Jul 30, 2022

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - Dark Nation

Hello again! We're back with another update, and this one is high-impact!

Squad Leader Changes

We are making some long-requested changes to the squad system. These changes are intended to discourage "lone wolf" squad leader behavior that leaves the squad leader either absent from the front-lines or distracted trying to fulfill a job tied to their chosen role.

The squad leader no longer gets a shovel to build (the squad leader can still place constructions for squad members to build)
Squad leaders can no longer occupy the following roles on Advance & Clash game modes:
- Mortar Operator
- Radio Operator
- Anti-Tank Soldier
- Sniper
- Machine-Gunner

We understand this is a large (and maybe painful) change to how players have expected the system to work, but we feel that this will have an overall positive impact on the overall play experience for everyone.

We will monitor the impact of these changes and may make ammendments based on feedback.

Gameplay

Command text chat channel is now unavailable for squad leaders without subordinates
You must have at least 3 squad members in order to call for off-map artillery
All vehicles can be used as team-wide infantry spawn points so long as the vehicle is behind your team's safe zone
If a vehicle is not in the safe zone, it can still be used as a spawn point for the first 20 seconds after it spawns
"Permanent" spawn vehicles can no longer be spawned on if they are behind the enemy's safe zone
Players killed within 7 seconds after spawning on vehicles will disable spawning on the vehicle for 30 seconds (note that the Higgins boats are excluded from this rule)

Interface

Enemy map markers will now fade away slowly over time, making it easier to see which marks are most recent

Vehicles

Added a new summer camouflage pattern for the M4A1 Sherman 76(W)

Miscellaneous

Error messages are now displayed when the player tries to join a voice channel they do not have permission to access

Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug where players could be left in the command voice channel after dropping the role of squad leader
Fixed a bug where some radios would not be visible on the map
Fixed a bug where squads would sometimes be unable to create rally points after the round was reset

Maps

Armored Hill 112

Fixed a bug where progression could be deadlocked after the Axis recaptured the first objective
Replaced early version of Cromwell with late version

Armored La Champagne

Brightened the map slightly
Replaced all 2D trees with 3D ones
Balanced tank loadouts by giving Allies more Fireflies and Achilles
Added mipmaps to all textures previously missing them
Added a number of radio around the map

Butovo Advance

Fixed a bug where the Axis would lose their vehicle objective spawns after capturing a certain objective
Reduced all Soviet KV type spawns by 1

Godolloi Advance

Disabled Flak 88 construction
Tightened gun limit restrictions for Axis
Reduced the capacity of the Axis main base supply cache from 8000 to 4000

Les Champs de Losque

Fixed a bug where the Allied main cache was absent
Fixed a bug where the ladder at Courimette Farm would not work
The M16 Halftrack no longer counts against the team's vehicle limit

Rabenheck Advance

Fixed a bug where the bridge objective could become disabled and deadlock progression

Reichswald Advance

Added missing Corporal and Sergeant roles for the Allies
Added Radio Operators for both teams
Gave the allies a Cromwell 95mm for bunker-busting
Fixed incorrect weapon loadouts

Stoumont Advance

Objectives captured by the Axis will be locked down for 270 seconds
Objectives recaptured by the Allies will be locked down for 30 seconds

Smolensk Advance

Expanded the final objective volume to include the village area
Added a Soviet supply cache near the final objective

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Jul 9, 2022

v10.5.4 - Quality of Life Spawning Changes

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - Dark Nation

Quality of Life

A new system has been added that will invalidate the player's spawn point selection upon death if a more desirable spawn point becomes available.

The list of spawn point desirability is listed below, in descending order of desirability:

Paradrop
Squad Rally Point
Platoon HQ
Objective Spawn
Progression Spawn (Push-style spawn points)
Main Spawn

For example, if the player has a Platoon HQ selected as their spawn point and dies, but a Squad Rally Point is available, the player's spawn selection will be invalidated and the they will be prompted to select their spawn point.

This generally allows for better spawn option discovery (especially important for new players!), and also eliminates the common annoyance of accidentally spawning back at main spawn when better options become available throughout the match.

Bug Fixes

Fox Green Defence now has correct information on the map voting screen
Fixed a bug where guns constructed by the enemy team could count against your own team's gun limit

Jul 2, 2022

v10.5.3 Patch Released

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - Dark Nation

v10.5.3 has been released!

This update brings a number of bug fixes and numerous level tweaks and updates. Below are a list of all the changes.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug where vehicle respawn times could grow out of control after the maximum number of active vehicles was increased during the round (this caused the bug on Cambes en Plaine where Shermans could not be spawned after capturing the first objective)
Fixed a bug where players that dropped the squad leader would be kicked from leadership roles on maps where those roles were not restricted
Fixed a bug where it was impossible to kill drivers of the following vehicles with small arms:
- Sd.Kfz 251 (and all variants)
- T60
- KV-1E
- SU76-M
- BA-64
- BT-7

Gameplay

Level designers can now set a custom limit to the amount of supply points at main caches.

Levels

Cambes en Plaine Advance

Reduced max supply count of the Axis main cache from 8000 to 4000
Prevented Axis main spawn from changing after a certain objective was captured

Fox Green

Fixed terrain issues

Hill 112

Increase Achilles spawns by 1
Reduced Jagdpanther spawns from 6 to 4
Increased Baron-sur-Odon lockdown time from 5 to 15 minutes
Changed all trees to lower-poly versions
Changed German roles from Panzerlehr to Waffen SS
Added more cover and detail at Road to Baron-sur-Odon
Various graphical bug fixes

La Feuillie

Added new overview

Lyevs Krovy

The number of tickets for both teams now scales with the player count

Pariserplatz Defence

Removed German main supply cache
Prevented construction of vehicle ammo
Reduced IS-2 spawns from 6 to 4
Reduced Pakwagen spawns from 3 to 2
Reduced Soviet artillery strikes from 4 to 2
Reduced Open Blitz (Logistics) spawns from 3 to 2

Rhine River

Added progressive minefields for both teams

Smolensk Advance

The number of tickets for both teams now scales with the player count

Armored Tractable

The round will now end after 75 minutes has elapsed

Winter Manor

Added wire obstacle fences to last objective
Added foxholes and moved cover between Trenches and Road Approach objectives

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Jun 25, 2022

v10.5.2 - Cambes en Plaine Advance

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - Dark Nation

Hello again!

This update brings a new Advance version of the popular map Cambes en Plaine! In future updates, we plan on converting more Clash maps to Advance as we feel the maps tend to flow better and have a better sense of progression. The Clash versions will still be available while we see what players prefer.

This update also has some loadout changes and a huge list of map changes and fixes, all of which can be seen below.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug where the paratrooper radio call-in would not work.

Weapons

The M1897 shotgun now has tigher spread and does slightly more damage.

Loadouts

The M3 Greasegun and Springfield are no longer available by default for US Radio Operators and Tank Hunters.
The M1 Garand is now available by default for US Combat Engineers.
Replaced the Thompson 20rd. with the M3 Greasegun for US Corporals.
Soviet Tank Hunters no longer have access to the explosive satchel on every map.
Adjusted availability of default Mosin Nagant variants on many Soviet roles.
Soviet Assault Troopers now have access to the PPD-40 on most maps.
German Radio Operators now have grenades.
German Combat Engineers no longer have access to the Gebalte Ladung on every map.
German Tank Hunters no longer have access to the Gebalte Ladung on every map.

Maps

Cambes en Plaine

New Advance version is now available.

La Fiere

Added advancing minefields for both teams.
Fixed Causeway objective spawn locations.
Decreased Axis Machine-gunner roles from 3 to 2.

Myshkova River

Adjusted lighting to be less off-putting.
KV-1E now properly activates on objective capture.
Reduced the players required to capture the first two objectives from 8 to 6.
Decreased Axis Machine-gunner roles from 3 to 2.
More obstacle constructions are now available.

Freyneux

Fixed a bug where the map would always end in a draw if the time limit was reached.

Eindhoven

Changed game mode to Domination.

Kharkov

Reduced artillery for both teams.
Fixed objective bugs that were preventing Bridgehead and Church from closing.
Fixed some holes that allowed players to get under the map.
Added more cover for Guard's House objective.
Added more tanks and tank slots to make the map suitable for the armoured server.
Added sandbags around Church objective to give defenders more cover to hold objective.

Hill 112

Baron-Sur-Odon is now recapturable.
Re-balanced tank loadout.
Edited objective layout and added a new objective.

Vieux

Fixed missing last objective.
Added more cover around the map.
Replaced incorrect winter hedges with summer ones.
Removed objective spawns due to persistent spawn camping.
Added more radio triggers.

Debrecen

Changed game mode to Domination.

KrivoiRog

Changed game mode to Domination.

Carpiquet Airfield

Added objectives spawns for Allies.
The Allies now have 2 Churchill tanks.

Fox Green

Added missing overview.
Increased Allied artillery strikes from 2 to 4.

German Village

Added missing overview.

La Feuillie

Changed objective flow in the final caps so that only 2 objectives are open at once instead of 3.

Merderet

Fixed a bug where the Allied victory song would be from a different faction.
Fixed Axis main spawn issue that could cause tanks to spawn inside each other.
Added SdKfz. 10/5 and SdKfz. 251 for the Axis.
Reduced Tiger spawns to 2 but made 1 unlock just before Bridge objective.
Removed duplicate Axis mortar role.

Valko

Fixed a bug where the minefield timers were too short.

Pegasus Bridge

Disabled construction of howitzers.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

May 24, 2022

v10.5.0 - Quality of Life

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - Dark Nation

Hello, folks! We are back with another quality-of-life release that brings a number of much requested changes and a number of fixes to maps.

We are excited for the coming weeks, as we have a large amount of new content that is nearing completion. We can't wait for you to get your hands on it. Keep an eye out for it soon! In the meantime, here is the change log!

Gameplay

Fixed an exploit where players that were previously squad leaders could maintain their restricted role after leaving a squad or making someone else the squad leader (players that lose their SL status will be switched to the first unlimited non-leader role, typically Rifleman)
When reloading, the player will now prioritize loading the fullest magazine available
Removed the requirement that a certain percentage of reinforcements be lost in order to initiate a vote to retreat
Air-burst grenades will no longer do less damage than grenades that have landed on the ground
Fixed the construction placement radius of the Flak 88 to match it's footprint
Eliminated the disparity between the fire rates of the G41, G43 and M1 Garand (all weapons are now capable of firing 4.65 rounds/second)

Miscellaneous

Removed the "Extra Large" map category, as the voting category was too restrictive

Maps

Miscellaneous

Added Radio Operator roles to over a dozen of maps that were missing them

Armored Kharkov Advance

Fixed a bug where objective progression could become deadlocked

Armored Vieux Advance

Increased capture time on all objectives
Added Koenigstiger, Stummel, Sd.Kfz 10/5, Pakwagen, Hetzer and StuH 42 for the Axis
Added Achilles for Allies
Reduced the amount of Tigers from 2 to 1 and the number of Panthers from 6 to 3 for axis
Reduced the amount of M3A1 Stuarts from 2 to 1
Reduced the amount of Sherman Fireflies from 5 to 4
Added some spawns to reduce travel times
Fixed some floaters & terrain holes
Increased brightness and fixed some lighting issues
Added some new buildings and statics to Road to Caen, Haut, Railway Yard and South Farm
Fixed a visual bug where binoculars would be displayed incorrectly
Removed some low quality trenches
Replaced a number of low quality trees with higher quality ones

Butovo Advance

T34/76 and Panzer IV tanks are now unlimited
The ISU-152 now unlocks earlier
Added objective vehicle spawns

Champs Advance

Fixed a bug where objective progression could become deadlocked

Flakturm Tiergarten Defence

Added a construction restriction volume at the rear of the Flakturm

Fury Advance

Fixed an issue where some objectives would not lock after being captured by the Allies
Significantly reduced the lock timer when Germans recapture some objectives

Godolloi Advance

Fixed a bug where objective progression could become deadlocked

La Feuillie Advance

Restored halftrack MDVs for both teams

Myshkova River

Removed the first two objectives
Removed Vehicle Pool from constructions
Combined Myshkova Intersection & Bridgehead into one objective
Added objective spawns & pre-cap minefields
Revised roles, vehicle loadout & artillery
Static radios are now functional
Replaced low-poly trees with higher quality ones
Replaced static AT guns with usable ones
Added Radio Operator for the Germans

Rhine River Clash

Fixed a bug that caused an invisible wall around the Axis main spawn

St. Marie du Mont

Fixed a notorious floating hedge
Increased the number of artillery strikes available for both teams
Removed pistols from American Rifleman roles

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Dec 25, 2021

v10.3.0 - Les Champs-de-Losque

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - Dark Nation

Our elves have been busy in the workshop this holiday season!

Introducing a brand new map, Les Champs de Losque! This is the first map by community member Cpt. Caverne. We'd like to thank everyone who participated in the map's beta test earlier in the year and provided helpful feedback! We will monitor how the map plays and squash any bugs or game-play issues that might surface in the coming days.

In addition to this brand new map, a new Clash version of Jurques has also been slipped in your stocking!

You can see the full change log below.

And now for a personal aside:

It's around this time of year that we reflect on how we are so grateful to be able to work together and build on a game that has endured for over 13 years. The gaming landscape has changed so much since 2008, and it's an increasingly rare thing that a small dedicated group of people would continue to volunteer their precious time and talents to build upon and improve this free mod.

Thank you to all of our developers and players, past, present, and future.

We hope you all stay warm and safe this season.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

New Maps

Jurques Clash
Les Champs de Losque

Map Changes

Flakturm Tiergarten Defence

Added some weak artillery for Allies.
Gave Axis a single Panther that unlocks in the middle of the map.
Removed Allied ticket gain from capturing objectives.
Set tickets to use the scaling system.
Fixed Axis spawn hint that would cause players to fall on spawn and break their legs.

Kommerscheidt Advance

Implemented three lines of anti-precap minefields.
Reduced Axis tickets factor to 27 from 30.
Reduced Axis respawn interval by 5 seconds to help prevent them from losing momentum as easily.
Fixed incorrect victory music for the Allies.
Fixed typo in the Intersection objective name.
Added a basic map description and preview image for practice mode.

La Fiere (Day)

Hand-tuned the danger zone to make more sense.

Pariserplatz Defence

Fixed an exploit that would allow players to get under the map.
Placed some spawn hints on the other side of the Reichstag to help prevent the Allies getting bottlenecked in their spawn at the beginning of the round.

Rabenheck Advance

Added a new objective at the bridge, plus new defensive emplacements to go with it (extended trench line, new bunker, cleared some trees and added some new cover for the Allies).
Added anti-precap minefields behind each objective.
Expanded minefield protection around initial Allied spawn.
Implemented anti-tank gun limits.
Reduced Allied respawn interval to 10 seconds from 30.
Reduced Allied ticket bleed rate slightly.
Rebalanced roles and tank loadouts.
Removed a bugged minefield from the final objective.
Gave both teams additional artillery strikes and added several static radios around the map.
Fixed a bug with some fluid surfaces.
Added new raindrop emitters to the river and other bodies of water.
Fixed some bugged objective progression dependencies.

Simonskall Push

Reduced respawn interval of both teams from 20 seconds to 10 seconds.
Gave Allies a small amount of artillery and a radio operator.

St. Marie du Mont Advance

Fixed incorrect victory music for the Allies.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug where AT launchers could fail to spawn a projectile.

Nov 26, 2021

[BETA] Les Champs-de-Losque + Jurques Clash

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy

Hey, everyone!

We got a couple of maps in store that are ready to receive their "trial by fire" before getting released into the wild. This Sunday @ 7 PM UTC we'll be running a beta test which will include the new Les Champs-de-Losque and the continuation of the battle for Jurques.

Check the instructions below on how to participate. Everyone is welcome to join!

Jurques Clash

Les Champs-de-Losque Advance

How to participate in the beta testing?

Right-click on Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 in your Steam Library.
Select Properties.
Under the Betas tab pick `prerelease` from the drop-down menu.
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` in the drop-down menu.

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

Nov 26, 2021

Patch v10.2.673

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy

Cagny Recon

Today's weekly update includes a new rendition of the Armored Cagny map that only features light and fast moving vehicles. This version of the map was brought to you by an ace tanker and the menace of the armored server — Klunk.

Worth noting that Allied teams on both Cagny maps have been switched to the British faction which is historically correct for the setting,

Rabenheck

Another notable change was Rabenheck Advance. Apart from a number of bug fixes, the map has been updated with a new Bridge objective and additional encampments in its vicinity.

Full changelog

# Vehicles - [Stummel] Fixed the bug where players could enter non-existent passenger seats. - [Stummel] Fixed the bug where non-crewmen could enter the gunner's seat. # Maps ## Armored Cagny Recon Advance - Added a new variant of Cagny with light/recon vehicles only (Author: Klunk). ## Armored Cagny Advance - Reworked the map to use the correct British faction for Allies instead of US. - Updated minefield timers to not kill players instantly. - Replaced missing mipmap field textures with proper version from DH packages. - Various bug fixes. ## Rabenheck Advance - Added a new objective at the bridge. - Added defensive emplacements near the bridge (extended trench line, new bunker, and extra cover). - Cleared out some trees and added extra cover for the advancing team. - Added anti-precap minefields behind each objective. - Expanded minefield protection around initial Allied spawn. - Implemented AT gun limits. - Reduced Allied respawn interval to 10 seconds. - Reduced Allied ticket bleed rate slightly. - Re-balanced roles and tank loadouts. - Removed a bugged minefield from the final objective. - Gave both teams additional artillery strikes and added several static radios around the map. - Added new raindrop emitters to the river and other bodies of water. - Fixed bugs in objective progression. - Fixed volume issue that could make it difficult to blow up the destructible part of the Siegfried line dragon's teeth. - Various minor bug fixes. ## Simonskall Push - Reduced respawn interval of both teams to 10 seconds. - Gave Allies a small amount of artillery + a radio operator. ## Kommerscheidt Advance - Implemented three lines of anti-precap minefields. - Slightly reduced Axis tickets. - Decreased Axis respawn interval by 5 seconds to help prevent them from losing momentum as easily. - Fixed wrong victory music group for Allies. - Fixed typo in the Intersection objective name. - Added a map description and preview image for practice mode. ## St. Marie-du-Mont Advance - Fixed wrong victory music sound group for Allies. ## Flakturm Tiergarten Defence - Added some weak artillery for Allies. - Gave Axis a single Panther that unlocks in the middle of the map. - Removed Allied ticket gain from capturing objectives. - Set tickets to use the scaling system. - Fixed Axis spawn hint that would cause players to fall on spawn and break their legs. ## Pariserplatz Defence - Fixed an exploit that would allow players to get under the map. - Placed spawn locations on the other side of the Reichstag to help prevent the Allies getting bottle-necked in their spawn at the start.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Nov 12, 2021

Patch v10.2.672

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy

A new weekly patch has been released! Check the changelog for details:

# Vehicles ## BT-7 - Removed the intermediate positions in the turret that made the tank wonky to operate. - Fixed the appearance of the destroyed mesh. - Fixed the speeds of wheels and treads. # Maps ## Konigplatz Push - Made team ratios even. - Reduced respawn intervals to 10 seconds. - Reduced tank counts for both teams. - Gave Soviets a small amount of artillery. - Added a limited amount of artillery for Soviet team. - Added static radios. ## Cheneux Advance/Push - Added satchel charges to US Combat Engineer role. ## Bridge Assault Push - Fixed roof textures. ## Armored Tractable Advance - Added new tanks for both sides. ## Armored La Feuille Advance - Allowed HQ and VP construction. ## Dom Pavlova Event - Added a special version of Dom Pavlova for a community event (you can find more details about the event on Discord).

GitHub

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Nov 3, 2021

Patch v10.2.670

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 - dirtybirdy

The weekly patch is out!

This update focuses on fixing a few visual bugs and updating Flakturm Tiergarten to sort out a number of gameplay issues it had.

Flakturm has been known for its harsh first objective that would often turn into a meat grinder and leave Allied team locked at their main spawn. In this iteration, along with other tweaks, the initial part of the map has been expanded to give both teams more room to wiggle.

Check the full changelog for details:

# Bug fixes - Fixed missing textures on 3rd person RPG-43 mesh. - Fixed missing destroyed overlays (burnt effect) on various German vehicles and static meshes. - Fixed a bug where a player's off-map fire support marker would disappear if an "artillery hit" marker was created afterwards. # Maps ## Flakturm Tiergarten Defense - Expanded the initial part of the map (the University building and its nearby street are now accessible). - Re-balanced tank loadout. - Changed the objective layout and spawn point locations. - Removed a number of destroyable walls in Hertzalle to improve the flow in that area. - Added extra cover at crucial locations. - Added more accessible rooms at Sportsplatz Entrance objective. - Reduced the amount of Allied assault troopers to 4. ## Stavelot Push - Fixed the incorrect season setting (affects barrel overheating, and other miscellaneous mechanics).

GItHub

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games