Hey everyone,
We are pleased to announce that the next update to Hell Let Loose will be released on the 5th of April! This week, we’re diving into the further optimizations coming in U13.5, as well as sharing a first look at the new German Heer DLC.
The team is also excited to share that the complete 2023 roadmap for Hell Let Loose will be arriving ahead of Update 13.5. To join us for the reveal, make sure to stay tuned and follow Hell Let Loose on YouTube!
Continuous Improvements
U13.5 is the first of many health updates to land this year, with a focus on increased stability across all platforms. The new team have prepared further fixes for a range of performance-related bugs, as well as begun updating the overall Hell Let Loose experience. This includes animation optimizations, new rigging in preparation for the upcoming DLC uniforms, and a focus on updating existing content throughout the year.
Game Notices, Error Codes, and Haptics
While the final changelog will outline all platform fixes in more detail, a range of visual bugs and connection errors, as well as haptic feedback issues, have also been addressed in U13.5, aiming to provide better stability for console players, which you can read more about here.
Investigating Other Known Issues
Although not addressed in Update 13.5, the team is looking into some of Hell Let Loose’s existing known issues, including:
Loadout Bug
With the addition of the new game analytics in U13.5, the team is hoping to further understand how this issue occurs, in order to successfully address it in a future update.
Grenade Bug
Similarly, the new game analytics should now provide data to better understand how some players experience difficulties with launching grenades.
Hit Registration
Reported issues of inconsistent damage dealt when firing at an enemy player are continuing to be investigated.
Wavy Lines
Previous observations of wavy line artifacts across some assets are also being investigated.
Weapon Firing & Missing Audio
The team is keen to further understand issues where some weapons temporarily do not fire, as well as instances of the Karabiner 98k missing the bolt action sound.
Reworking Reload Animations
Alongside optimization and stability improvements, Update 13.5 will also see the initial efforts to bring parity to the first and third-person reload animations. The team has begun improving the overall feel of some animations by introducing a more detailed style, better representing how these weapons are handled in real life.
M1 Garand
The United States Army standard issue M1 Garand reload animations have been updated to reflect using the side of the hand to keep the thumb clear of the mechanism, avoiding Garand Thumb.
M1 Garand first-person perspective reload animation.
M1 Garand third-person perspective reload animation.
M1 Garand third-person perspective prone reload animation.
MP40
The base pose of handling the MP40 has now been updated to match that of the third-person pose, which is the more commonly used grip for the weapon.
MP40 first-person perspective reload animation.
MP40 third-person perspective reload animation.
MP40 third-person perspective prone reload animation.
Tokarev TT33
The reload animation for the Tokarev TT33 has been improved to feel more tactile and have more intent behind the action.
Tokarev TT33 first-person perspective reload animation.
Tokarev TT33 third-person perspective reload animation.
Tokarev TT33 third-person perspective prone reload animation.
Locomotion Improvements
The team have also begun improving base locomotion, which players can expect to see in a future update. Efforts have been made to ensure sprint and crouch sprint will match a player’s actual speed, as well as make the crouch sprint feel more controlled and natural.
Further work has been carried out to increase the fidelity of character skeletons, enabling better-quality animations to be created in the future. New methods have been introduced which will allow the team to reduce the performance impact of characters.
Aim Offsets
New aim offsets have been created so that when the player is sprinting and looks up and down, it does not affect the whole body and distort them into unnatural posts in the third-person perspective. It will now be more natural, with the looking up and down mainly coming from the head, with a small amount of chest movement.
Battle Scarred DLC
Surviving the frontlines and wearing the scars to prove it, these new German uniforms tell stories of close calls and hard-fought battles.
Heer Veteran Jacket
Arriving with Update 13.5, the Heer Veteran Jacket reflects the realities of war, and commands respect from new infantry soldiers who can visibly see the wounds of battle, worn proudly.
Initial modeling of the Heer Veteran Jacket.
The unbuttoned jacket has seen better days, with worn material and missing buttons, complete with a neck scarf.
Heer Shirt
The intense and unwinding pressure of the campaign is apparent in the more casual Heer Shirt, as it provides relief from midsummer's stifling heat.
Initial modeling of the Heer Shirt.
The German Heer Shirt sees the jacket fully removed, displaying the Heer cotton shirt with rolled-up sleeves and a disheveled neck scarf.
A New Story To Be Told
As part of the team’s wider updates to the game, a brand-new cinematic character selection frontend menu has been designed. Offering a nighttime farm-building scene with a distant artillery bombardment, this features all-new visual effects, from the smoking wreck of the Panther to the explosions over the horizon.
Updated Frontend Teaser
Community Content
In support of the Wounded Warrior Project, BR1 Gaming Inc. will be kicking off their annual Veteran Charity Campaign, Road to D-Day, on the 4th of April!
Their first Hell Let Loose event, Operation Jubilee, will be held on the 14th of April. For more information, please visit br1gaming.com.
War Correspondent, Content Creator and Community HLL Videos
Tempted to try the Commander role? Check out these tips on playing Commander by Gebatron Gaming!
https://youtu.be/NymDZBveRsU
After visiting Carentan last year, Hazlr has created a comparison between Carentan in real life, and Carentan in Hell Let Loose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yc938GO34U
Get eyes on this preview of The Breaking Point Band of Brothers Reenactment by Chimera OCE and edited by Das:
https://youtu.be/wSt7bL6FiLk
Join the Discord here https://discord.gg/hellletloose
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With not long left to wait until the future plans for Hell Let Loose are finally revealed, you’ll soon be seeing us on the frontline!