Hell Let Loose News

Developer Briefing #163 - Patch 17 PTE This Week

Hey Everyone!

[h2]PTE For Patch 17 This Thursday![/h2]
With progress coming along nicely we’re excited to announce the beginning of PTE testing for Patch 17, with the first session kicking off on Thursday the 3rd of February 11am GMT.

As always we greatly appreciate all who participate, whether it’s to provide valuable feedback and bug reports, or simply help out with the numbers to test server loads and other items. We’ll also be jumping into battle amongst the ranks on the day so if you have the time or are just curious, we would love to hear from you!

If this is your first time wanting to participate in a PTE you’ll need to head over to the Discord where you can find information on how to join and get notifications on when a testing period is live. A full changelog can be viewed in the HLL official discord in the #pte-Info channel on the day.

Maps for this PTE testing environment include FOY (offensive GER), SMDM (warfare) and Carentan (warfare).

A quick reminder of what’s included:
Adjusted US M4A1 Sherman Tank handling
Speculative fix for MDC (mass player disconnect bug)
Speculative fix for players sometimes spawning in with the level 1 loadout of the role regardless of their selected loadout
Various QOL items
Removed weapon sway when using binoculars
Smoother Tactical Map zooming
And a host of other gameplay improvements and fixes

Because this Patch contains a number of speculative fixes for a few long-standing bugs we would love to see as many of you as possible jumping in and helping us test these fixes in a high-capacity environment. The greater the numbers we have the better the data we can gather on some of the improvements we are aiming to implement.

[h2]Community Content[/h2]

We continue to see some great content from the Hell Let Loose community members showcased in the official HLL discord. Separate from the dedicated team of ‘War Correspondents’ the HLL general community comprises every person who is involved with HLL. (That means you also!)

This week we have a few nice ‘period looking’ black and white action shots depicting some tense ingame moments for players.

Fritz - Dashing through an Alley

Fritz - Running from the Fields

EduNotFound - Artillery Barrage

War Correspondent, Content Creator and Community HLL Videos
Time for some more community highlights from the below creators.We highly recommend giving them a watch.
If you see a Video you like make sure to post in the Discord #hll-videos channel.

Best of Hell Let Loose [January 2022] - The Fresh Baked Goods
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXvvg3gQhFg

Letting Hell Loose - Spawning In - Terrydactyl Gaming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKxPinnfMoI

WHY YOU!, SHOULD PLAY: Hell Let Loose On PC or Console - No BS - BRUTAL and GRUESOME GamePlay-Movie - Burningwiki
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnwSaYdmN3E

Don’t forget that if you haven’t checked out the other Hell Let Loose socials you should do so. Like our discord you will find them great places for information and community interaction.

Join the Discord here https://discord.gg/hellletloose

Our other social platforms can be found here:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HellLetLoose/
Twitter https://twitter.com/hell_let_loose
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/HellLetLoose
Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/HellLetLoose/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hellletlooseofficial/
Steam http://steamcommunity.com/groups/HellLetLoose

Well, it's time to wrap up today's Dev Brief. See you all on the PTE frontline!

Developer Briefing #162 - Patch 17 - A Peek Under the Hood

[h2]Patch 17 Progress Update[/h2]
With all hands on deck the team are steaming towards the completion of Patch 17. Once completed, the team will then be shifting focus on to the next leg of HLLs journey - Update 12. We look forward to sharing more on that front in the coming weeks as we wrap up Patch 17.

Some of the newer members to the HLL community may want an insight into what P17 is and what it means moving forward. So we will do our best to describe it here.

After releasing a major game update the team takes time to continue internal testing and QA on it. We also read a lot of community feedback to look for areas of potential improvement. Some of the areas of improvement that we focus on are: Fixing Bugs, Optimisation, Gameplay Improvements, UI improvements, NetCode, Animations, Sound FX and Lighting just to name a few. After the release of update 11 we have been undertaking these tasks and are now in the final stages of testing a viable client for Patch 17. We are looking forward to showcasing what items have been improved upon and what bugs and optimisation we have been able to fix and apply.

Some of the things in particular we have been working on for Patch 17 include:

Mass Disconnect (MDC) during map change
For those who are unaware, the MDC issue is where on some occasions during a map change a percentage of players are disconnected from the server they were playing on, while the remaining players are forced to reselect their team.

This specific issue has been on our radar for quite some time, during which we’ve dedicated many hours into debugging it’s cause. With Patch 17 we’re excited to say that we’ll be testing a speculative fix for the issue in a high-capacity environment during the next PTE.

Loadout Bug
We’ve also enabled some additional logging targeted at identifying the cause of the infamous Loadout Bug. This bug in particular has been an extreme gripe for the team due to the difficulties in identifying reliable steps in reproducing the issue. With the help of this additional logging we hope to get a clearer picture as to what's occurring on a deeper level when a player experiences this issue.

In order for us to narrow down the amount of data the team will be required to manually process, we’ll be providing a new form to submit in the upcoming PTE for any players that happen to experience the Loadout Bug during gameplay.

Grenade Bug
Speaking of gripes, the team are currently underway with investigating the well-known Grenade Bug which occurs when a player attempts to throw a grenade during moments of unstable network connections with the server. We hope to make good headway in securing a definitive fix for the issue but would like to underline that the current state of this issue is a work-in-progress.

QOL Improvements
Along with a lengthy list of bug fixes, Patch 17 will also include a number of QOL improvements to the game including improvements to how the Tactical Map handles zooming and the removal of weapon sway from all binoculars to allow for markers to be placed accurately without the sway movement altering its final placement.

We hope you liked this update of some of the current P17 goodies that we are working on. Rest assured this is just a sample and more items will be apparent once P17 is released and the patch notes are published.

[h2]Community Content[/h2]
We continue to see some great content from the Hell Let Loose community members showcased in the official HLL discord. Separate from the dedicated team of ‘War Correspondents’ the HLL general community comprises every person who is involved with HLL. (That means you aswell!)

Armour Roaming the Countryside - EduNotFound

AT In The Cornfields - Fritz

Keeping An Eye Out For The Enemy - Fritz

Artillery in the fields - by Chrysallia Van Cheems

NrD F A T S A C K S - Guns at the Ready

War Correspondent, Content Creator and Community HLL Videos
Time for some more community highlights from the below creators. We highly recommend giving them a watch.
If you see a Video you like make sure to post in the Discord #hll-videos channel.

Hell Let Loose - Battle of the SMGs! - Monoespacial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YihF3nMPVBk

Hell Let Loose - Infantry movements have NEVER paid off as much as in this Game - Alpine Sniper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6r3rp67o9k

Communication Tips - Hell Let Loose - Gebatron Gaming
https://youtu.be/FOADfNd-vpM

Hell Let Loose Has A BIG 2022 Ahead - TheTacticalBrit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfSg2u98vvI

Don’t forget that if you haven’t checked out the other Hell Let Loose socials you should do so. Like our discord you will find them great places for information and community interaction.

Developer Briefing #161 - 2022 Community Contributors Showcase

Hi Everyone,

Welcome back to the 2nd Dev Brief of 2022, this week we are keeping things short and sweet as the Team continues to focus work on the upcoming Patch 17. In the next couple of weeks we look forward to sharing more information on what to expect in this Patch as well as what exciting new content we have planned.

2022 is looking to be a big year for Hell Let Loose with some amazing updates lined up!

With that said, this developer briefing will be community focused, showcasing some great content from the waves of people who enjoy featuring HLL in videos, screenshots, fanart and more. As we near the release of Patch 17 we'll be sure to spill the beans on all things Patch related including PTE timings.

[h2]Community Content Artwork/Screenshots Feature[/h2]
We continue to see some great content from the Hell Let Loose community members showcased in the official HLL discord. Being separate from the dedicated team of ‘War Correspondents’ the HLL general community comprises of every person who is involved with HLL (That means you as well!).

A great looking Panoramic from our discord members Woo and Kalan

Woo and Kalan - Checking your cover - Screenshot

NRD Fatsacks - Panning the Horizon

Reefa1008 has compiled some fantastic Black and White renders of great HLL screenshots.

Reefa1008 - Advancing through the fields

Reefa1008 - Cover and Fire Black and White

Reefa1008 - Crossing through fire

Reefa1008 - Waist Deep Reconnaissance

Kaptitain Rutain [S D W] has done some great armour screenshots from ingame.

Kapitan Rutain [S D W] - Armour Overwatch

Kapitan Rutain [S D W] - Armour and Artillery Combination

War Correspondent, Content Creator and Community HLL Videos
Time for some more community highlights from the below creators. We highly recommend giving them a watch.
If you see a Video you like make sure to post in the Discord #hll-videos channel.

Hell Let Loose - If HLL was a Call of Duty Mission, THIS would be it - Alpine Sniper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ8QjRQMkJU

STORMING THE BEACHES OF NORMANDY - D-Day - Hell Let Loose - Pixelated Apollo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFJ7WcYZ64M

Why YOU should be playing Hell Let Loose - A 2021 Review - Bulletproof Babies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae3vaa1cOhU

Don’t forget that if you haven’t checked out the other Hell Let Loose socials you should do so. Like our discord you will find them great places for information and community interaction.

Developer Briefing #160 - A Big Start To The Year!

Hi everyone,

As you’ll have seen, Hell Let Loose has become a permanent part of the Team17 family.

This is a huge moment for Hell Let Loose. Here at Black Matter we’ve worked extremely closely over the years with our colleagues at Team17 - to the degree where we work as one single team - regardless of company.

We at Black Matter feel that this is an amazing opportunity to give Hell Let Loose the ultimate boost when it comes to the future - with a much larger, dedicated team striving to continue to push the quality and quantity of content in the game. It’s important to understand that while Team17 have always given us full creative and development control over Hell Let Loose, they have been working with us on a day-to-day basis for the entire time since release. They know the game as well as we do, and have worked with us to take the game from the three-map title of our Early Access launch to the game Hell Let Loose is today. Because of this, we feel extremely comfortable and confident in their ability to not only support the title - but to take it far beyond where it is now.

That said, we know that there are justified concerns around understanding the change, and how it might affect the title. We’ve witnessed the horror stories of core gameplay being compromised, or aggressive game-affecting microtransactions being introduced and more. As such, we’ve laid out a QnA below in the hopes to clarify things.

How does this change the development of Hell Let Loose?

Ultimately, merging the teams will mean that there will be greater fluidity in the way Hell Let Loose is developed on all platforms. A single, centralised team can organise priorities and deliver huge, coordinated impact with the ability to plan both for the short, middle and long term. Initially the largest development goal is some significant housekeeping - to bring the console version of the game to parity with the PC version of the game. Black Matter will still be working on Hell Let Loose full time into the future, as we work on content, bugs and optimisation. We will also be working with Team17 to expand their team.

Does this alter any of the content promises made for the future?

No, all content described is being worked on. With the merging and expansion of the teams, it would not be unusual to actually see an increase in development speed and quality. This includes both future updates and patches, as well as expansions and a sequel. This also includes Kickstarter tier rewards.

Will there be plans for game-altering microtransactions?

No, Hell Let Loose has established the following patterns for additional content: paid cosmetic DLC and paid Expansions. These forms of paid content enable the team to continue supporting the development of the game. As laid out previously, paid Expansions will be introduced in a way that still allows players that own the base game to play them, as we feel that splitting the community across different map packs is detrimental to the game.

Does Team17’s vision for the product differ from Black Matter’s?

No. Everyone on the development team - from both T17 and Black Matter - have come on the journey in both finding the unique DNA that makes HLL what it is. As a team, we know that to compromise on any of those things would be very harmful to the title. It is both Black Matter and Team17’s belief that our difference from other mainstream FPS games is our strength - not a weakness that needs to be corrected.

Finally, on behalf of Black Matter and Team17 we want to thank the community for the incredible support we’ve received since the very beginning. We’re extremely excited to continue the journey of Hell Let Loose as we continue to polish and optimise, as well as create more content - including forces, maps, weapons, game features, vehicles and so much more.

[h2]Community Content[/h2]

We continue to see some great content from the Hell Let Loose community members showcased in the official HLL discord. Being separate from the dedicated team of ‘War Correspondents’ the HLL general community comprises every person who is involved with HLL (That means you as well!).

Let's take a look at some of the fantastic screenshots from a community member [233C] Chrysallia Van Cheems, thanks for some amazing action shots!

‘Overwatch’ - [233C] Chrysallia Van Cheems

‘Taking The Beach’’ - [233C] Chrysallia Van Cheems

‘Holding The Line’ - [233C] Chrysallia Van Cheems

‘Taking A Knee’ - [233C] Chrysallia Van Cheems

War Correspondent, Content Creator and Community HLL Videos
Time for some more community highlights from the below creators.
We highly recommend giving these a watch. If you see a Video you like make sure to post in the Discord #hll-videos channel.

The 2022 Complete Guide to Hell Let Loose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HQ6JXgIROw - TerrydactylGaming

Hell Let Loose - How to play Forest Maps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3f6Wvf0EOI - Monoespacial

How Halftracks Work - Hell Let Loose - Update 11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFGK0LLDzdg - Gabatron Gaming

Don’t forget that if you haven’t checked out the other Hell Let Loose socials you should do so. Like our discord you will find them great places for information and community interaction.

SWAT-inspired Ready or Not loses publisher after confirming a future school shooting level

Kotaku reports that SWAT-inspired tactical first-person shooter Ready or Not from Void Interactive is parting ways with its publisher, Team17. The separation comes after a controversial response from the team to a Reddit post asking whether Void would be putting in a school shooting level in a future update. The response was “you better believe it’s gonna”.

The reason for the split was all but confirmed after news of this response started gaining steam and Void put out a statement meant to diffuse the situation.

Of note is mention of reminding team members to treat touchy subjects with care: “We have recently had to remind certain team members of the required care in discussing this material now and on an on-going basis.” That’s the closest the statement gets to flat-out admitting someone on the team messed up. The statement also reiterates how it’s working closely with law enforcement to make the game as real and considered as possible. Given that many people’s relationship with the police has grown more and more contentious, it could be argued that the entire concept of the game is fraught. Add to that the additional trauma of the United States’ school shooting epidemic and you’ve got an explosive set of themes that even those treating them with the most care would likely fumble.