Hey everyone, We hope you’re having a fantastic time with Update 1 and our new map, Utah Beach! Rest assured we’ve been combing through your comments and feedback and making plans as we move forward towards our next patches and Update 2. To let you know what the team are currently working on following Update 1, Lead Developer Max is has written a message for the community: [h1][b]Post Update 1 – A Message from Max[/b][/h1] Thanks for a great launch for Update 1. It was great to jump in with you and take notes across all our feedback channels as to some of the key issues we should tackle next. As you’ve probably started noticing if you’ve been following the project for a while - we don’t consider any aspect of Hell Let Loose finished and know that there is plenty more to do in every department before we’d consider the game anywhere near representative of a final experience. Right now we’re deciding on our full Update 2 commitment - making sure we feel we can achieve whatever we share with the community. While the Update 2 content is important, we feel that at this stage there are several endemic bugs and issues that are significantly hampering great gameplay - server browser issues, VOIP issues, unit management mechanics and anti-griefer mechanics. We’ll be patching these issues as quickly as possible and won’t follow the Update schedule, as we feel that addressing these will significantly improve the experience for all players. In addition to this, we’re also working full-time on addressing RCON systems for server hosts and working to give them more power in the way they’re able to administer their servers. While these are some key issues for us as a whole, we’re continuing upgrades to SFX, HUD, UI, animation and weapon handling. You’ll see these continue to roll out in both patches and the larger Updates as we progress. Once we’ve locked our content for Update 2, we’ll release an updated roadmap graphic. Rest assured that at any time we always have several maps in development, new vehicles and a whole bunch of other goodies. And now for something slightly different… [h1]No fish guts, no glory[/h1] Many of you have probably noticed the various critters dotted around our maps that have shifted their mortal coil. From cows to chickens, rats and now fish! But how do these models get made and what makes them look so lifelike? Well, in the case of our fish we (well, one person), had to really dive into their role. [b]Please note[/b]: The sealife featured was not meant for human consumption and no fish or crab were harmed for or during the process of creating the assets. Only the hands, clothes and stomach of our Lead Artist – Danny. We aren’t going to post the source imagery either, because we value your enjoyment of your dinner. [h1]Lead Artist Danny and the quest for the perfect fish asset[/h1] We spoke to Danny on the process that went into creating Utah Beach’s fish: For many assets, including the fishes and sealife of Hell Let Loose - Utah, Photogrammetry was used. (This meant Danny actually had to obtain and photograph the source material, aka the fish) [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/34012997/e54795f9a90723dfc9496340c384622963d98b67.png[/img] Multiple images from multiple angles were loaded into Agisoft Metashape. In here the photos were auto aligned and formed a Point Cloud. This Point Cloud was used to generate a high poly 3D mesh and textures from the photos. [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/34012997/629151497b6fb29417df0f76d4b3035cdf162b11.jpg[/img] [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/34012997/3606b19894ba3ba09d57542171a45ff26b313a68.png[/img] After the Photogrammetry process, the high poly 3D mesh and textures were Exported into xNormal to bake the base Albedo, Normal and Ambient Occlusion textures. Meanwhile, the decimated mesh was created in Meshlab and Unwrapped in Maya. [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/34012997/66306d5efdba80bdb11efc18dce3afed1a399c93.png[/img] [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/34012997/d086d68891b0c203b56351117bd25227b00c1ce9.png[/img] [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/34012997/f8dd75c96b663230fe783569d20aa1fd109f094b.gif[/img] The base textures were loaded into Substance Painter. In Substance the gaps and holes were painted out using the clone/stamp tool. Additional dirt, materials and details were added if needed, and the final textures were loaded into Hell Let Loose to be used by Will to scatter around for all our eyes to enjoy. [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/34012997/e4408e96748c46266bc54726ad14ca65d27c328d.jpg[/img] [h1]Hell Let Loose 15% Discount[/h1] There's still time to take advantage of our 15% Update 1 Discount until 6pm BST on July 25th! Join the frontline here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/686810/Hell_Let_Loose/