Darkest Hour: Europe ‘44-’45 update 8.0.9 is here!



The highlights this update are some design changes to vehicles such as the Opel Blitz, GMC, Jeep, Kubelwagen, and APCs such as M3A1 and Sd.Kfz 251 Halftracks. In addition, level optimization and polishing.


All vehicles:

• Adjusted “spike timer” to 15 seconds (if engine is set on fire, spike timer determines how long until it explodes)
  
• Fixed an issue where a vehicle could be set on fire, but burn forever if friendlies were in the area

Soft Vehicles and APCs (cars, trucks, halftracks):

• Adjusted these vehicles to have a standard body health of 2000, making them harder to explode from small arms (Armoured APCs are still impervious to small arms)
  
• Adjusted engine health to be very low, making them the critical weak spot to aim for
  
• Added wheel hitpoints and a system which will make vehicles slower for having wheel damage (making wheels the secondary weak spot to aim for)
  
• Adjusted engine hitpoint sizes to be larger, to make them easier to hit
  
• Set these vehicles to only be spawnable by players that are in a squad
  
• Increased required speed to run over players from 30 kph to 35 kph
  
• Reduced explosion damage and radius
  
• Greyhound & Stuart have slightly reduced penetration ability at a distance
  
• Increased Panther’s side armor as it was weaker than intended
  
• Lowered view position of the Sherman hull machine gun to make it easier to tell where it is aiming

Minor changes for performance (decreased view distances):

• Barashka (also adjusted balance)
  
• Putot en Bessin
  
• Makhnovo
  
• Baranovka Armoured (also adjusted balance)

Stoumont Advance:

• Removed Kubelwagens and Jeeps
  
• Axis are now able to field 2 tanks instead of 1

Bridgehead Advance:

• Removed an undesired minefield in the northwest part of the level
  Increased reinforcements
  Removed several no arty volumes (relics from the Push version)

Hattert Advance:

• Decreased Allied crewman roles to 3
  Replaced the unfinished M22 Locust with a M5 Stuart

Black Day July:

• Some balance changes to hopefully make the map worthy of keeping around
  Construction
  Reduce placement radius of barbed wire obstacle, so they can be closer together and closer to other objects

• MG42 and MG34 deployed recoil has been reduced

• Changes to protocol for connecting to servers that are passworded:
  
• Players will now be required to enter the password each time (even on level change)
  
• Players will no longer get a black screen when connecting to a passworded server
  
• Players should no longer be required to change their name to join a passworded server
  
• New admin menu for the AdminMutator:
  
• New setting to change the server’s password in real time (WebAdmin requires a level change, this setting will be instantaneous)
  
• New toggleable setting to lock weapons so players cannot fire
  If you have use for any commands not yet implemented, please let us know!

This update we continue to decrease view distances of Advance levels for performance sake.

In addition, this update has several more maps using the dynamic view distance setting we added last update. So far we’ve had no complaints about it and no one really even noticing it, so we figured it was time to implement it on more levels. Again, the setting is not enabled by default and can be enabled in the display settings. It works by automatically adjusting your view distance for you based on your desired FPS.


We have created a new survey, surveys have been very successful for us to understand what the community wants and what path Darkest Hour needs to take. If you haven't already please complete the survey and help us keep Darkest Hour on the right path!

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Darkest Hour: Europe ‘44-’45 update 8.0.9 is here!



The highlights this update are some design changes to vehicles such as the Opel Blitz, GMC, Jeep, Kubelwagen, and APCs such as M3A1 and Sd.Kfz 251 Halftracks. In addition, level optimization and polishing.


All vehicles:

• Adjusted “spike timer” to 15 seconds (if engine is set on fire, spike timer determines how long until it explodes)
  
• Fixed an issue where a vehicle could be set on fire, but burn forever if friendlies were in the area

Soft Vehicles and APCs (cars, trucks, halftracks):

• Adjusted these vehicles to have a standard body health of 2000, making them harder to explode from small arms (Armoured APCs are still impervious to small arms)
  
• Adjusted engine health to be very low, making them the critical weak spot to aim for
  
• Added wheel hitpoints and a system which will make vehicles slower for having wheel damage (making wheels the secondary weak spot to aim for)
  
• Adjusted engine hitpoint sizes to be larger, to make them easier to hit
  
• Set these vehicles to only be spawnable by players that are in a squad
  
• Increased required speed to run over players from 30 kph to 35 kph
  
• Reduced explosion damage and radius
  
• Greyhound & Stuart have slightly reduced penetration ability at a distance
  
• Increased Panther’s side armor as it was weaker than intended
  
• Lowered view position of the Sherman hull machine gun to make it easier to tell where it is aiming

Minor changes for performance (decreased view distances):

• Barashka (also adjusted balance)
  
• Putot en Bessin
  
• Makhnovo
  
• Baranovka Armoured (also adjusted balance)

Stoumont Advance:

• Removed Kubelwagens and Jeeps
  
• Axis are now able to field 2 tanks instead of 1

Bridgehead Advance:

• Removed an undesired minefield in the northwest part of the level
  Increased reinforcements
  Removed several no arty volumes (relics from the Push version)

Hattert Advance:

• Decreased Allied crewman roles to 3
  Replaced the unfinished M22 Locust with a M5 Stuart

Black Day July:

• Some balance changes to hopefully make the map worthy of keeping around
  Construction
  Reduce placement radius of barbed wire obstacle, so they can be closer together and closer to other objects

• MG42 and MG34 deployed recoil has been reduced

• Changes to protocol for connecting to servers that are passworded:
  
• Players will now be required to enter the password each time (even on level change)
  
• Players will no longer get a black screen when connecting to a passworded server
  
• Players should no longer be required to change their name to join a passworded server
  
• New admin menu for the AdminMutator:
  
• New setting to change the server’s password in real time (WebAdmin requires a level change, this setting will be instantaneous)
  
• New toggleable setting to lock weapons so players cannot fire
  If you have use for any commands not yet implemented, please let us know!

This update we continue to decrease view distances of Advance levels for performance sake.

In addition, this update has several more maps using the dynamic view distance setting we added last update. So far we’ve had no complaints about it and no one really even noticing it, so we figured it was time to implement it on more levels. Again, the setting is not enabled by default and can be enabled in the display settings. It works by automatically adjusting your view distance for you based on your desired FPS.


We have created a new survey, surveys have been very successful for us to understand what the community wants and what path Darkest Hour needs to take. If you haven't already please complete the survey and help us keep Darkest Hour on the right path!

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Darkest Hour: Europe ‘44-’45 update 8.0.7 has arrived!



This update is a blend of new content, updated maps, balance tweaks, optimization, and design changes.

• Decreased the amount of grenades players spawn with to one (1), while increasing the maximum grenades players can carry to three (3). This is also paired with the addition of a placeable grenade crate (see below). These change were made to reduce the ubiquitous grenade spam, while at the same time allowing well organized teams to have a matériel advantage.

Stoumont (Advance)

• Significantly expanded the boundaries of the level.
  
• Objectives and spawn areas changed to better suit the new game mode.

Black Day July (Advance)

• Added loading screen and overview.
  
• Added trenches to various locations
  
• Added vegetation around towns and added more houses
  
• Gave Allies an additional T34 and set Allies to Axis ratio to 60%

Dead Man's Corner

• Changed the final objective to be easier for Allies by moving Axis spawn and by increasing reinforcement interval

Grenade Boxes (NEW):

• Costs 350 supply
  
• Provides 15 grenades to teammates

• Can now be built closer to other friendly HQs (limit was 250 meters, now 200)
  
• Fixed an issue where the Allied HQ could be placed in a position that would block the exit

• Now contains the amount of supplies used to place it after being constructed.
  
• Now deposits generated supplies more often (was every 20 seconds, now every 5 seconds)
  
• Now generates more supplies (was 100/minute, now 120/minute)

• Players can now shovel 33% faster
  
• Players in the prone position now have less recoil (was 50% reduction, changed to 60%)
  
• Slightly reduced recoil of Sturmgewehr 44

• Tweaked truck (GMC, Opel, ZiS-5V) tire friction to increase traction
  
• Tweaked truck hand-brake performance so they will not “spin out” as easily
  
• Decreased vehicle impact damage threshold
  
• Adjusted truck health to be significantly higher (from 150 to 1000)
  
• Soft vehicles (cars, trucks, etc) will now blow up after 10 seconds if their engine is on fire

• Soviet AT guns can now aim slightly lower

Aside from the normal optimization treatment we have been giving to individual levels, we have also added an experimental optimization technique that will dynamically adjust your fog distance (view distance) based on your frame rate performance. This technique is disabled by default. When enabled, it will only have an affect on Black Day July and Stoumont Advance. If this technique proves to be useful, we will propagate the functionality to all other maps.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Darkest Hour: Europe ‘44-’45 update 8.0.7 has arrived!



This update is a blend of new content, updated maps, balance tweaks, optimization, and design changes.

• Decreased the amount of grenades players spawn with to one (1), while increasing the maximum grenades players can carry to three (3). This is also paired with the addition of a placeable grenade crate (see below). These change were made to reduce the ubiquitous grenade spam, while at the same time allowing well organized teams to have a matériel advantage.

Stoumont (Advance)

• Significantly expanded the boundaries of the level.
  
• Objectives and spawn areas changed to better suit the new game mode.

Black Day July (Advance)

• Added loading screen and overview.
  
• Added trenches to various locations
  
• Added vegetation around towns and added more houses
  
• Gave Allies an additional T34 and set Allies to Axis ratio to 60%

Dead Man's Corner

• Changed the final objective to be easier for Allies by moving Axis spawn and by increasing reinforcement interval

Grenade Boxes (NEW):

• Costs 350 supply
  
• Provides 15 grenades to teammates

• Can now be built closer to other friendly HQs (limit was 250 meters, now 200)
  
• Fixed an issue where the Allied HQ could be placed in a position that would block the exit

• Now contains the amount of supplies used to place it after being constructed.
  
• Now deposits generated supplies more often (was every 20 seconds, now every 5 seconds)
  
• Now generates more supplies (was 100/minute, now 120/minute)

• Players can now shovel 33% faster
  
• Players in the prone position now have less recoil (was 50% reduction, changed to 60%)
  
• Slightly reduced recoil of Sturmgewehr 44

• Tweaked truck (GMC, Opel, ZiS-5V) tire friction to increase traction
  
• Tweaked truck hand-brake performance so they will not “spin out” as easily
  
• Decreased vehicle impact damage threshold
  
• Adjusted truck health to be significantly higher (from 150 to 1000)
  
• Soft vehicles (cars, trucks, etc) will now blow up after 10 seconds if their engine is on fire

• Soviet AT guns can now aim slightly lower

Aside from the normal optimization treatment we have been giving to individual levels, we have also added an experimental optimization technique that will dynamically adjust your fog distance (view distance) based on your frame rate performance. This technique is disabled by default. When enabled, it will only have an affect on Black Day July and Stoumont Advance. If this technique proves to be useful, we will propagate the functionality to all other maps.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

We're back again with another update! This update adds the long-awaited Squad Leader's Assistant role!

Squad leaders can now assign a squad member as an assistant, allowing that player to place constructions and mark enemies on the situation map. This will allow the squad leader to focus on rally point placement and leading the squad into battle!

More to come!

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

We're back again with another update! This update adds the long-awaited Squad Leader's Assistant role!

Squad leaders can now assign a squad member as an assistant, allowing that player to place constructions and mark enemies on the situation map. This will allow the squad leader to focus on rally point placement and leading the squad into battle!

More to come!

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 is getting another big update today! Here are some of the highlights!

• Added new Advance map "Butovo".

• Squad leaders are now able to call in artillery from radios.

• Calling artillery from radios is now more intuitive.
  
• Constructions are now divided into groups for easier menu navigation.
  
• Squad leaders are now able to spot enemies via the "command" menu.

• Logistics trucks no longer generate supplies.
  
• Logistics trucks are now able to unload and load asupplies to or from nearby Supply Caches.

• Supply Caches now generate supplies over time.
  
• Supply Caches must now be "dug" to be fully constructed.

• Added Watchtower construction.
  
• Added Radio construction.
  
• Added Ammo Crate (Vehicles) construction..

There have also been a handful of very minor changes and balance tweaks to vehicles and infantry weapons.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

P.S. A note to server administrators: there have been changes to the package structure that requires you to add a line to your DarkestHour.ini file in order for the game to function correctly. To fix this, follow the guide here!

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 is getting another big update today! Here are some of the highlights!

• Added new Advance map "Butovo".

• Squad leaders are now able to call in artillery from radios.

• Calling artillery from radios is now more intuitive.
  
• Constructions are now divided into groups for easier menu navigation.
  
• Squad leaders are now able to spot enemies via the "command" menu.

• Logistics trucks no longer generate supplies.
  
• Logistics trucks are now able to unload and load asupplies to or from nearby Supply Caches.

• Supply Caches now generate supplies over time.
  
• Supply Caches must now be "dug" to be fully constructed.

• Added Watchtower construction.
  
• Added Radio construction.
  
• Added Ammo Crate (Vehicles) construction..

There have also been a handful of very minor changes and balance tweaks to vehicles and infantry weapons.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games

P.S. A note to server administrators: there have been changes to the package structure that requires you to add a line to your DarkestHour.ini file in order for the game to function correctly. To fix this, follow the guide here!

Learn everything you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask, about Darkest Hour's new Squad Rally Point mechanics from our new video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWwepskZNHE

Learn everything you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask, about Darkest Hour's new Squad Rally Point mechanics from our new video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWwepskZNHE