Sep 30, 2021
[BETA] Artillery Overhaul
Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy
Hello, everyone!

The new update is looming on the horizon. This Saturday @ 7 PM UTC we'll be running a final beta to get a feel for how the new artillery system will fare in a live game.

The beta test will feature live rounds on Road to Isigny and Stoumont where squad leaders and artillery-men will have to leverage the new indirect fire system to get the upper hand. Mortars and new constructible artillery guns (M116 Pack Howitzer and LeIG18) will be at your disposal.

Don't miss out on the action!



How to participate in the beta testing?

  1. Right-click on Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 in your Steam Library.
  2. Select Properties.
  3. Under the Betas tab pick `prerelease` from the drop-down menu.
  4. Launch the game and join the beta server.

After the event, don't forget to switch back to the normal version. You can do this by selecting `None`.

Make sure to join us on Discord to share your thoughts about the upcoming features and report any bugs you find in the beta release. We appreciate your feedback!

See you on the testing grounds,
Darklight Games
Aug 24, 2021
Patch v9.13.1
Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy
Changelog

# Visual Effects - [Bullet impacts] Optimization pass. - [Bullet impacts] Updated sprites for metal impacts. - [Bullet impacts] Redone wood and cloth impacts. # Maps ## Kriegstadt Advance - [Bugs] Fixed the bug that prevented loading the map (removed bad reference to a missing package in a blocking volume). - [Bugs] Fixed Axis objective spawn hints on the Bank objective. ## Jurques Advance - [Bugs] Fixed Axis minefields to disable artillery protection south of the town. ## Gun Assault Push - [Level] Added a new objective ("Trenches"). - [Gameplay] Minor balance fixes. - [Bugs] Fixed loading screen. ## Leningrad Push - [Gameplay] Changed spawns so they push defenders back when objectives are captured and not on cleared. - [Gameplay] Changes to vehicle roster to fix bottleneck near Axis spawn: * T-34 is active initially. * KVs activates after the first objective. * Heavy KV activates after the second objective.
GitHub
Aug 23, 2021
v9.13 - Jurques / Grease Gun / Bullet VFX
Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy
Hey, everyone! The new update is live!


M3 Grease Gun

Our to-do list for overhauled Allied weaponry has shrunk once more. Thanks to Mechanic, our new animator Aarón, and other team members who helped along the way, Grease Gun has a received a complete visual rework.

Its characteristics remained unchanged though; if this was your favorite weapon in the game, you’ll feel right at home.


Notice the dirt puffs on the ground!


Bullet Impacts

Bullet impacts have received a major step up in quality. Small arms fire now generates a much more distinct and realistic-looking effects. You’ll notice them right away as dirt will shoot high up in the air, and chips and bits will fly off wooden and rocky objects.


Unique impact effects include: wood, dirt, snow, plants, rock, concrete, paper, brick, blood, water, sand, and more.


Jurques Advance

Finally, this update takes us to Jurques, a small French town near Caen. Jurques Advance is a medium-to-large sized advance map, which boasts detailed French suburbs, wide grassy countryside, Churchills, Jagdpanthers, and plenty of “Bawbag!” to go around.

Some of you got familiar with Jurques during Beta. Thanks to your feedback, we’ve been able to identify and fix a bunch of issues, and get it ready for the release!






Full Changelog

# Weapons - Replaced M3 Grease Gun model, animations, and sounds with new revised versions. # Constructions - Introduced limits to the amount of construction types a team can build. # Vehicles and guns - Added new Pantherturm AT gun (disabled Panther; static asset placed by mappers). - Added missing periscope to the BT-7 gunner's position (currently uses the same periscope overlay as the T-34, both of which need to be replaced in the future). - Fixed broken ammo hit points on the BT-7. # Effects and Audio - Overhauled bullet impacts for every material type (dirt, concrete, sand, etc.). - Added new victory songs for German team. # Bug fixes - Fixed key-bind hints shown when interacting with AT guns. - Fixed the bug that allowed players to go into iron-sight view during “first-draw” animations (while unfolding stocks, etc.). - Set appropriate material types in every texture package (DH). # Maps ## Jurques Advance - Added to the roster! ## Rederitz Advance - [Gameplay] Added tank support for Allied team. - [Gameplay] Removed Watchtower and Flak 88 constructions. - [Level] Expanded flanks. - [Level] Added more cover. - [Level] Increased the chance for some obstacles to spawn broken. - [Level] Miscellaneous minor fixes. ## Butovo Advance - [Gameplay] Added another final objective. - [Gameplay] Activated ISU-152 earlier (+2 available). - [Gameplay] Added +1 heavy KV-1. - [Level] Added trenches. ## St. Marie-du-Mont Advance - [Gameplay] Reduced Allied respawn interval for the first objective slightly. - [Gameplay] Implemented AT gun limits. - [Vehicles] Put a limit on Sherman tanks for the Allies, now 12 max spawns. - [Level] Added 2 new flanking routes for Allies to enter the town itself. ## Gun Assault Push - [Gameplay] Added a starting "gimme" objective to give Axis some time to defend the bridge. - [Gameplay] Reworked spawn points slightly to hopefully improve the flow of the map. - [Gameplay] Gave Axis a single PzIII N as per the old version of this map. ## Dead Man's Corner Push - [Gameplay] Removed Geballte Ladung from Axis tank hunter class. - [Gameplay] Reduced Allied reinforcement interval. - [Level] Added blocking volumes to various hedges around the map to prevent people from climbing on top and laying in the shrubbery. - [Level] Moved some Allied spawns to hopefully give more cover. ## Armored Krivoi Rog - [Gameplay] Changed tank loadouts to make the map a little more authentic and balanced. - [Level] Added spawn protection minefield to Allied main spawn. - [Bugs] Defending side set to "none" (Clash map). ## Hedgerow Hell Advance - [Gameplay] Implemented AT gun limits. ## Pariserplatz Defence - [Gameplay] Implemented AT gun limits. - [Gameplay] Reduced Axis supplies. - [Gameplay] Reduced both team's tank counts (Allies down to 2 max active and Axis down to 1 max active). - [Bugs] Miscellaneous. ## Winter Stalemate Clash - [Bugs] Fixed a bug where half-tracks and logistic trucks counted towards the vehicle limit. - [Level] Moved the Center objective volume to be more balanced. - [Level] Added radio triggers to the map. ## Kommerscheidt Advance - [Gameplay] Tweaked tank loadouts. - [Gameplay] Gave Allies more artillery to compensate for their inferior tanks. - [Level] Added artillery triggers to various static radios on the map. ## Stoumont Advance - [Level] Removed default Allied HQ. - [Level] Added anti-precap minefields to protect Allied spawns. - [Level] Added objective spawns for Allied on the final cap. ## Dom Pavlova Advance - [Gameplay] Added objective grouped bleed for the last 3 objectives. - [Gameplay] Increased capture rate. - [Gameplay] Increased allies respawn by 5 seconds. - [Gameplay] Reduced reinforcement tickets by -2 for both sides. - [Level] Added objective spawns for Axis. ## Kriegstadt Advance - [Gameplay] Added new Pantherturm to the map. - [Gameplay] Reworked an existing building near the Hotel objective to give Axis a better defensive position. - [Gameplay] Implemented new AT gun restrictions. - [Gameplay] Rebalanced roles. - [Gameplay] Reworked Axis tank loadout, Axis now get significantly fewer tanks and several unlock progressively as objectives are taken. - [Gameplay] Disabled Watch Tower construction to reduce exploiting. - [Level] Moved several pre-placed AT guns. - [Bugs] Miscellaneous bug fixes.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Jun 6, 2021
v9.12 - D-Day 77th Anniversary
Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy
Hey everyone,

Today marks the 77th anniversary of the largest sea and airborne operation in history and we’ve prepared a special release for the occasion. The main focus of this update is upping the quality of long-standing DH content, introducing new Normandy maps, and adding a few quality-of-life features.

To commemorate the D-Day anniversary we're also switching our infantry servers to western maps for a whole week.

Now come and look at what we have in store!


Willy’s Jeep & GMC CCKW

The Willy’s Jeep and GMC CCKW have been completely re-modeled and re-textured, vastly surpassing the old models in quality and detail. Since both vehicles are featured extensively on Soviet and Commonwealth battles as well, each vehicle now also has faction-specific skins.

Be on the lookout for more full re-models and vehicle replacements in the future!






M1 Garand

The visuals for this iconic weapon has been reworked from the ground up with a beautiful new model and handling animations. The rifle behaves identically to the old one, but now players will no longer lose their bullets on partially expended clips. In other words, bullets pulled from partially expended clips will be automatically combined into a full clip to be reloaded later.

Keep an eye out for more complete weapon overhauls in the future as we continue to upgrade the visuals and feel of the Allied arsenal.




Pegasus Bridge Advance

The location been meticulously and faithfully recreated from every old photograph and reference we could get our grubby hands on. All the notable landmarks are there: Café Gondrée, miscellaneous houses and bunkers, a functional Pak-38 Tobruk gun guarding the crossing, and of course the iconic bridge itself.

This is a medium-sized Advance map, and so will be perfect for between 24 and 64 combatants.






Hedgerow Hell Advance

In this iteration, Hedgerow Hell has received a lot of detail work and has been expanded with new areas. Another significant change to the map is its conversion to Advance game mode, which will give the map a fresh new perspective and momentum.






Map search feature

As our map roster grows, finding maps on the voting screen can be cumbersome. To solve the problem, we’ve added a nifty search bar for quickly looking up your favorite maps!




Full Change Log

Weapons
  • Remastered M1 Garand model and animations.
  • Added a feature that allows M1 Garand users to keep ammo after partial reload.
  • Updated G41 reload animations, iron-sight view, and added a bayonet.
  • Corrected SVT-41, G41, and G43 rifle animations to keep the bolt open.
  • Added alternative SVT/AVT-40 reload animations (6 in total).
  • Changed SVT-38 to use stripper clips and single rounds instead of magazines.
  • Reduced M1 Carbine reload speed.
  • Resized the M1928 drum mesh (the old one was too big).
  • Adjusted BAR texture color.
  • Other minors changes to various weapons.

Characters
  • Adjusted third-person bolt-action reload animations to be in sync with first-person animations.
  • Updated third-person shovel animations.
  • Added a new third-person animation for M1 Garand reloads.

Vehicles
  • Fully reworked GMC CCKW truck and Willy’s Jeep (with lots of new variants).
  • Added Pak-38 w/ Tobruk housing (unique gun for Pegasus Bridge map)
  • Reduced BA-64 maneuverability.

Interface
  • Added a search bar to the map voting screen.
  • Updated voting limits for all maps.

Bug fixes
  • Fixed a long-standing Red Orchestra bug where firing a weapon would spontaneously switch to a recently acquired item, if that item was picked up during reload.
  • Fixed a bug where auto-fire weapons in single-shot mode would play incorrect animations after releasing the fire button.

Maps

Pegasus Bridge Advance
  • New map!
Hedgerow Hell Advance
  • New map!
Rederitz Advance
  • Added 4 rifleman roles for Allied team equipped with SVT-40.
  • Allies can now have 2 Universal Carriers active at the same time.
  • Miscellaneous bug fixes.
La Gleize Advance
  • Added minefield protection for Axis.
  • Added 2 assault roles for Axis.
  • Shrunk down Town Hall objective.
  • Moved Allied objective spawns farther back.
  • Moved anti-precap minefields farther back.
  • Optimization pass.
  • Added Panzerfausts for Axis sergeant roles.
  • Adding more cover around first three objectives.
  • Made Panzer IV and Sherman 75mm spawns unlimited.
Poteau Ambush Advance
  • Made first objective non-recapturable for Allied team.
Kriegstadt Advance
  • Reduced the amount of Axis supplies.
  • Added extra cover and a static radio at Junction objective.
  • Boosted Allied artillery.
  • Reduced the number of Panzerfaust pickups.
  • Miscellaneous minor changes to the map layout.
Ogledow Clash
  • Slightly rebalanced tank loadouts.
  • Increased Allied and Axis max logistic trucks to 3.
  • Reduced BA-64 spawns to 2 and increased respawn timer.
  • Miscellaneous bug fixes and tweaks.
Caen Advance
  • Fixed objective bug.
  • Increased Allied reinforcements.
  • Added Axis objective spawns.
Road to Isigny Advance
  • Added Greyhound armored car to Allies with 4 spawns.
  • Increased Stuart spawns to 5.
  • Increased Allied and Axis reinforcements by 2.
Armored Celles Clash
  • Fixed a bug where Allies could spawn tanks inside main spawn corridors.
Reichswald Advance
  • Buffed allies: more tanks, more artillery, logistics, two Churchills, more Combat Engineer roles, new loadouts for SLs.
  • Weakened Axis: limited logistjc trucks to 5, removed one tank hunter role, removed one MG role


See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games
Apr 15, 2021
[BETA] Hedgerow Hell & M1 Garand
Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy
Heyo!

As the next release is closing in, we'll be running a beta test to iron out all the kinks and hear your feedback on the upcoming updates.

Come and join us this Friday @ 7 PM UTC to try out the new M1 Garand and the overhauled Hedgerow Hell map. Everyone will be issued a mandatory Garand without exceptions!




How to participate in the beta testing?

  1. Right-click on Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 in your Steam Library.
  2. Select Properties.
  3. Under the Betas tab pick `prerelease` from the drop-down menu.
  4. Launch the game and join the beta server.

To revert back to the normal version, select `None`.

See you on the testing grounds,
Darklight Games
Apr 1, 2021
Why my head is so big?
Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy
Your head is so big because you’re smart, dummy!

Have you ever left your subordinates alone in a heat of a battle, or abandoned your squad leader when he needed you the most? How about neglecting your assistant duties? If the answer is “yes”, that means you’re a tactical genius! You got places to be, big fish to fry; you’re playing 5D chess while them fools are playing checkers. There’s just no time for all that nonsense.

To fit all the intricate plans you’re cooking up in your head, you must have an enormous cranium. So enormous in fact, that it might get a bit unwieldy. But worry not, when enemies will see your mighty balloon heading their way, they will surely surrender right away.

We’ve added a nifty indicator right next to the compass to help you keep track of your ever growing intellect. Keep an eye on it!

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games
Mar 20, 2021
v9.11.3 - Rhine River & Flakturm Tiergarten
Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy
Heyo, everyone! The new release is live!

Rhine River

Originally, Rhine River was never meant to be more than a quick sketch of a map, but despite its "blank slate" appearance, the map managed to gather interest among players. In this release our level designer Bäckis went on and gave Rhine River a massive visual overhaul, transforming it into a proper DH map.

The overhaul includes enormous detailed forests, lively terrain, expanded town areas with enterable buildings, and all kinds of new points of interests scattered across the map (bunkers, forest camps, etc.).









Flakturm Tiergarten

Flakturm received a nifty visual update and been expanded to include new areas. The battle now carries into Zoo Tower interior where Polish troops will have to fight its stubborn defenders all the way to the top floors







Sneaky Rally Points

There's been an important gameplay change to our rally point system: squad leaders can no longer place rally points inside enemy-controlled territory\. Rally points that end up being swallowed by the encroaching Danger Zone will still be usable (and visible to enemy team) like they used to.


For a full list of changes check GitHub release page.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games
Mar 6, 2021
v9.11.0 - Rederitz Advance
Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy


Hello there! The new update is live!

This release brings a fresh new Advance map to our collection. The new map features snowy landscapes of rural Poland and the village of Rederitz—one of the few strongholds positioned at the main line of Pomeranian Wall.

Rederitz Advance is a mix of trench lines, woodsy areas, and house-to-house fighting; all packed into a lengthy, but straightforward Advance layout. This is our second map to include Polish People’s Army, which now takes its official place among Darkest Hour factions.

The update also includes a boatload of map fixes and other various updates; look below for a detailed list.

It's worth mentioning that some of our community members left their mark on the development of this level. We'd like to thank Rolandz and Rotzlöffel for giving us a hand with testing and ironing out major bugs on Rederitz before the release.







Change Log

Maps

Rederitz Advance
  • New map.
Wanne Advance
  • Updated map overview to include new farmhouse and forest areas.
  • Increased interval timer between artillery calls to reduce artillery spam.
  • Re-balanced ticket progression.
  • Slowed the capture rate of the "Lower Wanne" objective.
  • Moved Axis respawn time modifier to activate when "Defensive Line" objective is captured, increasing base Axis respawn interval to 18 seconds.
Rakowice Advance
  • Re-balanced tanks on the map using historical unit information (Credit to Ts4EVER for the research).
  • Re-balanced objective layout, capture speeds and role loadouts.
La Gleize Advance
  • Fixed the bug where Axis half-tracks would never activate.
Winter Stalemate Clash
  • Fixed bug where lockdown on middle objective would only activate when it was recaptured, not on first capture.
  • Increased lockdown timer on middle objective to 6 minutes and slowed capture speed.
  • Decreased respawn timer on logistic trucks to be in line with other maps.
  • Made Panzer III Ausf. J and BT-7 spawns unlimited.
Leningrad Push
  • Fixed bug where players would get stuck on stairs leading out of Soviet spawn on final objective.
  • Fixed the bug where blocking volumes prevented artillery from functioning on the map.
  • Added single artillery strike for Soviet team.
  • Placed usable radios in Allied and Axis main spawns.
  • Increased respawn timer on KV-1S to 90 seconds (was 60).
  • Added spawn protection minefields to Axis main spawn, and progressive minefields to protect Soviet forward spawns.
  • Moved Axis main spawn into a safer location.
  • Created a new first objective near Axis main which unlocks a new spawn point.
  • Changed objective volumes on "AT Position" and "Searchlight" to encompass the entire buildings, but switched the capture type to require the objectives be cleared.
  • Increased round timer to 35 minutes (was 30).
  • Fixed the bug that allowed Axis to spawn 3 tanks simultaneously.
  • Re-balanced roles on both teams.
  • Changed resupply volumes to give ammo every 20 seconds instead of every 2 minutes.
Armored Celles Clash
  • Added new snow camo skins for the Marder, King Tiger and Jagdpanther.
Armored Tank Clash At Bastogne Advance:
  • Added new snow camo skin for King Tiger.
Hurtgenwald Advance:
  • Evened out team balance ratios.
  • Extended "Trenches" objective to cover more of the capture area and slowed the capture speed.
  • Added cooldown timers to artillery on both teams.
  • Gave Axis one additional MG role and moved StG 44 to assault trooper roles.
Berezina Advance & Klin 1941 Advance:
  • Made Panzer III Ausf.J and BT-7 tank spawns unlimited.
Myshkova River Advance & Valko Advance
  • Added Marder III Ausf. M (snowy variant)
Gorlitz Push
  • Added Axis vehicle spawn that activates after "Central Square" objective.
La Fiere Advance
  • Role changes.
Lyes Krovy Defence
  • Role and reinforcement adjustments.
Road To Isigny
  • Fixed the bug where Axis reinforcements wouldn't drain at the final objective.
  • Updated map overview.
  • Balancing adjustments.
Cholm Advance
  • Set Axis logistic truck to a reasonable spawn time (80 secs).
  • Minor bug fixes.
Kriegstadt Advance
  • Added an additional logistic truck for Allied team (activates after Ruins objective).
  • Minor bug and exploit fixes.
Butovo Advance
  • Fixed an "off-map" exploit.

Vehicles
  • Marder III Ausf.M: Added new camo variants.

Characters
  • Added grey Polish tunic.
  • Minor changes and improvements for Polish uniforms.

Miscellaneous
  • Added Polish "merch" (interface art, flags, etc.).

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games
Jan 26, 2021
v9.10 - Allied Weapon Overhaul, Vol. 1
Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy
Hello, everyone!

We hope you're having a great 2021 so far. As our first release this year, we're excited to present you the new and updated BAR, a range of beautiful new M1 Carbines, and some other goodies.

Weapons

Browning Automatic Rifle M1918A2

In this update BAR received a complete rework and it never been looking sexier! Its characteristics were updated as well, making it more controllable and a joy to shoot.

Fun fact: the bipod on the new BAR uses procedural animation and swings around with your movements.



M1, M1A1, and M1/T17 Carbines

The trusty Carbine comes in 3 variants, including a converted selective-fire version (T17). Just like BAR, this rifle was reworked from the ground up, and takes the spot as one the most well crafted weapons we got in the game.

The models for BAR and the Carbine were designed by our community member and a talented 3D artist eksha.



Volkssturmgewehr 1-5

This German ersatz semi-automatic assault rifle was developed in late 1944 as dwindling materiel and manpower put pressure on wartime industries to make cheaper and more primitive weaponry. It might not be the prettiest "gewehr" on the field, but it might just save your life!



Miscellaneous
  • New Kongsberg Colten M/1914 pistol available for German troops.
  • Sweeping changes to all weapon gun sight pictures to improve feel and consistency.
  • All scoped (Textured and 3D) were updated to have proper magnification and field-of-viev.
  • Reduced spread on all rifles.

Interface

To help with spatial awareness inside tanks, the HUD received a nifty little feature which shows player’s cone of vision. This feature should be especially helpful when looking through periscopes, but can be disabled in the setting if you wish so.



Vehicles

The vehicle roster got updated with new camos for the King Tiger and the Hanomag. Our newest team member Matty provided us with these lovely winter paints.

Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B Camos







Sd.Kfz. 251 Whitewash Camo



Maps

Armored Voronezh Clash
Author: Bäckis

This is a new Armored Server map for players who love rolling though never-ending, flat grasslands, inhaling gas fumes mixed with a refreshing breeze of Ukrainian steppes.



Other map changes

Wanne Advance
  • Added new farm near the final objective.
  • Added south-facing windows to Manor and the nearby garage.
  • Added snowy variants of the King Tiger and the Sd.Kfz. 251 Half-track.
  • Added new M1/T17 carbine to Allied Corporal role.
  • Hetzer now unlocks when Woods objective is captured.
  • Implemented experimental ticket progression: Axis now start with 350 tickets and gain significantly more by capturing objectives, up to a maximum of 800 tickets for all objectives captured.

Radar Advance
  • Scaled down the downed glider to a sensible size.

Minor fixes and adjustments
  • Valko Advance
  • Kriegstadt Advance
  • Konigsplatz Push
  • Fallen Heroes Clash
  • Armored Studzianki Clash
  • Armored Bautzen Clash

Bug fixes
  • Fixed the bug with Panzer IV F1 shells flying on wacky trajectories.
  • Fixed the bug where pre-placed HQs would prevent players from building new HQs nearby after their destruction.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games
Dec 23, 2020
v9.9.10 - Road to Isigny
Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy
Happy Holidays, everyone!

A new map will be joining our roster just in time for the holiday season. Some of you might be familiar with Road to Isigny, an old DH classic that's been off the radars for quite some time. Today it makes a comeback all brand new and shiny.

The town of Isigny-sur-Mer was liberated by Allied forces on 9th of June, 1944 by a conjoined effort of 175th Infantry Regiment and 747th Tank Battalion. This map follows the advance of US troops along the road leading to the town, featuring a grassy terrain with lots of vegetation, borrow ditches, and lonely houses for players to take cover in.

In this update, Road to Isigny received a complete rework and was expanded to accommodate the Advance game mode. Hurry up to the servers and check it out!









See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games
...