Hey everyone, With Patch 14.3 now behind us, we know you’ll be keen to learn more about what will be coming to Hell Let Loose as we head into October! Your feedback has been invaluable to us over these last few months, and we’ve been able to focus our efforts into tackling some of the game’s most prevalent issues. As of today, we can confirm a fix for the loadout bug has been submitted, and will be available for you to stress-test in a PTE session this Friday, on the 29th of September. We know there’s still a long way to go to optimise and improve Hell Let Loose, and while we’re continuing to focus on bug-fixing and making good on the British forces, we also don’t want to leave you waiting too long for new content. To find out what you can expect to see from Hell Let Loose for the rest of this year, please read on! [h2]Patch 14.4 - October[/h2] [h3]New Night Maps[/h3] Our environment tech-art team have been working on bringing night variants to a number of the existing maps, including: [list] [*] Carentan [*] Sainte-Mère-Église [*] Utah Beach [*] Hill 400 [*] Driel [*] Kharkov [*] Stalingrad [*] Omaha Beach (Dusk Map) [*] El Alamein (Dusk Map) [/list] Each of these maps will be available for testing in the PTE this Friday, and the Carentan and Sainte-Mère-Église night variants will be the first to land in Patch 14.4 early next month on the 12th of October, alongside general bug fixing. Offering more diverse gameplay, with opportunities to re-strategise on your approach, the night map versions will sport atmospheric lighting that will put heavy reliance on communication and coordination to obtain the win. These new night map variants have been fine-tuned, from adjusting the skylight to allow for more bounce and directionality, to introducing a star field to create an even more dramatic night-time skyscape. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/2d9c1df71114ff16bfb2d80efbaf34b0ba36b41e.png[/img] [i]Carentan at Night[/i] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/587a53c971fadc57b90c418135f02dcdc6901c47.png[/img] [i]Sainte-Mère-Église at Night[/i] [h3]Fallschirmjäger Cosmetic DLC[/h3] Considered an elite airborne unit, the Fallschirmjäger - German paratroopers - were also known as ‘The Green Devils’ thanks to their forceful fighting spirit and tactical superiority. The distinctive uniform featured several safety features, in order to avoid injury during a hard landing. The jump smock ended at the mid-knee, preventing any entanglement with the parachute lines, and was partnered with knee pads that aimed to protect a soldier’s knees through extended periods of crawling or kneeling. Ammunition pouches were also designed to be worn securely around the neck, rather than the standard belt. This DLC will be available for players to pick up from the Additional Content Hub with the next Patch, 14.4, and use on Infantry and Recon roles! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/1d43cb8b4b5f4e1a777cb6d0d53986188c4d0734.png[/img] [i]Fallschirmjäger Uniform DLC (1)[/i] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/b6143c62d2b3745a913d7b3d59e470fe79199e3c.png[/img] [i]Fallschirmjäger Uniform DLC (2)[/i] [h2]Dive to Prone[/h2] Reworked and evolved, the new version of Dive to Prone will also be available for testing this Friday! A lot of time has been spent fine-tuning and polishing the dive to prone feature - to not only ensure it’s not exploitable - but also give it a much more realistic and tactile feel, by utilising tuneable parameters including: [h3]Ground Friction Parameters[/h3] Players will now carry momentum throughout, which means you’ll be unable to change direction mid-dive, and instead only able to control direction once friction with the ground is gradually re-established on landing. [h3]Animation Queue System[/h3] Players can no longer dive while jumping - instead, the new animation queue system is used to begin the dive when the player lands from a jump. [h3]Stance Change Timer[/h3] This ensures players aren’t able to dolphin dive, by including a cooldown that prevents the action from being carried out too soon after completing a dive. [h3]Additional Ground Friction[/h3] The duration and speed of the slide has been tuned down to feel more realistic, and is now impacted by whether you are entering dive to prone from standing vs crouched. [h3]Camera Improvements[/h3] In the previous version, there was a camera limitation as the dive ended, which was a result of the system that controls head bobbing under locomotion switching between profiles. This system has now been rewritten to be more versatile, and now has the capability to smoothly transition between profiles, and visual quality is increased. [h3]Forward Speed[/h3] The new dive to prone will properly conserve momentum by using the speed that the player was travelling on dive initiation as the start speed, rather than using the stance’s maximum speed. [h3]Additional Parameters[/h3] We have also disabled aiming-down the sights for a duration on landing, as well as introducing a camera shake that is triggered on contact with the ground. [h2]Public Testing Session - Friday, 29th of September[/h2] We will be holding a PTE session from this Friday, the 29th of September until the 2nd of October, where you’ll be able to jump on and try out each night map variant, the new dive to prone functionality, as well as help us assess any inadvertent impact from the loadout bug fix, plus share feedback on initial mantling and vaulting improvements. A changelog for this session will be shared on Friday, alongside the feedback and bug reporting forms! [h2]Patch 14.5 - November[/h2] [h3]New Variants for El Alamein and Driel[/h3] While night variants offer more ways to enjoy your favourite maps, we’re also introducing a new dusk variant map for El Alamein, in November, which you’ll also be able to try out in the PTE this Friday. Rather than the cool, low-light tones of the night maps, this variant will feature darkened lighting, gently lit with a fading glow that not only provides a new atmosphere, but also offers an initial reduced visibility variant for El Alamein that players can utilise to navigate the vast, open terrain. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/061dfaf6a356e88a3316e8880faad8736212fe0f.png[/img] [i]El Alamein at Dusk[/i] Driel will also be receiving a night map version with Patch 14.5 - providing the cover of night to give you opportunity to explore new manoeuvres. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/402d4073e3e1c9d94e976a91d7eb6b3a6f957c25.png[/img] [i]Driel at Night[/i] [h3]Part One of The British Forces Rework[/h3] Also landing with Patch 14.5, players will be able to get hands on with the initial improvements to the British forces, including updated desert uniforms for both German and British soldiers, as well as new British tanks, and new British weapons to replace the previous loadouts. You’ll be able to test out the rework in a PTE session before Patch 14.5 goes live in November! We’ll be going into more detail on the rework soon, but for now, here’s a little teaser on progress: [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/aaa71baeb4825aa3b00687d312826d47af2ec4ab.png[/img] [i]British Desert Uniform][/i] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/ce8aff5138a2b14f4368a53edd90d483b6444b1e.png[/img] [i]British Helmet with Chinstrap[/i] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/a7cbbbdfdd29871eb29e9d0d7f27fd10c9c9ab73.jpg[/img] [i]German DAK Desert Uniform[/i] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/f3204371c0ab630829f1003a025daf17cc183260.png[/img] [i]British - Stuart Honey Tank - High Poly[/i] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/525097665481eddbfb54b0262a407bf33fa9df38.png[/img] [i]Lee Enfield No.1 MkIII Rifle[/i] [h3]Erbsenmuster Pattern 44 Uniform DLC[/h3] During our AMA in July, we mentioned wanting to continue to support Hell Let Loose delivering a historically accurate and authentic World War Two experience - aiming to maintain unprecedented attention to detail in the historical depiction of the uniforms, weaponry, and tactics of period military units, however, we also recognise the brutality of armed conflict on a global scale and the unique atrocities which occurred, on all sides, during the Second World War. We also understand that many players have a deep passion for the history of particular units, as well as their uniforms and equipment - and we want to facilitate this passion, while encouraging that we all remain respectful of the events that occurred and the enormous human toll it had. For Patch 14.5, we are working on introducing the Erbsenmuster Pattern 44 uniform as a paid DLC, which will only be available to infantry and recon roles. Take a look at the work in progress: [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/5df209a2eaa6350163bfdeb074d78c1947f76b55.png[/img] [i]Erbsenmuster Pattern 44 Uniform WIP[/i] [h3]Free Weekend[/h3] There will also be a free weekend in November for you to enlist friends to take the frontlines and try out these new map variants and part one of the British forces rework! [h2]Patch 14.6 - December[/h2] [h3]Stalingrad & Kharkov Night Maps[/h3] Cooling down for Christmas, both Stalingrad and Kharkov will receive their night map variants, and the patch will primarily focus around general bug fixing. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/0e4779bf0fbc63a87184c9c4d8b333e47cacaea2.png[/img] [i]Stalingrad at Night[/i] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/16c15ae41d9466b78cb623c66dd41134eb77bb75.png[/img] [i]Kharkov at Night[/i] [h2]The Future Focus[/h2] For the remainder of this year and into next, we want to continue improving your experience with Hell Let Loose, and you will find that we are continuing to release patches rather than updates. We consider updates to be significant content drops, which would include new maps, modes, and forces. Patches are now our smaller releases that focus on game improvements, community requests, bug fixes, and smaller pieces of content, such as map variants. During our AMA and Dev Interview, we talked about the many things that we know the community would like to see implemented, and we will continue working towards these while delivering smaller content releases. There will be larger content updates next year and we’ll talk more about those, including Mortain and part two of the British rework, soon. Until then, we’ll see you all on the frontline! [h2]Vivox Maintenance[/h2] Vivox will be holding maintenance between 7pm BST and 8pm BST tomorrow, Thursday, 28th of September. You may experience downtime with VOIP, but services should resume before the time has elapsed. [h2]Community News & Events[/h2] [h3]Community Leaders and Event Organisers[/h3] Help us to help spotlight your events and tournaments! We know there are many communities across Hell Let Loose that take part in organised play, whether that’s roleplaying, custom games and events, or tournaments. We want to help showcase some of these and are working on the ways in which we can support them. A form collecting details on your community and event participation has been sent round our PC and Console War Arrangers on the official Discord, however, we want to make sure all community leaders have had opportunity to submit their details to us. If you are a community leader and have not already completed the form, please use this link: https://forms.office.com/e/BLF0bbH35W Only one representative from each community should complete the form. [h3]TAW Campaign: The Battle of Normandy[/h3] Having started earlier this month, TAW Hell Let Loose Division have begun a campaign that occurs every Sunday at 19:45 BST in the TAW EU Campaign server where players can take part as two rival teams clash in a relentless struggle for supremacy. In this campaign, maps are treated as sectors, each a game-changer, where conquering these sectors earns the teams supply points. With these points, new weapons, equipment, and commander manoeuvres can be unlocked. To find our more and take part, please visit: Discord: https://discord.gg/tawhll TAW: https://taw.net/ [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//34012997/f4962f62a8aaccb25accee93d7b0f936d4ad4122.jpg[/img] [h2]War Correspondent, Content Creator, and Community Videos[/h2] Make sure to post your videos in the #hll-videos channel in the Official Hell Let Loose Discord for a chance to be shown in future Developer Briefings! [h3]SoulSniper’s SOF | Community Clips Vol. 2[/h3] Your average Hell Let Loose experience summed up in one video using clips from SoulSniper’s Soldiers of Fortune server: https://youtu.be/JzZQbbtSr9o [h3]18 Players With One Satchel[/h3] When luck and strategy come together to give you an 18-person satchel kill, shared to Reddit by u/VittorioJedi! After working with the squad to breach the outer layer of fortifications, a carefully placed satchel takes out the last German nest on Carentan Town centre: https://reddit.com/r/HellLetLoose/comments/16kzd7d/18_with_one_satchel/ [h3]Infantry Support With Tanks Wins Games[/h3] This video from The Fresh Baked Goods shows how tanks can be used to support infantry movement from the backlines until it is time to help break through on the last point: https://youtu.be/2A-N-_E-bls?feature=shared [h2]Join the Conversation[/h2] Submit clips and artwork by joining the Discord for a chance to be shown in a future dev brief! Discord https://discord.gg/hellletloose Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HellLetLoose/ Twitter https://twitter.com/hell_let_loose YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/HellLetLoose Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/HellLetLoose/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hellletlooseofficial/ Steam http://steamcommunity.com/groups/HellLetLoose