Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 News

• Fixed an oversight where German machine-gunners would not have gloves on in first person.
  
• Fixed a visual bug where a floating bullet could be seen after picking up a DP-27 off the ground.
  
• Fixed an exploit where artillery could be spotted beyond the fog distance and on the ceiling of the world.
  

• Canceling a long-range artillery strike that hasn't yet started will no longer consume the strike (i.e., the strike is refunded and can be used at a later time).
  
• Increased the number of projectiles in canister shots from 20 to 50.
  
• Made standing recoil while hipfiring the MG42 and M1919A6 more consistent.
  

[h2]Fury Clash[/h2]

• Increased most objective lock timers from 5 to 10 minutes.
  
• Added more minefield protection volumes.
  

[h2]Rhine River Advance[/h2]

• Fixed doors on a few buildings preventing players from entering.
  
• Fixed bugged lighting on windmill mover.
  
• Fixed missing staircase in Honopel objective building.
  
• Fixed floating tree statics in the forest between Honopel and Refuel Area.
  
• Fixed bug with the fog ring causing some objects to pop rather than fade in and out of view.
  
• Removed M45 Quadmount construction from Allies.
  
• Reduced view distance by about 75 meters to improve performance.
  
• Reduced culling distance on static trees by about 40 meters to improve performance.
  
• Removed ineffective anti-portals from the level to improve performance.
  
• Added or optimized existing BSP netcuts to improve network performance.
  

[h2]Targnon Advance[/h2]

• Improved capture volume for AT Gun Position objective and reduced player requirement from 5 to 3.
  
• Increased respawn timer for US M4A375W Sherman tank from 60 to 90 seconds.
  

• Fixed a long-standing RO bug where the player's eye-height could de-sync after rapidly transitioning from standing to crouching and then to prone.
  
• Fixed a bug where the max vehicle counter would not be dynamically updated, resulting in strange behavior on the vehicle selection UI.
  
• Fixed a bug where Vehicle Pools would not be automatically destroyed if a recently spawned vehicle was spawn-killed.
  
• Fixed a bug where the `GiveCamera` command was available to all players, even in multi-player.
  

• The reload duration of Soviet DP-27 coaxial and hull machine-gun has been slightly reduced.
  

As you probably well know, DH has a dizzying amount of maps; and not every map is created equal. It is necessary to occasionally trim the fat so that the players don't need to be stuck with low quality maps, and developers do not have to spend time maintaining maps that no one cares about.

A map is slated for removal if a map is some combination of: rarely played, unpopular, outdated or redundant.

As such, this update sees the removal of a number of maps:

• Armored Debrecen Clash
  
• Armored Hunter's Woods Clash
  
• Armored Kommerscheidt Clash
  
• Armored Mannikkala Clash
  
• Armored Orel Clash
  
• Armored Panzerschlact Clash
  
• Armored Studzianki Clash
  
• Armored Tank Clash At Bastogne Advance
  
• Ginkel Health Push
  
• Jurques Clash
  
• Kriegstadt Push
  
• Merderet Advance
  

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

• Fixed a long-standing RO bug where the player's eye-height could de-sync after rapidly transitioning from standing to crouching and then to prone.
  
• Fixed a bug where the max vehicle counter would not be dynamically updated, resulting in strange behavior on the vehicle selection UI.
  
• Fixed a bug where Vehicle Pools would not be automatically destroyed if a recently spawned vehicle was spawn-killed.
  
• Fixed a bug where the `GiveCamera` command was available to all players, even in multi-player.
  

• The duration of Soviet DP-27 coaxial and hull machine-guns has been slightly reduced.
  

As you probably well know, DH has a dizzying amount of maps; and not every map is created equal. It is necessary to occasionally trim the fat so that the players don't need to be stuck with low quality maps, and developers do not have to spend time maintaining maps that no one cares about.

A map is slated for removal if a map is some combination of: rarely played, unpopular, outdated or redundant.

As such, this update sees the removal of a number of maps:

• Armored Debrecen Clash
  
• Armored Hunter's Woods Clash
  
• Armored Kommerscheidt Clash
  
• Armored Mannikkala Clash
  
• Armored Orel Clash
  
• Armored Panzerschlact Clash
  
• Armored Studzianki Clash
  
• Armored Tank Clash At Bastogne Advance
  
• Ginkel Health Push
  
• Jurques Clash
  
• Kriegstadt Push
  
• Merderet Advance
  

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

At long last, the M1919A6 Browning Machine Gun has been completely overhauled!

This means new model, first-person and third-person animations!

• Overhauled first and third-person model, texture, animations and reload sounds.
  
• The M1919A6 can now be hip-fired after being readied (similar to the MG-42).
  
• Recoil pattern has been brought closer in line with other similar machine guns (the net effect is more recoil, but a wider and arguably more desirable beaten zone)
  
• The weapon has now been renamed to the M1919A6 Browning Machine-Gun (previous version was an ahistoric frankenstein's monster that didn't actually exist).
  

With this, we are excited to finally complete the first pass of Allied weapon overhauls that we have been striving towards since 2020!

There is still more work to be done to improve visuals of some weapons (especially one some of the Axis weapons), but we are now happy to have brought the entire Allied small arms arsenal up to a significantly higher level of visual fidelity.





After a brief hiatus, the Patreon has now returned! The donations that we get from Patreon helps us keep the lights on by covering server & development infrastructure costs. If you can spare some cash, please consider donating to support the game's continued development!

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Happy New Years!

We are excited to be back, and we're coming in hot! This update brings a large number of balance tweaks to a number of levels, as well as plenty of long awaited bug fixes and gameplay adjustments.

Of note, Ten Aard has been converted to Advance and has had many parts of the level detailed with new defensive positions.



In addition, Rederitz has been extended, adding a new town beyond the final bridge to fight for!



We are planning some very big things for 2023, including the addition of the Italian faction. We can't wait to get it in your hands!



[h2]Butovo Advance[/h2]

• Fixed incorrect Waffen SS roles on the map, now uses Waffen Heer.
  
• Increased Axis tickets (map is currently ending in about 50 minutes on a full server, should be closer to 60 minutes for a battle of this scale).
  
• Added some additional cover around the North Woods objective approach.
  
• Vehicles can now drive through all wooden fences.
  
• Reduced respawn timer for Sd.Kfz. 251 from 120 to 90 seconds.
  

[h2]Caen Advance[/h2]

• Main supply cache maximum reduced from 8000 to 4000 for both teams.
  
• Resupply rate for both teams brought down from 500 to 250.
  
• Added an extra Pak 38 so that both "lanes" can be covered.
  
• Added anti-tank construction limits.
  

[h2]Champs d'Agonie Advance[/h2]

• Renamed the map from Champs to Champs d'Agonie (the original name of the map!)
  
• Reworked the map to be part of the Normandy breakout around St. Lo, now features Panzer Lehr and US 3rd Armored Division.
  
• Fixed a number of potential game-breaking objective progression bugs.
  
• Increased US Radio Operator roles to 2 and added pre-placed radios for Axis.
  

[h2]Cheneux Advance[/h2]

• Added more cover for Allies at the first objective area, especially on the flanking fields and forest to the right (Allied perspective).
  
• Reworked the minefields to provide more spawn protection to the Allies at the start.
  
• Allowed the Allies to use their armor from the start, rather than be unlocked after capturing the first objective.
  
• Made the middle town objectives recapturable.
  

[h2]Jurques Advance[/h2]

• Optimized the map through additional anti-portals, reduced static cull distances, BSP optimization and bringing in fog by about 100 meters.
  

[h2]Kommerscheidt Advance[/h2]

• "Intersection" and "Road to Schmidt" objectives now deactivate when both are captured by the Axis, preventing situation where capturing them in the wrong order could cost the Axis team their objective spawn.
  

[h2]Rakowice Advance[/h2]

• Added anti-tank construction limits.
  

[h2]Rederitz Advance[/h2]

• Added new objective "Rederitz West", extending the map beyond the final bridge objective.
  

[h2]Stavelot Defense[/h2]

• Increased Allies tickets.
  
• Reduced King Tiger max spawns from 3 to 2.
  

[h2]Targnon Advance[/h2]

• Fixed a bug where capturing the initial objective group in a certain order could break map progression.
  

[h2]Ten Aard Advance[/h2]

• Converted the map to the Advance game mode.
  
• Reworked objectives, objective spawns and danger zone.
  
• Added anti-precap minefields to the map.
  
• Added several new locations and interiors.
  
• Added new trenches and defensive positions.
  
• Added pre-placed radios around the map.
  

[h2]Weapons[/h2]

• The MG42 hipfire recoil has been increased.
  
• Minor tweak to the M1 Garand's recoil animation to momentarily obstruct the peep sight, in line with other similar rifles.
  
• Self-loading rifles (e.g., Garand, SVT-40 etc.) will now be more difficult to control when firing rapidly.
  

• The Pakwagen (Sd.Kfz. 251/22) now requires a tank crewman to operate and can now be locked similar to other vehicles.
  

• Constructed grenade crates and Panzerfaust boxes are no longer locked to the opposing team.
  
• Players will now only have their weapons locked on team-kills unless they have had a previous team kill within the last 30 seconds.
  
• Anti-tank guns can now only be constructed on earthen terrain.
  
• Disabled placement of all constructions within the danger zone to curb spawn camping, blocking entrances, and other unfair play involving logistics deep behind the lines.
  
• Ammunition crates are now visible to the enemy team when inside the enemy territory.
  

• Fixed a bug where the wrong error message would be shown while trying to dig while prone.
  
• Reduced the cooldown on fire support markers from 10 seconds to 3 seconds.
  
• Fixed a bug where squad assistants could not user the spotting menu from within vehicles.
  
• Fixed a bug where the Commonwealth Radios did not have Mills bombs in their loadouts.
  

See you on the battlefield,

Darklight Games