Hey everyone,

We've just deployed a Hotfix after seeing feedback that the Vote Kick system wasn't behaving as intended.

• Fixed an issue that allowed players to vote kick members of the enemy team
  
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to be vote kicked with only 2 votes

We hope you're all enjoying Update 8 so far!

Rest assured we're eagerly going through everyone's feedback and will continue to do so over the coming weeks.



The Winter Warfare Helmet Pack free DLC is live now!

1 x US Winter Toque
1 x German Winter Toque
1 x White Painted M1
1 x White Painted M42

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205050/Hell_Let_Loose__Winter_Warfare_Helmet_Pack/

The pack is only available for a limited time, so grab it while you can!

See you on the frontline!

Hey everyone!

Welcome to Update 8: The Red Ball Express.

Named after the famed Allied supply chain, we felt this was an appropriate name to introduce all the large changes we’ve made to the Support and Engineer roles, the addition of supply and transport trucks, as well as unveil new Hurtgen to you all.

There are more than 1000 changes in Update 8 - both front end and back end. While the time elapsed between Update 7 and Update 8 has been significantly longer than usual, it’s given the team a chance to regain some energy and work through some persistently frustrating issues. We know we still have much more to do to bring Hell Let Loose to a state of quality that we’re happy with, but we hope you enjoy all of the quality of life, performance and functionality changes Update 8 brings with it.

Below we’ll be listing the biggest changes. As always, we’re watching feedback roll in across all our channels. We’ll be playing the game with you and collecting feedback. At the bottom of the changelog you can also see what we’re eyeing up for coming updates.



Patch Note - Once you've patched Hell Let Loose to Update 8 please verify your 'Local Game Content' on Steam.


Classic map Hurtgen Forest has been fully overhauled!



On top of that we've expanded the available modes on the map.

• Updated Hurtgen Warfare
  
• Added Hurtgen German Offensive
  
• Added Hurtgen US Offensive

Supply and Transport Trucks are now live in-game!

Get a detailed breakdown of their role on the frontline in their dedicated Dev Brief here.




Take down enemy Fortifications, set traps and ambush the opposing team with the addition of the Engineer's Satchel Charge!

Full details on this new piece of equipment can be found here.



Just remember where you planted yours...



Shape the Frontline with new faction specific defences!

Engineers and Support players can now work together to create focused defences at key points on the frontline.



Top Tip: Multiple Engineers can work together on a single item to build it quicker!



The Grease Gun has been added to the US arsenal in select loadouts!



Best deployed in CQC situations, you can find out more about this new weapon here.



Choose your cover wisely as bullet penetration is now live!

Full information on this new mechanic can be found in its dedicated Dev Brief here.





We've refined infantry hit boxes and limb damage behaviour to further improve infantry combat and reward accurate shooting.

This will also further define certain weapons and make them standout in their preferred ranges and combat scenarios. You can read more on this here.


Does exactly what it says on the tin! Hell Let Loose now runs on Unreal Engine 4.25!

• Reduce the amount of garrisons that can be placed per team down to 8 from 10.
  
• Increase the distance in which Garrisons can be placed next to each other, from 100 meters to 200. This is to create a more decisive weight of numbers on key locations and reduce the “whackamole” that occurs. We’ll be watching this very closely.

Resource Conversions

You can now trade a larger quantity of one resource for a smaller quantity of another resource. The idea here is to allow Commanders the ability to better balance their resource pools at the cost of additional expense when converting.

We feel that this is a good way to enable astute Commanders to redistribute their resources as needed.

• Implemented ballistics system to all vehicles for coaxial and hull MGs (no more Star Wars lasers).
  
• Reduced belt size on coaxial and hull MGs to limit continuous spam and encourage selective use of them (especially now that they are easier to guide onto target).
  
• Implemented base roster of vehicles across all maps. Please note: we will alter this slightly as time goes on.
  
• We have increased the speed of the K98k bolt cycle.
  
• Introduced bullet penetration to all weapons.
  
• Slightly reduced grenade fatal explosion range to better emulate the real values.
  
• Changed number of buildable resource nodes to 4 per type.
  
• Slightly increased M1 Garand and BAR vertical recoil to make it harder to keep on targets at 50m +
  
• Added Blowtorch for all repairs.
  
• Added Hammer to build deployables.
  
• Wrench now functions as a way of placing and laying out deployables.
  
• Added handheld Supply Boxes.
  
• Added three types of Ammunition Box.
  
• Added Satchel Charge to German and US forces.
  
• Added M3 Grease Gun to US forces.
  
• Added first round of destruction to player deployed objects.
  
• [Fixed] 'Encouraged' can be used before the first sector has been captured
  
• Worked to better define when a player takes damage (a screen effect now plays at the exact point of damage) vs when they are suppressed.
  
• Recon marks now only show to specific roles and unit types (Commander, Officers, Recon Units, Armor Units).
  
• Improved hit rejection and detection across a wide spectrum of pings.
  
• We now reward all vehicle occupants when that vehicle gets a kill.
  
• Players will now no longer receive the ‘You killed a friendly’ notification if they dismember a friendly with a grenade while the friendly is in a critical condition.
  
• Unit list on HUD now shows critically wounded or dead players.
  
• All actions in the game now reward experience. Supplies, Ammo and Spawns will only reward significant experience on their consumption or usage (and only a nominal amount on the actual dropping).
  
• Due to the importance of the Commander, players must now reach Career level 10 to be able to access the role.
  
• Removed sprint camera shake and movement from playing when strafing left and right with no forward movement.
  
• Added an HLL specific clan suffix game option. This places a clan tag after your name in-game.
  
• Players now face the objective whenever they spawn.
  
• We now enable players to see their map while critically wounded and down.
  
• Increased Puma and Greyhound's turning circle and traction.
  
• Added stronger vehicle anti-flip mechanics.
  
• Added better tank colliders to enable them to roll over more vertical surfaces in front of them as they would be able to do in real life.
  
• Capped total number of Infantry units to 18 (meaning we now don’t overshoot the alphabet).

• Integrated a punish/forgive system with a default on Forgive unless Punish is chosen. Each punish registers the kill as a teamkill (counting towards kick threshold and delayed respawn).
  
• Overhauled Vote Kick system to show reason. The threshold now scales for a vote kick (1-25 players on a team = 10 votes required to kick / 26-50 players on a team = 15 votes required to kick) and only applies to the team of the person being voted on. Players can only vote to kick players on their team. We’ve also added a cooldown on vote kicks. We’ll be revisiting this to make it slightly more complex in function (and scale better).
  
• Roadtesting 50% friendly bullet damage in order to give players a slight chance not to totally finish off a friendly (when using traditionally OHK weapons).

• Added and tested a “Low” shadow setting. This retains shadows for balance, but makes them drastically more performant. We recommend that you use this setting if you’re experiencing low FPS.
  
• Tweaked all graphics settings to make them more uniform. Low now retains a similar look but is more performant. Epic now looks visually better and consistent across all maps.
  
• Started rolling out mass custom builds and merges for the LOD system. There are still visual issues to iron out here but the result is lowering draw calls.
  
• Cull certain FX far sooner (footstep dust etc.)
  
• Many smaller netcode, CPU and GPU optimisations.

• [Fixed] The standing walking animation whilst holding an AT mine is incorrect when moving diagonally forward from a TPP
  
• [Fixed] M1 Garand receiver bolt does not animate correctly during the FPP fire animation
  
• [Fixed] The morphine pack will float in front of the Medic after reviving a downed teammate
  
• [Fixed] The player is holding the grenade the instant they switch to the grenade in TPP
  
• [Fixed] [Barracks] Clipping issue visible on the shovel from the Winter Smock uniform
  
• [Fixed] [Barracks] Clipping issue visible on the shovel from the Winter Smock uniform
  
• [Fixed] Multiple equipment items of the US Assault Vest, M1943 Uniform and M1941 Summer Field Jacket are clipping with the player's model
  
• [Fixed] Kar98k bullet ejection animation is incorrect
  
• [Fixed] The American handgun Colt M1911 has the hammer always pulled down
  
• [Fixed] The Headphones on the German Heer Panzer Cap helmet are not displayed as intended.
  
• [Fixed] Visible issues with the face shadow when the Winter Alfred head variant is equipped.
  
• [Fixed] Visible issues with the face shadow when the Winter Alfred head variant is equipped.
  
• [Fixed] Gore skeletal meshes still have incorrect vertex weights
  
• [Fixed] German Anti-Tank Hands have a strange inverted normal
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] The player's hands jitter when the binoculars are equipped
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] Multiple issues present with M1919 Browning LMG equipped while looking up and leaning right
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] Multiple clipping issues occur when the M1 Garand is equipped, and specific actions are performed while looking up.
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] Multiple clipping issues occur when the M1918A2 BAR is equipped, and specific actions are performed while looking up.
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] Multiple clipping issues occur when the M1918A2 BAR is equipped, and specific actions are performed while looking forward.
  
• [Fixed] Current death animations are playing the "lay down" animation instead when a character is shot.
  
• [Fixed] Swapping to the pistol from a Primary Weapon immediately after jumping will cause the pistol to float into the Players hand.
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] Character's fingers are bent backwards on the off hand whilst crawling with grenades equipped
  
• [Fixed] The wrench will clip through the player's hand when constructing the German AT gun
  
• [Fixed] Animation bug when running
  
• [Fixed] The MG42 clips through the player model when equipped
  
• [Fixed] Players stuck in vault animation
  
• [Fixed] [FPP] Animation problem with the left hand while vaulting/climbing with specific equipment
  
• [Fixed] The player can run underwater on multiple maps
  
• [Fixed] [FPP] The left hand is missing when the player has Bazooka equipped and is vaulting/climbing over objects
  
• [Fixed] [FPP] After resupplying, the first German grenade is invisible
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] Panzerschreck clipping through the ground when prone
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] Character legs unnaturally change position when swapping between main weapon and pistol
  
• [Fixed] The animation for switching to the primary weapon is displayed unrealistically when observed from TPP
  
• [Fixed] Character models animate as if they're holding a 2 handed weapon when climbing or vaulting with certain equipment in TPP
  
• [Fixed] Binoculars don't have a TPP Switching animation
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] The Springfield sniper doesn't animate whilst being reloaded
  
• [Fixed] The player may become invisible and invincible after deploying their LMG
  
• [Fixed] No footstep effects or water effects for TPP players.
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] The player may be observed to be stuck in a static pose after vaulting
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] Multiple weapons/equipment are not correctly attached to the player's right hand whilst vaulting/climbing
  
• [Fixed] [FPP] Visual issue present on initial weapon grip when spawning
  
• [Fixed] The US AT mine will become misaligned when walking backwards whilst stood up with it from a TPP.

• Added Korean language support.

• Added new tank shell explosion fx.
  
• Added new artillery shell explosion fx.
  
• Added new AP mine explosion fx.
  
• Added new AT mine explosion fx.
  
• Added new Bombing Run explosion fx.
  
• [Fixed] The player's outline is visible on the smoke VFX of the Bazooka and Panzerschreck weapons on Low, Medium and High video settings.

• Added new explosion sfx (mine, artillery, bombing run, all types of tank shells).
  
• Added new bullet flyby sfx for high calibre weapons (for every kind of weapon).
  
• Added new bullet impact sfx (for every kind of impact).
  
• Added new grass footstep sfx for long and short grass.
  
• Added new internal and external sfx when firing vehicle and static heavy weapons.
  
• Added new sfx when reloading vehicle and static heavy weapons.
  
• Added new interior shell penetration sfx when vehicles are penetrated by AT rounds.
  
• Added sfx when shells ricochet off vehicles.
  
• Add an Interior/Exterior checkbox to vehicle seats to define which audio slots are used in different vehicle seats.
  
• Increased audible footstep range from 30m to 50m.
  Sfx for truck engines and functionality.
  
• Added uniform sfx for placing ghost items and building fortifications.
  
• Added UI sfx when players are resupplying.
  
• Changes to how external audio sounds when players are inside tanks.
  
• [Fixed] Performing a jump after running for several seconds results in two exhale audio cues to play at the same time.
  
• [Fixed] Multiple actions volume are not affected by the SFX volume slider.
  
• [Fixed] Missing TPP AP/HE shell reload SFX for the 'Tiger 1' German Heavy Tank.
  
• [Fixed] Inconsistency with Bombing run between the number of explosions seen and the number heard.
  
• [Fixed] The SFX for driving through water is not affected by any volume slider
  
• [Fixed] Splash SFX is absent if the player mantles out of water

• Implemented Prestige medals to appear beside name on the scoreboard and on the HUD. These change every 50 career levels and begin at level 50.
  
• Added the ability to “Favourite” a particular team/role/appearance in the Barracks menu. This will default to this for the main menu.
  
• Implemented scaling player HUD icons. As players move away from you their icons become smaller. This also affects other icons in the game. The desire here is for a less cluttered HUD without sacrificing necessary information.
  
• Updated game fonts to be more legible on higher and lower resolutions.
  
• Integrated Steam rich presence. Your steam profile now shows the map you’re playing, the number of players in the game, your team and the gamemode.
  
• Implemented new dynamic loading screens.
  
• Implemented Unit Designation and Unit VOIP icons onto the deployment screen.
  
• Justified and fixed spacing for deployment screen elements.
  
• Added quick “Create Unit” buttons to the deploy menu.
  
• Tweaked all map icons to be better balanced according to importance and legibility.
  
• [Fixed] On the In-Game Map, the red highlight on Outposts and Garrisons do not disappear after an enemy moves further than 50m from them.
  
• [Fixed] Inconsistent width of cooldown progress bars for Commander abilities.
  
• [Fixed] The 'Enemy Near' tooltip will not show while hovering the cursor over a spawn point that has an enemy nearby.
  
• [Fixed] The 'Cancel' button on the 'Create a unit' screen can not be clicked on in certain instances.
  
• [Fixed] Playing in 1280x768 on an ultrawide monitor will cause UI elements to overlap on the statistics screen.
  
• [Fixed] The button prompts to the right of the in-game map are not centralized with their black backgrounds.
  
• [Fixed] The broadcast message can overlap the match timer.
  
• [Fixed] Overlapping UI element on the in-game map screen when the game is running in certain resolutions.
  
• [Fixed] Commander order symbols will not become inverted when they are hovered over/selected
  
• [Fixed] The timer and deploy icon do not become inverted when the cursor is hovered over the 'Deploy' button.
  
• [Fixed] The map name is present on the in-game map's key but is missing from the deployment screen map's key.
  
• [Fixed] Inconsistency in the colour of jacket shown on the US Summer uniform icons
  
• [Fixed] Missing ingame icon for the german anti-tank PAK 40 wrench
  
• [Fixed] AT Guns had swapped optics.
  Changed CANCEL button to APPLY when something is changed in loadout & appearance.
  
• [Fixed] 'Match is over!' notification text format is inconsistent with other notifications
  
• [Fixed] 'You were kicked for being idle' text format is inconsistent with other frontend notifications
  
• [Fixed] 'Ping!' markers placed by the Commander will not be shown on the HUD next to the Commander's name above the unit's member list
  
• [Fixed] [SPACE] button prompt on the 'You have died' screen is incorrectly scaled
  
• Enabled tool tip when you mouse over to "Join as commander".
  
• We now conceal the health status of the enemy team on the scoreboard.
  
• [Fixed] Player icons on in-game map are too small in comparison to the other map icons.
  
• [Fixed] Inconsistency for the Engineer role icon in the deploy menu, in-game UI and on the map.
  
• [Fixed] The commendation icon's digit is not centered when there are 0 commendations
  
• Increased the transparency of the colored overlay on the map to make it more subtle and increase legibility of all other information.
  
• [Fixed] Inconsistency with how buttons are highlighted
  
• [Fixed] Multiple options menus will appear off-screen when the User switches the resolution from 1920x1080p to 1024x768p while in fullscreen mode
  
• [Fixed] The active area of the Map Player Icon does not match the shape of the icon
  
• [Fixed] The Player's map icon can hide multiple other map icons at all levels of zoom
  
• [Fixed] The German Recon Vehicle Commander seat UI has overlapping UI elements in a couple resolutions.
  
• [Fixed] The icon for reviving a player is the same as bandaging.

• Fixed an issue causing grass not to spawn on certain maps.
  
• [Fixed] At a FOV higher than 90 certain pieces of loadout equipment are offset when held or placed on the ground.
  
• [Fixed] When sat in the 2nd seat of an artillery cannon, the player's helmet will not be equipped on their player model
  
• [Fixed] 'SSAO' settings can create a lighting issue in-game
  
• Dismemberment is now far more consistent and less goofy.
  
• [Fixed] [PHL] No water splash FX present when the player shoots the water
  
• Removed the ugly transition when entering a vehicle where you'll see an intermediate screen or your FPP rig disappears.
  
• [Fixed] The way the camera handles FoV changes after the player has experienced a map change
  
• [Fixed] German Light Tanks antennas turn invisible when viewed from certain angles.
  
• We now fade to black as you hold “Give Up”.
  
• [Fixed] Thompson ammo magazine is upside down
  
• [Fixed] Morphine Box displays a placeholder texture in TPP

• Added soft caps for US forces (we’re going to look at fitting these a bit tighter).
  
• Added Paratrooper Scrim helmets for US forces.
  
• Overhauled 1st Pattern Tanker's Jacket (Standard Issue).
  
• Added Late War Tanker's Uniform (Lv5 unlock).
  
• Added Mechanic (Lv8 unlock).
  
• Overhauled Heer Panzer Uniform (Standard Issue)
  
• Added Veteran Panzer Crewman (Lv5 unlock)
  
• Added Pea Dot Panzer Crewman (Lv8 unlock)
  
• Re-enabled cloth physics where applicable.
  
• [Fixed] Players do not see cosmetic changes in FPP if they select the German winter outfit

• Rifleman (Lv6 German)
  
• Assault (Lv8 US, Lv9 Ger)
  
• Medic Lv3
  
• Support Lv3
  
• Engineer Lv3
  
• Crewman Lv3

• [Finally Fixed] Default team nameplate distance is not set to 'Max' on newly installed game. It will now default to max.
  
• [Fixed] The German helmet Sniper Veil M42 has a noticeable drop off in LOD at a short range
  
• [Fixed] Players hit box is too large on the Players left side when shot by a tank Machine Gun while prone.
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] The player and weapon will be misaligned with their reload animation if observed partway through
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] The player can remain stuck in the shooting animation while having an LMG equipped
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] The player can remain stuck in the shooting animation while having an automatic weapon equipped and reloading it
  
• [Fixed] Heavy breathing and heartbeat audio from being in a fatal state can be heard in the post-match screens
  
• [Fixed] The Winter heads have the incorrect tooltip
  
• [Fixed] 'Tom' and 'Erich' tooltip and head will not update when the user transitions to the head variant list
  
• [Fixed] Destroying enemy recon vehicle awards 20 combat points instead of 30
  
• [Fixed] Zooming in on barracks when scrolling through cosmetics.
  
• [Fixed] Establish Airhead and Dismantle Garrison Commander abilities swap positions every time the in-game map is opened.
  
• [Fixed] The airhead asset may appear to float off the ground after landing
  
• [Fixed] Establish Airhead commander ability is misaligned from the position of its ghost.
  
• [Fixed] The tank will shoot without user input after the map was opened while LMB or RMB is pressed
  
• [Fixed] Pressing the Apply button in the Role Selection does not reset to the Cancel state until quitting and re-joining the server
  
• [Fixed] The default show chat button can be confused with "0"
  
• [Fixed] There is an extra button on the kick notification
  
• [Fixed] The title is observed to softlock when getting kicked from the server from various reasons
  
• [Fixed] Instances where the tanks only take body damage when shot into treads or turret
  
• [Fixed] The create unit screen has a strange resolution change the first time you go to the page.
  
• [Fixed] Player crashed while being tabbed-out when deployed in-game.
  
• [Fixed] [FPP] The player is able to shoot whilst appearing to reload after climbing over objects
  
• [Fixed] The player's camera may be positioned inside a player model while loading into a map.
  
• [Fixed] The 'Deploy' button timer will briefly reset before the player is loaded into gameplay
  
• [Fixed] Player may briefly fall under the map when loading a new map after a map change
  
• [Fixed] The game will not launch successfully when done through Steam Big Picture mode
  
• [Fixed] Game may crash while the Player is Tabbing in and out of the game while on the Deploy Menu.
  
• [Fixed] Players cannot join password protected servers due to Confirm button returning the players to the Enlist screen
  
• [Fixed] The internal RCON commands for banning/unbanning profanity words do not work
  
• [Fixed] The Scrollbar on the chat box has no function
  
• [Fixed] Clicking "Cancel" after confirming a server password will not return the user back to the "Enlist" screen
  
• [Fixed] Change to ‘Hide Kick Vote Requests’ setting is not applied if the Player presses [ESC] to exit the menu while in game.
  
• [Fixed] Joining a Password protected server while in the post-match screen will show the Match Over message and send the player back to the server list
  
• [Fixed] [FPP] The player is able to move camera in critical state by pressing CTRL, SPACE and Z key
  
• [Fixed] Players are able to climb or vault one another whilst they're standing up
  
• [Fixed] Pressing Tab whilst driving a tank causes it to stop
  
• [Fixed] Recon Vehicles can be driven in 5th gear whilst having 0% wheel health
  
• Fixed turning circle issue on the luchs
  
• [Fixed] The "Can't deploy at this location" message appears before spawning on one of the HQ spawnpoints.
  
• [Fixed] The "Can't deploy at this location" message may appear when the player leaves the squad and has the squad outpost selected
  
• [Fixed] Servers Temporary ban pop-up message has visible debug text.
  
• [Fixed] Clones/ graphical artefact soldiers present during games
  
• [Fixed] The player is unable to cook the German grenades
  
• [Fixed] The Garrison the player currently has selected with the 'Dismantle Garrison' ability will not be highlighted

• VIP and Admin: Add list to server via RCON or cfg
  
• Added unix timing
  
• Added Official & Community server profanity filter
  
• Can now ban player using Steam ID when player is not on server

• Tweaked and overhauled several locations. This will continue.

• More than 60 floating meshes and collision issues fixed.
  
• Fixed object placement inconsistencies between Offensive and Warfare game modes.

• Fixed a huge number of vehicle collision issues across the map.
  
• Updated roads to look better.
  
• Updated lighting to feel more crisp.
  
• Fixed object placement inconsistencies between Offensive and Warfare game modes.

• Fixed object placement inconsistencies between Offensive and Warfare game modes.

• Forest floor meshes overhauled to match Hurtgen regarding visuals and performance.
  
• More than 40 floating meshes and collision issues were fixed.

• Fixed object placement inconsistencies between Offensive and Warfare game modes.

• Tweaked and overhauled several locations. This will continue.
  
• Fixed object placement inconsistencies between Offensive and Warfare game modes.

• Offensive mode is not optimal and will be reworked for next update.
  
• We will continue to look at balancing specific aspects of the game.
  
• Many smaller bugs and issues.

• Armor/vehicle physics and functionality revisit.
  
• Fixing the low quality of all FPP weapon textures (including a texture optimisation in this).
  
• Fixing the low quality of all FPP vehicle viewports (including a texture optimisation in this).
  
• Loadout mouse-overs that will show their contents before unlocking (we wanted to have this in for U8 but it was more complicated than expected).
  
• Changes and polish to any existing metagame/balance/Offensive mode issues.
  
• Increased functionality for server admins - including cameras and other tools.
  
• Investigating freelook implementation.
  
• Investigating ways of allowing players more control over which uniform is automatically applied per map.
  
• New Commander abilities.
  
• Overhauling SMDM as well as continued work on Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, SME and PHL.
  
• Small transport vehicles.
  
• Creating new vehicles.
  
• Melee implementation.
  
• New weapons for new loadouts (FG-42 and more) (we know that the Germans need some love here!).
  
• 3 new unannounced maps.
  
• New customisations.
  
• Large scale optimisations.
  
• Steam achievements.
  
• A new front.
  
• Scoping out mortars (deployable).
  
• Scoping out night modes (and what implication that could have on gameplay).
  
• Scoping out flamethrowers (carrier and mounted)
  
• Continued overhaul of sfx.
  
• Scoping extent of Campaign mode.

We’ve still got more to do when it comes to polishing and finalising what we’d consider to be a “1.0 worthy” release quality version of Hell Let Loose. We’re aware of issues with both gamemodes, with specific locations on maps, with balancing, with performance and many other aspects of the game.

Hell Let Loose is a constant passion for us as a team and we’re often trying to strike the balance of fixing endemic issues while balancing the addition of new content.

We’re very thankful for the patience the community has shown with us over the course of our development, and we want to assure you that we have many more additions to come.

Thank you all so much much for your continued support. We hope you have a brilliant time with Update 8 and look forward to reading through and collating your feedback.

See you on the frontline.

Hey everyone,

Today we're excited to confirm that Update 8 will be going live this Thursday, 3rd December!

As with our previous updates we'll be aiming to have the patch deployed and pushed to all servers for 11am GMT / 12pm CEST on the day.




Full Patch notes and new content information will be posted just before Update 8 goes live on Thursday.



Alongside Update 8's arrival, seasonal Winter Warfare Helmet Pack free DLC will be returning for a limited time too!



1 x US Winter Toque
1 x German Winter Toque
1 x White Painted M1
1 x White Painted M42

This free DLC is a standalone download, so keep an eye out for it on the Hell Let Loose Steam Store page when it goes live.



That wraps up today's announcement. We're excited to usher in Update 8 this Thursday along with the new content, features and optimisation it's bringing to the game.

We'll see you on the frontline.

Hey everyone,

From our early backers and seasoned veterans, to our newest recruits - thank you for your support!



The Early Access journey so far has been incredible, and we look forward to continuing it with you - we’ve got so much to come.

Update 8 is just around the corner, so if you haven’t played for a while, there’s no better time to jump in and take a look at what we’ve been up to.

Things you may have missed

• New Animation System
  
• New XP & Progression system
  
• New Ballistics System
  
• New Vehicles
  
• New Maps
  
• New Loadouts
  
• New Cosmetics
  
• Optimization
  
• Bug fixes & much much more!

Things coming in Update 8

• Hurtgen Forest Overhaul
  
• Support & Transport Trucks
  
• Satchel Charges
  
• Upgradeable Fortifications
  
• Veteran Progression
  
• Bullet Penetration
  
• Further Optimisation

To top it off, Hell Let Loose is currently 25% off on the Steam store now!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/686810/Hell_Let_Loose/

We’ll see you on the frontline!

Hey everyone,

Welcome to Dev Brief #104!

With Update 8 arriving in the very near future, this week we’re taking the opportunity to share with you some actions we’re taking in time for its arrival following player and community feedback from the PTE, last week’s Dev Brief comments and the following conversations here on Steam, as well as on our official sub-reddit and Discord.

The actions we’re taking are focused on re-arming, which we revealed last week, hit box changes to maintain a low TTK and a change to friendly fire to reduce some instances of accidental teamkilling.

We’re also pleased to share that as part of our continued effort to support Hell Let Loose’s global playerbase, three new servers in Japan have been added to our Asia region selection and are live now!

Full details on all of the above can be found below:





We’ve read all the feedback both in Discord and on the Reddit thread about our plans for re-supplying and re-arming Supply Boxes and Ammo Boxes. As such, we tested and then locked in the suggested changes that were most popular among the community after first implementing and testing them in a closed environment.

As such, moving into the trigger range of the Resource Nodes now halves the 5 minute re-arm time on these inventory items, while otherwise they’ll recharge on a global 5 minute cooldown. This will mean that Support players will retain their key feature without being entirely dependent on Resource Nodes, while being in the vicinity of a Resource Node will still have a positive effect on in-field efficiency.

In addition to this, we’ve increased the total number of Nodes able to be built, as we currently feel that even with the full complement built - teams were still running a large resource deficit.



Our PTE sessions gave us some great insight into the real gameplay effects that the introduction of more specific hitboxes would have on TTK. We found that the inclusion of the upper arm (above the elbow) and area above the knee meant that targets travelling perpendicular to the shooter would often soak up far more damage than desired - making the TTK feel far longer than desired.



We know that much of the appeal of Hell Let Loose is in the lethality of the bullets and the feeling that you don’t need to expend entire magazines to kill a target. Therefore, we’ve adjusted the location of the “extremity” hitboxes to only incorporate below the elbow and below the knee.

In testing, we’d found that this strikes the right balance between rewarding accuracy, while also maintaining a quick TTK for rounds placed at center mass.



We’ve looked long and hard at the teamkilling within the game, and the way in which the kills occur. Oftentimes noting that it’s nearly entirely accidental, and that any additional time after the killing shot is fired often reveals that your target was a friendly.

Therefore, we’re going to be trialling a new system in Update 8 that halves friendly player ballistic damage. Obviously, this will have no effect on damage dealt to enemies, but we feel that this will give single hit kill weapon-users the ability to realise their mistake without killing the friendly player. In our PTE, we found this has a perceptible effect in drastically lowering the number of teamkills across the game.





We’re very excited to announce that we’re now hosting three official Japanese-based servers on top of our existing Asia region support. We’ve watched players in the broader Asia region jump into the game but find that there are no appropriate servers with a good ping.

We’re now working on hosting Chinese and Korean servers.

Over the next month we’ll be working to address server absences in all other notable regions.



That wraps up this week’s Dev Brief!

Thank you to everyone who takes a moment to share their thoughts with us on Hell Let Loose on any of our platforms. As today hopefully shows once again, your voice matters and helps us shape the game - even including features that aren’t live in-game yet!

As per usual, we’ll be playing the update a large amount after introduction and will make any further changes based on community feedback. We look forward to watching the way these changes shape future gameplay and will be working to iron out any potential issues where and when they emerge.

If you’re yet to join us on the frontline, we’re currently 25% off in the Steam Autumn Sale!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/686810/Hell_Let_Loose/

See you on the frontline!

Hey everyone,

It's time for Dev Brief #103!

With Update 8 just around the corner, we want to make sure we communicate some key new features and changes :)



The Support role has been overhauled to now replace the current “build the box” mechanic with a hand-carried supply box. We’ve often felt that it’s important that one of the key gameplay loops in the game - building Garrisons - was able to be achieved with an infantryman - and that the entire team does not solely rely on a truck delivery.

This was done for many reasons - the key one being that a single player flipping a truck could lead to the entire capitulation of the front line and the loss of the game. Often, when designing Hell Let Loose we want to distribute total responsibility for victory or defeat across a large array of roles - as this way the success of a team is shared by the entire team - not just balanced on the actions of a single player. This places greater emphasis on team cohesion, as opposed to just having a singularly good player in the key role.

Now that Support is able to carry supply boxes, we’ve reduced the total number of supplies in them to 50. This is enough to build a Garrison or Resource Node, but not enough to fully construct the large scale defenses that we’re adding in Update 8. Our Supply and Resource economy is something that we’re going to be focusing on over the coming months as we play and interact with the systems. We don’t doubt that valuable community feedback will help us find the sweet spot, but we feel the current system is a good place to start.



German hand carried supplies



US hand carried supplies


The redeploy/rearm mechanic has been a persistent and ongoing ugly gameplay loop. Now that we’ve overhauled the hand-carried supply crates, we’ve also managed to overhaul the way in which supply crates and ammo boxes are re-armed in the field.

The basic design challenge here was attaching a cooldown to the dropping of Supply Crates, while also making sure that their re-arming was not continually contingent on the existence of Supply Trucks.

The conundrum was three-fold:

1. If we enabled Support roles to re-arm off truck-dropped Supply Crates, then we’d create the same issue we intentionally avoided (ie. one bad truck driver throwing the whole game).
   
2. If we allowed you to re-arm on death then we wouldn’t eliminate the cheesy redeploy mechanic.
   
3. If you could re-arm continuously in-field at no cost then it eliminated the need for Supply Trucks.

Ultimately, we realised that we had these design limitations:

1. Resupplying needed to be limited by time in order to make sure the resource flow didn’t render Supply Trucks obsolete.
   
2. Resupplying in-field needed to not hinge entirely on Supply Trucks.
   
3. Resupplying in-field needed to happen outside of the life-death loop.

So, we explored many different options and have implemented to following:

Previously: to restock a supply crate or ammo box you’d simply redeploy or commit suicide.

Now: walking within 50mtrs of a Manpower Resource Node will start a cooldown that will re-arm your Supply Crate at the end of the cooldown. Similarly, if you’ve expended your ammo box, walking within 50mtrs of a Munitions Resource Node will trigger your cooldown to re-arm the ammo box.

Some things to note:

• Once the cooldown is triggered, you do not need to stay in range of the node.
  
• Dying will not reset your cooldown - it will continue while you’re dead.
  
• We recommend placing the nodes near a key Garrison, or not far from a key Garrison so that you automatically replenish the bulk of your supply and ammo carriers as they respawn.
  
• Replenishing supplies crates and ammo boxes will reward the node-builder with score.
  
• The resupply zones are now marked on the map as circles around the nodes.
  
• A small HUD graphic and sound effect will play when the resupply is complete.
  
• Rearming takes 5 minutes from the point the cooldown is reset.

Munitions Node - Resupplies ammo boxes.
Manpower Node - Resupplies supply boxes.
Fuel Node - In-field function is still to come.



"Walking within 50 meters of a Manpower Resource Node will start a cooldown that will re-arm your Supply Crate at the end of the cooldown."


Ammo Type and function

Firearms Ammo - Resupplies firearm ammunition
Medical Ammo - Resupplies bandages, syringe, morphine
Explosives Ammo - Resupplies AT rounds, satchel charges, grenades

We will look to add more ammo, when and where it is needed.




In Update 8 you’ll notice that the total player level has been increased from 100 to 200, and that your relative veterancy is now distinguished every 50 levels with a medal attached to your name on both the scoreboard and your in-game icon. This is designed as we originally intended - to quickly demonstrate your relative experience within the game to the players around you.

For those of you long-time veterans who’ve reached level 100 - fear not! We’ve implemented this level cap extension in a way that respects your total experience gained. You may find yourself at levels well in-excess of 100 immediately following Update 8.

We also want to note that Update 8 sees the introduction of player icon scaling - where allied player icons get smaller over distance - leading to a far less cluttered HUD.


We’ve watched many videos on the topic of the meta changes (including Bill’s latest one on the subreddit) made in Update 7 that eliminated the use of red zone Garrison deployments and the mass redeploy mechanic as a strategy. The feedback has been useful to underline the issues introduced by that change and how it aligns with our design around the function of each spawn mechanic. Next week we’ll be talking through the future plans for the game.

Currently we’re using our Early Access period as one in which we can nail down the key metagame components and test many of these aspects (many of which we as developers are not yet happy with). This has been a challenge as we’ve often been dealing with legacy solutions, as well as working within a continuously adjusting timeframe - this has affected our ability to bring in additional features that will create new ways of spawning.

Next week we’ll chat through future plans for the metagame, as well as explore the current issues and how we think they will change in the future.



We have begun to officially contact those who’s VO’s we are likely to use. We apologise in the delay here, as we have been incredibly busy working on Update 8.

We offer our sincere thanks and gratitude to you for taking the time and effort to think up, record and send your voice lines in for the Hell Let Loose Wilhelm Scream. It can be a daunting task for one to publicly present their own work and voice to a community - especially for judgement! Assessing the submissions has been very difficult but also hugely fun. We have some very talented people in the community! Our sound designer Adam has been truly inspired by the submissions, even by the ones that won’t make it into the game.

If you made a submission and do not receive an email from us in the next 2 weeks, we want to thank you for your participation and implore everyone to get involved in the future and have another shot if we decide to run another VO submission or similar opportunity!

You will likely begin to hear the new VO’s come Update 9, and we will be making sure those who did make it into the final version get an in-game credit and a special role in the Discord!

That wraps up this week's Dev Brief.

See you on the frontline!

Hey everyone,

Welcome to Dev Brief #102!

In this week’s dev briefing we wanted to focus on something that has been requested for a very long time - and due to complexity and reliance on many other systems - was something that we’d had to keep bumping back in our priority list while we sorted out foundational systems. Finally, we’re excited to announce that transport and supply trucks will be coming to Hell Let Loose in Update 8. The Germans will take to the field in the Opel Blitz, and the US will be rolling in with the GMC CCKW 2½-ton 6×6 truck.

Let’s get rolling!




In Hell Let Loose, supply trucks are designed to create a risk/reward mechanic around large scale supply crate delivery to the frontline and other dangerous locations in the battlefield. Carrying two supply crates - each worth 150 supplies (a total of 300 per delivery), players can then use these construct and upgrade fortifications, garrisons and other deployables.

With two occupancy slots, the supply truck is the perfect vehicle to quickly deliver the supplies necessary to significantly fortify a specific location. These work hand in hand with the new Engineer deployables, and will be key to enabling the establishment of key firing positions.

To drop supplies, simply hold down RMB to unload them out the back of the truck.




German Supply Crate

US Supply Crate




Transport trucks in Hell Let Loose can carry 12 players, and can be used to insert a large number of troops at a specific location - or to ferry troops from different locations on the front line. We foresee them being a key aspect in the opening stages of the game, as well as being used in the late game to repair any potential front line collapses.

Please note: the time spent driving a Supply or Transport truck will reward the occupants with Support score on the scoreboard. Similarly, usage of dropped supplies, or multiple vehicle occupancy within a transport truck will multiply the score earned.

Please note: LMB blasts the horn and is useful for clearing unsuspecting infantry out of your path.




While players can be shot out of the trucks using small arms - especially high penetration weapons that can pierce thin metal - large rounds are particularly effective to the front portion (cab) of the truck and will often destroy it in a single round, while the rear portion of the truck (bed) will most often require two rounds.

We will continue to look at trucks and all vehicles in depth in Update 9 now that we have a mixture of both tracked and wheeled vehicles. Many players have commented on their wish for us to perform large scale balancing and functionality checks and improvements on the vehicles in the game and we’re very keen to look specifically at this.




We want to thank those who drove and gave feedback on the trucks during the PTE. We have made some tweaks which means they are less prone to getting stuck, and should be better at climbing steep inclines. There is still a degree of difficulty when driving, which means a certain skill level will be required to master them.



Have a great weekend and we'll catch you next week when we'll truck out another dev brief!

See you on the frontline.

Hey everyone,

Welcome to Dev Brief #101!

This week Max is here to give you a first look at the Engineer's deployables upgrade coming in Update 8!

If you are looking to shape the frontline and bend it to your will, then this will be of great interest to you...



Hi everyone!

As we run up to the launch of Update 8, we’re excited to introduce you to the beginning of our Engineer deployables upgrade.

Previously, the Engineer deployable array has been very lackluster (to say the least). Barbed wire provides nothing more functional than something to vault over and the most significant cover available was a small waist high sandbag wall. These were something that we wanted to get in as soon as possible when we initially released, but also something that we knew we’d come back to overhaul - rebuilding the logic behind them to better incorporate:

• Cross-role dependency (ie. working with another role to positively affect the flow of battle)
  
• Better integration of supplies as a resource
  
• Visual consistency polish (using the wrench to plan, hammer to build, FPP supply crates to drop etc.)
  
• Actual functionality on the battlefield (so that they’re appealing to build!)

First Steps:

In Update 8 Engineers will have their deployables loadout altered to now include the Bunker and the Barricade.



There are significant differences in the way these are used that we’ll describe below now.

First, the Wrench is now best thought of as a planning tool - which the Engineer can use to plan the layout of the fortifications to be constructed. Once they’ve placed down the “ghost”, you’ll need two things:

• A Hammer (many roles now will find this added to their inventory) to build the deployables
  
• Supplies

To construct your fortifications, simply build them up using the Hammer.



There are several things to note:

• In order to complete building you’ll need to make sure you have the required number of Supplies within 50m.
  
• You’ll find that our new Supply Trucks provide the perfect way of transporting the large number of Supplies that you’ll need to fortify a position.
  
• The more players building a structure, the faster it will progress.
  
• The enemy cannot see the ghost structures, so do not rely on them in a firefight!

Now, we get to the more exciting aspects of these structures.



Functional

We’ve worked hard to make sure that these structures not only visually integrate into all of our maps, but that they are also functional and useful. We felt that nobody would want to use them if we simply replaced old non-functional structures with new, more expensive non-functional structures! Each of these new ones offers a larger degree of cover, closed firing positions and the correct heights to deploy and conceal yourself in a number of positions.


Upgradable

In addition to their shape being functional, we’ve also incorporated the ability to continue to upgrade these structures. Initially you’ll build up the relatively cheap first stage of the structure. This one is thrown together quickly with wood - critically, it can be penetrated by high caliber rounds and destroyed by heavy weapons. It also offers the least amount of cover. From there, you can use additional Supplies to upgrade to level two - bolstering the existing wooden structure with impenetrable sandbags and making them slightly more impervious to heavy weapons. Finally, the most expensive and time consuming level - level 3 - will enclose the structure almost entirely and make it the most effective cover possible. It is important to note that we wanted to take the asymmetrical nature of the game further here - giving the Germans the ability to upgrade their structures to concrete - making them impervious to heavy weapons.

Destructible

In order to remove enemy structures from the battlefield, we’ve introduced the Satchel Charge to both teams and multiple roles. Set the fuse length and attach the Satchel to the fortification to destroy it.

Be aware that each Engineer has a limit to the number of fortifications that they can build. This is both to give greater significance to the tactical choice made in where they are deployed, but also to allow us to keep a cap on network performance for the game.

Finally, this new system is very robust, in that we can now start to look at creating different levels of effectiveness for nearly every deployable in the game. Don’t be surprised to see Resource Nodes and Repair Stations expanded to have different levels with commensurate effectiveness added beyond Update 8. This of course, will also play a role when we add new ground emplacements such as flak positions etc.




We are currently investigating a mass LOST CONNECTION TO HOST issue some servers are experiencing. We are actively working with GSPs to understand and get this issue resolved, as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile we have begun some testing of additional servers, to give the community more options. We will look to provide further details of this after testing is complete.

Thanks for your ongoing support and patience!



That wraps up this week's Dev Brief from Max on the new deployables coming to the Engineer's arsenal in Update 8!

We're really looking forward to seeing how you strategize on the frontline with these, especially with an increase in available supplies and bullet penetration dropping alongside these fortifications.

Have a great weekend and we'll see you next week when we'll be taking a deeper look at more content that you'll be getting to grips with in Update 8.

See you on the frontline.

Hey everyone,

Welcome to Dev Brief #100!

Today's post marks 100 consecutive weeks of our Dev Brief series, and damn has it flown by!

We're excited to mark this milestone with a special community powered interview with Project Lead Max as we talk the past, present and future of Hell Let Loose, answer a bunch of the questions you submitted to us last week and also drop some first looks, content reveals and take a stroll through overhauled Hurtgen.

The full interview sits at a little over an hour, so sit back and relax and join us as we celebrate Dev Brief #100...




For those who are after specific areas of the video, please find some useful timestamps below:

00:00 - 27:54 Introduction and the history of Hell Let Loose

Max and I discuss the history of Hell Let Loose, the importance of the Hell Let Loose community and talk about how our shared journey has crafted Hell Let Loose to the game it is today and will continue to do so in the future.

27:54 - 31:39 Hurtgen Forest overhaul preview & ????? gameplay first look

Spono has been exploring the upcoming Hurtgen Forest overhaul and captured some footage to show you how we've transformed the map ahead of its arrival in Update 8!

Paired with Max's voiceover, you'll get to see Hurtgen Forest like you've never seen it before. Oh and keep an eye out for when Spono takes a cheeky spin in a ?????...

31:39 - 68:27 Community Questions!

We go through and answer some of the questions that you submitted to us in last week's brief. What questions are we answering? Well...

• What can we expect in the next update?
  
• How much has the community influenced the decisions you make as a game dev?
  
• When will the balance of the tanks be corrected?
  
• When will the King Tiger be added?
  
• Hello dear developers! Are there any plans in the future, the introduction of bayonets for infantry and mortars for artillery?
  
• As the game continues to grow in both scope and player population, how do you plan to maintain this delicate balance between accessibility and complexity? And a second question if I may. Are there any plans for a magazine check ability?
  
• Could we find out more about the logistics system to come, if it will be necessary to transport material to the front for example and how will it be expanded?
  
• Are the updates going to be just big in the future, or do you plan to keep them coming more frequently (maybe with less content in each update)?
  
• With the metagame finally settling in, what approach are you taking to balance fast-paced infantry combat with meticulous and strategical management of resources? Will there be a way to cater to both A) players who are interested in the logistics of managing resource flow and B) players who are interested in the tactics behind infantry combat?
  
• Admin cam? Or other tools for custom event organizers such as locked classes or custom map layers?
  
• I would like to know if you could bring cooking grenades in the game in if its possible and makes sense for you guys?
  
• Can we expect earlier WW2 maps or every map will be post 1944?
  
• Seems the smoke and dirt from the explosion fades away too fast?
  
• How often do you browse suggestions from the community on reddit and discord, and how significantly do they contribute to your ideas moving forward?
  
• Campaign/Operations Mode, IIRC this will be a thing. Are you able to tell us more about this?
  
• Can we get some Eastern Front teasers soon, please? ;)

68:29 ??????




That wraps up our 100th Dev Brief, we hope you enjoyed it! We're looking forward to talking about all of the reveals with you over the coming days and weeks.

Here's to the next 100 Developer Briefings, it's a privilege having you with us on this journey!

See you on the frontline.

Hey everyone,

Welcome to Dev Brief #99!

This week we're having a blast as we give you a first look and listen at the new explosions coming to Hell Let Loose in Update 8!

These improvements to explosions will really ramp up the intensity of battle, so to go into all the glorious detail I'll hand you over to Lead Developer Max...



Hi everyone!

We’re diving in deep today on the new explosion sound effects as we know it’s such a critical area that we know has long been overdue for a proper rework.

Explosives are a prominent tool in warfare, and are a huge part of creating an iconic and authentic battlefield soundscape. They’re also an aspect of the game we haven’t updated since our initial release into Early Access (over a year ago!).

We’ve gone back to the drawing board on the way we build our explosive sounds - from both a sound and visual perspective (we’ll tackle the visual side in a later brief).

Drawing inspiration from different games, real world footage and film we have applied our own spin to the sounds whilst maintaining a realistic aesthetic. These will seem louder and more fierce than previous. We have taken a similar approach when creating the new explosion sfx as we did to our weapon audio. This method consists of using multiple layers that are mixed and attenuated individually in the game engine, allowing us to have a plethora of explosion variations without taking up too much storage space.

We can pick and choose assets from the categories “Small, Medium and Large” allowing us to mix and match sound layers depending on the type of explosive ordinance whether it be an MK2 grenade, an 88mm shell or a satchel charge.

The explosion audio uses our custom Audio Volumes that control the environmental layer of the sound meaning in time we will have interior reflections represented. We use a volume ducking feature to reduce certain sound groups when an explosion takes place, this method better highlights the explosion whilst maintaining its original volume to help it stand out within the whole audio mix. The soundscape should seem far more dynamic in Update 8 due to the fact we have extended the presence of explosions over a larger distance.

To add to this, what would new explosion sounds be without some new vehicle gun audio? Coming with Update 8 will be reworks of the vehicles main guns from the Luchs 20mm autocannon all the way up to the Howitzer artillery pieces. The vehicle shells will also have new ricochet audio and internal damage within vehicles will be touched up.

Don't forget within the Audio Settings we have the option to increase the amount of sounds heard at any one time, just set the Audio Channel Count from Low to Med/High/Epic allowing 32, 64, 96, 128 simultaneous channels.

The video below is designed to demonstrate the difference in explosions at different ranges. Please note that this is an early version of Hurtgen Forest used to demonstrate the distance differences. It is now far more complete!





That wraps up your first look and listen at our new explosions that'll be booming their way into Update 8.

Whilst we're really pleased with how they are, please remember they are a work in progress and we'll be fine tuning them before they drop!

Now, lets talk about next week and Dev Brief 100 shall we!

Next week is our 100th consecutive weekly Developer Briefing and what a milestone it is. To celebrate we'll be interviewing Lead Developer Max about all things Hell Let Loose, from where it began to where it's going.

That's where you come in! We want to ask some of your community questions to Max in the interview and get you some juicy answers.

To have your question put into consideration please post it in the comments section of today's brief. You have until Tuesday morning on October 27th as we'll be doing the recording on that day.

If you have any nice comments or stories you'd like read to Max, feel free to pop those down too - it'd be great to share them with him.

Now we'll leave you this week with a reminder that Hell Let Loose is 25% off until Monday afternoon, so if you've not joined the frontline yet now is a damn good time to:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/686810/Hell_Let_Loose/

Also a huge welcome to all our new players who have joined us in the sale so far, we hope you're having a brilliant time!!

Have a great weekend everyone.

See you on the frontline.