Hi all,
We’d like to start off by saying a big thank you to the community for their involvement with the recent VE Day 80th Anniversary Hell Let Loose event, and for the generous donations made towards SSAFA.
The reason for this developer briefing is that we have recognised that communication between the development team and the community has slowed recently, and we would like to address that. Typically, our developer briefings are centered around PTE’s and official updates to the game. Going forward, we’d like to take a different approach by giving you more frequent glimpses into what the team is working on between major updates. With that in mind, we’re excited to share some behind-the-scenes progress on the roadmap and offer a closer look at our development process.
We're excited to announce that we'll be running multiple PTEs in the coming months, featuring both upcoming features from future updates, as well as experimental content we’d love your feedback on. Stay tuned for more details in upcoming dev blogs.
Notes:
- Everything you see here is work-in-progress at various stages of development, and is subject to change.
- The content shown in these developer briefings is not an exhaustive list of everything coming to the game, and will be spread out across various updates and briefs.
- Do comment, and give feedback on anything that you see whether positive or constructive.
Maps
Objective Mode
As promised in the live Q&A, we’d like to invite the community to take part in several paused maps and modes from back in 2023. We’d love to know your thoughts on the modes as a whole, how/if they fit in Hell Let Loose, and whether we should continue exploring this direction (either by adapting these mechanics into the larger maps or developing them as standalone experiences).
The following maps will be available to test in an upcoming PTE.
El Alamein (Destruction)
Objective Mode - El Alamein
Brécourt Battery (Destruction)
Objective Mode - Brécourt Battery
Danzig Post Office (Destruction into Capture Phase)
Objective Mode - Danzig Post Office
More details to follow in an upcoming PTE.
Stalingrad Map Refresh
Level Design
After extensive research into the community sentiment behind Stalingrad and reviewing the map in engine, the Level Design team have started work on making improvements to the map, firstly by adjusting the HQ spawner positions for a more balanced experience.
HQ Blockout
The team has completed a blockout pass of pre-placed cover to protect players when immediately spawning in. This has been done to varying degrees across all German Force and Soviet Force HQ’s.
Stalingrad Map Refresh - Capture Point - HQ Blockout
Iterations on the central Capture Points have focused on cover, gameplay routes, and a sense of Capture Point identity. As with all map refreshes, our goal is to enhance the existing experience (building on what’s already there, rather than taking away from it).
Capture Point - Train Station
Stalingrad Map Refresh - Capture Point - Train Station
Stalingrad Map Refresh - Capture Point - Train Station
Capture Point - Carriage Depot
Stalingrad Map Refresh - Capture Point - Carriage Depot
Stalingrad Map Refresh - Capture Point - Carriage Depot
Environment Art
The Art team have also been making some significant headway in improving optimisation in Stalingrad:
Material Reduction and Collision Improvements:
Some of the details used to populate the map had redundant amounts of material slots and overly complicated collisions. This caused larger draw calls and slowed things down. Some have been reduced from 18 materials down to around 4 or less and had unoptimized decals removed. Here are some examples of reductions without losing fidelity.
Basic Example of Material Reduction
Collision Improvements/Optimisation 30-6
Izba Optimisation and Cleanup
The burned out Izba’s had similar unneeded material slots, collision in need of improvement and were merged in a non-optimized way. We’ve improved this to aid gameplay (such as player traversal issues) and draw calls.
This process allows us to make some significant gains on the overall performance in the map, without compromising on quality.
Features
Medic Rework
With the Medic role, we have gathered feedback and begun to address a lot of the key issues raised about the gameplay experience. The aim is to bring the current forces into parity in terms of timings, to tweak the core game loop, and to make the role a more attractive experience to play.
- Medic Revive Speed decreased from 2.4s to 2s
- Soviet Medic Revive speed brought into parity from 3s to 2s
- Downed players are now revived to full health
Medic Rework - Soviet Revive Speed & Full Health
Note: We currently have our animators tweaking the animations to match the new speeds.
- Medic Revive XP increased from 30 to 75
- Getting revived by a Medic XP increased from 30 to 75
Medic Rework - Post-Match XP
- Medic Self Bandage Speeds decreased from 2.4s to 2s
Medic Rework - Self Bandage Speeds
- Medic Bandage Ally Speeds decreased from 3.9s to 2s
Medic Rework - Bandage Ally Speeds
Bipod Rework
The bipod system has been reworked to allow more flexible and realistic deployment by detecting objects in the player’s deployed path, rather than relying on hardcoded limits. This aims to reduce instances where the players body could be pivoted into hard surface objects.
Pitch angles have been improved to reflect the surface height, allowing for greater range, like aiming lower from a low ledge or higher from a high one.
Deployment checks are now handled server side to fix issues where players would initiate a deploy, but get cancelled out of it mid-animation. Additionally, both standing and crouching now use the same deployment limits, removing the need to switch stances to test deployment spots.
Prone Position
The range of motion has been unlocked, so that players are no longer restricted to the previous bounds. They can now turn a full 360 degrees.
Bipod Prone - First Person Perspective
Bipod Prone - Third Person Perspective
Crouch Position
Another common issue is using the bipod through open windows. By unlocking the system, we can now control the range of motion to make using the bipod more viable through windows. The next steps are to add collision checks to prevent any excess clipping through objects.
Bipod Crouch - First Person Perspective
Bipod Crouch - Third Person Perspective
Post-Match VOIP
Players can now retain voice communications for the Leadership and Squad channels during the post-match flow, this allows players a grace period to discuss the match, or plan out next steps for the upcoming match.
Post-Match VOIP
As mentioned previously, this is this first in a regular series of updates of what the development team are working on, a sneak peak at the future of Hell Let Loose, and your chance to share any early feedback and thoughts. Until next time, see you on the battlefield.
Community Updates
Hey everyone, Ben here — your Hell Let Loose Community Manager!
Over the past couple of months, we’ve been working hard to ramp up our community engagement and bring you closer to the heart of the action. One of the highlights so far has been our very first episode of ‘Best of the Community’, which we had the pleasure of live streaming with the incredible RazBora.
If you missed the stream, don’t worry - the full VOD is now available on our YouTube channel, ready for you to watch at your convenience. Be sure to check it out and see some of the awesome community moments we featured!
Our next episode is due to air on Thursday 29th May 2025, and will be all about the Competitive HLL Community. If you are a member of the competitive scene, and would like to show of your best clips or what it is you do in the space, head over to our Discord channel and submit your entries today. I'm excited to be joined by the incredible DasAltberg - our resident HLL Comp expert.
As well as the first 'Best of' stream, we also ran a phenomenal charity event on May 8th celebrating the 80th Anniversary of VE Day. This was an amazing 3.5 hour stream, where alongside some community games casted over by our War Correspondents, we also had five incredible interviews from members of our community. If you are interested in watching these interviews be sure to head to our YouTube and find them in the Community Interview playlist we've created. You can also watch the full VE Day VOD of the stream on our YouTube as well.
We would also like to thank everyone who donated to the fundraiser we did during the stream for the SSAFA. If you are still interested in donating, the fundraiser will remain live till the end of the month.
Community Events
Alongside events that we are throwing, we wanted to shoutout BR1 Gaming who are back with another 'Road to D-Day' event. This year's event will bring together both PC and console communities, with matches set for both platforms. If you're interested in taking part or want to donate to their charity of choice, be sure to visit their website and register today.
This will be taking place on June 7th 2025, with the first match starting around 4:30pm EST.
Here is BR1 with a bit more information on the event itself:
"Since its inception in 2021, BR1Gaming has embarked on a mission to support veterans and unite gamers for a meaningful cause. This year, they have decided to focus their fundraising efforts with the Fisher House Foundation, this renowned foundation is dedicated to taking care of our nation’s wounded, injured, and ill service members, veterans, and their families. As of 2025, BR1Gaming has successfully raised $11,498.22, a testament to their commitment and the generosity of their supporters. Through their endeavors, BR1Gaming has not only raised vital funds but has also raised awareness about the challenges faced by veterans, fostering a community of compassion and support among gamers."
War Correspondents
As always, our War Correspondents have been creating some phenomenal content for us all to enjoy. Here's what they have created recently:
TheFreshBakedGoods
Gebatron
SoulSniper
DasAltberg
Razbora
Thank you for reading this dev brief! Next up for Hell Let Loose will be some PTE's which we cannot wait for you to join!
Have a wonderful weekend.