Hell Let Loose | 2025 Map Teaser
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Hell Let Loose News
PTE U16 | Elsenborn Ridge | Live all Weekend for testing!
Helly everyone,
The Public Testing Environment for Update 16 is live, running throughout the weekend! We'd love to hear your feedback. So please jump in and play Elsenborn Ridge ahead of its release later this year.
[h3]Map Rotation[/h3]
The team is proud to bring to you our next map built from the ground up: Elsenborn Ridge.
Elsenborn Ridge was a less-documented but integral battle nevertheless in the Ardennes ‘44 campaign of WW2. Set in the Belgian region of Büllingen, just 40 miles away from Foy, the U.S. valiantly tried to hold their position in the small village of Wirtzfeld. With territory having exchanged hands multiple times between the U.S. and German Forces, the U.S. was eventually driven out of Wirtzfeld, and onto the Elsenborn Ridge, where they dug in throughout the brutal December period of 1944, having been forced to abandon crucial ammo and fuel stores near the village.
The map joins the battle between 16-26th December 1944 with the U.S. Forces having established their defensive networks on the Elsenborn Ridge, while the German Forces controlled the village outskirts of Wirtzfeld to the South. The map will be coming to the following game modes:
[h3]99th Command Centre[/h3]
Beginning with U.S. territory in the North we have the 99th Command Centre. An operational centre for the 99th U.S. Division holding out on the Elsenborn Ridge. The Capture Point features a logistical tent, some defensive bunkers, as well as some WW1 trenches to help the U.S. forces dig in.
[h3]Gun Battery[/h3]
The Gun Battery Capture Point features a strong defensive trench network that the U.S. forces were able to utilise to set up their AA guns in addition to their fearsome Black Dragon artillery guns. Narratively, once the U.S. forces were settled into the Elsenborn Ridge, they rained heavy artillery fire onto the German Forces down at Wirtzfeld. The visibility due to the bad weather was so poor that a lot of the shots were inaccurate.
[h3]U.S. Camp[/h3]
With the U.S. forces successfully retreating to the Elsenborn Ridge, the rural environment provided little warmth or comfort, so the U.S. established one of many camps for the troops which included temporary mess halls and medical tents.
[h3]Elsenborn Ridge[/h3]
The Elsenborn Ridge Capture Point serves as an observation post, and the first line of defence for the U.S. forces. It features a defensive trench network, and an abandoned farm house that the troops would use to take turns in keeping watch throughout the countryside.
[h3]Farahilde Farm[/h3]
Farahilde Farm is a farmstead Capture Point that features a traditional livestock farm, with a blend of close quarters fighting within the farmstead, as well as wide open fields for vehicular and long range combat.
[h3]Road to Elsenborn Ridge[/h3]
The Road to Elsenborn Ridge features a farmhouse that has been converted into a vehicle repair station for the U.S. forces. As such the once open land is now full of broken vehicles and equipment, providing a lot of opportunities for close quarters combat.
[h3]Dugout Tanks[/h3]
The Dugout Tanks are a defensive position that the U.S. used as a vantage point in the Belgian countryside. Using tank turrets that were previously functional even though the rest of the chassis was broken, the U.S. were able to dig in at a particularly troublesome defensive position against the German Forces. The Capture Point features a strong defensive network, with a wide range of flanking opportunities in the wide open terrain on the flanks.
Note: The Dugout Tanks Capture Point will also be used for the Control Skirmish game mode as the active Capture Point.
[h3]Jensit Pillboxes[/h3]
The Jensit Pillboxes Capture Point features a steep hill that the U.S. utilised to control the main road in and out of Jensit. The pillboxes are temporary structures made from wood and are used to provide devastating ambush opportunities by concealing themselves within the dense forestry surrounding them. It also serves as a staging area for assault forces to move down the map into the German controlled Checkpoint.
[h3]Checkpoint[/h3]
The Checkpoint Capture Point is that of a German themed Checkpoint that was often featured in WW2 to control the roads in and out of regions. This particular Checkpoint was key to controlling the main road in and out of Wirtzfeld, so the German Forces put extra emphasis on protecting it by using the nearby barn and protected hillside for storage and supplies.
[h3]Erelsdell Farmhouse[/h3]
Moving onto German territory, Erelsdell Farmhouse features a civilian controlled Farmstead, as one of the more relatively untouched areas by either forces, the Capture Point features a more traditional Belgian farmstead with a combination of enterable barns/buildings as well as contrasting wide open fields.
[h3]AA Battery[/h3]
The AA Battery is a Capture Point that has been set up by the German Forces as a means of retaliation against the U.S. Forces on the Elsenborn Ridge. With the exchange of artillery fire through really poor weather conditions being at the narrative forefront, the Capture Point contains an Artillery-themed trench network, surrounded by a mixture of forested areas and open plains that support a variety of tactics and playstyles.
[h3]Hinterberg[/h3]
Keen to push our technology forward, we used the improved VFX systems in the Hinterberg Capture Point. Hinterberg is a forested area that was originally held by the U.S. Forces. The German Forces bombarded it with artillery and burnt it down, a key skirmish that forced the U.S. back to the Elsenborn Ridge. The Capture Point features a burnt forest, minimal supplies and defences, and utilises the landscape for a more natural cover experience.
[h3]Supply Cache[/h3]
The Supply Cache was originally held by the U.S. Forces. As part of the hasty withdrawal to the Elsenborn Ridge, the U.S. were forced to abandon a lot of the supplies that had been stockpiled, this left the area in a mess and allowed the German Forces to swoop in and steal the remains. The Capture Point is a chaotic space, providing a couple of key buildings overlooking the cap while at ground level, large supply stockpiles provide a lot of cover for infantry focused combat.
[h3]Foxholes[/h3]
During the research phase of Elsenborn Ridge, we learned that the U.S. used the terrain to their advantage quite a lot, and created Foxholes to set up traps for nearby German patrols. The Foxholes Capture Point depicts a no-man’s land area, with hilly terrain designed to provide armour with good vantage points, as well as prominent Foxholes for players to set up ambushes.
Elsenborn Ridge is a map that caters to a myriad of playstyles and strategies; attacking from South to North, Infantry squads fighting over the Fuel Depot Capture Point will get a chance to experience that close quarters combat feeling with danger lurking around every corner while vehicles will have to provide support at a safe distance.
Moving further north, the map opens up to Hinterberg, a burnt down forest section that provides tricky terrain that requires both infantry and armoured vehicles to rely on using the natural landscape to their advantage. It’s here where the Sniper role also comes into its own, offering long distance opportunities down the rolling hills of Belgium.
Next we have the Checkpoint, a roadblock which controls a key road in and out of the region. Here players get a varied mixture of gameplay, the open fields on the approach are a haven for armoured vehicle support, while the intricate web of hillside storage provides infantry with that close quarters gameplay. The changes in elevation of the rolling hills start to make their mark on the gameplay by providing Armour squads the ability to really open up their firepower capabilities
Moving further north way out into the countryside we have Farahilde Farm, infantry squads will have to make tactical decisions when crossing the open fields to reach safety, the armour squads will have high visibility across the vicinity here to cause a lot of damage.
And finally on the Northern part of the ridge we have Gun Battery, a heavily fortified dug-out section full of trenches that allow infantry squads to hunker down while the Armour squads emerge from the treeline ready to push through to victory.
The technical art team have been investigating the introduction of a dynamic weather system to Hell Let Loose, in particular a way to convey the weather that affected troops in Elsenborn Ridge. Historically they were subjected to freezing conditions and blizzards affecting visibility.
We needed a system that could change throughout and be as unpredictable as the weather at that time to reflect these conditions.
A set of VFX particles were created consisting of various intensities of snow. As we needed this configurable, we decided on a set of presets utilising data assets. These made it easy to drive the intensity of each level of snow.
This meant we could tune each scenario easily in isolation. Each scenario includes parameters referenced from the vfx and lighting to allow us to tune the weather intensity and atmospherics.
The VFX scenario was broken down into a set of presets;
The data assets were then accessed by a singular blueprint placed in the map which would blend each preset over time. all of which could be tuned in terms of frequency, probability and transition length. We added the probability of when the transition between each stage would occur in order for us to add a certain amount of randomness to it.
This introduced some challenges for how we would implement this for the online player experience of Hell Let Loose. Changeable weather conditions would need to be consistent over time for each player. The code team worked hard to support in ensuring the levels of snow to blizzard stayed synchronised and consistent throughout.
[h3]Freelook[/h3]
Freelook is something the community has been requesting in the game for sometime and as frequent players ourselves, it has been somewhat of a personal mission to get freelook in the game. Running through fields always has been a risky endeavour with threats always looming. Freelook allows for a 130 degrees horizontal view angle that allows players to scan their peripherals while running, holding a position or even mounted on your MG. This helps to give players more control over their situational awareness which allows for more calculated actions.
Due to some limitations with our character system, such as first person characters not having full bodies, there are some known issues which occur, this includes some visual clipping with certain weapons and uniforms. We hope to continue looking at solutions for these issues and polishing the system.
For the release of Elsenborn Ridge, we have once again changed the Frontend scene - this time to a full colour night time scene. We wanted to be able to depict the fire and snow which are prominent features in the new map, and perhaps give a sense of the extremities faced during this element of the Battle of the Bulge.
Ability to navigate menus whilst queuing for a lobby
We’re currently working on a requested feature where if you’re waiting to join a server you’re able to freely navigate the menus until you join the server! This will hopefully help reduce frustration in some long server joining times!
This will appear in the top right corner of the enlist screen once you attempt to join a server
[h3]Work In Progress[/h3]
These PTE sessions are a way for you as a community to feedback on Hell Let Loose work in progress, which means we can look to implement your feedback before a patch or update is released. Although we can currently only hold public testing sessions on Steam, we encourage everyone to take part to be able to share feedback.
[h3]Known Issues[/h3]
For today’s session, there is a list of unfinished items/bugs that we’re aware of, including:
Please note that Elsenborn is in its final polishing phase, it means you may see:
[h3]Streaming & Recording PTE Sessions[/h3]
You are welcome to both stream and record PTE footage, but as these sessions are showing unfinished work, it’s always good to let your individual communities know that the footage is from a PTE session, where you might encounter unfinished items, bugs and other issues.
[h3]Feedback Questions[/h3]
Once you have completed a game and are ready to provide feedback, please use the forms below!
[h3]How to Take Part[/h3]
Check your Steam Library for the Hell Let Loose (Public Testing) application, or re-download it from the Steam store, you’ll want to boot this version up to take part in the PTE!
Once you’re in and have selected a server, you’ll be able to test out the new game mode!
Submit Feedback: https://forms.office.com/e/5tyS1gJ9QR
Share Bug Reports: https://forms.office.com/e/riXw0eZrgb
[h3]Please note:[/h3]
Because PTEs are run on development servers that have logging activated, you will experience a slight decrease in performance. You will also not earn any XP and your progress will not be carried over to the live game.
The Public Testing Environment for Update 16 is live, running throughout the weekend! We'd love to hear your feedback. So please jump in and play Elsenborn Ridge ahead of its release later this year.
[h3]Map Rotation[/h3]
- Warfare - Daytime/Blizzard and running throughout the weekend! We'd love to hear your feedback, so please jump in and play Elsenborn Ridge before
- OffensiveUS - Morning
- OffensiveGER - Night
- Skirmish - Daytime/Blizzard
The team is proud to bring to you our next map built from the ground up: Elsenborn Ridge.
Elsenborn Ridge was a less-documented but integral battle nevertheless in the Ardennes ‘44 campaign of WW2. Set in the Belgian region of Büllingen, just 40 miles away from Foy, the U.S. valiantly tried to hold their position in the small village of Wirtzfeld. With territory having exchanged hands multiple times between the U.S. and German Forces, the U.S. was eventually driven out of Wirtzfeld, and onto the Elsenborn Ridge, where they dug in throughout the brutal December period of 1944, having been forced to abandon crucial ammo and fuel stores near the village.
The map joins the battle between 16-26th December 1944 with the U.S. Forces having established their defensive networks on the Elsenborn Ridge, while the German Forces controlled the village outskirts of Wirtzfeld to the South. The map will be coming to the following game modes:
- Warfare
- Offensive U.S.
- Offensive German
- Control Skirmish
Capture Points
[h3]99th Command Centre[/h3]
Beginning with U.S. territory in the North we have the 99th Command Centre. An operational centre for the 99th U.S. Division holding out on the Elsenborn Ridge. The Capture Point features a logistical tent, some defensive bunkers, as well as some WW1 trenches to help the U.S. forces dig in.
[h3]Gun Battery[/h3]
The Gun Battery Capture Point features a strong defensive trench network that the U.S. forces were able to utilise to set up their AA guns in addition to their fearsome Black Dragon artillery guns. Narratively, once the U.S. forces were settled into the Elsenborn Ridge, they rained heavy artillery fire onto the German Forces down at Wirtzfeld. The visibility due to the bad weather was so poor that a lot of the shots were inaccurate.
[h3]U.S. Camp[/h3]
With the U.S. forces successfully retreating to the Elsenborn Ridge, the rural environment provided little warmth or comfort, so the U.S. established one of many camps for the troops which included temporary mess halls and medical tents.
[h3]Elsenborn Ridge[/h3]
The Elsenborn Ridge Capture Point serves as an observation post, and the first line of defence for the U.S. forces. It features a defensive trench network, and an abandoned farm house that the troops would use to take turns in keeping watch throughout the countryside.
[h3]Farahilde Farm[/h3]
Farahilde Farm is a farmstead Capture Point that features a traditional livestock farm, with a blend of close quarters fighting within the farmstead, as well as wide open fields for vehicular and long range combat.
[h3]Road to Elsenborn Ridge[/h3]
The Road to Elsenborn Ridge features a farmhouse that has been converted into a vehicle repair station for the U.S. forces. As such the once open land is now full of broken vehicles and equipment, providing a lot of opportunities for close quarters combat.
[h3]Dugout Tanks[/h3]
The Dugout Tanks are a defensive position that the U.S. used as a vantage point in the Belgian countryside. Using tank turrets that were previously functional even though the rest of the chassis was broken, the U.S. were able to dig in at a particularly troublesome defensive position against the German Forces. The Capture Point features a strong defensive network, with a wide range of flanking opportunities in the wide open terrain on the flanks.
Note: The Dugout Tanks Capture Point will also be used for the Control Skirmish game mode as the active Capture Point.
[h3]Jensit Pillboxes[/h3]
The Jensit Pillboxes Capture Point features a steep hill that the U.S. utilised to control the main road in and out of Jensit. The pillboxes are temporary structures made from wood and are used to provide devastating ambush opportunities by concealing themselves within the dense forestry surrounding them. It also serves as a staging area for assault forces to move down the map into the German controlled Checkpoint.
[h3]Checkpoint[/h3]
The Checkpoint Capture Point is that of a German themed Checkpoint that was often featured in WW2 to control the roads in and out of regions. This particular Checkpoint was key to controlling the main road in and out of Wirtzfeld, so the German Forces put extra emphasis on protecting it by using the nearby barn and protected hillside for storage and supplies.
[h3]Erelsdell Farmhouse[/h3]
Moving onto German territory, Erelsdell Farmhouse features a civilian controlled Farmstead, as one of the more relatively untouched areas by either forces, the Capture Point features a more traditional Belgian farmstead with a combination of enterable barns/buildings as well as contrasting wide open fields.
[h3]AA Battery[/h3]
The AA Battery is a Capture Point that has been set up by the German Forces as a means of retaliation against the U.S. Forces on the Elsenborn Ridge. With the exchange of artillery fire through really poor weather conditions being at the narrative forefront, the Capture Point contains an Artillery-themed trench network, surrounded by a mixture of forested areas and open plains that support a variety of tactics and playstyles.
[h3]Hinterberg[/h3]
Keen to push our technology forward, we used the improved VFX systems in the Hinterberg Capture Point. Hinterberg is a forested area that was originally held by the U.S. Forces. The German Forces bombarded it with artillery and burnt it down, a key skirmish that forced the U.S. back to the Elsenborn Ridge. The Capture Point features a burnt forest, minimal supplies and defences, and utilises the landscape for a more natural cover experience.
[h3]Supply Cache[/h3]
The Supply Cache was originally held by the U.S. Forces. As part of the hasty withdrawal to the Elsenborn Ridge, the U.S. were forced to abandon a lot of the supplies that had been stockpiled, this left the area in a mess and allowed the German Forces to swoop in and steal the remains. The Capture Point is a chaotic space, providing a couple of key buildings overlooking the cap while at ground level, large supply stockpiles provide a lot of cover for infantry focused combat.
[h3]Foxholes[/h3]
During the research phase of Elsenborn Ridge, we learned that the U.S. used the terrain to their advantage quite a lot, and created Foxholes to set up traps for nearby German patrols. The Foxholes Capture Point depicts a no-man’s land area, with hilly terrain designed to provide armour with good vantage points, as well as prominent Foxholes for players to set up ambushes.
Strategies
Elsenborn Ridge is a map that caters to a myriad of playstyles and strategies; attacking from South to North, Infantry squads fighting over the Fuel Depot Capture Point will get a chance to experience that close quarters combat feeling with danger lurking around every corner while vehicles will have to provide support at a safe distance.
Moving further north, the map opens up to Hinterberg, a burnt down forest section that provides tricky terrain that requires both infantry and armoured vehicles to rely on using the natural landscape to their advantage. It’s here where the Sniper role also comes into its own, offering long distance opportunities down the rolling hills of Belgium.
Next we have the Checkpoint, a roadblock which controls a key road in and out of the region. Here players get a varied mixture of gameplay, the open fields on the approach are a haven for armoured vehicle support, while the intricate web of hillside storage provides infantry with that close quarters gameplay. The changes in elevation of the rolling hills start to make their mark on the gameplay by providing Armour squads the ability to really open up their firepower capabilities
Moving further north way out into the countryside we have Farahilde Farm, infantry squads will have to make tactical decisions when crossing the open fields to reach safety, the armour squads will have high visibility across the vicinity here to cause a lot of damage.
And finally on the Northern part of the ridge we have Gun Battery, a heavily fortified dug-out section full of trenches that allow infantry squads to hunker down while the Armour squads emerge from the treeline ready to push through to victory.
Weather System
The technical art team have been investigating the introduction of a dynamic weather system to Hell Let Loose, in particular a way to convey the weather that affected troops in Elsenborn Ridge. Historically they were subjected to freezing conditions and blizzards affecting visibility.
We needed a system that could change throughout and be as unpredictable as the weather at that time to reflect these conditions.
A set of VFX particles were created consisting of various intensities of snow. As we needed this configurable, we decided on a set of presets utilising data assets. These made it easy to drive the intensity of each level of snow.
This meant we could tune each scenario easily in isolation. Each scenario includes parameters referenced from the vfx and lighting to allow us to tune the weather intensity and atmospherics.
The VFX scenario was broken down into a set of presets;
- Light snow
- Medium snow
- Heavy snow
- Blizzard snow
The data assets were then accessed by a singular blueprint placed in the map which would blend each preset over time. all of which could be tuned in terms of frequency, probability and transition length. We added the probability of when the transition between each stage would occur in order for us to add a certain amount of randomness to it.
This introduced some challenges for how we would implement this for the online player experience of Hell Let Loose. Changeable weather conditions would need to be consistent over time for each player. The code team worked hard to support in ensuring the levels of snow to blizzard stayed synchronised and consistent throughout.
New Features
[h3]Freelook[/h3]
Freelook is something the community has been requesting in the game for sometime and as frequent players ourselves, it has been somewhat of a personal mission to get freelook in the game. Running through fields always has been a risky endeavour with threats always looming. Freelook allows for a 130 degrees horizontal view angle that allows players to scan their peripherals while running, holding a position or even mounted on your MG. This helps to give players more control over their situational awareness which allows for more calculated actions.
Due to some limitations with our character system, such as first person characters not having full bodies, there are some known issues which occur, this includes some visual clipping with certain weapons and uniforms. We hope to continue looking at solutions for these issues and polishing the system.
Elsenborn Ridge Themed Front End Menu
For the release of Elsenborn Ridge, we have once again changed the Frontend scene - this time to a full colour night time scene. We wanted to be able to depict the fire and snow which are prominent features in the new map, and perhaps give a sense of the extremities faced during this element of the Battle of the Bulge.
Ability to navigate menus whilst queuing for a lobby
We’re currently working on a requested feature where if you’re waiting to join a server you’re able to freely navigate the menus until you join the server! This will hopefully help reduce frustration in some long server joining times!
This will appear in the top right corner of the enlist screen once you attempt to join a server
[h3]Work In Progress[/h3]
These PTE sessions are a way for you as a community to feedback on Hell Let Loose work in progress, which means we can look to implement your feedback before a patch or update is released. Although we can currently only hold public testing sessions on Steam, we encourage everyone to take part to be able to share feedback.
[h3]Known Issues[/h3]
For today’s session, there is a list of unfinished items/bugs that we’re aware of, including:
- [EBR] Certain walls & snowbanks have misaligned collision.
- The Wool Greatcoat Winter Uniform has broken cloth physics.
- The Wool Greatcoat Winter Uniform fabric is changing shape when the user comes close to the player wearing it.
- The German commander body disappears in the Barracks when zoomed in and wearing the 6th Panzer uniform.
- The US Engineer when wearing the 16.0 Corps head displays with large black gaps over the face in the barracks.
- Machine gunners don’t sit central in the presentation window in the barracks when zoomed in.
- The US medic has 2 instances of the Refreshed Winter Uniform.
- Exiting Practice Range using Leave Server option will return the player to the deprecated War Room/Basic Training.
- [EBR] Pre-Placed German Luchs light tank fails to spawn at German HQ #01 on all US Offensive variants.
- [Freelook] Certain pieces of equipment can be used while aiming them with Freelook.
- [Freelook] Anti-tank weapons can be aimed with Freelook.
- [Freelook] Freelook remains active when entering ADS with weapons which apply a screen overlay.
- [Freelook] The user can “aim down sights” while actually looking away from their rifle with freelook.
Please note that Elsenborn is in its final polishing phase, it means you may see:
- Minor collision issues.
- Texture issues.
- Minor asset misalignment issues.
- Performance issues.
- Visual effects throughout Elsenborn Ridge are still work in progress.
[h3]Streaming & Recording PTE Sessions[/h3]
You are welcome to both stream and record PTE footage, but as these sessions are showing unfinished work, it’s always good to let your individual communities know that the footage is from a PTE session, where you might encounter unfinished items, bugs and other issues.
[h3]Feedback Questions[/h3]
Once you have completed a game and are ready to provide feedback, please use the forms below!
[h3]How to Take Part[/h3]
Check your Steam Library for the Hell Let Loose (Public Testing) application, or re-download it from the Steam store, you’ll want to boot this version up to take part in the PTE!
Once you’re in and have selected a server, you’ll be able to test out the new game mode!
Submit Feedback: https://forms.office.com/e/5tyS1gJ9QR
Share Bug Reports: https://forms.office.com/e/riXw0eZrgb
[h3]Please note:[/h3]
Because PTEs are run on development servers that have logging activated, you will experience a slight decrease in performance. You will also not earn any XP and your progress will not be carried over to the live game.
Hell Let Loose | Elsenborn Ridge
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Update 15.3 | Live on All Platforms
Hello everyone!
Update 15.3 is now available on all platforms! This update includes the Purple Heart Lane Refresh, Console Admin Cam, Paid DLC and various bug fixes.
This is the last of the updates for U15, next up is Update 16 - Elsenborn Ridge.
[h3]Elsenborn Ridge PTE[/h3]
We will be hosting a Public Testing Environment on Steam for Elsenborn Ridge, starting tomorrow! This will run throughout the weekend. Please stay tuned for more information.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Purple Heart Lane - Map Refresh[/h3]
Last year, we asked you what map you’d like to see refreshed. After casting your votes, the majority of you decided the map to receive a refresh treatment was Purple Heart Lane.
After analysing the map and sifting through player reports regarding its most frustrating parts, we have addressed the following issues on a wider map scale:
The purpose of this refresh was not to take anything away from the legacy map, but to enhance and refine what already exists to respect the tone. Based on community feedback, we have made the following adjustments to the following Capture Points:
[h3]Bloody Bend[/h3]
[h3]Dead Man’s Corner[/h3]
[h3]Forward Battery[/h3]
[h3]Jourdan Canal[/h3]
[h3]Douve Bridge[/h3]
[h3]Douve River Battery[/h3]
[h3]Groult Pillbox[/h3]
[h3]Carentan Causeway[/h3]
[h3]Flak Position[/h3]
[h3]Madeleine Bridge[/h3]
[h3]Aid Station[/h3]
[h3]Road to Carentan[/h3]
[h3]Paid DLC - Panzer Lehr[/h3]
[h3]Dynamic Weather[/h3]
With the map refresh of Purple Heart Lane the Technical art team looked at introducing an update to the rain. Initially, this was to address some visual bugs that occurred on Xbox. This allowed us to add some variation to the original effect, allowing us to have some scenarios with no rain or some with a full-on storm.
We have been investigating this as part of an expansion to the levels of snowfall planned for Elsenborn Ridge and adapting the technology to include rain. The system's flexibility has allowed us to add VFX scenarios ranging from light rain to a heavy downpour, coupled with lightning and thunder. The system had to be expanded to include audio level changes that would synchronize with the rain intensity and to also have a delayed trigger to each lightning strike.
Each VFX scenario was broken down into a preset;
[h3]Console Admin Camera[/h3]
Admins on console servers can now utilize the power of the admin camera with full controller support!
If you’re an admin on a server (For Console or PC) you will now find that you can enter / exit the admin camera menu via the pause menu
[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]
General
Console specific
Carentan
Driel
El Alamein
Hill 400
Hürtgen Forest
Kursk
Mortain
Omaha Beach
Purple Heart Lane
Practice Range
Remagen
Sainte-Mère-Église
Stalingrad
Update 15.3 is now available on all platforms! This update includes the Purple Heart Lane Refresh, Console Admin Cam, Paid DLC and various bug fixes.
This is the last of the updates for U15, next up is Update 16 - Elsenborn Ridge.
[h3]Elsenborn Ridge PTE[/h3]
We will be hosting a Public Testing Environment on Steam for Elsenborn Ridge, starting tomorrow! This will run throughout the weekend. Please stay tuned for more information.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Purple Heart Lane - Map Refresh[/h3]
Last year, we asked you what map you’d like to see refreshed. After casting your votes, the majority of you decided the map to receive a refresh treatment was Purple Heart Lane.
After analysing the map and sifting through player reports regarding its most frustrating parts, we have addressed the following issues on a wider map scale:
- Insufficient river crossings
- Unclear where water can/cannot be crossed
- Inconsistent drowning in fields
- Lack of cover in and around certain hard caps
The purpose of this refresh was not to take anything away from the legacy map, but to enhance and refine what already exists to respect the tone. Based on community feedback, we have made the following adjustments to the following Capture Points:
[h3]Bloody Bend[/h3]
- Made some terrain tweaks to reduce drowning in the fields unless prone
- Added cover points
- Added an extra non-enterable barn for cover
[h3]Dead Man’s Corner[/h3]
- Replaced a non-enterable building with an enterable version of the same size, to provide elevation opportunities, as well as an additional quicker route through the backyards
- Opened up the wall network to allow an additional infiltration point around the compound
- Additional cover
- Added routes in and over the wall
[h3]Forward Battery[/h3]
- Extended the hedgerows to meet up with the rest of the landscape
- Added additional side bocage hedgerows to provide cover opportunities for players wading through the water channel
- Added foliage
- Added cover in the flooded field on the flank
[h3]Jourdan Canal[/h3]
- Adjusted terrain levels to reduce drowning
- Added cattle ring cover for players wading through the fields
- The player can now walk underneath the footbridge at full height without drowning
- The player will drown if they attempt to crouch, this can be prevented by standing up
- Added a pontoon bridge crossing point
- Added immediate cover for players as they cross the bridge
- Adjusted reed foliage around the bridge
- Added a tree line of sight blocker
[h3]Douve Bridge[/h3]
- Created additional dock walkways to get to the other side of the river
- Added cover points along this route
- Made some tweaks to the landscape to make less of it submerged deep in water
- Added a little bit of storytelling with destroyed vehicles and artillery scorch marks
- In keeping with the dock theme an additional small dock en route to the bridge with cover has been added
[h3]Douve River Battery[/h3]
- The water can now be crossed at specific points both on foot and in a vehicle, this will be highlighted both in the environment and on the tactical map
[h3]Groult Pillbox[/h3]
- Made terrain changes so that the deep water is broken up by the land
- Created additional cover
- Created additional foliage
- Added a pontoon bridge river crossing
[h3]Carentan Causeway[/h3]
- Added a trench network in close proximity to the exit of the existing trench network
- Added a non-enterable shed building
- Terrain pass
- Foliage pass
- Made terrain changes
- Created additional cover
- Created additional foliage
- Additional cover in the flooded fields
- Embankments on the approach for prone cover
- Additional storytelling
[h3]Flak Position[/h3]
- Made terrain changes
- Created additional foliage & cover
- Additional storytelling
- Madeleine Farm
- Made terrain changes
- Made the dirt road more prominent at ground level
- Replaced the wall to open up the additional road loop
- Adjusted road splines to link up the off-road back to the main road
- Built on top of the existing field with additional storytelling and cover
[h3]Madeleine Bridge[/h3]
- Updated the rubble affordance position to make it clearer that the player cannot get underneath the arch
- Adjusted the terrain in the centre of the bridge to allow the player to move underneath the central arch
- Allows the player to fully cross the river at this section, and keeps it in line with the rest of the canal
- Created an additional trench network in the field
[h3]Aid Station[/h3]
- Terrain pass
- Cover pass in the hard cap
- Foliage pass in the hard cap
- Ingouf Crossroads
- Added a farm compound
- Terrain pass on height, blending and painting
- Additional foliage created
[h3]Road to Carentan[/h3]
- Terrain pass
- Foliage pass
- Created additional cover
- Features
[h3]Paid DLC - Panzer Lehr[/h3]
[h3]Dynamic Weather[/h3]
With the map refresh of Purple Heart Lane the Technical art team looked at introducing an update to the rain. Initially, this was to address some visual bugs that occurred on Xbox. This allowed us to add some variation to the original effect, allowing us to have some scenarios with no rain or some with a full-on storm.
We have been investigating this as part of an expansion to the levels of snowfall planned for Elsenborn Ridge and adapting the technology to include rain. The system's flexibility has allowed us to add VFX scenarios ranging from light rain to a heavy downpour, coupled with lightning and thunder. The system had to be expanded to include audio level changes that would synchronize with the rain intensity and to also have a delayed trigger to each lightning strike.
Each VFX scenario was broken down into a preset;
- Light rain
- Medium rain
- Heavy rain
- Extreme rain (including thunder/lightning)
This meant we could tune each scenario easily in isolation. Each scenario includes parameters referenced from the VFX, lighting and audio files to allow us to easily tune rain intensity, atmospherics and audio. In addition, there are also controls for the frequency and occurrence of lightning for the extreme rain setting.
Each of these presets was made into a Data Asset that could then be accessed by the Blueprint to blend between over a set amount of time, all of which can be tuned in terms of frequency, probability and transition length. We added the probability of when the transition between each stage would occur for us to add a certain amount of randomness to it. Along with this the lightning that occurs in the extreme level of rain also has a probability factor of when and where it occurs adding to the immersion of the overall effect.
Technical Art team - Expression Games
[h3]Console Admin Camera[/h3]
Admins on console servers can now utilize the power of the admin camera with full controller support!
If you’re an admin on a server (For Console or PC) you will now find that you can enter / exit the admin camera menu via the pause menu
[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]
General
- The text under Notice for Armor and Recon in the Create a New Unit menu is misaligned
- [15.0] The loading screen for SMDM Day Skirmish shows the Town centre which is not in the skirmish level
- [15.0] The loading screen for SMDM Night Skirmish shows the Town centre which is not in the skirmish level
- [15.0] The preview image of the Oak Leaf uniform is low resolution
- [Console Server Browser] The confirm prompt for the Reset Filter pop-up & the confirm button on the server filter window doubles the input
- The search function within "Field Manual" doesn't search for all topics.
- The hair is clipping with the Winter head on front end after equipping then on Barracks
- [Field Manual] In Vehicles > Seats & Keybindings, the tank section mentions that all heavy & medium tanks have a machine gun for the driver, which is incorrect.
- [Field Manual] On the half track page, there is no mention that the half track engine needs to be turned off in order to work as a spawn.
- [Field Manual] Under "Satchel Charge" in "Equipment" there is no mention that the satchel charge can be disarmed.
- [Field Manual] Under Artillery > Shells in the Combat section, it should be mentioned that smoke shells deal no damage, even direct hits.
- [Field Manual] Under Deployables, it would be expected for "Spawn Types" to be the main section, not a sub-section, and for it to cover the airhead, half-track & recon spawns.
- Slider value settings that are set by 1 tick above the minimum value, back to the minimum value, will not change as expected.
- Flamethrower canisters are severely clipping through the support's backpack on some uniforms.
- Garrison cannot be destroyed by nearby satchel explosion
- Officer/Commander watch no longer shows how many garrisons are currently built
- The M1919 Browning reload audio cannot be heard in TPP
- The player is unable to use commander abilities after attempting to use the chat during cooldown
- Visual keybinding indicators on pop up prompts are linked to the "Dialog" keybinds instead of "Vote".
- When diving to prone and firing a machine gun, the player jumps forwards when they finish firing
- The Firefly hull front has weak points on the hatches with only 'Heavy' armour value
Console specific
- [CONSOLE] Joining a party as a PS5 player through T17 overlay causes the VOIP channels to become unusable
- [CONSOLE] Party voice chat doesn't work in Frontend when inviting a player through T17 Overlay
- [CONSOLE] When player tries to join a server through T17 overlay VOIP is unusable
- [CONSOLE] Player cannot switch between Server Message and Key using LB/RB buttons within Deployment Screen
Carentan
- Wheel asset presents snow texture
- [D6] Rubble piles have larger than expected Collision, blocking bullets from hitting targets
- [C7] Assets in this sector are missing textures, polygon faces or are very noticeably misplaced.
- [F7] The Player remains stuck between a chimney and a chair inside of a ruined building
- [I3] Door and Brick Wall Textures Overlapping
Driel
- [Driel-O-GER] The pre-placed British Garrisons have the design of the US Garrisons
El Alamein
- [A3] Floating pile of rocks are present in Sector 6
- Rock formations across the entire map are presenting poor level of detail
- Low textured rock formations are missing player collision
- [A3][B3] Floating rock asset is present in sector A3 and sector B3
- [F6][Offensive] Assets in this sector are missing textures, polygon faces or are very noticeably misplaced
Hill 400
- House asset changes its texture once the user gets close to it
- [I4] Window will show low level LOD and appear as pink when viewed from a distance
Hürtgen Forest
- H4 Missing collision on a boulder
Kursk
- [E10] A fence doorway blocks players from walking through
- [F10] Invisible collision present in trench
- Invisible wall present on a broken barbed wire asset along trench
Mortain
- Supply and Ammo Drops can be placed in the out of bounds area
- [D6] - Tent is slightly misplaced
- [G3/H3] The player can catch on fire if driving a supply truck past wrecked trucks in close range
Omaha Beach
- Some bushes don't have any player or bullet collision
- [C5] A specific house asset is corrupted
Purple Heart Lane
- [E4] Players can get stuck in water under Douve Bridge
- [F2] [F10] Raining inside a couple of houses
- [F4] There is some z-fighting present on the brick floor along the docks.
- [F7] When walking on the walkway under the bridge, deep water footstep SFX are incorrectly emitted.
- H1 Red car has low detail from a short distance
- Power Lines across the map presents misalignment
- There is a spot present in sector D8 where vehicles start wobbling
- Transport and Supply trucks can become stuck in cattle feeder assets.
- General LOD Foliage improvements
Practice Range
- [Practice Range] "Select Spawn" option appears invalid in the Practice Range deployment and select role screens
- [Practice Range] Deployment screen loses functionality in Practice Range
- [Practice Range] White decal can be seen through scarecrow targets
- [Practice] Players are not removed from a party when entering the practice range
Remagen
- [F8] Rock assembly is missing vehicle collision.
- [D3] Vehicles clip through the rocks near the train tracks
- [F8] Rock assembly is missing vehicle collision.
- H2 A mudbank is missing vehicle collision
- [D3] A boulder does not have vehicle collision
Sainte-Mère-Église
- [C4] Stretched texture on wired fence
- [J8] Misaligned barbed wire is present in this sector
Stalingrad
- [I6] [I7] Apartment building roof is missing player collision in multiple spots
Public Testing for Update 15.3 | Now Live!
Hello everyone,
Public Testing for Update 15.3 is available! We'd love to get your feedback. This PTE runs through the weekend, coming to a close on Monday 16 September.
[h3]PHL Map Rotation[/h3]
[h3]Purple Heart Lane - Map Refresh[/h3]
Last year, we asked you what map you’d like to see refreshed. After casting your votes, the majority of you decided the map to receive a refresh treatment was Purple Heart Lane.
After analysing the map and sifting through player reports regarding its most frustrating parts, we have addressed the following issues on a wider map scale:
The purpose of this refresh was not to take anything away from the legacy map, but to enhance and refine what already exists to respect the tone. Based on community feedback, we have made the following adjustments to the following Capture Points:
Please note the below screenshots are from in engine and not representative of the actual lighting conditions, some images have been added to the bottom of this brief to show you some of the lighting conditions
[h3]Bloody Bend[/h3]
[h3]Dead Man’s Corner[/h3]
[h3]Forward Battery[/h3]
[h3]Jourdan Canal[/h3]
[h3]Douve Bridge[/h3]
[h3]Douve River Battery[/h3]
[h3]Groult Pillbox[/h3]
[h3]Carentan Causeway[/h3]
[h3]Flak Position[/h3]
[h3]Madeleine Farm[/h3]
[h3]Madeleine Bridge[/h3]
[h3]Aid Station[/h3]
[h3]Ingouf Crossroads[/h3]
[h3]Road to Carentan[/h3]
[h3]Cabbage Patch[/h3]
[h3]Beauty Renders[/h3]
[h3]Work In Progress[/h3]
These PTE sessions are a way for you as a community to feedback on Hell Let Loose work in progress, which means we can look to implement your feedback before a patch or update is released. Although we can currently only hold public testing sessions on Steam, we encourage everyone to take part to be able to share feedback.
[h3]Known Issues[/h3]
For today’s session, there is a list of unfinished items/bugs that we’re aware of, including:
[h3]Streaming & Recording PTE Sessions[/h3]
You are welcome to both stream and record PTE footage, but as these sessions are showing unfinished work, it’s always good to let your individual communities know that the footage is from a PTE session, where you might encounter unfinished items, bugs and other issues.
[h3]Feedback Questions
[/h3]
Once you have completed a game and are ready to provide feedback, please use the forms below!
[h3]How to Take Part[/h3]
Check your Steam Library for the Hell Let Loose (Public Testing) application, or re-download it from the Steam store, you’ll want to boot this version up to take part in the PTE!
Once you’re in and have selected a server, you’ll be able to test out the new game mode!
Submit Feedback: https://forms.office.com/e/qaz1VSSD3H
Share Bug Reports: https://forms.office.com/e/1x1hBZqG7c
Please note:
Because PTEs are run on development servers that have logging activated, you will experience a slight decrease in performance. You will also not earn any XP and your progress will not be carried over to the live game.
Public Testing for Update 15.3 is available! We'd love to get your feedback. This PTE runs through the weekend, coming to a close on Monday 16 September.
[h3]PHL Map Rotation[/h3]
- Warfare - Overcast / Rain - Dynamic Rain
- Offensive (German) - Overcast / Rain - Dynamic Rain
- Warfare - Night - Rain / Thunderstorms
[h3]Purple Heart Lane - Map Refresh[/h3]
Last year, we asked you what map you’d like to see refreshed. After casting your votes, the majority of you decided the map to receive a refresh treatment was Purple Heart Lane.
After analysing the map and sifting through player reports regarding its most frustrating parts, we have addressed the following issues on a wider map scale:
- Insufficient river crossings
- Unclear where water can/cannot be crossed
- Inconsistent drowning in fields
- Lack of cover in and around certain hard caps
The purpose of this refresh was not to take anything away from the legacy map, but to enhance and refine what already exists to respect the tone. Based on community feedback, we have made the following adjustments to the following Capture Points:
Please note the below screenshots are from in engine and not representative of the actual lighting conditions, some images have been added to the bottom of this brief to show you some of the lighting conditions
[h3]Bloody Bend[/h3]
- Made some terrain tweaks to reduce drowning in the fields unless prone
- Added cover points
- Added an extra non-enterable barn for cover
[h3]Dead Man’s Corner[/h3]
- Replaced a non-enterable building with an enterable version of the same size, to provide elevation opportunities, as well as an additional quicker route through the backyards
- Opened up the wall network to allow an additional infiltration point around the compound
- Additional cover
- Added routes in and over the wall
[h3]Forward Battery[/h3]
- Extended the hedgerows to meet up with the rest of the landscape
- Added additional side bocage hedgerows to provide cover opportunities for players wading through the water channel
- Added foliage
- Added cover in the flooded field on the flank
[h3]Jourdan Canal[/h3]
- Adjusted terrain levels to reduce drowning
- Added cattle ring cover for players wading through the fields
- The player can now walk underneath the footbridge at full height without drowning
- The player will drown if they attempt to crouch, this can be prevented by standing up
- Added a pontoon bridge crossing point
- Added immediate cover for players as they cross the bridge
- Adjusted reed foliage around the bridge
- Added a tree line of sight blocker
[h3]Douve Bridge[/h3]
- Created additional dock walkways to get to the other side of the river
- Added cover points along this route
- Made some tweaks to the landscape to make less of it submerged deep in water
- Added a little bit of storytelling with destroyed vehicles and artillery scorch marks
- In keeping with the dock theme an additional small dock en-route to the bridge with cover has been added
[h3]Douve River Battery[/h3]
- The water can now be crossed at specific points both on foot and in a vehicle, this will be highlighted both in the environment and on the tactical map
[h3]Groult Pillbox[/h3]
- Made terrain changes so that the deep water is broken up by the land
- Created additional cover
- Created additional foliage
- Added a pontoon bridge river crossing
[h3]Carentan Causeway[/h3]
- Added a trench network in close proximity to the exit of the existing trench network
- Added a non-enterable shed building
- Terrain pass
- Foliage pass
- Made terrain changes
- Created additional cover
- Created additional foliage
- Additional cover in the flooded fields
- Embankments on the approach for prone cover
- Additional storytelling
[h3]Flak Position[/h3]
- Made terrain changes
- Created additional foliage & cover
- Additional storytelling
[h3]Madeleine Farm[/h3]
- Made terrain changes
- Made the dirt road more prominent at ground level
- Replaced the wall to open up the additional road loop
- Adjusted road splines to link up the off road back to the main road
- Built on top of the existing field with additional storytelling and cover
[h3]Madeleine Bridge[/h3]
- Updated the rubble affordance position to make it clearer that the player cannot get underneath the arch
- Adjusted the terrain in the centre of the bridge to allow the player to move underneath the central arch
- Allows the player to fully cross the river at this section, and keeps it in line with the rest of the canal
- Created an additional trench network in the field
[h3]Aid Station[/h3]
- Terrain pass
- Cover pass in the hard cap
- Foliage pass in the hard cap
[h3]Ingouf Crossroads[/h3]
- Added a farm compound
- Terrain pass on height, blending and painting
- Additional foliage created
[h3]Road to Carentan[/h3]
- Terrain pass
- Foliage pass
- Created additional cover
[h3]Cabbage Patch[/h3]
- No changes
[h3]Beauty Renders[/h3]
[h3]Work In Progress[/h3]
These PTE sessions are a way for you as a community to feedback on Hell Let Loose work in progress, which means we can look to implement your feedback before a patch or update is released. Although we can currently only hold public testing sessions on Steam, we encourage everyone to take part to be able to share feedback.
[h3]Known Issues[/h3]
For today’s session, there is a list of unfinished items/bugs that we’re aware of, including:
- [PHL] H1 Red car has low detail from a short distance
- [PHL] F2 F10 Raining inside a couple of houses
- [PHL] F4 There is some z-fighting present on the brick floor along the docks.
- [PHL] F2 Fog clouds appear inside the first and second floor of the house
[h3]Streaming & Recording PTE Sessions[/h3]
You are welcome to both stream and record PTE footage, but as these sessions are showing unfinished work, it’s always good to let your individual communities know that the footage is from a PTE session, where you might encounter unfinished items, bugs and other issues.
[h3]Feedback Questions
[/h3]
Once you have completed a game and are ready to provide feedback, please use the forms below!
[h3]How to Take Part[/h3]
Check your Steam Library for the Hell Let Loose (Public Testing) application, or re-download it from the Steam store, you’ll want to boot this version up to take part in the PTE!
Once you’re in and have selected a server, you’ll be able to test out the new game mode!
Submit Feedback: https://forms.office.com/e/qaz1VSSD3H
Share Bug Reports: https://forms.office.com/e/1x1hBZqG7c
Please note:
Because PTEs are run on development servers that have logging activated, you will experience a slight decrease in performance. You will also not earn any XP and your progress will not be carried over to the live game.