Hell Let Loose News

Hey Everyone,

Welcome to Developer Briefing #67!

This week we’ve got an important message from Lead Developer Max on the current situation with Covid-19 and how the Black Matter team is facing it!

After that, we’re going to be looking at the German Puma Sd.Kfz. 234, along with a brand new screenshot.





Hi everyone,

We hope you’re all keeping well despite the current pandemic that is gripping much of the world.

As part of this Dev Briefing, we also wanted to openly communicate about how Coronavirus is affecting us here at Black Matter, and at our publisher - Team17.

As many of you may be aware, Black Matter is fortunate in that our remote working policies mean that the effect of Coronavirus on us from a business and development perspective is incredibly minimal. We have put in place contingencies should any of the team become sick, but we consider ourselves incredibly fortunate that nobody at Black Matter falls within an ‘at-risk’ category. The team is all hard at work - smashing through as many bugs as humanly possible while balancing out the coming overhauls and content.

We feel that over the next couple of months, the quality of Hell Let Loose as a title will be drastically improved for the better - and we’re very excited to finally reveal what we’ve been cooking up. Despite the turbulence in world affairs, we’re very optimistic and excited for 2020. There are so many new features, maps, weapons, customisation options to come, as well as optimisation and bug fixes. Currently, the team is working across a huge degree of content including but not limited to:

• 3 new maps (only one of which is set in Normandy and is nearly entirely urban)
  
• Finalising TPP and FPP overhaul. This is really where the largest look and feel change to the game will be. We’ll be running you through this soon.
  
• Entirely new ballistics system (travel time and more for all firearms), including bullet penetration.
  
• Map overhaul on one existing map (bug fixing, drastically increasing cover, visual upgrade and a far more interesting experience).
  
• Assets being created for two entirely new biomes.
  
• Implementation of new Commander abilities.
  
• New loadouts.
  
• New weapons being made.
  
• Implementation of Recon vehicles.
  

And much, much more (we’re also always working on bug fixes and optimisation).

With all of that said, today we’re excited to talk through the second Recon vehicle to be coming to Hell Let Loose - the Puma Sd.Kfz. 234!






The Puma is the key reconnaissance vehicle for the German forces in Hell Let Loose. Much like its Greyhound counterpart, this vehicle will provide valuable frontline reconnaissance and useful firepower against soft targets.

Despite not seeing use in Germany’s desert campaigns, the Puma proved successful in its usefulness on both the Western and Eastern fronts of the war.

Thanks to its lightweight armour, powerful V12 diesel engine and independent suspension for each of its eight wheels the Puma was a highly mobile, hard hitting recon vehicle. This made it ideal support for multiple German Panzer Divisions, not only as fire support but as a key relay of information to the rest of the column via their radio communications kit.



The relative mobility of the Puma comes at a price though - light armour. In regards to how this translates to in-game, the Puma, much like the greyhound is highly vulnerable to all forms of anti-tank weaponry. From mines, to Bazookas, AT Guns and 'bigger' armoured vehicles, any Driver worth their salt will want to avoid meeting any of these at all costs unless absolutely necessary on the frontline.

But it should be mentioned that whilst in the Puma the crew will enjoy immunity from enemy small arms fire, giving them a great opportunity to push across enemy firing lines that include a high concentration of men and/or Machine Gunners.

As mentioned in last week’s Developer Briefing, we’ll be explaining exactly how our Recon vehicles will function in the very near future. We’ll also be taking the opportunity to formally introduce our new vehicle spawning mechanic as well as the new crewing options in both Recon and other upcoming vehicle variants - so watch this space!

We’ll see you on the frontline.

Hey everyone,

Welcome to Developer Briefing #66!

With expanded recon mechanics right around the corner, we’ve been hard at work creating all the necessary assets to bring them to life.

We’re excited to show you the way they work and integrate into the larger picture of the metagame in both Offensive and Warfare gamemodes. We’ve noticed many community members speculating at the way the Recon vehicles specifically will work within Hell Let Loose, and we’re keen to assure you that they’re going to be far more than a wheeled version of a light tank - but more on that in a later Dev Briefing...






The M8 Greyhound will be the key reconnaissance vehicle for the United States army in Hell Let Loose. The Greyhound is a relatively unimposing vehicle in appearance, but will function as an important strategic boon to the whole of the team.

Roughly 8,500 M8’s were produced and distributed amongst both the American and British armies - a key support element within the larger advancing armored columns.

The Greyhound’s excellent on-road mobility enabled it to detach from the bulk of the column and drive outward and ahead of the main force to quickly survey and report back enemy movement, build-up and density - allowing for greater tactical and strategic decisions to be made by the leadership.

Somewhat ironically for Hell Let Loose, the Greyhound was initially developed as a new light tank destroyer. The army requested a 6x4 wheeled vehicle armed with a 37mm gun - complete with a hull mounted MG and a coaxial on the turret - much the same as the Stuart or Sherman tank. Its armor was supposed to withstand fire from a .50 caliber machine gun and side armor from a .30 caliber (7.62 mm) machine gun.




Very quickly, the US military realised that the Greyhound’s 37mm armament and lack of substantial armor thickness made it ineffective against the new Germany armour.

Looking for a better way to use these vehicles, they were quickly adopted into a long-range reconnaissance role. The M8 performed this function with distinction - acting as the “eyes and ears” of advancing columns. Each M8 armored car was equipped with a long-range radio set to assist in the exercise of command, or for the purpose of relaying information received from subordinate elements to higher headquarters. Another short-range radio set served to communicate within a cavalry reconnaissance platoon, reconnaissance team, or with headquarters.

The M8 was not designed for offensive combat, and its firepower was adequate only against similar lightly armored enemy vehicles and infantry. The vehicle's armor provided a fair degree of protection against small-arms fire but nothing more. With a meager .25 in (6 mm) of floor armor, the M8 was particularly vulnerable to German mines. The M8 in Hell Let Loose will mirror this historical purpose and function - allowing crews invulnerability from small arms fire.

Beware though - the Greyhound is very lightly armored and is prey to nearly every anti-tank weapon in the game. Historically, the Greyhound was so lightly armored that crewmen would line the interior of the vehicle with sandbags - to function as additional armor against mines and explosive rounds.

We’re looking forward to explaining exactly how the M8 will function in the weeks to come, as well as introducing the new vehicle spawning mechanics and the crewing opportunities in the Greyhound and newer vehicle variants!

See you on the frontline!

Welcome to Developer Briefing #65! This week we’re updating our Roadmap as we tread into 2020 to keep you informed about the trajectory of our content and where it will land! Last week we gave the state of development and we are super excited to be able to finally share the new content line-up!

Find our last roadmap here and the state of development from last week here!



The roadmap reflects our current development goals and schedule. While we always work as hard as possible to achieve these according to the order on the roadmap, occasionally features will change positions based on issues encountered.

As usual, each dev briefing we’ll start to unpack and dive into each of the aspects of the roadmap. Please know that this is not exhaustive. There are many more features large and small that are to come, but we want to commit to them and show them off closer to time of release. We also want to assure you that bug fixing and optimisation are a key priority.

That wraps up this week's Developer Briefing, thanks for checking it out! We hope you are as excited as us for all the content planned as we are to bring it to you all!

If you're enjoying your time with Hell Let Loose, feel free to drop us a review and let us know about your experiences with the game - it really helps!

See you on the frontline.

Hi everyone,

Patch 10 is here and it’s a smaller one to tide you over until our next big Update.

We assessed much of the initial feedback after the Update and have made as many changes as possible to quickly improve on your experience in-game. Fixes, additions and polish is always an ongoing process and we largely batch this together in Updates, however we felt that these fixes would be relatively low-risk and greatly increase the quality of life within the game.

• All spawn icons are now much more legible on the map.
  
• Disabled "weapon sway" from Binos for Axis and Allies as players are having trouble marking accurately.
  
• Increase the drowning timer from 4 seconds to 6 seconds.
  
• Make all deadly rivers have a longer bank that will let you back out before falling in and drowning.
  
• Tanks crew now drown if they fully submerge their tank for too long.
  
• Jumbo tanks are now present on most other maps and game modes while we test their effectiveness and balance.
  
• Fixed: On the Enlist screen, changing the filter order multiple times will present the user with a server that they cannot join
  
• Added audio menu volume slider for Ping Marker
  
• Maximum marker count for Officers is now 5, and then resets the first marker thereafter.
  
• Maximum marker count for Commanders is now 5, and then resets the first marker thereafter.
  
• Maximum of one of each marker type.
  
• Quicker PING Fade
  
• Changed resource node marker to tent icon node marker
  
• Removed extra smoke marker but have left the “Request Smoke” marker.
  
• Markers now have a different volume at different ranges. i.e 500m+ plays no sound. It then gets progressively louder the closer they are. This is designed to cut down on audio clutter and give urgency to nearby marks.
  

• Fixed: No Node markers for Manpower, Fuel, Munitions
  
• Fixed: The POI Marker animation on the player's name does not play to players that had their HUD toggled off when the Marker was placed
  
• Fixed: The in-game map pauses the POI Marker's player name animation
  
• Fixed: [PHL-O] Strafing Runs from 3 specific directions don't kill players
  
• Fixed: [PHL] Spawning on the German mid HQ spawn can result in the player spawning above the ground
  
• Fixed: [PHL][G4] House and plane location do not match in-game map.
  
• Fixed: Reset Key bindings so When we update new designated keys, players who have rebound don't have that key bind empty - make it so this is reset every time a new designated key is introduced.
  
• Fixed: [Omaha] The game has crashed on the loading screen after initiating a map vote from Hurtgen Forest
  
• Fixed: [US Heavy tank] The 76mm and 75mm Jumbo tank will stop reversing after a short distance
  
• Fixed: In Offensive mode the 'Strong point' UI will still display on the HUD when the player enters, after the sector has been captured
  
• Fixed: The user can navigate the menus after they have connected to a server
  

• Drastically reduced memory usage of Purple Heart Lane - resulting in much faster loading times, higher frames and less disconnection while joining server.
  

• Fixed: Player can fall into a hole which will make their camera judder.
  
• Fixed: No collision on roof - Purple Heart Lane
  
• Fixed: Invisible collision above a short bush in H2
  
• Fixed: Boat covers produce metal PFX when shot
  
• Fixed: "Fantastique" poster in E3 has graphical issues
  
• Fixed: No collision on ammunition heaps - Purple Heart Lane
  
• Fixed: Invisible collision wall Purple Heart Lane E4 Numpad 9
  
• Fixed: Collision on a bush on the ground Purple Heart Lane E4
  
• Fixed: Missing collision for multiple assets present in sector H5
  
• Fixed: Invisible collision present on top of a stone wall in sector F8
  
• Fixed: A wooden fence post asset produces concrete PFX when shot
  
• Fixed: Missing texture next to the bridge in sector E4 causes the players to see under the map, and makes it possible to shoot other players
  
• Fixed: Inconsistency with barbed wire bullet collision
  
• Fixed: [E3] Invisible collision present on sidewalks of main road bridge
  
• Fixed: A low resolution grass texture is clipping through the wall in sector E3
  
• Fixed: Metal mooring bollards produce concrete PFX when shot
  
• Fixed: Metal stairs produce concrete PFX when shot
  
• Fixed: Invisible collision present in E3
  
• Fixed: Wooden bridges produce concrete PFX when shot
  
• Fixed: Metal supports are missing collision in E4
  
• Fixed: Missing texture on barn floor in sector C9
  

Offensive mode starting defender garrisons have been moved further back to mirror the changes made to Purple Heart Lane. This is to create a much less grindy experience for attackers on the first flag. More Offensive mode changes will be coming in U6 to overall improve the experience across all maps.

Fixed: Players can completely clip through a particular building wall on SME

• Fixed: Graphic snow overlap mound
  
• Offensive mode starting defender garrisons have been moved further back to mirror the changes made to Purple Heart Lane.
  

See you on the frontline!

Hey everyone!

Update 5 has been enormous for us, and it’s been fantastic to watch you jump into the rainy fields of Purple Heart Lane (and also jump into some rivers) for the last couple of weeks. We’ve been collecting and prioritising a huge amount of the feedback as we decide the way forward.




While we’re in Early Access, developing Hell Let Loose largely feels like we’re building an airplane while we’re flying it. We’re continuously fixing things as we introduce new features, as we balance out completing the game with ironing out as many new and old bugs as possible.

In addition to this, there are several key systems overhauls that have had to occur in order to finalise the experience and lift things to the best quality possible, but also to optimise each aspect of the game from both a netcode, CPU and GPU perspective.

The next two updates (6 and 7) will contain the largest scale infrastructure overhauls that we need to achieve before we’re able to settle into a significant period of bug fixing and optimisation (paired with lower risk content like maps, weapons, customisation options, vehicles etc). As a team, we’re really looking forward to moving past Updates 6 and 7 as we’ll be able to profile the game from an optimisation perspective without the baseline moving from the introduction of more large-scale features.

As many are aware, the largest overhaul to hit the game will be the TPP and FPP animation update. This will transform the way the game feels and looks and we’re very excited to show you this in the very near future.

The other very significant overhaul is a rework of our entire ballistics system - away from a line trace system to a fully realistic ballistics model. We’ll be deep diving into what this entails in the coming weeks so watch this space!




We’re aware of several issues from Update 5 and have been working since its release to fix up the largest aspects. We’ll be releasing a patch next week that will address the following:

• Spawn location icons are now much more legible on the map.
  
• Deep rivers and waterways now have more gradual side inclines, meaning that walking or driving into them allows you to back out before quickly drowning.
  
• Vehicle occupants will now drown
  
• Enormous memory optimisation for PHL, allowing much faster loading, better in-game physics handling and overall performance increase.
  
• Added the new Jumbo tanks to other maps and gamemodes to allow us to profile them further (there will be added into the Commander reinforcement ability in the coming Updates).
  

We’ll be releasing the full changelist on the day of the patch, but we hope to address most of - if not all - your key issues and feedback from our Update 5 release.

To reiterate, this was possible thanks to your feedback. Thanks again to everyone that shared their feedback, both positive as well as constructive criticism / bug reports.




We will be releasing our updated roadmap next week that will give you an insight into the order of things to come over the next two updates.

We’ll also be releasing a separate “Project Roadmap” to give you a broader sense of what we want to do with Hell Let Loose up to the end of Early Access, and then beyond that. We know that many new players aren’t aware of our commitments to the Russian front and forces, as well as the broad spectrum of features still to come (melee, flamethrowers, transport vehicles etc.). We hope this works as a great way to quickly show people where the project is headed.

As we’ve said previously, we’re still in the early stages of Hell Let Loose, and there’s far more to come - so we very much appreciate your patience.




Two weeks ago we shared with you a first look at some of the updated faces / heads coming to Hell Let Loose.

Today we're excited to show you extra detail being added by Character Artist Dmitry, who's been spending time giving these upcoming faces a much more war torn and photo-realistic appearance.

Rough and ready

The team have also been making great progress on the upcoming Recon Vehicles, which will bring whole new strategic options for Armoured Units to the frontline.

Big cat spotted roaming European countryside, approach with caution.


That wraps up this week's Developer Briefing, thanks for checking it out! As you can see we're getting close to sharing more details with you about some of our most anticipated update content - we're very, very excited to share it with you.

If you're enjoying your time with Hell Let Loose, feel free to drop us a review and let us know about your experiences with the game - it really helps!

See you on the frontline.