Hi everyone!
We’re excited to release Update 4! We hope over the next couple of weeks you find time to kick back, relax, eat, drink and spend time with family - and maybe join us in the trenches for some brand new battles!
Update 4 is here and it brings with it a brand new map - Sainte-Mère-Église (complete with Warfare and Offensive mode) - as well as the German Offensive gamemode for the newly overhauled Foy. We’ve also tried to include as many bug fixes as possible - clearing the slate for the new year so that we can get a good sense of where we stand moving into 2020.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s323FmqZSY4
Finally, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, we’ve added some new free Winter Warfare customisation helmets and heads, available between now and January 13th, 2020. Grab them here before they go:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205050/Hell_Let_Loose__Foy_Winter_Warfare_Helmet_Pack/
We wanted to include a quick note before you read the changelist. On first appearance, you may think that we’ve taken our foot off the gas - and that it’s not nearly as extensive as it usually is.
As it’s cutting close to Christmas, we made the decision to split much of the bug fixes between Update 4 and Patch 9. Looking at the changelist in early November, we saw that it had such a significant number of changes we felt it would be best to spread the risk between two separate dates - giving our brilliant QA team enough time to fully check so many significant fixes and additions.
Thanks to your feedback, we’ve been able to pinpoint outstanding issues from the previous patch - the most significant of all being the progression and experience issues. We’ve been spending a large amount of time digging this specific issue and it is the highest priority on our list currently.
You may see the deployment of the “Punching Bag” servers over the next couple of weeks. If you see these servers active, we’d love you to jump in and assist us in gathering more information on the bug. We’d also like to say that we’re very thankful for your patience and assistance in nailing it down so far. Thanks to your help we’ve managed to refine the code and fix the most significant of the issues around experience gain - and we feel that with your help we’ll be able to fix this for good.
Over the Christmas and New Year break we’ll be monitoring feedback, spending time in the community and will be joining you on the front line. We feel as a team that the holiday break is a great time to relax, spend time with family - but also to assess where we are in our development goals and in how we feel the game is playing in full.
New year, new animations and SFX!
We have some absolutely huge overhauls coming in the first third of 2020 - including the TPP and FPP animation overhauls, the sound engine upgrade and continued sound work, continued HUD and UI changes, gameplay loop overhauls (supplies and ammo), a potential Unreal Engine version upgrade (from 4.21 to 4.23) as well as many features that have not yet seen the light of day. We’ll be hitting the ground running as we work towards what we feel is a high quality level and representative of a product we’re proud of.
If you’ve enjoyed the Hell Let Loose journey so far, then we’re incredibly excited to show you what we have in store for 2020.
Update 4 - The Changelist
Major Additions
Sainte-Mère-Église
Sainte-Mère-Église is here! As our sixth map in Hell Let Loose - our third added since our release - it’s the most urban environment so far. We’re excited to battle across fields, lanes and through the gardens, streets and church of this iconic French Norman town.
Available Modes:
- Warfare
- German Offensive
Foy
In the spirit of the Christmas season and to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, Foy has undergone an extensive overhaul - lifting much of its visual appearance, polishing its weather effects, adding more detail and cover and adding an all new gamemode.
Available Modes:
- Warfare
- German Offensive
HUD/UI
We’ve made some changes to the way we show the coming sectors in Offensive mode to the attackers. We’re going to be playing these changes with you to get a sense of how they’re affecting gameplay and whether or not it’s in line with our intended design. Of course, we’ll also be reading and collecting your feedback around the change.
Customisations
Each patch and update we’ll be adding more and more customisation options. Our end goal is that every level you gain in both career and role will unlock a new uniform, head or helmet.
New Winter Warfare customisations are now permanently available to all those who play Hell Let Loose:
- New German summer splinter smock uniform (unlocked at role level 6)
- New German winter splinter smock uniform (unlocked at role level 8)
Bug Fixes
- High probability fix: players will sometimes be kicked out of a server for bypassing the queue after correctly waiting in the server queue.
- Added increased server crash logging and auto-delivery to better profile experience/progression issues and server crashes.
- Added increased client crash logging.
- Fixed: players are able to get their camera to briefly clip through an object if they crouch while climbing or vaulting.
- Fixed: Closing the scoreboard while the 'Personal' tab is highlighted results in a black square to appear over the tab the next time the scoreboard is opened.
- Fixed: The distance of friendly players is shown on the deployment screen's map if the user observes their locations before deploying for the first time on a server.
- High probability fix: players can see the "Can't Spawn At That Location" message after the game has ended.
- Fixed: When driving a tank in a strong point the 'Strong Point' text is missing from the HUD.
- Fixed: The first enemy to enter an empty friendly sector may cause the friendly sector's map icon to briefly flicker red.
- Fixed: Server Admins are unable to distinguish between VIP Players.
- Fixed: Inconsistent Rcon rights of Owners.
- Fixed: Users can cause a client crash if they open the in-game RCon Console during a map change.
- Fixed a potential client crash caused by wrecked tanks.
- Fixed: Within the 'Video' settings, changing from a custom 'Master Quality' to a preset one without applying the change will result in the preset being applied to the menu the next time the user opens up the 'Video' settings.
- Fixed: German players are able to build spawn points within the restricted beach area on Omaha.
Foy
- Fixed: Long snow mound section in F10 is missing bullet collision.
Omaha Beach
- Fixed: there are two areas of incorrect collision in sector I3.
- Fixed: sunlight passing through the sides of the trench.
SFX
- Increased attenuation radius of grenade collisions.
- Updated aircraft audio for B17, P47, Heinkel and BF109.
A little sneak peek
As you know, recently the German forces have been getting new armour and customisation options deployed to the front.
Well, in early 2020 the Americans will be getting some new toys to play with. Initial intel is hazy, but we're confident you'll decipher what's coming...
What could Uncle Sam be rolling out?
This uniform will be dropping in...
See you on the frontline!