Update 8 - The Red Ball Express: Live Now & Patch Notes!

Hey everyone!

Welcome to Update 8: The Red Ball Express.

Named after the famed Allied supply chain, we felt this was an appropriate name to introduce all the large changes we’ve made to the Support and Engineer roles, the addition of supply and transport trucks, as well as unveil new Hurtgen to you all.

There are more than 1000 changes in Update 8 - both front end and back end. While the time elapsed between Update 7 and Update 8 has been significantly longer than usual, it’s given the team a chance to regain some energy and work through some persistently frustrating issues. We know we still have much more to do to bring Hell Let Loose to a state of quality that we’re happy with, but we hope you enjoy all of the quality of life, performance and functionality changes Update 8 brings with it.

Below we’ll be listing the biggest changes. As always, we’re watching feedback roll in across all our channels. We’ll be playing the game with you and collecting feedback. At the bottom of the changelog you can also see what we’re eyeing up for coming updates.

Update 8 Change Log

Patch Note - Once you've patched Hell Let Loose to Update 8 please verify your 'Local Game Content' on Steam.

Hurtgen Overhaul

Classic map Hurtgen Forest has been fully overhauled!

On top of that we've expanded the available modes on the map.

• Updated Hurtgen Warfare
• Added Hurtgen German Offensive
• Added Hurtgen US Offensive

Trucks

Supply and Transport Trucks are now live in-game!

Get a detailed breakdown of their role on the frontline in their dedicated Dev Brief here.

Satchel Charges

Take down enemy Fortifications, set traps and ambush the opposing team with the addition of the Engineer's Satchel Charge!

Full details on this new piece of equipment can be found here.

Just remember where you planted yours...

Fortifications

Shape the Frontline with new faction specific defences!

Engineers and Support players can now work together to create focused defences at key points on the frontline.

Top Tip: Multiple Engineers can work together on a single item to build it quicker!

Grease Gun

The Grease Gun has been added to the US arsenal in select loadouts!

Best deployed in CQC situations, you can find out more about this new weapon here.

Bullet Penetration

Choose your cover wisely as bullet penetration is now live!

Full information on this new mechanic can be found in its dedicated Dev Brief here.

Refined Hit Boxes and Limb Damage

We've refined infantry hit boxes and limb damage behaviour to further improve infantry combat and reward accurate shooting.

This will also further define certain weapons and make them standout in their preferred ranges and combat scenarios. You can read more on this here.

Upgraded to Unreal Engine version to 4.25

Does exactly what it says on the tin! Hell Let Loose now runs on Unreal Engine 4.25!

Metagame Changes

• Reduce the amount of garrisons that can be placed per team down to 8 from 10.
• Increase the distance in which Garrisons can be placed next to each other, from 100 meters to 200. This is to create a more decisive weight of numbers on key locations and reduce the “whackamole” that occurs. We’ll be watching this very closely.

New Commander Ability

Resource Conversions

You can now trade a larger quantity of one resource for a smaller quantity of another resource. The idea here is to allow Commanders the ability to better balance their resource pools at the cost of additional expense when converting.

We feel that this is a good way to enable astute Commanders to redistribute their resources as needed.

Gameplay

• Implemented ballistics system to all vehicles for coaxial and hull MGs (no more Star Wars lasers).
• Reduced belt size on coaxial and hull MGs to limit continuous spam and encourage selective use of them (especially now that they are easier to guide onto target).
• Implemented base roster of vehicles across all maps. Please note: we will alter this slightly as time goes on.
• We have increased the speed of the K98k bolt cycle.
• Introduced bullet penetration to all weapons.
• Slightly reduced grenade fatal explosion range to better emulate the real values.
• Changed number of buildable resource nodes to 4 per type.
• Slightly increased M1 Garand and BAR vertical recoil to make it harder to keep on targets at 50m +
• Added Blowtorch for all repairs.
• Added Hammer to build deployables.
• Wrench now functions as a way of placing and laying out deployables.
• Added handheld Supply Boxes.
• Added three types of Ammunition Box.
• Added Satchel Charge to German and US forces.
• Added M3 Grease Gun to US forces.
• Added first round of destruction to player deployed objects.
• [Fixed] 'Encouraged' can be used before the first sector has been captured
• Worked to better define when a player takes damage (a screen effect now plays at the exact point of damage) vs when they are suppressed.
• Recon marks now only show to specific roles and unit types (Commander, Officers, Recon Units, Armor Units).
• Improved hit rejection and detection across a wide spectrum of pings.
• We now reward all vehicle occupants when that vehicle gets a kill.
• Players will now no longer receive the ‘You killed a friendly’ notification if they dismember a friendly with a grenade while the friendly is in a critical condition.
• Unit list on HUD now shows critically wounded or dead players.
• All actions in the game now reward experience. Supplies, Ammo and Spawns will only reward significant experience on their consumption or usage (and only a nominal amount on the actual dropping).
• Due to the importance of the Commander, players must now reach Career level 10 to be able to access the role.
• Removed sprint camera shake and movement from playing when strafing left and right with no forward movement.
• Added an HLL specific clan suffix game option. This places a clan tag after your name in-game.
• Players now face the objective whenever they spawn.
• We now enable players to see their map while critically wounded and down.
• Increased Puma and Greyhound's turning circle and traction.
• Added stronger vehicle anti-flip mechanics.
• Added better tank colliders to enable them to roll over more vertical surfaces in front of them as they would be able to do in real life.
• Capped total number of Infantry units to 18 (meaning we now don’t overshoot the alphabet).

Teamkills

• Integrated a punish/forgive system with a default on Forgive unless Punish is chosen. Each punish registers the kill as a teamkill (counting towards kick threshold and delayed respawn).
• Overhauled Vote Kick system to show reason. The threshold now scales for a vote kick (1-25 players on a team = 10 votes required to kick / 26-50 players on a team = 15 votes required to kick) and only applies to the team of the person being voted on. Players can only vote to kick players on their team. We’ve also added a cooldown on vote kicks. We’ll be revisiting this to make it slightly more complex in function (and scale better).
• Roadtesting 50% friendly bullet damage in order to give players a slight chance not to totally finish off a friendly (when using traditionally OHK weapons).

Performance

• Added and tested a “Low” shadow setting. This retains shadows for balance, but makes them drastically more performant. We recommend that you use this setting if you’re experiencing low FPS.
• Tweaked all graphics settings to make them more uniform. Low now retains a similar look but is more performant. Epic now looks visually better and consistent across all maps.
• Started rolling out mass custom builds and merges for the LOD system. There are still visual issues to iron out here but the result is lowering draw calls.
• Cull certain FX far sooner (footstep dust etc.)
• Many smaller netcode, CPU and GPU optimisations.

Animation

• [Fixed] The standing walking animation whilst holding an AT mine is incorrect when moving diagonally forward from a TPP
• [Fixed] M1 Garand receiver bolt does not animate correctly during the FPP fire animation
• [Fixed] The morphine pack will float in front of the Medic after reviving a downed teammate
• [Fixed] The player is holding the grenade the instant they switch to the grenade in TPP
• [Fixed] [Barracks] Clipping issue visible on the shovel from the Winter Smock uniform
• [Fixed] [Barracks] Clipping issue visible on the shovel from the Winter Smock uniform
• [Fixed] Multiple equipment items of the US Assault Vest, M1943 Uniform and M1941 Summer Field Jacket are clipping with the player's model
• [Fixed] Kar98k bullet ejection animation is incorrect
• [Fixed] The American handgun Colt M1911 has the hammer always pulled down
• [Fixed] The Headphones on the German Heer Panzer Cap helmet are not displayed as intended.
• [Fixed] Visible issues with the face shadow when the Winter Alfred head variant is equipped.
• [Fixed] Visible issues with the face shadow when the Winter Alfred head variant is equipped.
• [Fixed] Gore skeletal meshes still have incorrect vertex weights
• [Fixed] German Anti-Tank Hands have a strange inverted normal
• [Fixed] [TPP] The player's hands jitter when the binoculars are equipped
• [Fixed] [TPP] Multiple issues present with M1919 Browning LMG equipped while looking up and leaning right
• [Fixed] [TPP] Multiple clipping issues occur when the M1 Garand is equipped, and specific actions are performed while looking up.
• [Fixed] [TPP] Multiple clipping issues occur when the M1918A2 BAR is equipped, and specific actions are performed while looking up.
• [Fixed] [TPP] Multiple clipping issues occur when the M1918A2 BAR is equipped, and specific actions are performed while looking forward.
• [Fixed] Current death animations are playing the "lay down" animation instead when a character is shot.
• [Fixed] Swapping to the pistol from a Primary Weapon immediately after jumping will cause the pistol to float into the Players hand.
• [Fixed] [TPP] Character's fingers are bent backwards on the off hand whilst crawling with grenades equipped
• [Fixed] The wrench will clip through the player's hand when constructing the German AT gun
• [Fixed] Animation bug when running
• [Fixed] The MG42 clips through the player model when equipped
• [Fixed] Players stuck in vault animation
• [Fixed] [FPP] Animation problem with the left hand while vaulting/climbing with specific equipment
• [Fixed] The player can run underwater on multiple maps
• [Fixed] [FPP] The left hand is missing when the player has Bazooka equipped and is vaulting/climbing over objects
• [Fixed] [FPP] After resupplying, the first German grenade is invisible
• [Fixed] [TPP] Panzerschreck clipping through the ground when prone
• [Fixed] [TPP] Character legs unnaturally change position when swapping between main weapon and pistol
• [Fixed] The animation for switching to the primary weapon is displayed unrealistically when observed from TPP
• [Fixed] Character models animate as if they're holding a 2 handed weapon when climbing or vaulting with certain equipment in TPP
• [Fixed] Binoculars don't have a TPP Switching animation
• [Fixed] [TPP] The Springfield sniper doesn't animate whilst being reloaded
• [Fixed] The player may become invisible and invincible after deploying their LMG
• [Fixed] No footstep effects or water effects for TPP players.
• [Fixed] [TPP] The player may be observed to be stuck in a static pose after vaulting
• [Fixed] [TPP] Multiple weapons/equipment are not correctly attached to the player's right hand whilst vaulting/climbing
• [Fixed] [FPP] Visual issue present on initial weapon grip when spawning
• [Fixed] The US AT mine will become misaligned when walking backwards whilst stood up with it from a TPP.

Localisation

• Added Korean language support.

FX

• Added new tank shell explosion fx.
• Added new artillery shell explosion fx.
• Added new AP mine explosion fx.
• Added new AT mine explosion fx.
• Added new Bombing Run explosion fx.
• [Fixed] The player's outline is visible on the smoke VFX of the Bazooka and Panzerschreck weapons on Low, Medium and High video settings.

SFX

• Added new explosion sfx (mine, artillery, bombing run, all types of tank shells).
• Added new bullet flyby sfx for high calibre weapons (for every kind of weapon).
• Added new bullet impact sfx (for every kind of impact).
• Added new grass footstep sfx for long and short grass.
• Added new internal and external sfx when firing vehicle and static heavy weapons.
• Added new sfx when reloading vehicle and static heavy weapons.
• Added new interior shell penetration sfx when vehicles are penetrated by AT rounds.
• Added sfx when shells ricochet off vehicles.
• Add an Interior/Exterior checkbox to vehicle seats to define which audio slots are used in different vehicle seats.
• Increased audible footstep range from 30m to 50m. Sfx for truck engines and functionality.
• Added uniform sfx for placing ghost items and building fortifications.
• Added UI sfx when players are resupplying.
• Changes to how external audio sounds when players are inside tanks.
• [Fixed] Performing a jump after running for several seconds results in two exhale audio cues to play at the same time.
• [Fixed] Multiple actions volume are not affected by the SFX volume slider.
• [Fixed] Missing TPP AP/HE shell reload SFX for the 'Tiger 1' German Heavy Tank.
• [Fixed] Inconsistency with Bombing run between the number of explosions seen and the number heard.
• [Fixed] The SFX for driving through water is not affected by any volume slider
• [Fixed] Splash SFX is absent if the player mantles out of water

HUD/UI

• Implemented Prestige medals to appear beside name on the scoreboard and on the HUD. These change every 50 career levels and begin at level 50.
• Added the ability to “Favourite” a particular team/role/appearance in the Barracks menu. This will default to this for the main menu.
• Implemented scaling player HUD icons. As players move away from you their icons become smaller. This also affects other icons in the game. The desire here is for a less cluttered HUD without sacrificing necessary information.
• Updated game fonts to be more legible on higher and lower resolutions.
• Integrated Steam rich presence. Your steam profile now shows the map you’re playing, the number of players in the game, your team and the gamemode.
• Implemented new dynamic loading screens.
• Implemented Unit Designation and Unit VOIP icons onto the deployment screen.
• Justified and fixed spacing for deployment screen elements.
• Added quick “Create Unit” buttons to the deploy menu.
• Tweaked all map icons to be better balanced according to importance and legibility.
• [Fixed] On the In-Game Map, the red highlight on Outposts and Garrisons do not disappear after an enemy moves further than 50m from them.
• [Fixed] Inconsistent width of cooldown progress bars for Commander abilities.
• [Fixed] The 'Enemy Near' tooltip will not show while hovering the cursor over a spawn point that has an enemy nearby.
• [Fixed] The 'Cancel' button on the 'Create a unit' screen can not be clicked on in certain instances.
• [Fixed] Playing in 1280x768 on an ultrawide monitor will cause UI elements to overlap on the statistics screen.
• [Fixed] The button prompts to the right of the in-game map are not centralized with their black backgrounds.
• [Fixed] The broadcast message can overlap the match timer.
• [Fixed] Overlapping UI element on the in-game map screen when the game is running in certain resolutions.
• [Fixed] Commander order symbols will not become inverted when they are hovered over/selected
• [Fixed] The timer and deploy icon do not become inverted when the cursor is hovered over the 'Deploy' button.
• [Fixed] The map name is present on the in-game map's key but is missing from the deployment screen map's key.
• [Fixed] Inconsistency in the colour of jacket shown on the US Summer uniform icons
• [Fixed] Missing ingame icon for the german anti-tank PAK 40 wrench
• [Fixed] AT Guns had swapped optics. Changed CANCEL button to APPLY when something is changed in loadout & appearance.
• [Fixed] 'Match is over!' notification text format is inconsistent with other notifications
• [Fixed] 'You were kicked for being idle' text format is inconsistent with other frontend notifications
• [Fixed] 'Ping!' markers placed by the Commander will not be shown on the HUD next to the Commander's name above the unit's member list
• [Fixed] [SPACE] button prompt on the 'You have died' screen is incorrectly scaled
• Enabled tool tip when you mouse over to "Join as commander".
• We now conceal the health status of the enemy team on the scoreboard.
• [Fixed] Player icons on in-game map are too small in comparison to the other map icons.
• [Fixed] Inconsistency for the Engineer role icon in the deploy menu, in-game UI and on the map.
• [Fixed] The commendation icon's digit is not centered when there are 0 commendations
• Increased the transparency of the colored overlay on the map to make it more subtle and increase legibility of all other information.
• [Fixed] Inconsistency with how buttons are highlighted
• [Fixed] Multiple options menus will appear off-screen when the User switches the resolution from 1920x1080p to 1024x768p while in fullscreen mode
• [Fixed] The active area of the Map Player Icon does not match the shape of the icon
• [Fixed] The Player's map icon can hide multiple other map icons at all levels of zoom
• [Fixed] The German Recon Vehicle Commander seat UI has overlapping UI elements in a couple resolutions.
• [Fixed] The icon for reviving a player is the same as bandaging.

Visual Improvements

• Fixed an issue causing grass not to spawn on certain maps.
• [Fixed] At a FOV higher than 90 certain pieces of loadout equipment are offset when held or placed on the ground.
• [Fixed] When sat in the 2nd seat of an artillery cannon, the player's helmet will not be equipped on their player model
• [Fixed] 'SSAO' settings can create a lighting issue in-game
• Dismemberment is now far more consistent and less goofy.
• [Fixed] [PHL] No water splash FX present when the player shoots the water
• Removed the ugly transition when entering a vehicle where you'll see an intermediate screen or your FPP rig disappears.
• [Fixed] The way the camera handles FoV changes after the player has experienced a map change
• [Fixed] German Light Tanks antennas turn invisible when viewed from certain angles.
• We now fade to black as you hold “Give Up”.
• [Fixed] Thompson ammo magazine is upside down
• [Fixed] Morphine Box displays a placeholder texture in TPP

Customisation

• Added soft caps for US forces (we’re going to look at fitting these a bit tighter).
• Added Paratrooper Scrim helmets for US forces.
• Overhauled 1st Pattern Tanker's Jacket (Standard Issue).
• Added Late War Tanker's Uniform (Lv5 unlock).
• Added Mechanic (Lv8 unlock).
• Overhauled Heer Panzer Uniform (Standard Issue)
• Added Veteran Panzer Crewman (Lv5 unlock)
• Added Pea Dot Panzer Crewman (Lv8 unlock)
• Re-enabled cloth physics where applicable.
• [Fixed] Players do not see cosmetic changes in FPP if they select the German winter outfit

Loadouts

• Rifleman (Lv6 German)
• Assault (Lv8 US, Lv9 Ger)
• Medic Lv3
• Support Lv3
• Engineer Lv3
• Crewman Lv3

Bug Fixes

• [Finally Fixed] Default team nameplate distance is not set to 'Max' on newly installed game. It will now default to max.
• [Fixed] The German helmet Sniper Veil M42 has a noticeable drop off in LOD at a short range
• [Fixed] Players hit box is too large on the Players left side when shot by a tank Machine Gun while prone.
• [Fixed] [TPP] The player and weapon will be misaligned with their reload animation if observed partway through
• [Fixed] [TPP] The player can remain stuck in the shooting animation while having an LMG equipped
• [Fixed] [TPP] The player can remain stuck in the shooting animation while having an automatic weapon equipped and reloading it
• [Fixed] Heavy breathing and heartbeat audio from being in a fatal state can be heard in the post-match screens
• [Fixed] The Winter heads have the incorrect tooltip
• [Fixed] 'Tom' and 'Erich' tooltip and head will not update when the user transitions to the head variant list
• [Fixed] Destroying enemy recon vehicle awards 20 combat points instead of 30
• [Fixed] Zooming in on barracks when scrolling through cosmetics.
• [Fixed] Establish Airhead and Dismantle Garrison Commander abilities swap positions every time the in-game map is opened.
• [Fixed] The airhead asset may appear to float off the ground after landing
• [Fixed] Establish Airhead commander ability is misaligned from the position of its ghost.
• [Fixed] The tank will shoot without user input after the map was opened while LMB or RMB is pressed
• [Fixed] Pressing the Apply button in the Role Selection does not reset to the Cancel state until quitting and re-joining the server
• [Fixed] The default show chat button can be confused with "0"
• [Fixed] There is an extra button on the kick notification
• [Fixed] The title is observed to softlock when getting kicked from the server from various reasons
• [Fixed] Instances where the tanks only take body damage when shot into treads or turret
• [Fixed] The create unit screen has a strange resolution change the first time you go to the page.
• [Fixed] Player crashed while being tabbed-out when deployed in-game.
• [Fixed] [FPP] The player is able to shoot whilst appearing to reload after climbing over objects
• [Fixed] The player's camera may be positioned inside a player model while loading into a map.
• [Fixed] The 'Deploy' button timer will briefly reset before the player is loaded into gameplay
• [Fixed] Player may briefly fall under the map when loading a new map after a map change
• [Fixed] The game will not launch successfully when done through Steam Big Picture mode
• [Fixed] Game may crash while the Player is Tabbing in and out of the game while on the Deploy Menu.
• [Fixed] Players cannot join password protected servers due to Confirm button returning the players to the Enlist screen
• [Fixed] The internal RCON commands for banning/unbanning profanity words do not work
• [Fixed] The Scrollbar on the chat box has no function
• [Fixed] Clicking "Cancel" after confirming a server password will not return the user back to the "Enlist" screen
• [Fixed] Change to ‘Hide Kick Vote Requests’ setting is not applied if the Player presses [ESC] to exit the menu while in game.
• [Fixed] Joining a Password protected server while in the post-match screen will show the Match Over message and send the player back to the server list
• [Fixed] [FPP] The player is able to move camera in critical state by pressing CTRL, SPACE and Z key
• [Fixed] Players are able to climb or vault one another whilst they're standing up
• [Fixed] Pressing Tab whilst driving a tank causes it to stop
• [Fixed] Recon Vehicles can be driven in 5th gear whilst having 0% wheel health
• Fixed turning circle issue on the luchs
• [Fixed] The "Can't deploy at this location" message appears before spawning on one of the HQ spawnpoints.
• [Fixed] The "Can't deploy at this location" message may appear when the player leaves the squad and has the squad outpost selected
• [Fixed] Servers Temporary ban pop-up message has visible debug text.
• [Fixed] Clones/ graphical artefact soldiers present during games
• [Fixed] The player is unable to cook the German grenades
• [Fixed] The Garrison the player currently has selected with the 'Dismantle Garrison' ability will not be highlighted

RCON

• VIP and Admin: Add list to server via RCON or cfg
• Added unix timing
• Added Official & Community server profanity filter
• Can now ban player using Steam ID when player is not on server

Purple Heart Lane

• Tweaked and overhauled several locations. This will continue.

Carentan

• More than 60 floating meshes and collision issues fixed.
• Fixed object placement inconsistencies between Offensive and Warfare game modes.

Foy

• Fixed a huge number of vehicle collision issues across the map.
• Updated roads to look better.
• Updated lighting to feel more crisp.
• Fixed object placement inconsistencies between Offensive and Warfare game modes.

Utah Beach

• Fixed object placement inconsistencies between Offensive and Warfare game modes.

Hill 400

• Forest floor meshes overhauled to match Hurtgen regarding visuals and performance.
• More than 40 floating meshes and collision issues were fixed.

Omaha Beach

• Fixed object placement inconsistencies between Offensive and Warfare game modes.

Sainte-Mère-Église

• Tweaked and overhauled several locations. This will continue.
• Fixed object placement inconsistencies between Offensive and Warfare game modes.

Known Issues

• Offensive mode is not optimal and will be reworked for next update.
• We will continue to look at balancing specific aspects of the game.
• Many smaller bugs and issues.

Currently Working On (in no specific order)

• Armor/vehicle physics and functionality revisit.
• Fixing the low quality of all FPP weapon textures (including a texture optimisation in this).
• Fixing the low quality of all FPP vehicle viewports (including a texture optimisation in this).
• Loadout mouse-overs that will show their contents before unlocking (we wanted to have this in for U8 but it was more complicated than expected).
• Changes and polish to any existing metagame/balance/Offensive mode issues.
• Increased functionality for server admins - including cameras and other tools.
• Investigating freelook implementation.
• Investigating ways of allowing players more control over which uniform is automatically applied per map.
• New Commander abilities.
• Overhauling SMDM as well as continued work on Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, SME and PHL.
• Small transport vehicles.
• Creating new vehicles.
• Melee implementation.
• New weapons for new loadouts (FG-42 and more) (we know that the Germans need some love here!).
• 3 new unannounced maps.
• New customisations.
• Large scale optimisations.
• Steam achievements.
• A new front.
• Scoping out mortars (deployable).
• Scoping out night modes (and what implication that could have on gameplay).
• Scoping out flamethrowers (carrier and mounted)
• Continued overhaul of sfx.
• Scoping extent of Campaign mode.

Where to next?

We’ve still got more to do when it comes to polishing and finalising what we’d consider to be a “1.0 worthy” release quality version of Hell Let Loose. We’re aware of issues with both gamemodes, with specific locations on maps, with balancing, with performance and many other aspects of the game.

Hell Let Loose is a constant passion for us as a team and we’re often trying to strike the balance of fixing endemic issues while balancing the addition of new content.

We’re very thankful for the patience the community has shown with us over the course of our development, and we want to assure you that we have many more additions to come.

Thank you all so much much for your continued support. We hope you have a brilliant time with Update 8 and look forward to reading through and collating your feedback.

See you on the frontline.