Hell Let Loose News

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!

Hey everyone,

Welcome to Developer Briefing 32! This week we’re officially revealing ‘Resource Nodes’, the first stage of new features designed to add further RTS style tactical depth and player options to our existing Warfare game mode.

Resource Nodes will be arriving in Update 1 alongside other new content such as Utah Beach, but what are their purpose and how will they change the meta?

Let’s find out…




Resource Nodes are a new deployable for Engineers that generate resources per minute for your team.

These nodes come in three different varieties – Fuel, Munitions and Manpower.

German Resource Nodes

Successfully utilising these new tools will keep your Artillery firing and allow your Commander to utilise their abilities more often and for longer in a match.

To add to the importance of Resource Nodes we’re reducing the starting amount of all resources to 500. If you want those Arty guns to keep firing, you’d best build up and protect your infrastructure!

• Deployable by Engineers at a cost of 50 supply each
  
• Can only be built in controlled territory
  
• Each node generates 5 resource a minute at base level.
  
• Can be dismantled by any enemy players
  
• Can be dismantled by any friendly players
  
• Immune to weapon damage
  
• Only two resource nodes of each type can be constructed per team – A maximum of 6 per team.
  
• There is no spacing rule on how close Resource Nodes can be built next to each other
  
• Scaling resource generation based on location
  
• Cannot be built in HQ Sectors
  
• Losing the territory they’re in WILL NOT destroy them
  
• Captured territory will still generate passive resource income.
  

To add a further element of risk – reward to Resource Nodes, they will gain substantially more supplies the further they are away from your HQ Sectors. We’ll break it down below:

• First row after HQ = x1
  
• Second row after HQ = x2
  
• Third row after HQ = x3
  

And so on!

Players will need to decide whether they keep their Resource Nodes near strongpoints or build them in a location(s) away from the focus of combat to keep them safer.



If you do decide to build a Resource Node hub away from a strongpoint, keep in mind that you’ll still encounter enemy scouts, vehicles and flanking units – as well as a potential call for strongpoint backup from Command if the enemy make a push into your territory.

US Resource Nodes

You probably spotted the point we made earlier about losing the territory that a Resource Node is in will not destroy it, unlike Observation Posts and Garrisons.

This rewards tactical placement and can even lead to some soldiers staying deep behind enemy lines as they secure a vital resource feed for their team to fuel a counterattack. Oh and make use of mines, they can make defending your Resource Nodes a lot easier!

If your team has just taken an enemy territory, it might be worth sending a unit or two to sweep the area for any entrenched foes and their nodes…




That wraps up our introduction to Resource Nodes! With this addition we’re hoping to add a new layer of strategy to Warfare mode and give players more tactical decisions and combat options that take advantage of the whole map in every match they play.

Keep those supply lines open or feel the effects of attrition…

See you on the frontline!

Hey everyone,

Welcome to Developer Briefing 31! This week we’re taking a first look at some of the new map features that players will be contesting with when Utah arrives later this month.

From the beach itself and the bunkers that litter the battlefield to the unique terrain that you’ll be contesting, this briefing will give you a first real glimpse at what’s coming in our next map.

We’re not revealing everything today though; we’ll leave a few surprises for you…




June 6th, 1944 signalled the start of the Allies liberation of German-occupied France as a land, sea and air invasion began across multiple fronts.

In that assault five beachfronts were chosen as landing locations for allied forces coming from Britain, with one beach on the Cotentin Peninsula being the target of the US 4th Infantry Division, 70th Tank Battalion as well as the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. That beach was Utah.

Draw your battle lines, the Utah tactical map is here!



Surprising absolutely nobody, one of Utah’s prominent features is the beach itself, which serves as the US Forces HQ in the existing ‘Warfare’ mode. When ‘Invasion’ mode launches further down the line, this initial location for the US forces will be far from safe at the start of a match…



Fighting in this area will be unlike anything seen in our existing maps, with bunkers and elevated terrain becoming key tactical locations for all forces engaged in that area.



Machine Gunners will be incredibly strong when utilising bunkers, giving them the ability to cover and suppress huge swathes of the map in relative safety. Knowing how to both support and counter them will reward tactically mindful units.





Whilst a significant landmark, the beach itself is just one part of the overall map. After progressing past the beach players will find themselves moving inland and into heavily fortified countryside…

From the sands of the coastline…

To the flooded fields

You’ll be fighting over trench systems and military checkpoints to secure a variety of different strongpoints to lock down suitable Garrison areas for your team.

Where are your papers?

A prime location for your team’s Commander?




Utah will be coming to Hell Let Loose, alongside other new content mid-July. We’re just in the process of adding some polish and locking in the final build before we give you all a fixed date, so watch this space!





Resource Nodes! We’ll be showcasing and explaining this upcoming content feature that will add further tactical depth and strategic options, both offensively and defensively for the existing ‘Warfare’ mode.

We’ll see you on the frontline!

Hey everyone,

We've just deployed a small patch to address the following issues that have been reported to us:

• Changed default VoIP, microphone, and audio settings to better normalise VoIP volume levels for new users.
  
• VoIP icons now display for users when the map is open.
  
• Fixed an issue where sometimes users would not be properly connected to the leadership VoIP channel.
  
• Fixed an issue where warning or error dialogues would automatically dismiss rather than wait for user input.
  

The team are aware of other areas that need addressing thanks to your feedback and we're currently working on fixing those too, including but not limited to Proximity VoIP and missing servers on the server browser.

Thank you all for your patience and support whilst we address known bugs.