Hell Let Loose News

Hey everyone,

We’ll begin rolling out Patch 14.4 again from 3pm BST this afternoon!

Thank you all so much for your understanding and patience while we worked to determine the reason why only some servers were working when we first released the patch on Thursday last week.

[h3]What went wrong?[/h3]

There were three unexpected issues that we ran into - two that were only affecting GTX hosted community servers, and another where seemingly at random, some users would hang on a loading screen when joining a map.

Working with the game server providers, we determined that two of these issues were the result of the same root cause - a misconfiguration of servers, where there was a missing certificate on the server.

We also found that GTX hosted servers had a single missing command line parameter compared to all other GSPs. These issues have now all been rectified and confirmed to fix the issues across all GSPs.

[h3]How are we making sure this can be avoided in the future?[/h3]

As part of resolving these issues, we have since agreed with the GSPs to ensure certain tests and changes are carried out on a GSP Steam testing branch prior to releasing a patch or update to you.

[h2]Luftwaffe Eagles[/h2]

The Luftwaffe Eagles DLC will be reactivated with Patch 14.4, and those who have already purchased the DLC will once again be able to re-access it in the game.

[h2]Nvidia Game Filters[/h2]

Nvidia filters have been disabled on Hell Let Loose in response to consistent community feedback around the use of the filters to negate the intended darkness of night maps and have a better advantage against other players.

[h3]What does this mean?[/h3]

We mentioned on Friday that there are still other factors to take into consideration to improve fairness when playing on night maps, however, players using these filters to gain an advantage will no longer be able to use them.

[h3]What doesn’t this mean?[/h3]

We understand that there are some players in the competitive community who utilise these filters, and others who do not. We wanted to make it clear that this move does not mean that we aren’t looking to support the competitive scene.

While Hell Let Loose is not geared towards being a competitive title, we are enamoured to have such wonderful communities organising tournaments and events - having been growing their very own competitive scene.

In our Developer Interview and AMA earlier in the summer, we mentioned wanting to start looking at both feature improvements such as the in-game admin cam that players use to capture and cast tournament footage, as well as re-evaluate where and how we showcase and support competitive activity.

We are in the process of scoping admin cam improvements to a future update, and are working on plans to better formalise teams and tournaments, so that we can put together a schedule that highlights the amazing work these communities are doing, and will be reaching out to community leaders directly as part of this and inviting them to a separate Discord server where they will be able to help guide these conversations.


[h2]Patch 14.4 Changelog[/h2]

In case you missed it the first time, here’s the final changelog for Patch 14.4!


[h3]Night Map Variants[/h3]

[Added] Carentan Night Map

[Added] Sainte-Mère-Église Night Map



[h3]Player Locomotion[/h3]

[Added] Dive to prone feature improved and re-implemented

[Improved] Vaulting

[Improved] Mantling



[h3]Nvidia Filters[/h3]

[Disabled] Nvidia Filters



[h3]General Bug Fixes[/h3]

[Fix Submitted] Player deploys with incorrect loadout and cannot switch

Lovingly known by all as the ‘loadout bug’, we believe our fix to be holding strong, and may finally have eradicated this particular bug. Like many fixes, we won’t know whether it has successfully prevented all instances of the loadout bug until it hits the live game - so we’ll be keeping a close eye on your feedback as you get hands on with Patch 14.4, so make sure to use the support link to report any issues.


[Fixed] Throwing last grenade will replay 'Equip grenade' animation after throwing

A last remanent of the grenade bug - animation support has been carried out to resolve an issue whereby the animation of equipping a grenade would briefly play while throwing the last grenade in your loadout, this has now been fixed.



[Fixed] Texture binding present on vehicle explosion VFX

[Fixed] When all gamemodes matches comes to an end the game will hang for an additional 9 seconds before showing results screen

[Fixed] Kar98 reload is partly missing on PS5 pad speaker

[Fixed] Weapons can be fired without any input after quick switching to a grenade.

[Fixed] [Additional Content Hub] The user cannot rotate the character using a controller on either PC or console

[Fixed] Player model has metal decals when shot

[Fixed] Voice communications don't work as VOIP is unable to reconnect.

[Fixed] Flamethrower emits excessive lens flares when firing on night maps



[h3]New Cosmetic DLC[/h3]

[Added] [All Platforms] Luftwaffe Eagles

PlayStation 5 players will now be able to purchase this DLC!

Luftwaffe Eagles

As part of the German Luftwaffe forces, the Fallschirmjäger were the first paratroopers to feature in large-scale airborne based operations. The Fallschirmjäger were also known as the ‘Green Devils’ thanks to their forceful fighting spirit and tactical superiority. However, following the causalities in the Battle of Crete, they were mainly used as ground-based troops.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2623000/Hell_Let_Loose__Luftwaffe_Eagles/

This downloadable content contains:

Fallschirmjäger Uniform (Available to the German Assault, Anti-Tank, Medic, Machine Gunner, Officer, Rifleman, Automatic Rifleman, Engineer and Support roles).

The M38 Fallschirmjäger helmet is featured in the promotional art, but it is not included with this DLC.
It is already present in the base game and is unlocked at Rifleman level 8.


[h3]Map Optimisations [/h3]

With each patch, we’re striving to continue improving your experience with the existing maps, including by increasing stability through various map optimisations, such as LOD fixes and collision issues.

Some assets can be too dense in triangle complexity, meaning that the LODs set up for them are not switching effectively enough to keep the triangle complexity compared to the screen size optimal.

Mesh LOD optimisation involves ensuring that assets not only LOD in a manner that is not noticeable by the player, but are also crucial to ensuring that we minimise overdraw on complex meshes. Any amount of overdraw from complex meshes contributes to a strain on the GPU, which can affect performance and stability.

While these optimisations require time and manual attention, we are also working on capturing some of your reported issues - including LOD changes and invisible collision. You will hopefully see some improvements with each and every patch.


[h3]Foy[/h3]

[Fixed] Wooden gate asset has no bullet penetration

[Fixed] [D1] A specific fence post is missing bullet and player collision

[Fixed] [D5] The player is unable to shoot through the wooden plank gaps with the tank



[h3]Utah[/h3]

[Fixed] [G7] A bush at sector G7 exhibits a visible LOD change when viewed from a short distance



[h3]Remagen[/h3]

[Fixed] The wooden stairs and floor of a specific building do not have bullet penetration

[Fixed] [F4] Small gap in rock cliff



[h3]Carentan[/h3]

[Fixed] [B4] Misaligned wheat crops that float sideways



[h3]Hurtgen[/h3]

[Fixed] Flames PFX are missing on some charred tree stumps



[h3]Sainte-Marie-du-Mont[/h3]

[Fixed] Assets inside a barn have stone PFX and SFX

[Fixed] [D6] A fence presents draw distance issues from ~53m

[Fixed] [F2] A stone wall is misaligned with the ground

[Fixed] [H8] The player can get permanently stuck in a tree in the top left quadrant of H8 sector in SMDM village



[h3]Kursk[/h3]

[Fixed] Two of the forward Garrisons are incorrectly placed and will be destroyed after the Attackers capture the 1st sector

[Fixed] Performance drops while looking at a heavy smoke through the binoculars


Cover & Banner Image by [233C] Chrysallia

Hey everyone,

We hope you’ve all been enjoying Patch 14.4 Patch 14.3.

We wanted to make sure we could provide PC players an update on this, and can confirm that, today, we’ve been in talks with the various game server providers for Hell Let Loose and have been trialling a potential solution. However, to avoid as much disruption as possible, Patch 14.4 will not be re-released until we’re confident this solution has been effectively tested.

While this issue was unexpected, we’re already working on making sure this won’t happen again by collaborating with the GSPs to ensure certain tests and changes are carried out in a different environment before we then release a patch or update to you.


[h3]Nvidia Filters[/h3]

Since posting the Patch 14.4 changelog yesterday, our contacts at Nvidia have since disabled the use of filters when playing Hell Let Loose, and while there are other factors to also take into consideration to improve fairness when playing night maps, it now means that players using the filter settings to improve their visibility on low-visibility intended maps, will no longer be able to use them. We will be exploring this matter further as we fine tune the experience.


[h3]Luftwaffe Eagles DLC[/h3]

Those of you who have already purchased this DLC will regain access to it as soon as a new patch rolls out, however, we want to make sure everyone can play the game first and foremost, which is why our testing is still underway.

We’d also like to apologise for the confusion around this particular DLC.

Some players have mentioned the discrepancies between the Fallschirmjäger uniform shown in Developer Briefing #196, and the Luftwaffe Eagles DLC available in the Additional Content Hub.

Earlier this year, we endeavoured to keep our communication with you as transparent and authentic as possible, which included using Developer Briefings as a place to share our development progress, keeping you informed of new weapons, vehicles, tanks, forces, and maps, etc - where the assets that are shared are classed as work in progress. Because of this, it does mean that what is shared through these briefings won’t necessarily always be the final product upon release. Time constraints, design changes, and issues when testing the uniforms are just some things that can have an impact on the final outcome of a DLC.

The helmet shown in the Luftwaffe Eagles DLC artwork on the Additional Content Hub is the M38 Fallschirmjäger helmet, which already exists in the game and is unlocked through progression on Rifleman Level 8. This uniform has 8 slight variations - one for each of the infantry roles, two of which were shared in Developer Briefing #196.


[h3]Thank You[/h3]

For now, we’d like to say a big thank you for your understanding and for bearing with us as we work to come to a solution, and will aim to provide a further update of progress no later than Monday, 23rd of October.


Cover & Header Images Provided by [233C] Chrysallia

Hey everyone,

We’ve, unfortunately, been experiencing some issues with getting PC player servers back online after releasing Patch 14.4, and have been working with our partners to investigate why some servers are working, and others aren’t.

We believe the best thing to do here is rollback the patch, so you are able to get back into Hell Let Loose while we continue to investigate this.

Rolling back a patch has its risks, and this does, however, mean that anyone who has bought the new Luftwaffe DLC on PC will no longer be able to access it until we have completed our investigations and a new patch can be released.

This change will not affect Console players. We’re deeply sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you, and will endeavour to keep you as updated as possible while we continue to look into this.

Hey everyone,

Patch 14.4 will be going live today, and will begin rolling out across console and PC from 2pm BST!

Please read on to find the changelog for today’s patch.

[h2]Hell Let Loose At TwitchCon Vegas[/h2]

[h3]October 20th - 22nd[/h3]

We’ll be over at TwitchCon Vegas this weekend, where you’ll be able to head on over and play Hell Let Loose as part of a 100-player LAN, plus, we’ll be on the front page of Twitch from 5pm PDT - we hope to see you on the frontlines!

[h2]Public Testing Feedback[/h2]

We want to continue to make sure that it is your feedback that helps to guide development, and in order for that to remain the case, we’re going to be looking at re-evaluating when we hold PTE sessions so that we can better populate games for you to fully try out the latest fixes and new content.

This means that future public testing sessions will no longer be held on the weekend, and instead be condensed into a shorter time frame to encourage more 100-player lobbies.

Thank you to everyone who did join the PTE and provided feedback - we’ve taken a look at your responses, and have been able to make some adjustments prior to release. However, in order to get this patch out to you this month, we haven’t been able to address all feedback from the session at this stage - but it has prompted a much larger conversation around accessibility in Hell Let Loose.

[h2]Accessibility Conversations[/h2]

[h3]Head-Bobbing[/h3]

We mentioned in our last developer briefing that dive to prone had been reworked, and as part of that, had worked on camera improvements to prevent camera limitations as the dive ended - which were present with the initial dive to prone implementation.

As part of that work, the system that controls head-bobbing was also rewritten to be more versatile and allow for smoother transitions between profiles, while increasing visual quality.

By reworking this code, it has also made head-bobbing more noticeable to those who are sensitive to motion. Thanks to feedback from the PTE session, we have now made tweaks to this system to reduce the level of motion. While some players will be pleased to see head-bobbing working, we also want to make sure we’re supporting as many players as possible - and so will begin scoping what is possible in terms of improving accessibility settings.

[h3]Dive to Prone[/h3]

Now that this functionality has tuneable parameters, we have been able to tweak these to address your previous feedback. Your responses from the PTE showed that over half of those who submitted feedback agreed that dive to prone now feels more realistic, that players were no longer able to dolphin dive, and the slide distance now feels ‘just right.’

[h3]Nvidia Filters[/h3]

As many of you have pointed out, some players will use Nvidia filters to avoid being at a disadvantage on the purposefully-designed night modes. While these filters can be customised to provide more of a competitive edge, it can also deter players who do want to experience the maps as intended.

We’ve heard your feedback around this, and will begin the process of reaching out to Nvidia to understand how these filters can be disabled while playing Hell Let Loose - evening the playing field and allowing new strategies and ways of playing to form.

[h3]Ultrawide FOV Settings[/h3]

While Hell Let Loose now officially supports ultrawide monitors, we understand that some players with particularly large monitors are now experiencing discomfort while playing due to the change in FOV - including for those who are visually impaired.

We will be looking to extend the FOV slider in video settings so that players are able to adjust the settings for improved accessibility, after Patch 14.4.

[h3]Vaulting & Mantling Improvements[/h3]

Locomotion changes continue to equally divide opinion! From the feedback provided during the public testing session earlier this month, some players were pleased to see improvements to the responsiveness of vaulting and mantling, however, some felt the slightly more automated movement to feel restrictive.

Originally posted by author

For this initial improvement, we wanted to focus on consistency: making sure vaulting and mantling work consistently, work in a way that’s consistent across different obstacles, and work in a way that’s consistent with our tuning values so that we’re able to reliably control and tune these mechanics and know that the values we’re setting will correctly correspond to what we see in-game. - James, Gameplay Programmer

As part of that work, and to maintain that consistency so you’re not getting stuck unable to complete an action, players will no longer be able to vault up onto an obstacle.

The short hop players see in-game actually had no specific animation, instead playing the regular vault animation while teleporting a player’s character to where it needed to be.

In Patch 14.4, vaulting will now consistently mean vaulting over something, and mantling will consistently mean climbing up onto something - values that are determined by a few factors, including:

The player will vault an obstacle if -

• The obstacle ‘thickness’ (i.e., the distance from its near edge to its far edge in the direction of the vault) is less than 50cm
  
• There is a suitable landing position for the vault (i.e., a player-sized space to land on the other side of the obstacle that’s at the same height the vault started from or lower.
  

If these values aren’t met, the player’s character will otherwise climb the obstacle.

Originally posted by author

You’ll consistently vault over anything you can vault over and climb anything you can’t - and it’s now much more obvious which will happen before you actually do it. This should all improve consistency, reliability, and quality of the actions. - James, Gameplay Programmer

[h2]Patch 14.4 Changelog[/h2]

[h3]Night Map Variants[/h3]

[Added] Carentan Night Map
[Added] Sainte-Mère-Église Night Map

[h3]Player Locomotion[/h3]

[Added] Dive to prone feature improved and re-implemented
[Improved] Vaulting
[Improved] Mantling

[h3]General Bug Fixes[/h3]

[Fix Submitted] Player deploys with incorrect loadout and cannot switch

Lovingly known by all as the ‘loadout bug’, we believe our fix to be holding strong, and may finally have eradicated this particular bug. Like many fixes, we won’t know whether it has successfully prevented all instances of the loadout bug until it hits the live game - so we’ll be keeping a close eye on your feedback as you get hands on with Patch 14.4, so make sure to use the support link to report any issues.

[Fixed] Throwing last grenade will replay 'Equip grenade' animation after throwing

A last remanent of the grenade bug - animation support has been carried out to resolve an issue whereby the animation of equipping a grenade would briefly play while throwing the last grenade in your loadout, this has now been fixed.

[Fixed] Texture binding present on vehicle explosion VFX

[Fixed] When all gamemodes matches comes to an end the game will hang for an additional 9 seconds before showing results screen

[Fixed] Kar98 reload is partly missing on PS5 pad speaker

[Fixed] Weapons can be fired without any input after quick switching to a grenade.

[Fixed] [Additional Content Hub] The user cannot rotate the character using a controller on either PC or console

[Fixed] Player model has metal decals when shot

[Fixed] Voice communications don't work as VOIP is unable to reconnect.

[Fixed] Flamethrower emits excessive lens flares when firing on night maps


[h3]New Cosmetic DLC[/h3]

[Added] [Xbox] [PC] Luftwaffe Eagles

This DLC is on it’s way to PlayStation 5 players, however, it will unfortunately not be available with the initial release of Patch 14.4. PlayStation players may notice a space for this DLC in the Additional Content hub, however, will not be able to purchase it just yet. We’ll let you know as soon as it becomes available!

Luftwaffe Eagles

As part of the German Luftwaffe forces, the Fallschirmjäger were the first paratroopers to feature in large-scale airborne based operations. The Fallschirmjäger were also known as the ‘Green Devils’ thanks to their forceful fighting spirit and tactical superiority. However, following the causalities in the Battle of Crete, they were mainly used as ground-based troops.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2623000/Hell_Let_Loose__Luftwaffe_Eagles/

This downloadable content contains:

Fallschirmjäger Uniform (Available to the German Assault, Anti-Tank, Medic, Machine Gunner, Officer, Rifleman, Automatic Rifleman, Engineer and Support roles).


[h2]Map Optimisations [/h2]

With each patch, we’re striving to continue improving your experience with the existing maps, including by increasing stability through various map optimisations, such as LOD fixes and collision issues.

Some assets can be too dense in triangle complexity, meaning that the LODs set up for them are not switching effectively enough to keep the triangle complexity compared to the screen size optimal.

Mesh LOD optimisation involves ensuring that assets not only LOD in a manner that is not noticeable by the player, but are also crucial to ensuring that we minimise overdraw on complex meshes. Any amount of overdraw from complex meshes contributes to a strain on the GPU, which can affect performance and stability.

While these optimisations require time and manual attention, we are also working on capturing some of your reported issues - including LOD changes and invisible collision. You will hopefully see some improvements with each and every patch.

[h3]Foy[/h3]

[Fixed] Wooden gate asset has no bullet penetration
[Fixed] [D1] A specific fence post is missing bullet and player collision
[Fixed] [D5] The player is unable to shoot through the wooden plank gaps with the tank

[h3]Utah[/h3]

[Fixed] [G7] A bush at sector G7 exhibits a visible LOD change when viewed from a short distance

[h3]Remagen[/h3]

[Fixed] The wooden stairs and floor of a specific building do not have bullet penetration
[Fixed] [F4] Small gap in rock cliff

[h3]Carentan[/h3]

[Fixed] [B4] Misaligned wheat crops that float sideways

[h3]Hurtgen[/h3]

[Fixed] Flames PFX are missing on some charred tree stumps


[h3]Sainte-Marie-du-Mont[/h3]

[Fixed] Assets inside a barn have stone PFX and SFX
[Fixed] [D6] A fence presents draw distance issues from ~53m
[Fixed] [F2] A stone wall is misaligned with the ground
[Fixed] [H8] The player can get permanently stuck in a tree in the top left quadrant of H8 sector in SMDM village

[h3]Kursk[/h3]

[Fixed] Two of the forward Garrisons are incorrectly placed and will be destroyed after the Attackers capture the 1st sector
[Fixed] Performance drops while looking at a heavy smoke through the binoculars

Hey everyone,

Thank you for bearing with us while we take in the news shared earlier this week.

We wanted to confirm that the planned PTE session for Hell Let Loose will still be going ahead today at 3pm BST, and will end on Monday the 9th, so you’ll have the weekend to provide feedback on some of the new night maps before they arrive in future patches, starting with Carentan and Sainte-Mère-Église, which will arrive in Patch 14.4, as well as vaulting and mantling improvements, the addition of an improved dive to prone, as well as help us identify any potential broader impact from the loadout bug fix.

However, we will now be moving back the planned release of Patch 14.4 to the 19th of October, a week later than originally planned.

This should not affect the planned release of part one of the British forces, which will arrive in Patch 14.5 in November.

[h2]Public Test Changelog[/h2]

[h3]Night Map Variants[/h3]

• [Added] Night map variant added to the following existing Warfare maps:
  

• Carentan
  
• Sainte-Mère-Église
  
• Utah Beach
  
• Hill 400
  
• Driel
  
• Kharkov
  
• Stalingrad
  
• Omaha Beach (Dusk Map)
  
• El Alamein (Dusk Map)
  

[h3]Player Locomotion[/h3]

• [Added] Dive to prone feature improved and re-implemented
  
• [Improved] Vaulting
  
• [Improved] Mantling
  

[h3]General Bug Fixes[/h3]

• [Fix Submitted] Player deploys with incorrect loadout and cannot switch
  

[h3]Additional Notes[/h3]

There have been some issues with this build which is unfortunately why it was delayed, and the below bugs have already been identified, including:

• Steam icons present on scoreboard
  
• Map icons in server browser are displaying as white placeholder image
  
• Map names in server browser are displaying placeholder names
  

[h2]What We’re Looking For[/h2]

This PTE session aims to test the impact of some fixes, as well as get your feedback on the new night maps planned for future patches, including:

1). Any inadvertent impact from the loadout bug fix

2). Your experience with the improved dive to prone functionality

3). Your experience with the improved vaulting and mantling

4). Your thoughts on the visibility of the night maps

[h2]How to Take Part[/h2]

Check your Steam Library for the Hell Let Loose (Public Testing) application, or re-download it from the Steam store, you’ll want to boot this version up to take part in the PTE!

Once you’re in and have selected a server, you’ll be able to test out the items in the above changelog and share your feedback using the below forms:

Submit Feedback: https://forms.office.com/e/Zn7yLrX7u6

Share Bug Reports: https://forms.office.com/e/TJ7Mh0ihYS

Please note:

Because PTEs are run on development servers that have logging activated, you will experience a slight decrease in performance. You will also not earn any exp and your progress will not be carried over to the live game.

We look forward to seeing you in this session!