful advantage to wise placement of artillery pieces (i.e., dissuading players from creating tightly packed batteries that are easy to locate and destroy).[/p]
• [p]Create a major advantage for mobile artillery (e.g., Wespe, Priest) since they are able to avoid incoming counter-battery fire.[/p]
• [p]Create another objective for artillery operators other than responding to fire request markers.[/p]

[h2]Trivia[/h2]

• [p]This system was inspired by the Blitzkrieg series of games by Nival Interactive.[/p]
• [p]We toyed with the idea of adding physical constructions for the listening posts that would be more accurate depending on different triangulation characteristics, but we did not want to further burden logistics players.[/p]

[p]This is obviously an experimental feature, so we will make adjustments if the outcomes don't align with the goals of the system. We look forward to seeing how this changes the artillery game![/p][p][/p][p]This new system makes unprotected 8cm mortars uniquely vulnerable to enemy fire since they are currently unable to be moved (we plan on adding the ability to move these later). To provide some protection from counter-battery fire, we have added a new Mortar Pit construction![/p][p][/p][p]This is the first construction that uses the new "sockets" system that let's constructions slot into places where the placement rules would otherwise forbid it.[/p][p]Sockets were developed for the upcoming mounted MGs, but it works perfectly for this new construction too![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]To help with situational awareness, you can now see who is dead or alive on your team on the scoreboard![/p][p][/p][p]Sacrebleu! At long last, DH is now fully localized to French! This was brought to you by long-time historical contributor Frenchy (what a fitting name)![/p][p]A reminder that if you want to use the French translation, you must have your Steam Interface Language set to French! For a guide on how to do this, click here.[/p][p]Looking ahead, We also have a nearly complete 🇯🇵 Japanese localization that should be ready to release in the next couple weeks.[/p][p]If you want to help get DH translated to your native tongue, please let us know in the Discord! We are currently looking for translators for Portuguese, Italian and Chinese![/p][p][/p]

• [p]Squad leaders can now only place constructions when squadmates are near. However, they can now also use their shovel to build. This should eliminate the annoyance of suddenly not being able to build if a teammate runs off.[/p]
• [p]Added a minimum hold time for following grenades:[/p]
  • [p]F1 Grenade[/p]
  • [p]L-Type Grenade[/p]
  • [p]SCRM mod. 35 Grenade[/p]
• [p]Fixed M4A3E2 Sherman "Jumbo" armor values to be more historically accurate. This increases the armor thickness by about ~15%.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where rallies would be overrun by empty enemy vehicles (this was a regression since v12.0.9).[/p]
• [p]Fixed missing vertical tilt on Gundlach periscopes for a number of vehicles (e.g., T34, IS-2, Cromwell, Churchill).[/p]
• [p]Fixed one of the ISU-152 periscope overlays to be more historically accurate.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][h3]Ponte Olivo Airfield[/h3]

• [p]Reduced Allied respawn interval on first objective line from 15 to 10 seconds.[/p]
• [p]Increased objective lock down timer for first two objectives from 10 to 12 minutes.[/p]
• [p]Increased Italian Cannone 47 limit from 5 to 9.[/p]

[h3]Gela[/h3]

• [p]Reduced Allied ticket multiplier from 32 to 30.[/p]
• [p]Semovente 47s are now unlimited.[/p]
• [p]Increased Italian Cannone 47 limit from 5 to 8.[/p]

[h3]Pegasus Bridge[/h3]

• [p]Moved static mortar placements further back to allow them to be used earlier in the game.[/p]

[h3]Renthem[/h3]

• [p]Fixed missing AT weapons for Germans.[/p]

[h3]Myshovka River[/h3]

• [p]Fixed skybox from blocking mortars fired at high elevations.[/p]
• [p]Rebalanced tank and role loadouts.[/p]
• [p]Made minefields more forgiving.[/p]
• [p]Reduced team ratio imbalance.[/p]

[h3]Yaryshivka[/h3]

• [p]New overview map.[/p]
• [p]Minefields adjusted.[/p]
• [p]Equalised tickets for both teams.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Rendez-vous sur le champ de bataille,[/p][p]Darklight Games[/p][p][/p]

[p]Haunted maps are now in rotation and a new haunted map joins the ranks! The zombies also get new creepy animations that look great![/p][p][/p][p]You've seen Iron Sky right? No? Oh, uh, well. I mean, look at the name of the map. What more do you need to know? [/p][p]You're on the moon! There's low gravity! Zombies are on the loose! Sci-fi weapons are plentiful! You know what to do![/p][carousel][/carousel][p]See you on the brains,[/p][p]Braaaains[/p]

[p]Out of nowhere, a brand new eastern front map, Yaryshivka Advance! [/p][p][/p][p]Set in August 1943, this is a map depicting a clash between the German 6th Army and the Soviet 44th Army during the Donbas Strategic Offensive.[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p]
Keen-eyed readers may recognize the name of this map from somewhere before; this was the name of an armored map released some time ago that hasn't really seen much action since its release. Our intrepid mapping machine SoulSeek decided that instead of a minor facelift, it needed to be remade from scratch![/p][p][/p][p]We are looking forward to seeing how it plays with the new combined arms gameplay.[/p][p][/p][p]As with all our maps, we'll adjust balance and fix bugs following the first weekend of play on the map with full servers.[/p][p][/p][p]See you on the battlefield,[/p][p]Darklight Games 🕷️[/p]

[p][/p][p]Continuing the trend of boosting existing content up to a higher standard of quality, the long suffering Hetzer has been completely remade, along with new skin variants such as the Berlin variant seen below.[/p][p]In addition, the machine-gunner's third-person animation is fully animated. This is a first of it's kind, and the tech will set the stage for stationary machine-guns hopefullycoming later this year.[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]

• [p]Fixed M36 Jackson internal hit point positioning.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Command voice channel being broken in non-English localization.[/p]
• [p]Vehicle icons are now drawn on top of ammo icons on the map.[/p]

• [p]White phosphorous rounds can now be resupplied.[/p]
• [p]The M1 Carbine and M1 T17 Carbine has had its recoil slightly reduced.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Cheneux Advance[/h2]

• [p]Changed Allied reinforcement interval from 20 seconds to 15.[/p]
• [p]Slightly tweaked map border minefields to be less restrictive.[/p]
• [p]Changed M36 Jackson spawns gained by capturing the town from 1 to 2.[/p]
• [p]Increased setup phase time from 120 to 180 seconds.[/p]
• [p]Increased Allied and Axis ticket modifiers by +2.[/p]
• [p]Increased respawn timer on Sd.Kfz. 10/5 from 120 to 180 seconds (2 can be spawned simultaneously, so the previous respawn timer meant there was almost perpetually a halftrack active).[/p]
• [p]Added 180 second timer before Sd.Kfz. 251 can be spawned at the start of rounds.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Rabenheck Advance[/h2]

• [p]StuG 3G has been replaced by the Hetzer.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Godolloi Advance[/h2]

• [p]Fixed issue where mortars could hit the "ceiling".[/p]

[p][/p][p]See you on the battlefield,[/p][p]Darklight Games[/p]