Hey everyone,
Welcome to Developer Briefing #22! This week we’re excited to share with you all the details for our next and final closed beta…
The last closed beta before Early Access launch will take place on the weekend of May 24th to May 27th. We'll be providing further information on the beta, including start times, closer to the date.
We’re still working through the feedback and bug reports from the previous beta, but we wanted to let you know when you can head back to the frontline.
But you didn’t think we’d leave you with just a date, did you? Let’s take a moment to look at some of the new content and updates that you’ll be experiencing in the last beta.
May Closed Beta – Content & Feature Updates
Below are some of the new features and content that you’ll be playing with in the next closed beta. We hope you’ll be pleased to hear that some of these additions are content we’ve already planned, whilst others are directly from player feedback in previous betas – helping us to further craft the game ahead of Early Access launch.
New Map – Foy
The first map in Hell Let Loose to feature snow, Foy will give players a whole new strategic frontline to battle over. With its unique weather environment and combination of wooded and urban areas, those fighting on this map need to be ready for a wide range of battlefield scenarios that differ greatly from Hurtgen Forest and Sainte-Marie-du-Mont.
Players can expect fierce fighting here
A strong location for a FOB, or ambush...
Lots of cover for varying firing angles
Taking position in a trench, you await the enemy to emerge from the mist...
A vital road for tanks. You'd better hope there isn't an AT Gun hidden in the fog...
Can you hold out against an open ground assault with just one trench?
They could be anywhere...
More character models
In this beta you’ll see a host of new character models for existing roles. This will range from entirely new player models, to updates and small tweaks. Keen eyed players will also notice coat physics being applied to specific roles, this is the first test of this feature for us and if it goes well you can expect to see it expanded upon in the future.
This is just the beginning though, we’ll be looking into deeper customisation and uniform options for players during Early Access.
Vaulting
We’ve always intended to include vaulting in Hell Let Loose, but after reading your feedback we made the choice to prioritise its addition to the game.
Starting in the next closed beta, you’ll be able to climb out of trenches, onto boxes and more. As this will be the first-time vaulting is out in the wild we’d greatly appreciate your feedback on how it feels and if it meets community expectations.
We are going to do a lot of polish on both the animation and sound aspects of this mechanic, but we felt it was more important to get the functionality in sooner rather than later.
The vaulting mechanics shown below are a work in progress
WIP - Out of the trench
WIP - Over the wall
Large Continuation of SFX Overhaul
You know it, we know it. In a game like Hell Let Loose, sound is an integral part of the gameplay experience.
Throughout our different alpha and beta stages we’ve been listening to player feedback and working on further enhancing and building upon both sound effects and audio behaviour in the game.
In this upcoming beta you should notice new sounds for some weapons, improved directional audio and other improvements.
Please note: This is part of a wider ongoing SFX project, whilst you’ll notice a lot of differences there’s still some areas we’re still working on.
Further Updates
As well as the above, you can expect the following updates next time you play. We’ll go into more detail about what they are closer to the time. Here are just a few of the new things you’ll encounter in the next Beta, including many more that aren’t listed below:
- Map Rotation Implementation
- Continued animation polish in both TPP and FPP
- Small functionality changes to increase smoothness of different actions
- Adjustments to Supply counts
- Added emissive to heavy weapon projectiles to better show their flight path.
- Adjustments to rules about placing down Garrisons and Ops to increase their usage
- Tank Scale adjustment to reflect their real-world size
- Applied correct German supply canister and parachute to supply drops
- Ongoing UI/HUD Changes
- A fast Officer ‘ping’-style mark system to allow unit leaders to quickly identify points of interest for their unit in battle.
- ‘Shot from indicator’ to give infantry a vague indication of what direction they took damage from.
- Multiple bug fixes – We’ll list these in the May beta patch notes
That wraps up this week’s Developer Briefing! You now have the information you need to prepare for battle at the end of the month!
In the meantime, we’re going to be working hard behind the scenes to prepare for the next closed beta and our rapidly approaching Early Access launch.
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