Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 News

Hello there! We're back with another small patch that introduces a number of bug fixes and level tweaks. If you ever noticed your turret sometimes rotating on its own when entering a tank, this old Red Orchestra bug is finally gone!

But before we dive into the changelog, there's something we need to address.



During the past week you might've experienced frequent disconnects with a Connection Failed error from both official and community servers. We're currently looking into this and contacted Valve, as we suspect this is caused by authentication issues with Steam.

In the meantime, just reconnect if it happens and there won't be any more disconnections for the rest of the session.

Now back to the patch notes.

• Fixed a bug where turrets and cannons would spontaneously rotate on entering them if they were used by another player earlier.
  
• Fixed a bug where players who disconnected from the game as spectator would be automatically assigned to the Axis upon rejoining.
  
• Fixed an exploit where it was possible to place constructions in invalid locations by switching to a smaller construction in the menu during the placement process.
  
• Fixed a bug where active objective spawns could be calculated incorrectly when the objective was linked to multiple active objectives.
  
• [Server maintenance] Fixed a number of errors that would spam the server logs.
  

• Slightly increased the BT-7 HE shell velocity (it was about ~10m/s slower than it should have been, according to sources).
  

[h3]Butovo[/h3]

• Changed blocking boundaries in setup phase to delay Soviet tanks at the first objective.
  
• Reworked tank progression (Soviets will have fewer tanks at the final village, while some other Soviet models like the KV-1E and S will unlock earlier in the game).
  
• Added the Panzer IIIN as an additional fire support option for the Germans.
  
• Increased respawn timers on most Soviet tanks by 20-30 seconds.
  
• Removed Soviet objective spawn from the final village.
  
• Reworked objective Danger Zone influences around the final village.
  

[h3]Klin 1941[/h3]

• Removed Axis ticket bleed from all objectives.
  
• Increased max active Panzer IIIJs from 2 to 3.
  
• Reduced respawn timers for Panzer IVF1 and BT7 tanks by 20-40 seconds.
  
• Reworked all objective Danger Zone influences.
  
• Reduced Axis and Allied tanker slots to match number of active tanks.
  

[h3]Kryuokovo[/h3]

• Changed round time to 20 minutes.
  
• Removed time gain awards from capturing objectives.
  
• Reduced simultaneously available Soviet tanks from 2 to 1.
  
• Reduced respawn timers on all Soviet tanks by 30 seconds.
  
• Changed team balance ratio to be even.
  
• Added additional cover and spawn protection to final Axis spawn.
  

[h3]St. Marie du Mont[/h3]

• Reworked NW, Eastern Road and Church objectives to unlock in a new order: Now when either road is taken, the Church will be unlocked and is grouped with them.
  
• Increased lockdown timers for the above objectives from 250 to 600 seconds.
  
• Reduced initial unlock timer for the Church to 60 seconds.
  
• Removed map-placed Axis HQ construction.
  
• Reworked all objective Danger Zone influences.
  
• Removed Allied ticket bleed from all objectives.
  
• Updated objective spawn locations to offer better cover.
  

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Welcome back! This update is small, but tightly packed with a number of notable bug fixes, including the fixing of a 15(!) year old bug that has eluded us...until now!

• Fixed a long-standing Red Orchestra bug (15+ years?) where projectiles would not spawn correctly when hipfiring while leaning in multiplayer mode.
  
• Fixed a bug where muting player's voice commands would not work.
  
• Fixed a bug where some constructions could be invulnerable to explosive damage if their origins were under the terrain.
  
• Fixed a bug where players would lose their session's kill count when disconnecting from the server.
  
• Fixed a bug where bipod simulations would not work in multiplayer.
  
• Fixed a bug where a version of the DP-27 would not have it's magazine spin during firing.
  
• Fixed a bug where resetting the game could cause the danger zone influences to be miscalculated.
  

• Increased the number of rounds in the belt of the M1919A6 and MG42 from 150 to 200.
  
• Sandbag constructions no longer automatically despawn if left unbuilt.
  
• Added a bipod turn sensitivity option to the control settings.
  
• The damage model of the HEAT projectiles of the StuH 42 and Sherman 105 have been brought to parity.
  
• The .50 cal now does less base damage to vehicles (i.e., you can no longer shoot a Panzer IV in the rear a handful of times and kill it).
  
• The PTRD has had it's base damage against vehicles reduced, but the chance to damage or destroy components has been increased.
  

[h2]Bremoy[/h2]

• Optimized terrain and deco layers, hopefully increasing performance slightly.
  
• Added small team balance ratio in favor of the Allies.
  
• Reworked all objective danger zone influences.
  
• Removed Allied ticket bleed from first objective.
  
• Reduced Panther max spawns from infinite to 3.
  
• Reduced Sherman MkII respawn timer from 220 seconds to 180.
  
• Increased Sherman Firefly max spawns from 2 to 3 and reduced respawn timer to 180 seconds.
  
• Increased Stuart spawns from 1 to 5 and reduced respawn timer to 200 seconds.
  
• Increased max AT guns of all types for Allies from 1 to 2 and reduced the respawn timer to 120 seconds.
  
• Added Wolverine SP (British M10) with 3 spawns to Allies.
  

[h2]Gran Advance[/h2]

• Infantry version of popular armored map.
  

[h2]Kriegstadt Push USA[/h2]

• Recreated the classic 29th style US faction version (for funsies).
  

[h2]Wacht am Rhein[/h2]

• Fixed bug where Axis would sometimes spawn under the terrain.
  
• Added a new objective.
  

As promised, we have some teaser shots to show from the upcoming Italy update! Our main focus now is finalizing the vehicle roster and polishing up the weapons, as well as implementing stationary machine-guns!

For now, here are some selected screenshots of some in-development items as well as a video showing off some of the new weapons being added!

We are looking forward to bringing this expansion to the game early next year.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]











See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

The hits just keep coming! We're back with another brand new map and 2 major weapon overhauls. Without further interruption, here is the change log!



[h2]Winchester 1897[/h2]

The Winchester shotgun has had a major facelift, with a new upgraded texture and completely new first and third person animations from our newest member of the development team, Enfield!



The Winchester started life as a custom asset made by the 29th Infantry Division, and we're excited to see it finally given a full makeover to make it feel powerful and polished.

[h2]Enfield No. 4[/h2]

The Enfield No. 4 has been given a full facelift, with a brand new higher quality texture and animations. With this, we have finally fully completed the modernization of the Commonwealth infantry weapons!





[h2]Additions[/h2]

[h3]Bremoy Advance[/h3]

Bremoy is a small town that saw fierce fighting during Operation Bluecoat, the Allied push further inland to exploit the success of Operation Cobra. Here, British Guards Armored Division and the 15th Scottish Infantry Division came head to head against the German 21st Panzer Division.



The rolling fields that surround the town make for dangerous manoeuvering, especially for infantry. Both sides will need to make good use of recon and armored units to turn the battle in their favor.

[h2]Changes[/h2]

[h3]Armored Iskra[/h3]

• Fixed an issue with the Axis initial spawn not deactivating after setup phase.
  

[h3]Bridgehead[/h3]

• Added Volkssturm rifleman role and reduced number of Heer riflemen to 6.
  
• Added ammo pouch for FG42 roles.
  
• Added G43 to German AT role.
  
• Removed ZF41 from German sniper role (marksman role has these instead).
  
• Reduced number of Panther spawns from 10 to 5.
  
• Fixed bug with Canadian Squad Leaders having duplicate binoculars.
  
• Fixed an inconsistency with some roles using the base RO Kar98k model.
  

[h3]Champs d'Agonie[/h3]

• Fixed corrupted map file.
  

[h3]Cheneux[/h3]

• Added additional cover to the map, particularly around the first objective.
  
• Added a 3 minute delay before Sd.Kfz. 10/5 halftracks unlock.
  
• Reduced Allied respawn time to 8 seconds on the first objective only.
  
• Reduced capture requirements for first objective from 5 players to 3.
  

[h3]Flakturm Tiergarten[/h3]

• Increased Axis ticket modifier by 2 (games were ended in draws too frequently).
  
• Fixed several floating static meshes.
  
• Fixed collision on plants inside of the University building.
  

[h3]Fury Advance:[/h3]

• Changed Manor objective to deactivate when captured by Allies.
  
• Changed Stuart to unlock when Manor is captured.
  
• Added delay to initial Tiger spawn.
  

[h3]German Village[/h3]

• Fixed incorrect rifle on Volkssturm AT loadouts.
  

[h3]Godolloi[/h3]

• Increased Allied and Axis tickets slightly.
  
• Reduced all objective capture speeds.
  
• Changed all objectives to have minimum player requirements to capture.
  
• Reworked some objective capture areas such as Western Roadblock.
  

[h3]Jurques Dusk[/h3]

• Rework of previous Jurques Day Two version with improved performance, new lighting and objectives.
  

[h3]Kriegstadt[/h3]

• Added a limited number of logistic trucks back onto the map.
  
• Added constructions limits.
  
• Removed tank traps which locked German tanks into one street for the Ministry and Bridge objective.
  
• Moved Axis supply cache so it is not as vulnerable.
  
• Moved Flemingstrasse Axis Objective spawn back so it was out of arty range.
  
• Removed howitzers for both teams.
  
• Fixed bug which made Germans unable to capture Offices objective.
  

[h3]Olkhovatka[/h3]

• Added some additional cover and detail near Soviet main spawn.
  
• Added a new building interior in the village.
  
• Added missing Combat Engineer role for Germans.
  
• Added PTRD and RPG grenade to the Russian AT role.
  
• Removed StuH 42, Pz III and earliest model of T-34 to simplify loadout.
  
• Increased Tiger respawn time and decreased availability.
  
• Reduced number of active tanks for the Germans from 5 to 3 and Russians from 4 to 2.
  
• Reduced German MG roles from 3 to 2.
  

[h3]Pointe du Hoc[/h3]

• Added additional cover along the road and in the fields around the MG Position and Barn objectives.
  
• Increased map time limit from 40 to 45 minutes.
  
• Reduced Axis respawn time modifier on the last two objectives from 50 to 30 seconds.
  
• Fixed a bug where some Axis spawns were facing the wrong direction.
  
• Fixed a bug were certain objectives could stay enabled when not intended.
  

[h3]Road to Isigny[/h3]

• Added Osttruppe rifleman role.
  
• Added construction limits.
  
• Added minimum player requirements to capture objectives.
  
• Fixed an issue where Axis could build AT guns behind artillery and minefield protection volumes.
  
• Reduced respawn timer of Marder III to 180 seconds from 400 seconds.
  
• Changed Pz IV Ausf. H to StuG III Ausf. G (352nd ID was equipped only with StuGs, Marders and Flakpanzers in reality).
  

[h3]Stoumont[/h3]

• Added German sniper role with G43 ZF4.
  

[h3]Targnon Advance[/h3]

• Added slight team balance skew in ratio of Attackers.
  
• Reduced player capture requirements for all objectives.
  

[h3]Ten Aard[/h3]

• Increased Axis ticket modifier slightly.
  
• Reworked final Axis spawn minefield to offer better protection.
  
• Fixed some collision issues with some window statics.
  

• Set the default resolution for new installs to 1600x900 instead of 1024x768.
  
• Squads can now be locked with a minimum of 2 members instead of 3.
  

That's it for this one, we'll see you in the next one when we'll have some teaser shots from the upcoming Italy update!

A reminder also that donations are always welcome on our Patreon! Community donations help us keep the game servers and our development infrastructure funded.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

We’re back again at long last with a new batch of weapons for you to get your mitts on!

The team has been hard at work putting together the upcoming Italian update for the last several months. We are still aiming for a late 2023 release date, though realistically we may have to delay the release somewhat to make sure the release is as stable and polished as we would like.

A reminder also that our Patreon supporters get exclusive access to development progress reports (screenshots) and exclusive access to (upcoming) Italian update beta tests. Your donations through Patreon keep the game servers and our development infrastructure running. If you can afford to, please consider becoming a patron!

Without further preamble, here are the change log notes:



[h2]Karabiner 98k (ZF41) and Marksman role[/h2]



The Germans have been given a new “Marksman” role which has access to the new Karabiner 98k (ZF41). Depending on the time frame and units involved, this role has replaced the Sniper role on some maps.

The ZF41 is a 1.5x scope developed to provide German squads with a “designated marksman” optic after lessons learned in the Battle of France. However, following Operation Barbarossa, the Wehrmacht found they had a severe lack of dedicated sniper scopes and pressed the much more plentiful ZF41s into the role. Not designed for such use, it was viewed generally unfavorably by trained snipers given its low magnification and poor field of view. Love it or hate it, Snipers and Marksmen will now be able to adorn their K98ks with this sight on many maps.

[h2]Gewehr 98 variants[/h2]



This update adds the German service rifle from WWI and a couple of its variants into the arsenal:

• Gewehr 98
  
• Vz. 24
  
• FN Model M1924

[h2]Degtyaryov machine gun DT-29[/h2]



Primarily meant as a tank machine gun, it’s been a common sight for it to end up in the hands of infantry after being “dismounted” from damaged tanks.

[h2]Mannlicher M95/30[/h2]



With it’s unique straight-pull bolt, this Austro-Hungarian mainstay is now (narrowly) the fastest firing bolt action weapon in the game. It can be found in small numbers in the hands of Germans fighting on the eastern front.

[h2]Maschinenkarabiner 42(H)[/h2]



The predecessor of Sturmgewehr 44, the MkB42 can be found being trialed in small numbers on the Eastern Front.

• The Fallschirmjäger 42 has had its first person animations completely remade, bringing the feel of the weapon more in line with our more recent overhauled weapons.

• The British vehicle voice lines have had a radio effect added to them to bring them in line with the other faction's vehicle voice lines.
  
• The M45 Quadmount now has a dramatically longer reload time to properly reflect the loading of 4 seperate ammo boxes.
  
• Vehicle gunners will now automatically alert the crew (via vehicle voice commands) that the gun is loaded after reloading a main cannon. This behavior can be changed in the settings menu.
  
• There is now a new "Use Native Item Names" option in the settings which uses the native weapon names used by the nation of origin.

• Fix for bug where cancelling artillery strikes were being refunded when they shouldn't have been
  
• Fixed an inconsistency in the spotting menu where the number & location of the options would change depending on what the level's game mode was.

[h3]Armored Kasserine Pass[/h3]

• Reduced German tank spawn times across the board.
  
• Changed Panzer IV tank models from Late to Early type, to more accurately depict the historical setting.
  
• Increased Axis and Allied tickets significantly.

[h3]Armored Raid to Bastogne[/h3]

• Fixed collision issues with certain trees/bushes in the mid-section of the map.

[h3]Armored Road to Leningrad[/h3]

• Changed map name from the generic "Road to Leningrad" to "Iskra" (Spark) after the offensive it was based on.
  
• Changed tanks from 1944 models to more accurate early 1943 models.
  
• Changed objective layout to better suit the Advance game mode (previously it functioned more as a Clash map).
  
• Changed attacking team to Soviets.
  
• Added more detail around the map.
  
• Added a new final objective.
  
• Fixed areas where you could fall through the terrain.
  
• Fixed a bug where teams could run out of tickets before the time limit and no longer be able to spawn.

[h3]Berezina[/h3]

• Increased German tickets slightly.
  
• Increased objective lockdown timers significantly when captured by attackers.
  
• Removed objective lockdown timers when recaptured by defenders.
  
• Reduced objective unlock timers by 20 seconds.
  
• Fixed pop-in for some objects such as trench supports.

[h3]Flakturm Tiergarten[/h3]

• Reworked tank unlock progression. Allies start with SU-76M immediately and receive T-34-85 after a 3 minute delay. Germans start with Sd.Kfz. 251/22 immediately and unlock Tiger after a 3 minute delay.
  
• Changed SU-76M to use new LWP skin.
  
• Changed advancing spawn protection minefields to offer defenders additional time to retreat if they are inside of the area when the minefield activates.
  
• Fixed incorrect US ammo box texture on resupply boxes inside of the Flakturm.

[h3]Klin 1941[/h3]

• Increased German tickets slightly.
  
• Increased lockdown timers of final objectives to 5 minutes.
  
• Removed rally point restrictions from trenches around the final objectives.

[h3]La Cambe[/h3]

• Changed the first objective to disable upon capture.
  
• Added lockdown timers to all objectives upon capture.
  
• Fixed infamous floating fire emitter.
  
• Fixed blue static stove inside the old manor building.

[h3]Maupertus Advance[/h3]

• Reduced all objective capture speeds.
  
• Reduced Axis respawn timer from 20 seconds to 15 seconds.
  
• Fixed map boundaries preventing you from using flanks that were otherwise intended to be open.
  
• Fixed Axis initial spawns not spawning players in the correct position.

[h3]Pointe du Hoc[/h3]

• Added Artillery Officer and Gunner roles to Axis.
  
• Limited WSS Rifleman roles to 8 (Artillery Gunner roles replace them as unlimited).
  
• Changed Allies to have +2% team ratio.
  
• Increased Axis respawn timer to 20 seconds from 15.
  
• Increased Allied Combat Engineer roles from 3 to 4.
  
• Removed requirement that objectives be cleared before capture.
  
• Fixed a bug where Higgins boats could spawn inside of eachother and launch into orbit.
  
• Fixed floating rocks on the beach.

[h3]Poteau Ambush[/h3]

• Changed minefield boundaries to be more forgiving to both teams.
  
• Rebalanced Danger Zone influences of all objectives.

[h3]Rakowice[/h3]

• Removed Soviet airstrip minefield, as it was much too close to the final objective and could block Germans from properly defending the final objective.
  
• Increased kill time of all minefields from 15 seconds to 20 to give vehicles a little more chance to back out.

[h3]Valko[/h3]

• Increased max active Universal Carriers to 2 for Soviets.
  
• Added limited M3A1 Halftrack spawns to Soviets.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Hello again! We are back with another patch that adds a number of quality of life changes and fixes a long-standing bug around machine-gun deployment! As usual, many map tweaks and fixes as well!

• Players will now resupply & reload players that are shouldering AT weapons with a single keypress.
  
• A message will be displayed to the team when a vehicle pool has been activated or destroyed.
  
• When using a shovel, players can now simply hold down the fire button to continue digging.
  

• Fixed a long-standing bug where weapons could sometimes fire blanks after deploying due to a client-server desync.
  

[h2]Cambes en Plaine[/h2]

• Reworked objective territory influences.
  
• The final objective can now be recaptured by the Axis.
  

[h2]Pegasus Bridge[/h2]

• The Allies can now spawn from 2 approaches.
  
• Fixed a bug where Benouville and Corner House objective volumes were too large.
  
• Added new Axis initial spawn with a maximum of 12 spawns.
  
• Reworked objective territory influences.
  
• Reworked Bridge objective area.
  
• Increased tickets for both teams to account for additional fighting.
  

[h2]La Fiere Day[/h2]

• Enabled Allies a limited construction of 57mm AT guns (historically delivered by gliders)
  
• Allied supply caches now have a lower limit.
  
• Added an Allied supply cache to the end of the Causeway objective.
  

[h2]La Fuellie Advance[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where invisible geometry would block howitzer shells in some areas of the map.
  
• Slightly increased Allied tickets.
  

[h2]Wanne Advance[/h2]

• Reworked objective territory influences.
  
• Slightly reduced the size of some objective capture areas.
  

[h2]Berezina Advance[/h2]

• The Soviet main spawn now has territory influence.
  

[h2]Les Champs de Losque[/h2]

• Fixed a bug where minefields on the south east side of the map would kill the player too quickly.
  

• Leveler-placed spawn points can now have a limited number of players spawn on them (`MaxSpawns`)
  

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games