Hell Let Loose News

Hey everyone,

We're pleased to announce that Patch 15 is live now and deployed to all servers!

This patch came together thanks to all of your feedback and bug reports following the launch of Update 9, so thank you!

The main focus of Patch 15 is on the following areas -

• Quality of life
  
• Bug fixes
  
• Crash fixes
  
• Terrain collision
  

The full notes are below for your reading pleasure!

Please note: If you have any missing servers after you've downloaded today's patch, please verify the integrity of your Hell Let Loose game files!




Quality of Life

• Outposts belonging to your Unit and Garrisons now appear green on the deploy menu and tactical map.
  
• Anti-Aliasing Method no longer ignores the user’s settings and defaults to Standard AA when launching the title.
  
• Building and Tree LoD improvements across various maps.
  
• Updated a large number of assets and materials to correctly work with bullet penetration.
  
• Updated textures for the Garand and Carbine.
  
• Updated Game Credits.
  
• Restored the ability to continue an input while opening the scoreboard or map.
  
• Padre's M1 is no longer locked behind Rifleman lvl 3.
  
• The M40 Side Cap now unlocks for Assault, Automatic Rifleman and Medic correctly.
  
• A large number of community reported map bugs have been fixed.
  

Bug Fixes

[Fixed] On the Enlist screen, clicking a server scrolls the server list
[Fixed] Players can join a team which should be locked by the Auto-Balance threshold
[Fixed] The 'Favourites' list in the Enlist screen updates causing servers to appear as duplicates of other servers
[Fixed] The map will close and chat will be dismissed after having the Map opened and tapping the Map Keybind (M) in chat
[Fixed] Commander can establish an airhead in the water outside of playable zone in Utah
[Fixed] Weapons sometimes showing pixelated edges
[Fixed] Hedgerows have no collision with rockets and tank shells
[Fixed] Collision issues on several assets
[Fixed] Blood VFX color appears black and has rendering issues
[Fixed] On Offensive maps, all barbed wires that are located in the Attackers HQs turn back area are observed to be missing VFX, SFX and do not affect the player in any way.
[Fixed] On Offensive maps, water does not slow or prevent prone when the player is in the Attackers HQ turn back area.
[Fixed] Empty enlist screen after putting in an incorrect password under certain conditions
[Fixed] The "No bandages" message is displayed for a split second when switching between their equipment when the player is damaged
[Fixed] Holding the breath before aiming will cause the player to be unable to shoot
[Fixed] Reviving a player that is on a terrain seam may cause them to fall through the map
[Fixed] In some cases the deploy screen remains up after deploying
[Fixed] Updated minor incorrect main menu text
[Fixed] Being killed during a melee animation locks the camera on the attacker
[Fixed] After confirming the "wrong password" message when joining a server, the password prompt's buttons lose functionality
[Fixed] US "Sherman Jumbo 75MM" and "Sherman Jumbo 76MM" treads have no bullet collision nad are not affected by the blowtorch
[Fixed] A server launched with an "Offensive" map variant will display as the "Warfare" game mode on the Enlist menu until someone joins
[Fixed] Replaced the “Cancel” button with “Back” on the change role screen
[Fixed] The "Spawn Location" list will display 3 HQs even if only 1 HQ is currently available


Crashes
[Fixed] 3 types of client crashes
[Fixed] 2 types of server crashes


Servers
[Fixed] The "Set Vote Kick Enabled" and "Set Vote Kick Threshold" setting is reset after a Map change.
[Fixed] Transitioning from any map resets the Team Switch Cooldown to 0 if changed during the round.


Foy
[Fixed] Shooting through a specific window caused stone PFX and SFX


Hill 400
[Fixed] Barbed wire placed under the ground
[Fixed] A barbed wire asset has no functionality


Hurtgen
[Fixed] Barbed wire placed under the ground
[Fixed] Rock with no collision
[Fixed] A preplaced Belgian Gate can be destroyed with firearms


Purple Heart Lane
[Fixed] Multiple tree models produce concrete PFX when shot
[Fixed] Water has no functionality in a part of the map


Utah
[Fixed] Certain small bushes have Player collision
[Fixed] Players can travel through the water outside of the playable zone
[Fixed] On German Bottom HQ there are two repair stations
[Fixed] Text can be seen on the landscape
[Fixed] Players can drop an airhead outside of the playable area
[Fixed] Players can fall from a specific boat when deploying on the Top HQ on the US team
[Fixed] Players are pushed through the spawn boat if they remain on it when it leaves the map boundary
[Fixed] The spotlights found throughout the map have no collision


Sainte Mere Eglise
[Fixed] A house has no player or bullet collision


That wraps up today's patch notes!

Once again thank you all for your patience, feedback and bug reports - they really go a long way.

We'll be back again later this week with Developer Briefing #125!

See you on the frontline!

Hi everyone,

We want to let you know that the U9 patch is just around the corner, and will have several significant bug & server crash fixes coming. We will provide a full changelog and update the community early next week on the planned patch release date. We are currently very hard at work on U10 and eastern front content, as well as lots of QOL improvements that we feel will move the game forward in a big way. We will follow up in the coming weeks on more U10 goodness, but for now something a little different:

We are happy to announce the first HLL video content competition, and are extremely excited to see what the community will create and share with us. We’ve seen huge amounts of incredible content created since our launch into Early Access, and we want to officially showcase some of the best!

We’ve outlined the two video-specific categories this time around - but don’t worry, we'll have future competitions with different categories - especially if screenshots, photoshop and fan art is more your thing. Lastly, please keep bad language to a minimum, we are keen to share this content and large amounts of bad language will make that harder!

Here are the following categories for this competition:



[h2]FILMING PRIVATE RYAN - Community/Clan Cinematic[/h2]

Create a Hell Let Loose cinematic incorporating your community & multiple community/clan members. Be as creative as you want.

- One submission per community/clan
- Duration: 1 to 10 minutes (please don't exceed 10 minutes!)
- If using voice lines, english speaking is preferred (so we as judges can understand) but all
languages are welcome.

FILMING PRIVATE RYAN Winners Prize:
Representation of your Community/Clan in the game. This could be a street sign, poster or other asset in game, that subtly references your clan/community in a new or existing map. Your community will also get 12 HLL STEAM game keys.

Runner Up Prize: 6 Hell Let Loose STEAM game keys.


[h2]WE WANT YOU! - First person perspective Individual Highlight / Proudest moments reel[/h2]

A video showing your proudest moments. It must be all original content, recorded by you.

- One submission per person
- Duration: 20 seconds to 2 minutes

WE WANT YOU! Winners Prize:
An in game portrait painting done by our very own DannyArt. And 5 HLL STEAM game keys.

Runner Up Prize: 3 HLL game keys.


[h2]Submissions[/h2]

Please upload your video to youtube and complete the form below including your full name, email address and Discord name & ID.

Submission Form - http://bit.ly/HLLcontentComp

We will be doing further content competitions in the coming months. If you have any issues or questions about your submission, feel free to DM Spono in the official HLL Discord.

All submissions must be uploaded to Youtube, and submissions must be made using this form by 2pm GMT, May 17th.

*Please note: We may ask for your original file if you are a winner or runner-up so we can ensure good quality when we share it across our channels, so please don't delete them! Prize/Reward will be discussed with the submitter and contacted by email, original content only will be considered and proof will be required. All submissions may be considered for highlighting on our social channels.

ICYMI Dev Brief 123 - Introducing Kursk! http://bit.ly/DevBrief123

That’s all from us this week.

See you on the frontline! o7

Hey everyone,

Welcome to Dev Brief #123!

This week we are showing off one of the two new Eastern Front maps added with Update 10, Kursk!




The Battle of Kursk was one of the largest battles of World War 2. Some of the most intense armoured combat occurred at Kursk, with Germany fielding its newly introduced Panther tanks in an attempt to encircle and destroy the Soviet salient. Fighting was fierce, with heavy casualties on both sides.
Fighting on the Steppe





The terrain encountered by the advancing German forces were the familiar rolling hills and grasslands of the East European steppe. They were resisted by layers of soviet defences heavily fortified with all types of anti-tank emplacements and manned by prepared and well-equipped Soviet units. The relatively flat terrain aided in the fielding of armour and air power, and both played a major role in the engagement.




The Battle of Kursk saw the first combat action for the new German Panther tanks, and in fact the offensive itself was delayed to ensure that the Panther would be available for the battle. Nevertheless, the rushed implementation resulted in a worrying number of mechanical breakdowns. Discounting reliability issues, the type performed well in its intended role against enemy armour.

Soviet forces would primarily field sizable numbers of T-34 medium tanks, an effective and well-rounded design which was capable of engaging all but the heaviest of German armour at its introduction. The gun would show its age in the intense combat, however, having difficulties defeating many of the up-armoured German tanks at the longer engagement distances seen at Kursk. The T-34 would eventually be upgraded with a larger 85mm gun in subsequent variants, though the initial 76 millimetre version would serve through to the end of the war.

A summer offensive intended to retake the initiative for the Germans on the Eastern Front, stiff resistance and a rapid Soviet counterattack slowed German momentum to a halt. Ultimately, developments elsewhere would force the withdrawal of German units from the area. After Kursk, the Soviets would dictate the pace of the fighting.




In Hell Let Loose, Kursk is an open map of dominating ridge lines and trench networks that house the “defence in depth” positions that the Soviet forces made famous in their attempts to halt the German armoured advance. You’ll fight from the concealment of the forest out into the small Russian hamlets that scatter the treeline before pushing into the majority of the map - the famous yellow fields of the steppe.













While the open map places heavy emphasis on armoured tactics and success, infantry will be able to manoeuvre via the trench networks that link ridges, hamlets and old windmills that dominate the centre of the map.




We have a pending U9 patch, and will likely be having a play test tomorrow. This will essentially be a smoke test for fixes we have implemented. We will be grateful for those who have the playtest downloaded if they can jump in and help us test for a couple of hours to check the stability of the patch. If you wish to join in and have not downloaded the PTE, search and install the Hell Let Loose (public testing) app in your steam library. We will let you know when the PTE servers are live via Discord.

We will follow up with the patch notes, which include a bunch of bug and crash fixes.


That wraps up this week's Dev Brief!

We'll see you on the front line!

Hey everyone,

Just a quick post today to let you know that we're hosting an AMA especially for you, the community, with Lead Developer Max this Thursday on the HLL Subreddit!

We know many of you have important questions around different areas of the game, from the meta to how tanks will change with the armour overhaul and much more!

As such we're keen to use this opportunity to answer those questions for you AND have an active discussion on multiple community hot topics with you - door's open, come in style.

If you can't make it yourself please feel free to give your question to someone else to field.

Please note: we will try to answer as many questions as possible from as many of you as possible, as such we will likely begin by answering only one question per person.

Time & Date

Starts 2pm BST / 3pm CET / 9am ET on Thursday 15th April and will run for 12 consecutive hours.

You'll be able to join in the Developer AMA HERE.

See you on the frontline.

Hey everyone,

Welcome to Dev Brief #122!

This week we're going to preview the PPSh-41 and show off some of the faces that will represent the Soviet Union in-game!




The PPSh-41 was one of the Soviet Union's primary submachine guns of the Second World War. A simplified design made to be built rapidly with limited machining operations, the PPSh-41 used a heavy gauge steel stamping for most of its construction. It was originally issued with 71 round drum magazines copied from a Finnish design, but these were phased out in favor of more traditional stick type magazines.



Reliability was generally high even with the drum magazines, though these were complex and difficult to load. In addition, issues with manufacturing tolerances meant drum magazines were not readily interchangeable between guns. Drums needed to be properly "fitted" to their assigned submachine guns to feed reliably, though this was resolved somewhat by the introduction of the smaller 35 round stick types.

In combat, the PPSh-41 performed admirably. Soldiers appreciated the high fire rate and reliability in close-quarters combat, though the Soviet Union would eventually supplement the PPSh-41 in production with the even simpler PPS-43. The submachine gun as a class would form a major component of Soviet unit composition. Entire platoons would be equipped with PPSh-41s to spearhead an offensive action.



In Hell Let Loose, the PPSh-41 comes in two variants - one with a 35 round stick magazine and the other with the iconic 71 round drum magazine. While the stick magazine benefits from a faster reload and faster transition to ADS, it suffers from slightly increased recoil over time due to its lighter stick magazine. The drum magazine variant benefits from the increased magazine size and slightly lower sustained recoil due to its weight, but has a slower ADS transition and reload time.




In designing the faces of our Soviet faction, we endeavoured to take into account the historically broad array of different people groups that were brought together to fight a common enemy. Because of the need to muster every able man for the war effort, soldiers were conscripted from all over the USSR, from the Baltic sea to the Baikal.







Regardless of their origins, each and every Soviet soldier was equal in the face of combat.


That wraps up this week's Dev Brief!

What other weapons would you like to see in-game? Who's your favourite Soviet soldier so far? Let us know in the comments!

We'll see you on the frontline!