Hell Let Loose News

Hey everyone,

We hope you’re having a fantastic time with Update 1 and our new map, Utah Beach! Rest assured we’ve been combing through your comments and feedback and making plans as we move forward towards our next patches and Update 2.

To let you know what the team are currently working on following Update 1, Lead Developer Max is has written a message for the community:




Thanks for a great launch for Update 1. It was great to jump in with you and take notes across all our feedback channels as to some of the key issues we should tackle next.

As you’ve probably started noticing if you’ve been following the project for a while - we don’t consider any aspect of Hell Let Loose finished and know that there is plenty more to do in every department before we’d consider the game anywhere near representative of a final experience.

Right now we’re deciding on our full Update 2 commitment - making sure we feel we can achieve whatever we share with the community. While the Update 2 content is important, we feel that at this stage there are several endemic bugs and issues that are significantly hampering great gameplay - server browser issues, VOIP issues, unit management mechanics and anti-griefer mechanics.

We’ll be patching these issues as quickly as possible and won’t follow the Update schedule, as we feel that addressing these will significantly improve the experience for all players. In addition to this, we’re also working full-time on addressing RCON systems for server hosts and working to give them more power in the way they’re able to administer their servers.

While these are some key issues for us as a whole, we’re continuing upgrades to SFX, HUD, UI, animation and weapon handling. You’ll see these continue to roll out in both patches and the larger Updates as we progress.

Once we’ve locked our content for Update 2, we’ll release an updated roadmap graphic. Rest assured that at any time we always have several maps in development, new vehicles and a whole bunch of other goodies.

And now for something slightly different…




Many of you have probably noticed the various critters dotted around our maps that have shifted their mortal coil. From cows to chickens, rats and now fish!

But how do these models get made and what makes them look so lifelike? Well, in the case of our fish we (well, one person), had to really dive into their role.

Please note: The sealife featured was not meant for human consumption and no fish or crab were harmed for or during the process of creating the assets. Only the hands, clothes and stomach of our Lead Artist – Danny. We aren’t going to post the source imagery either, because we value your enjoyment of your dinner.




We spoke to Danny on the process that went into creating Utah Beach’s fish:

For many assets, including the fishes and sealife of Hell Let Loose - Utah, Photogrammetry was used. (This meant Danny actually had to obtain and photograph the source material, aka the fish)



Multiple images from multiple angles were loaded into Agisoft Metashape. In here the photos were auto aligned and formed a Point Cloud. This Point Cloud was used to generate a high poly 3D mesh and textures from the photos.





After the Photogrammetry process, the high poly 3D mesh and textures were Exported into xNormal to bake the base Albedo, Normal and Ambient Occlusion textures. Meanwhile, the decimated mesh was created in Meshlab and Unwrapped in Maya.







The base textures were loaded into Substance Painter. In Substance the gaps and holes were painted out using the clone/stamp tool. Additional dirt, materials and details were added if needed, and the final textures were loaded into Hell Let Loose to be used by Will to scatter around for all our eyes to enjoy.






There's still time to take advantage of our 15% Update 1 Discount until 6pm BST on July 25th!

Join the frontline here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/686810/Hell_Let_Loose/

Hi everyone!

We've released a small hotfix to address a couple of server and VoIP issues.

Changes listed below:

• Fix to improve current voice chat problems being experienced by users
  
• Fix to problem where some users were unable to use RCon to connect to rented servers
  

See you on the frontline!

Hi everyone!

We’re excited to introduce our first ever Update! U1 contains the all-new Utah Beach map, light tanks, resource nodes and many more smaller changes and fixes. Each Update will mix totally new content and features with continued improvements and fixes to every aspect of the game.

We don’t consider the Hell Let Loose experience finished. Every day we look at Discord, Steam discussions, the official forums and the subreddit to see what you’re enjoying and to see where the community think the game could be improved. The challenge of developing an Early Access title is that it’s imperative that we balance the workload of the team so that we’re able to address existing issues without compromising our ability to introduce new features and content.

We’ve been very fortunate in the success of our launch as it’s enabled us to bring on new team members to both take existing content to a much higher quality level, as well as work on totally new content.

Finally, we wanted to thank you - the community - for such a great launch. It’s amazing to see the great way you’re introducing new players to the game and helping them get involved. We’re really excited to see players who’ve never considered this genre begin to dip their toes into the pool, as well as offer something a bit different to veterans of the genre.

Below you can find the list of changes contained in this update. We’re excited to get your feedback on them - good and bad - as we continue to develop and push the title forward.

Check out our new Utah Beach trailer:

https://youtu.be/QzLFuaW-ohM






This map has been hugely fun to develop. It mixes the Atlantic Wall defensive network with beach terrain, with sunken countryside, urban fights, and lots of new challenges - including navigating drainage ditches and bodies of water. We’re also excited to see how it plays out in the soon to be implemented second gamemode, Invasion.



This thing is an infantry death machine. The name of the game of the Luchs is hit and run. Firing an explosive auto-cannon - it’ll rip apart infantry and lighter armored vehicles with ease.



Similar to a more lightly armored Sherman, the Stuart relies on its speed to quickly flank and strike. Using speed to strike will be crucial to survivability.



Fuel, Munitions and Manpower Resource Nodes added to the Engineer role list of deployables. You’ll be able to see their modifier for resource generation on the HUD and on the map screen.

Starting resources for teams have been reduced to 500 from 1000 in order to better balance out resource quantity and encourage resource node placement.



Water now functions in game to slow players down as it gets deeper. Submerging yourself will also cause you to drown.

• Reworked tracers for better performance, visual quality, depth and light. They are now 3D.
  
• Fix for known config file exploits (fog removal etc.)
  
• Improved visibility of bullet hit effects at 50m, 75m, 100m, and 125m distances.
  

• Optimised Smoke Grenade FX
  
• Continued radical optimisations for both texture streaming and poly count across every map and prop.
  

• Added FOV slider (with first-person FOV compensation). Currently boosting the FOV to 120 offsets the muzzle flash FX in FPP. We’re going to introduce a fix for this.
  
• Server browser now displays better in lower resolutions.
  
• Fixed sector capture cool-down UI issue where map icon could appear in the wrong state.
  
• Changed nameplate settings options so that these should be clearer to users.
  
• Compass HUD element has been upgraded.
  
• Loadout HUD element has been upgraded.
  
• Scoreboard and end of round screens have been upgraded to better show all information.
  
• Made VoIP chat name colours better visible on deployment screen.
  
• Allowed players to disable all icons in HUD.
  
• All in-game URLs now launched through Steambrowser.
  
• Adjustment for Depth of Field when bandaging.
  
• If leaning when deploying a LMG the player no longer remains in a lean.
  
• Dismembering critically wounded friendlies no longer counts as a TK.
  
• Added option to allow you to hard toggle chat box visibility.
  
• Updated medic revive icon.
  
• Tank UIs have been updated and will continue updates.
  
• Tanks have a new reticle for the Hull MG.
  

• Artillery sounds re-worked in order to create a less muddy dynamic range with increased modular debris fall-off.
  
• Close bullet fly-by sounds have been reworked.
  
• Hearing an impact sound when giving up has been fixed.
  

• Overhaul of central SP’s to introduce stronger fortifications and more solid cover.
  
• Fixed small clipping issues.
  
• Fixed locations players could become stuck on level geometry.
  
• Added fog to better help with longer range depth perception.
  

• Altered layout of hedges to better allow tank access.
  
• Lowered total sun brightness to reduce clipping on highlights.
  
• Fixed locations players could become stuck on level geometry.
  

• Fixed tank collision issues on small props
  
• Added select cover and trenches in locations that caused meat-grinder pushes through open ground.
  
• Fixed locations players could become stuck on level geometry.
  

• Tweaked vehicle main cannon fire shake so that it doesn’t roll so excessively
  
• Added Depth of Field effects added to weapons for hipfire and ADS
  
• Post-processing effect has been added to all UI screens to give them added vibrancy and visual quality.
  
• Fix for explosion FX playing on the wrong axis - causing majority of the explosion to occur in the wrong direction.
  
• Starting to overhaul the main menu screen in preparation for cosmetic/progression systems.
  
• Artillery explosions have increased debris (now matching the audio).
  

• Fixed delay on BAR ADS animation if user had reloaded immediately before ADS
  
• Luger magazine now present in TPP for reload animations
  

• Improved network/server optimisation to help improve situations where users would see other players moving in a stuttering/’teleporting’ fashion depending on object relevancy and priority
  
• Fix issue where tank shells could delay 1-2 seconds after impact before detonating
  
• Fix for issue where tracers may not be correctly aligned with the direction of fire for LMGs and Tank MGs
  
• Increased character limit on scoreboard from 16 to 20
  
• Fixed issue where engineers could dismantle pre-placed tank resupply stations
  
• Fixed issue where hit indicator did not correctly work with sniper rounds
  
• Fixed issue where garrisons did not consume commander airdrop supplies
  
• Fixed issue where player could be listed as ‘no platoon’ on the scoreboard after team switch
  
• Fixed issue where users could see the other teams resource values on their map after team switch
  
• Fixed some instances of overly aggressive grass LODing
  
• Fixed issue where users could join an enemy unit based on timing specific actions
  
• ‘Change Map’ window can no longer be stuck on screen if active when a game ends by victory
  
• Fixed problem where users could hear smoke grenade audio from a previous life
  
• Fixed the issue with the player remaining in the idle animation if he sprints whilst crouched as seen from the FPP
  
• Fixed the issue with reviving a player who was crouched before he shot as he would appear to jitter in TPP after having been revived
  
• Fixed the issue with driving over the scorched craters causing the effect to appear in/on the driver's viewport
  
• Fixed the issue with scorched earth effect visible over wrecked tanks
  
• Fixed cases where it was difficult to determine speaking players in the UI.
  

• Sometimes (1/10 chance) when deploying a resource node, the node will be invisible and cannot be deconstructed although it still provides resources to the deploying team. This will be hotfixed.
  
• Firing into water produces a bullet hit from the surface beneath the water in addition to a water particle.
  

Hey everyone,

Welcome to Developer Briefing 33! This week we’re going to be sharing some of the new content that’s coming in tomorrow’s update.

This Developer Briefing isn’t fully comprehensive of what’s coming in Update 1, we’ll be revealing everything in our patch notes tomorrow.

Now onto the content!






As spotlighted in Developer Briefing 31, Utah Beach, our next map, is arriving in Update 1.



From the infamous beach itself to the waterlogged countryside, playing on Utah will be unlike anything you’ve experienced on our existing maps.

Be warned: Water now functions in-game to slow players down as it gets deeper. Fully submerging yourself will also cause you to drown.

From a design perspective, we’re keen that water in Hell Let Loose has a similar function that we’ve read in veteran accounts. Fundamentally, it should slow you down as a natural barrier - causing overladen soldiers to drown should they fall into deep water. Similarly, it’s makes significant noise to wade through - creating a new dynamic that makes it much easier to pinpoint enemy movement and location from audio alone.

From the shoreline...

To the dunes.

Utah Beach will be playable in our existing Warfare mode, as well as Invasion mode when it launches later this year.

Whilst the beach and the fortifications that surround it will be heavily utilised in Warfare mode gameplay, you can expect a dedicated beach assault style experience for the map in Invasion further on in Early Access.




Utah Beach also heralds the arrival of two new vehicles, the Luchs and Stuart Light Tanks!



Available on every map, these will supplement the existing tank offering on each side.

Whilst lacking the raw firepower and armour of their bigger brothers, Light Tanks excel at mobility and utility on the frontline. Infantry harassment, scouting and supporting their Medium Tank counterparts in armour battles is the mainstay of these tanks – they’re also much easier to hide!

The Luchs

Auto-cannon time!

The Stuart

Ready to punch above its weight!




As covered in our recent Developer Briefing 32, Resource Nodes are further building on the strategic layers of Hell Let Loose.



Players (Engineers) will now be in a position to dynamically create resource nodes - structures that generate a supply line of resources per minute in order to fuel frontline combat. In addition, these act as objectives and points of interest that you’ll either want to defend or attack, depending on who’s side the nodes are on. Bear in mind that the further towards the frontline you place your nodes, the more resources they generate per minute.



Not only does this give players more areas to potentially clash in a match, but successfully utilising nodes will pay dividends to both your Commander’s ability to call in their skills and ensuring your artillery can continue firing through the whole match.

This is the first iteration of Resource Nodes. We’ll be expanding their on-the-ground functionality so that they’ll be immediately useful to ground troops.

For a full breakdown on Resource Nodes, head over here.




Just because we’re bringing in a new map, it doesn’t mean we’re not going to keep giving our existing ones some love and attention!

Sainte-Marie-Du-Mont is getting some quality of life tweaks and hedge layout changes to give tank players a more fluid experience.

Foy is receiving tank collision fixes, as well as the addition of some select cover and trenches in areas that we feel needed some attention.

Then there’s Hurtgen Forest, which is getting a facelift for Update 1!

Perfect for MGs!

Hurtgen’s central Strongpoints are getting overhauled to introduced stronger fortifications and cover options for both attackers and defenders.

The Scar just got even more brutal!

Bunker anyone?




Tomorrow when Update 1 goes live we’ll be sharing our full Patch Notes which includes bug fixes, optimisation and SFX improvements, quality of life changes (FOV SLIDER!) and more.

We’re incredibly excited to welcome you to Utah Beach tomorrow. To celebrate we’ll be streaming Hell Let Loose live on our Steam Store page from 2pm BST / 3pm CEST for a couple of hours. Feel free to stop by and let us know what you think of the update, as well as dropping us any questions you may have in chat!

See you on the frontline!

Hey everyone,

Today we're excited to let you all know that Update 1 will be available to all players this coming Thursday, July 18th.

We'll be revealing what new content you'll be getting to grips with in tomorrow's Developer Briefing, which will be followed by Patch Notes when the update drops on Thursday.

In the meantime...



See you on the beaches!