Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays!



One characteristic of Darkest Hour that has bothered most the developers and I’m sure remains at least a question in the minds of players is the fact that barbed wire is of little significance in levels. One major goal of ours for DH 6.0 was to develop new barbed wire fences and we’ve successfully done it. These fences will not be navigable by infantry and therefore will have large combat significance. We will be giving sappers a new utility item, known as wire cutters to ensure infantry can properly navigate the battlefield. Also vehicles will be able to destroy wire segments to help the infantry. We understand this can change the flow of balance and we can and will generate pre-cut fence sections as needed to ensure the favored DH game-play.

Not only have we got new barbed wire, we have new wooden fences, and gates. Which are also destroyable via armor. Because of the scale of maps and the number of these obstacles, our coder has coded a new system which has very little network impact and is extremely optimized.

For time constraints, we’ve chosen roughly seven maps to expose the new obstacle system on. Because this is the Holidays we’ve chosen to include many screens for your viewing pleasure. We will hopefully have video with wire cutters in action soon. Until next time, enjoy the holidays!

For screens check out our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darkesthourgame

Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays!



One characteristic of Darkest Hour that has bothered most the developers and I’m sure remains at least a question in the minds of players is the fact that barbed wire is of little significance in levels. One major goal of ours for DH 6.0 was to develop new barbed wire fences and we’ve successfully done it. These fences will not be navigable by infantry and therefore will have large combat significance. We will be giving sappers a new utility item, known as wire cutters to ensure infantry can properly navigate the battlefield. Also vehicles will be able to destroy wire segments to help the infantry. We understand this can change the flow of balance and we can and will generate pre-cut fence sections as needed to ensure the favored DH game-play.

Not only have we got new barbed wire, we have new wooden fences, and gates. Which are also destroyable via armor. Because of the scale of maps and the number of these obstacles, our coder has coded a new system which has very little network impact and is extremely optimized.

For time constraints, we’ve chosen roughly seven maps to expose the new obstacle system on. Because this is the Holidays we’ve chosen to include many screens for your viewing pleasure. We will hopefully have video with wire cutters in action soon. Until next time, enjoy the holidays!

For screens check out our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darkesthourgame

Since we announced 6.0 we haven’t made it clear that Cheneux will be added as official. So to recap: Cheneux, Stavelot, La-Gleize, and now Targnon will be 6.0 additions.

After Stoumont came the town of Targnon the furthest reached town of KG Peiper. Targnon another SchutzeSepp’s Ardennes levels has got some new improvements, including a new semi-snow look and conversion to combined-arms. Along with the other maps Targnon has many quality of life improvements.

We are getting closer to testing, but we have one more obstacle to work out.

Since we announced 6.0 we haven’t made it clear that Cheneux will be added as official. So to recap: Cheneux, Stavelot, La-Gleize, and now Targnon will be 6.0 additions.

After Stoumont came the town of Targnon the furthest reached town of KG Peiper. Targnon another SchutzeSepp’s Ardennes levels has got some new improvements, including a new semi-snow look and conversion to combined-arms. Along with the other maps Targnon has many quality of life improvements.

We are getting closer to testing, but we have one more obstacle to work out.

We are now accepting applications for public beta testing!

Signing up is easy! Just join our public Steam group here:

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/darkesthourtestteam

Just show up and have fun! We are excited to offer our testers a sneak peek at new content that has been developed over these past few months.

As always, we encourage all our testers to offer feedback and suggestions on the numerous changes and additions that have been made.

Testing will begin when we feel that the update is scope and feature complete. We cannot give any specific dates as of yet, though we are aiming to begin testing before the new year.

When we are ready to begin testing, further instructions will be provided.

We plan on having one full-scale test session every weekend leading up to our final build submission. The exact times will be subject to change based on the geographical composition of the team.

We are now accepting applications for public beta testing!

Signing up is easy! Just join our public Steam group here:

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/darkesthourtestteam

Just show up and have fun! We are excited to offer our testers a sneak peek at new content that has been developed over these past few months.

As always, we encourage all our testers to offer feedback and suggestions on the numerous changes and additions that have been made.

Testing will begin when we feel that the update is scope and feature complete. We cannot give any specific dates as of yet, though we are aiming to begin testing before the new year.

When we are ready to begin testing, further instructions will be provided.

We plan on having one full-scale test session every weekend leading up to our final build submission. The exact times will be subject to change based on the geographical composition of the team.

Another one of Schutze Sepp's greatest works will be included with 6.0 and Theel has done several iterations to give it the official polish. We have included several screens below showing the changes. La-Gleize was part of the Battle of the Bulge. It is a small village in the Belgian Ardennes, on the afternoon of December 18th KG Peiper (1st SS Panzer “LSSAH”) attacked the village after successfully capturing the town of Stavelot. Defending is the 30th Infantry Division, 119th regiment, 3rd Battalion commanded by Major McCown. La-Gleize has proven it can offer amazing gameplay and besides some minor tweaks, it will remain much the same. If you have any suggestions, please head over to our forums: http://forums.jackbootgames.com/forumdisplay.php?33

Screens:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/538/4iUzZK.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/538/FeAscJ.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/633/jecZSy.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/540/755Tdx.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/674/SQmVsz.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/633/WKczxp.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/673/YVs4Cr.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/661/S4vvZk.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/661/MZgs7K.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/743/ZEMwMu.jpg

Another one of Schutze Sepp's greatest works will be included with 6.0 and Theel has done several iterations to give it the official polish. We have included several screens below showing the changes. La-Gleize was part of the Battle of the Bulge. It is a small village in the Belgian Ardennes, on the afternoon of December 18th KG Peiper (1st SS Panzer “LSSAH”) attacked the village after successfully capturing the town of Stavelot. Defending is the 30th Infantry Division, 119th regiment, 3rd Battalion commanded by Major McCown. La-Gleize has proven it can offer amazing gameplay and besides some minor tweaks, it will remain much the same. If you have any suggestions, please head over to our forums: http://forums.jackbootgames.com/forumdisplay.php?33

Screens:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/538/4iUzZK.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/538/FeAscJ.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/633/jecZSy.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/540/755Tdx.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/674/SQmVsz.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/633/WKczxp.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/673/YVs4Cr.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/661/S4vvZk.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/661/MZgs7K.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/743/ZEMwMu.jpg

It’s time we draw back the curtains a little more.

This week, we have chosen to showcase the polish we have done to Noville. Noville is an Ardennes level created by Razorneck and was released in 4.0 back in June 2010. Over the years, Noville has proven its worth and deserves all the care we have given it recently.

Noville has many changes, including a new terrain, building replacement, building fixes, boundary changes, asset fixes, and will be made into a combined arms map. Many of the changes can be subtle, so we decided to show a 5.1 to 6.0 comparison via gif.

To view the comparisons, visit our forums:

http://forums.jackbootgames.com/showthread.php?7386-Darkest-Hour-Europe-44-45-Returns%21&p=94053&viewfull=1#post94053

We look forward to seeing the improvements in action. Another very exciting change to Noville and other official maps, is that we are removing the need of spawn rooms, we will reveal more about this in a future media release.

It’s time we draw back the curtains a little more.

This week, we have chosen to showcase the polish we have done to Noville. Noville is an Ardennes level created by Razorneck and was released in 4.0 back in June 2010. Over the years, Noville has proven its worth and deserves all the care we have given it recently.

Noville has many changes, including a new terrain, building replacement, building fixes, boundary changes, asset fixes, and will be made into a combined arms map. Many of the changes can be subtle, so we decided to show a 5.1 to 6.0 comparison via gif.

To view the comparisons, visit our forums:

http://forums.jackbootgames.com/showthread.php?7386-Darkest-Hour-Europe-44-45-Returns%21&p=94053&viewfull=1#post94053

We look forward to seeing the improvements in action. Another very exciting change to Noville and other official maps, is that we are removing the need of spawn rooms, we will reveal more about this in a future media release.