Hello Everyone,
We’re excited to share more behind the scenes information from our upcoming update. In this Dev Brief, we’re taking a look at the work our Technical Art team has been doing to improve Visual Effects (VFX), particularly in the newly refreshed Stalingrad map, as well as some updates across our legacy maps.
Stalingrad PTE Announcement
Before we jump into some of the incredible work from the Technical Art team, we have an exciting announcement to share.
Our first Public Testing Environment (PTE) for the new and improved Stalingrad will be taking place on Friday 15th August.
Unlike previous PTEs, this session will run over a much shorter timeframe. Rather than spanning an entire weekend, we’ll be hosting a special extended play session. You may even see some of our dev team in the session as well, so mark your calendars and make sure you’re among the first to experience the refreshed Stalingrad firsthand!
Follow our socials so that you know when the event kicks off!
Stalingrad PTE will take place on Friday 15 August
Technical Art Team Updates
Ambient VFX
One of the key changes our Technical Art team has implemented is the addition of new ambient VFX volumes to the Stalingrad map. These have been carefully tuned alongside existing volumetric fog settings to create a more cohesive blend with the updated lighting.
Work is also ongoing on a fire pass for the POI building in Stalingrad. Additional lighting has been placed using mesh distance field shadows on point lights, creating dramatic effects without increasing shadow cost.
Ambient VFX Improvements
Lighting
Stalingrad is getting a refreshed look with significant improvements to lighting and exposure, as well as giving Stalingrad a much more dramatic skybox. Volumetric fog has also been enabled for use with the ambient VFX volumes adding to a more atmospheric smoggy look.
Directional light colours and intensity tuned
Skybox tuned to add more drama without blowing out the highlights (requiring an update to the skybox material to add more control)
HDRI lighting updated to better match the new skybox
Post processing to reduce the warmth and to add some contrast to counter the flatness sometimes experienced with a more overcast map
Lighting Tuned for Updated Skybox
The Technical Art team has been updating the lighting scenarios for the Russian and German Offensive and Skirmish levels. We’re actively collaborating with Art Direction and Level Design teams to finalise these scenarios. As always, we’d love to hear your feedback on which versions you like the look of.
Stalingrad - Morning
Stalingrad - Dusk
Stalingrad - Overcast
Vehicle Explosion VFX (WORK IN PROGRESS)
As outlined in our roadmap earlier this year, we’re working on delivering much-needed improvements to our vehicle explosion VFX. Our Technical Art team has begun prototyping enhanced and more varied explosion effects to bring greater visual impact and realism to the battlefield.
Please note that this is still a Work in Progress (WIP) and will continue to be developed before being introduced into the live game. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this behind-the-scenes video from the team, showcasing what they’ve been working on so far.
WIP Vehicle Explosion VFX
Weather Manager
The Technical Art team have been investigating ways to introduce localised fog to add more ambience and atmosphere to Stalingrad. This has led the Technical Art team to continue developing the new fog volume tool for adding localised fog, smoke and smog.
This tool will be expanded to use a variety of VFX, such as embers and fire particles to support additional features that will be seen in future maps.
Stalingrad
Along with changes to lighting and VFX, we will also be adding our weather manager to the Stalingrad refresh.
Using our sandstorm setting created for Tobruk, we have adapted this to create dynamic fog and dust that will roll across the map throughout the battle duration.
Dynamic Fog and Dust added to Stalingrad
Legacy Maps
The weather manager will also continue to be rolled out to more of the legacy maps, which will now include Carentan. The lighting for this weather scenario has also been updated to better match the weather type.
Dynamic rain is now enabled for the following maps:
Carentan Offensive US
Carentan Offensive GER
Dynamic Rain added to Carentan Offensive Modes
Lighting Update to Match the Updated Weather Manager
We hope you’ve enjoyed this look behind the scenes at the VFX and lighting improvements coming in Update 18. Our Technical Art team is hard at work, and we can’t wait to show you more in the near future.
Stay tuned, and as always, we appreciate your continued support and feedback.
Community Updates
Hey everyone, Ben back with some community updates.
'Best of the Community' Livestream - Thursday 7th August 2025
We will be returning with Episode #4 of our Best of the Community this week on Thursday 7th August 2025 on the Hell Let Loose Official Twitch channel. This episode we will be joined by the incredible SoulSniper as our co-host, and we cannot wait to watch some more phenomenal clips from the community.
If you missed any of the previous episodes, include our June show with co-host TheFreshBakedGoods, be sure to head over to our YouTube where you can find full VODs as well as clips from some of the previous “Best of Winners”.
Hell Let Loose YouTube Channel - Best of the Community
War Correspondents
With Patch 17.1 dropping last month, our War Correspondents have been out on the frontlines creating some epic content for us all to watch. Be sure to check out some of their recent stuff via the links below: