Developer Briefing #39 - Player Customisation!
Hey everyone,
This week's Developer Briefing is straight from Lead Developer Max as he shares a more in-depth look at our upcoming customisation system!
Over to you, Max!
Hi guys!
Update 2 will see the introduction of the early stages of the cosmetic system in Hell Let Loose. Tying in to a much broader array of systems, we had several goals we wanted to accomplish with it:
1: provide a way to personalise your appearance with historically accurate uniforms.
2: to display veterancy and experience in-game as a reward for long term players.
3: to capture the huge iconic array of uniforms and helmets seen during World War Two.
For us this has been a huge design challenge. We’ve tried to strike a balance between absolute accuracy to what each soldier was wearing for each force at each battle - while also allowing some flexibility in appearance.
In Hell Let Loose, your appearance is broken up into three different aspects across each of the 14 roles. Per army, this becomes 28 separately customisable roles - not including forces added at a later date.
Helmet:
While a plain old feldgrau Stahhelm is nice, a camouflaged one wrapped in scrim is better. Whether you want to play as a specific historical company or stand out in your unit, we’re excited to allow you to bring some quickly recognisable personality to your unit.
Character:
From looking like Band of Brother’s green recruit Albert Blithe, through to the grizzled face of Brad Pitt’s Don "Wardaddy" Collier from Fury, we’ll be adding many different characters.
Uniform:
Enlist in the standard US summer uniform, rug up with a winter coat, throw on an assault vest, or hunker down in a splinter camo smock, each role has a specific array of uniforms to unlock and use. They’re designed to be a quick way to determine the experience of the players around you.
Each of these items will be unlocked in multiple ways. Many tie into our Role leveling system - where playing a particular role continuously will slowly unlock more and more uniform options (for instance, the winter uniform is one of the first unlocks).
Other items will be unlocked through our Player levelling system - the overarching level that determines your experience with the game as a whole.
Yes. It’s important to us that we make sure a particular item is role specific so as not to break immersion. This means that cosmetic items will only be available to the roles that are appropriate - such as Officer helmets only being available to Officers! It also means we won’t be allowing tank crewmen to wear sniper veils.
We’ve bought the cosmetic system in now as it’s largely entangled with a wider array of systems - including our player account system, progression system, weapon selection system and full TPP and FPP animation and look overhaul (which in turn ties in to our development of soft-skinned wheeled vehicles) . By bringing this in now, we won’t need to double back on work or risk breaking things at a later date.
The Barracks is now available from the main menu. There you can customise each role to your heart's content.
Should you want to change your uniform or helmet to something more map-appropriate while in-game, you can do so when you select your role after joining a unit. We are currently working to implement this alongside the ability to select a specific weapon or equipment loadout per role
Equip your soldier for any front!
As you rank up and gain role experience, you'll be able to unlock unique cosmetics to inspire your allies and strike fear into your foes!
See your uniform in all its 360 degrees glory!
Thanks for reading this week’s dev briefing. Next time we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the pros and cons of the Tiger - also arriving in Update 2. We’ll also be unveiling our updated roadmap. We know that Update 2 is short on maps, but have no fear - Update 3 is not far behind and will contain new maps and other goodies.
If you’re enjoying Hell Let Loose, you can help us by leaving us a review on Steam.
See you on the frontline!
This week's Developer Briefing is straight from Lead Developer Max as he shares a more in-depth look at our upcoming customisation system!
Over to you, Max!
Cosmetics in Hell Let Loose
Hi guys!
Update 2 will see the introduction of the early stages of the cosmetic system in Hell Let Loose. Tying in to a much broader array of systems, we had several goals we wanted to accomplish with it:
1: provide a way to personalise your appearance with historically accurate uniforms.
2: to display veterancy and experience in-game as a reward for long term players.
3: to capture the huge iconic array of uniforms and helmets seen during World War Two.
For us this has been a huge design challenge. We’ve tried to strike a balance between absolute accuracy to what each soldier was wearing for each force at each battle - while also allowing some flexibility in appearance.
How does it work?
In Hell Let Loose, your appearance is broken up into three different aspects across each of the 14 roles. Per army, this becomes 28 separately customisable roles - not including forces added at a later date.
Helmet:
While a plain old feldgrau Stahhelm is nice, a camouflaged one wrapped in scrim is better. Whether you want to play as a specific historical company or stand out in your unit, we’re excited to allow you to bring some quickly recognisable personality to your unit.
Character:
From looking like Band of Brother’s green recruit Albert Blithe, through to the grizzled face of Brad Pitt’s Don "Wardaddy" Collier from Fury, we’ll be adding many different characters.
Uniform:
Enlist in the standard US summer uniform, rug up with a winter coat, throw on an assault vest, or hunker down in a splinter camo smock, each role has a specific array of uniforms to unlock and use. They’re designed to be a quick way to determine the experience of the players around you.
How do I get new helmets, heads and uniforms?
Each of these items will be unlocked in multiple ways. Many tie into our Role leveling system - where playing a particular role continuously will slowly unlock more and more uniform options (for instance, the winter uniform is one of the first unlocks).
Other items will be unlocked through our Player levelling system - the overarching level that determines your experience with the game as a whole.
Will cosmetics be role specific?
Yes. It’s important to us that we make sure a particular item is role specific so as not to break immersion. This means that cosmetic items will only be available to the roles that are appropriate - such as Officer helmets only being available to Officers! It also means we won’t be allowing tank crewmen to wear sniper veils.
Why did you implement a cosmetic system now? Surely there are more important things to work on!
We’ve bought the cosmetic system in now as it’s largely entangled with a wider array of systems - including our player account system, progression system, weapon selection system and full TPP and FPP animation and look overhaul (which in turn ties in to our development of soft-skinned wheeled vehicles) . By bringing this in now, we won’t need to double back on work or risk breaking things at a later date.
Where do I apply my cosmetics?
The Barracks is now available from the main menu. There you can customise each role to your heart's content.
Should you want to change your uniform or helmet to something more map-appropriate while in-game, you can do so when you select your role after joining a unit. We are currently working to implement this alongside the ability to select a specific weapon or equipment loadout per role
Equip your soldier for any front!
As you rank up and gain role experience, you'll be able to unlock unique cosmetics to inspire your allies and strike fear into your foes!
See your uniform in all its 360 degrees glory! Thanks for reading this week’s dev briefing. Next time we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the pros and cons of the Tiger - also arriving in Update 2. We’ll also be unveiling our updated roadmap. We know that Update 2 is short on maps, but have no fear - Update 3 is not far behind and will contain new maps and other goodies.
If you’re enjoying Hell Let Loose, you can help us by leaving us a review on Steam.
See you on the frontline!
Smaller, more detailed hands.
More detail in the wrists.
Visible veins and skin detail.
Crinkles and imperfections will give a more ‘worn’ feeling to the sleeves.
Indentations and creases will be prominent too!