Hello Community,
The day is here!
Our Early Access period has been an extremely busy one for the whole dev team. When we released the game in June of 2019, we knew that there were several key pieces of tech under the hood that were either unfinished, or needed a serious rewrite if they were to stand the test of time. Even basic functionality, such as vaulting and leaning was not yet in the game. We had two vehicles, no progression system, no customisation system, no Commander abilities, no nodes and a single game type. In short, we had our work cut out for us!
Over the past two years, we’ve worked hard to build out and rewrite much of the necessary core infrastructure to make sure that working on Hell Let Loose into the future is a far easier experience, and that we can maintain a standard level of quality across the project. We want to thank you all for supporting us during this period - offering feedback and following the project as it’s progressed. It means a huge amount to us.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
We also want to welcome all the new players who’ve just picked up the game - whether in the last month or on our release. We’ve opened up some new channels in our Discord overhaul to assist you in getting into the game - be it asking questions or finding a unit to play with.
Lastly, we want to thank our original Kickstarter backers. Your support was what enabled us to begin this journey almost four years ago. We know that crowdfunded projects are always a huge risk - more often than not failing to materialise at all. We want to thank you for taking a chance on us, and we’re excited to continue fulfilling our mandate.
Roadmap 2021/2022Leaving Early Access can best be described as the end of the beginning. With that in mind we’ve put together two roadmaps for you to take a look at.
The first shows the journey we’ve been on - to bring you up to speed, and the second shows you the future ahead for the coming year and a half.
We’re committed to continuing to deliver our usual large scale updates, but will be working to balance these with smaller and more critical patches to solve urgent issues. We’re very excited to continue to polish and expand Hell Let Loose.
Obviously, we’ll be watching feedback immediately after the launch to determine any changes that need to be made, and we’ll also strive to add greater detail by releasing smaller roadmaps with more information as updates are released and if priorities change.
We hope you’re as excited by the future of Hell Let Loose as we are!
DLCKeep an eye out for the release of our free Silver Vanguard DLC, as well as an optional paid cosmetic DLC - “Lethal Tide”. The best way to learn how to acquire the Lethal Tide DLC is to follow our social channels, as it will be available to purchase on the Steam Store as well as other unannounced locations.
Unlock access to join the Silver Vanguard and take to the front lines with an array of unique helmets and uniforms. Roll up your sleeves and get stuck into the thick of it with the German
forces, blend into the background in the Soviet “Ameba” camo helmet or take to the US tanks and show off the “Hell on Wheels” jacket!
Free for all current Hell Let Loose owners, or anyone that plays Hell Let Loose before the 10th August 2021.
Please note: This will become available to download at 5pm BST / 6pm CEST on July 27th.
Silver Vanguard pack contains:
- German Forces – "Rolled sleeves" uniforms for 11 roles.
- US Forces - “Hell on Wheels” jacket for Tank Commander’s and Tank Crew
- Soviet Forces - SSh-40 Covered Ameba helmet
Early BackersIf you are an early backer, expect an email with your DLC key bundle over the next few days! This will include the Italian camo for the Major backers reward and the Lethal Tide DLC free as thanks for your early support.
[h3]
Update 10 Changelog[/h3]
Disclaimer:
There were 1500+ tracked changes to the game for Update 10. We’ve tried to include absolutely everything we can below with regard to them, and had to summarise smaller changes to fit within the word count. Any oversights are entirely accidental and not intentional.
Eastern Front
- Added Stalingrad map
- Added Kursk map
- Added Katyusha Strike Commander ability
- Added RUS uniforms
- Added ZIS-2 AT-Gun
- Added Soviet Artillery Piece
- Added RUS vehicles including:
- T-34 medium tank
- IS-1 heavy tank
- Ba-10 recon vehicle
- ZIS-5 truck
- Added RUS weapons including:
- DP-27
- Mosin Nagant 1891
- Mosin Nagant M38
- Mosin Nagant 9130
- Mosin Nagant 9130 Scoped
- SVT-40
- SVT-40 Scoped
- PPSh-41
- PPSh-41 Drum Mag
- PTRS-41 Anti-Tank Rifle
- Nagant M1895 Revolver
- Tokarev TT33 Pistol
- RDG2 Smoke Grenade
- RG42 Frag Grenade
- Satchel Charge
- PMD-7 AP Mine
- TM35 AT Mine
Western Front
- Added Sainte Marie du Mont v2
MetaRemoved resource cost from vehicle roster spawns - Vehicles that are automatically spawned will no longer consume resources. This is designed to remove the uncontrollable Fuel cost to the Commander, to create greater strategic impact on vehicles spawned and resource handling.
Nodes provide a flat rate income of +10/min per node - Based on feedback from the community, the additional gain of resource income that came with the control of enemy sectors was tipping the scale too far in one direction, resulting in a steamroll.
Change to an ambient resource gain of +10/min - Because teams don’t have control over what sector they’re required to capture, it never really made sense to delegate specific resources to a sector. Resource gain tied to sector control created a compounding imbalance the further the attacking team pushed the defenders back, causing a steamroll.
When a sector is captured the team capturing gains 25 of each resource, the team losing loses 25 of each resource. This represents a non-compounding benefit/loss to the gaining or losing of a sector to prevent steamrolling but still reward victory or defeat in a sector.
Changed the Encouraged ability to double ambient resource generation for 5 minutes - This was required to bring the ability in line with the resource changes.
- Changed Offensive mode active sectors from 2 to 1
- Balanced starting resources
- Increased Commander ability costs
- Reduced team limit on nodes from 4 to 3
- Increased manpower bleed during overtime from -1 to -5 to reflect new resource values
ArmorFor an in-depth explanation on the following changes read here: https://bit.ly/DevBrief135
- Added a new hitbox collision system
- Added a new vehicle physics system
- Added an Engine component to all vehicles
- Tracks do not transfer damage to the Hull unless the shell continues to hit and penetrate the Hull armor
- Refactored the armour weapon/ballistics system
- The switch seat duration for tanks is now dependent on its class
- The enter/exit duration for Tanks is now half the switch seat duration
- Removed collision from tank barrels
- Added smart material system for all Russian vehicles
- Adjusted Armor collision behavior
- Adjusted Armor health values
- Adjusted Armor damage values
- Reduced muzzle smoke from tank barrels when firing
- Increased repair speed of Blowtorch & Repair Station
- Improved FX for penetrating, non penetrating and ricocheting shells
- Improved reliability of projectile Impact/Ricochet FX
- HE shells can now damage tank tracks
Tweaked HQ automatic vehicle spawns to the following:
HQ#1Light Tank
Transport Truck
T-34/76 (RUS ONLY)
HQ#2Medium Tank
Supply Truck
Transport Truck
HQ#3Recon Vehicle
Transport Truck
Gameplay/Features
- Re-enabled bullets traveling the direction of the weapon’s barrel
- Enemies marked by the Recon plane/vehicle are now displayed to the Support role.
- Removed the ability to hip fire Machine Guns without bracing.
- Artillery dispersion increased to 2m-20m
- Satchel Charges can now be placed in friendly HQ sectors
- Updated Field Manual and Hints
- Reduced the height and density of foliage
- Updated Controller mapping for Infantry
- Added new Controller functionality
- Added a new Gun Crewman loadout to the AT role containing the AT-Gun
- Reduced the size of OPs and added a shine effect
- Improvements to Ultrawide support
- Slightly reduced crouched run speed
- Continued game-wide optimisation passes
- Optimised bombing run explosion
- Optimised TPP muzzle flash
- Optimised multiple VFX
- Increased Satchel Charge damage
- Removed distance limitation on AT-Guns
- Updated GER manpower nodes with authentic pattern
- Allowed reloading while falling to fix irritating bug when stepping off small steps while reloading.
- Adjusted Kar98k’s front sight
- Disabled the ability to reload Launchers while sprinting
- Improved the reliability of placing fortifications on certain terrain
Animation
- Introduced a TPP flinch animation when a player is shot
- Improved the TPP vaulting animation
HUD/UI
- Added the server name, gamemode and map name to the scoreboard (Can be toggled in settings)
- Redesigned the Main Menu UI
- Allowed players to mouse over a locked loadout to see its contents
- Spawn location list numbers start at #01 instead of #00
- The vote kick interface now uses the same pop up style as the invite to unit notifications
- Commander abilities are displayed in the Text Chat with their location when used by the Commander
- Added a keybind for dismissing Hints
- Updated tank component icons
- Updated sector icons
- Updated Controls options UI
- Updated the in-game loadout background
- Leaving a server now returns the player to the Enlist screen
- Enabled zooming in on the character in the Barracks
- Recolored Garrison and HQ map icons for better readability
- Added a “Ping” visual effect that highlights the player’s location when opening the tactical map
SFX
- Added new SFX for multiple weapons
- Added new SFX for multiple vehicle engines
- Added SFX when vehicles collide with an object
- Added SFX when entering/exiting a vehicle
- Added SFX when switching seats in a vehicle
- Added SFX for Coaxial and Hull mg reloads
- Added SFX to Outposts and Garrisons
- Added SFX that signals the final 30 seconds of the match
- Improved SFX for penetrating, non-penetrating and ricocheting shells
- Lowered the volume on truck horns
- Replaced steady aim inhale sound with exhale sound
Visual Improvements
- Updated the Community AA to produce a sharper image
- Reworked weapon Scopes to eliminate visual jittering (This is WIP and will continue to be improved upon in upcoming updates)
Trucks
- Machine Guns are now able to damage Trucks
- Strafing Runs are now able to damage Trucks
- Improved ability to climb steep terrain
Localization
- Fixed many instances where a word or phrase was not localized in non-english languages
- Implemented localisation for achievements and rich presence
Server Administration
- Added an icon to display the player’s location while using the Admin Camera
- Added the ability to adjust movement speed while using the Admin Camera (Scroll wheel by default)
- Added the ability to zoom in/out while using the Admin Camera (Q/E by default)
- Locking on to a vehicle in Admin Camera now places the camera higher behind the vehicle
Bug Fixes[Fixed] MG34 and MG42 are missing default zoom when ADS
[Fixed] Players receive no damage when in the Artillery seats from Tanks' MG/Coaxial weapons
[Fixed] German Recon Vehicles’ Coaxial MG34 firing VFX is misaligned with the barrel
[Fixed] Player's are not awarded XP points if multiple level 0 ghost structures are upgraded to level 1 within the 60 seconds XP cooldown
[Fixed] Placing small ammo, explosive ammo, or medical supplies box on any team uses the German Satchel placement animation
[Fixed] On offensive mode, attackers are unable to place a garrison once the Defenders HQ becomes the active sector
[Fixed] Certain projectiles have no collision with players who are seated in trucks
[Fixed] From TPP, the cannon of the Tiger tank jitters when rotating
[Fixed] Player can cancel a reload on the MG34 and Walther P38 by switching weapon
[Fixed] Machine Gun reload animation does not play when leaving deployed state after beginning a reload
[Fixed] The engineer can dismantle friendly HQ repair stations
[Fixed] The speedometer of light tanks can be stuck between 6-11km/h
[Fixed] The acceleration audio for the light tanks is incorrect if the user quickly shifts up gears whilst driving
[Fixed] After initiating a vote to kick, pressing twice the "Y" or "N" button counts as a second vote for the vote initiator
[Fixed] The placed airhead icon slightly overlaps with the dropping airhead icon
[Fixed] AT-Gun scope is offset
[Fixed] The title may crash when quitting the game after after a natural map transition
[Fixed] If the player enters the Admin Camera while prone on the front of the tank causes the vehicle to fly
[Fixed] Running over / Colliding with players in a vehicle causes a short repeated SFX / audio issue
[Fixed] Multiple issues present on MG42 animations while bracing
[Fixed] Multiple visual issues with the M1A1 Thompson weapon
[Fixed] Accepting the request to join a unit after changing teams will put the player in the squad of the enemy team
[Fixed] Supply Trucks are observed to slide slightly when on an angled surface and standing still
[Fixed] Social media links are not appearing on Front End menu
[Fixed] Changing stance to prone or crouched after vaulting can cause US players to appear standing when viewed in TPP
[Fixed] When leaning using the M1 Carbine, player's hand goes through the gun
[Fixed] Amount of aim offset for a Tank changes when the tank is at an angle
[Fixed] Players are unable to place satchel charges on the treads of the enemy tanks
[Fixed] The external cargo on the US Heavy 75 and Heavy 76 tanks have no projectile or bullet collision or passthrough functionality
[Fixed] Locking on a vehicle while the vehicle is being destroyed, locks the camera inside the vehicle until the user unlocks it
[Fixed] The "unlock from target" Admin Camera button has no functionality when the targeted vehicle is destroyed.
[Fixed] Toggle Clip button "J" has reversed functionality for Admin Camera
[Fixed] The Admin Camera HUD does not display the Sector Progress Bars
[Fixed] The player still has collision with vehicles while using the Admin Camera mode
[Fixed] The US Small Ammunition box, Medical Supplies box and Explosive Ammo box have identical models when held in hand
[Fixed] Player can become stuck inside assets/terrain when revived in certain conditions
[Fixed] Placing a deployable no longer takes priority over movement
[Fixed] The satchel will float when placed on the front of the German Medium Tank
[Fixed] Animation issue present when leaning and having a Bazooka or Panzerschreck equipped
[Fixed] Various Player created structures are observed to not award any combat score when dismantled
[Fixed] Spamming the "Join" button and spamming "Y" when popup message appears, on a locked Squad in the deployment screen can cause the player to crash the game
[Fixed] Inconsistent level requirement for the "Raider" loadout in the Assault role between teams
[Fixed] Blood VFX on player models has been observed to noticeably flicker
[Fixed] The Enlist screen is inconsistent when referring to the US team
[Fixed] Unit member names for Infantry Units are misaligned when displayed on the in-game HUD
[Fixed] Map does not open with an "On Press" instead it opens with an "On Release" when using the default Map key
[Fixed] Unable to switch off "Show chat for new message" toggle
[Fixed] UI icon for favourited servers does not remain highlighted when selected on the 'Enlist' screen
[Fixed] Pressing the default open map key [M] during an open text chat will open the in-game map
[Fixed] Occasionally the user is unable to change the Fullscreen Resolution
[Fixed] Redeploy Button is still accessible when dead on the KIA screen
[Fixed] Enlist screen sometimes shows 'Text Block' placeholder when servers have not yet loaded
[Fixed] When changing role from "Officer" to "Commander" without leaving your unit, the "Leader Settings" button remains on the deployment screen.
[Fixed] Opening the "Barracks" for the first time after playing a game with one of the factions, the loadouts presented in the initial page are inverted for each role.
[Fixed] The 'Deploy' button will remain red after selecting a new spawn point during the deployment countdown
[Fixed] Switch Team button is usable for a split second when Team Switch is on cooldown
[Fixed] Players will not receive the "Failed to Deploy" message when the spawn they are attempting to deploy on is destroyed
[Fixed] Some Hints and Field Manual entries display debug text
[Fixed] Hints will be interrupted if a newer hint is triggered
[Fixed] Strong Point icons do not go grey when the sector is contested
[Fixed] Text chat becomes non-functional if pressed and re-pressed while aiming down sights
[Fixed] Changing a keybinding removes the player's ability to return to the frontend via the [Esc] key
[Fixed] Many situations which should trigger hints do not
[Fixed] [TPP] The satchel charge can clip through the player model when performing a climb animation
[Fixed] [TPP] The US Supply Crate is clipping through the player model when performing vault/climb animation
[Fixed] [TPP] The German and US resupply boxes are clipping through the player model when performing climb animation
[Fixed] [TPP] The German Supply Crate is clipping through the player model when performing vault/climb animation
[Fixed] [TPP] The animation for the Support Role holding the Supplies is misaligned with the Player's left hand
[Fixed] [TPP] As Support, the Supplies placement animation is misaligned with the character model
Utah[Fixed] An instance of misaligned foliage textures
Hill 400[Fixed] A rock which can be exploited to see through
[Fixed] Several trees clipping through a stone fence
Foy[Fixed] A barbed wire asset with missing functionality
[Fixed] An asset displaying a pink texture when viewed from a distance
[Fixed] Multiple misaligned assets
Omaha[Fixed] Invisible collision present in a specific area
[Fixed] Multiple floating assets on the beach
[Fixed] Multiple assets clipping into objects or terrain
[Fixed] Multiple misaligned mudbanks
[Fixed] A roof of a shed clipping through the side of the house next to it
Carentan[Fixed] Z-Fighting visible on Brick wall texture
[Fixed] Multiple clipping fences
[Fixed] Gaps visible between Brick wall assets
[Fixed] Multiple assets clipping into objects or terrain
[Fixed] Section of misaligned dirt track
[Fixed] Area on the map that vehicles can all get stuck on
[Fixed] Deployable equipment can’t be placed on Sidewalk / pavement
Hurtgen[Fixed] Multiple floating/misaligned assets
[Fixed] LoD transition issue with a building row asset
Sainte Mere Eglise[Fixed] Multiple locations where the player was able to become stuck
Purple Heart Lane[Fixed] Multiple floating/misaligned assets
[Fixed] Multiple assets clipping into objects or terrain
[Fixed] The edges of certain parts of terrain are visible
[Fixed] Invisible collision present in multiple areas of the map
[Fixed] LoD issue present on the ground in areas with very shallow water
Known IssuesBelow are known issues in U10 which have already been fixed in the upcoming Patch 16:
- The supply crates in the back of Supply truck have no bullet collision
- [SMDM-O-GER] Defenders can push until they reach the attackers' HQ if the first point is not captured.
- [SMDM-O-US] Defenders are unable to access the entirety of the first initial HQ strongpoints.
- [FOY-O-GER] Attackers Commander is unable to spawn vehicles on the right-side HQ
- Some performance hitches can occur on the Stalingrad map depending on density of location and specific hardware.
- Marine Uniform sleeves have a stretching issue in FPP.
We will be fixing the following with a new method for U11:
Sniper scope reticles can become misaligned with the scope during certain animations
We also want to reiterate that armour physics and driving experience is still a work in progress and will be subject to additional polish.
Game ArticlesWe have had some great articles and reviews of our Full release during a sneak preview with NME, and Gamestar.de
You can read these and a few others below.
NME
https://www.nme.com/reviews/game-reviews/hell-let-loose-review-2999404
GAMESTAR
https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/hell-let-loose-shooter-test-review,3371944.html
ScreenRant
https://screenrant.com/hell-let-loose-game-review/
PCGamesN
https://www.pcgamesn.com/hell-let-loose/review-10
Thanks to the entire community for the support during Early access!
See you on the Eastern Front o7
