Hey everyone,

In our last developer briefing, we were excited to announce that Hell Let Loose is now fully supported with a new dedicated studio, allowing us to prioritize quality of life improvements ahead of launching new content.

Today we want to go into more detail surrounding the first health update, which will be released across all platforms early next month.

New Game Analytics

With a key focus on supporting the player experience, we’ve begun implementing in-game analytics. This provides crucial data to the development team, allowing them to better identify and understand player pain points in real-time, directly improving gameplay.

This addition will also help the team understand issues that are hard to reproduce, making bug fixing faster and more efficient, with an effort to get fixes to players quicker.

This first implementation of game analytics will provide insights into server health. Additional processes are being designed and implemented to further support performance testing across all content.

Our team is made up of dedicated gamers and as such, player privacy is of utmost importance to us. Personal data will not be collected without the express permission from players, and we are designing all analytics processes to follow strict GDPR guidance. For further information about how we address personal data, please see our Privacy Policy.[www.team17.com]

Improving Stability & Performance

After the release of Update 13, Burning Snow, several stability and performance issues were raised and identified. This initial health update aims to address many known issues, including performance related concerns. Subsequent updates will see continued optimization adjustments as the team focuses on quality of life improvements.

While a full changelog will be supplied upon release, some notable updates include:

VoIP Functionality
Working closely with VIVOX, we’ve made improvements to how VoIP operates, which aims to increase the comms stability and reduce disconnects.

Server Stability & Performance
In response to latency issues experienced by some players, new IP routing has already been implemented for all official South American Hell Let Loose servers on PC.

After further investigation, we’ve identified some server stability issues surrounding HLODs which have had an impact on machine memory on all platforms. We’re now optimizing the stability and overall performance of HLOD settings across multiple maps.

Kursk
This update will see Kursk back in rotation across all platforms. We’ve addressed issues concerning misaligned terrain and collision performance, as well as lighting and LOD issues, aiming to increase performance and stability.

Stalingrad
Some environmental misalignment and LOD issues present on Stalingrad are getting resolved in this update. We’ve also addressed an issue with unlocking the Defender of the Motherland achievement after playing Stalingrad five times. Some known instances of the players becoming stuck will also get resolved.

Carentan
You can expect to see continuous LOD improvements across Carentan, as well as fixes for items missing and presenting incorrect textures, asset clipping, and some outpost deployment issues.

Other Maps
More detail regarding optimization within the update of the following maps will be detailed in the final changelog:

• Hill400
  
• Sainte-Marie-du-Mont
  
• Sainte-Mère-Église
  
• Purple Heart Lane
  
• Purple Heart Lane Night
  
• Omaha Beach
  
• Remagen
  
• Kharkov
  
• Utah Beach
  
• Hürtgen Forest
  
• Hürtgen Forest Night
  
• Foy

Known Issues Post U13

This update will also address bug reports from Update 13, including, but not limited to:

Gameplay

• Issues with the MG42 firing after being reloaded
  
• Instances of MGs disappearing when mounted
  
• Player model occasionally T-posing when deploying ammo
  
• Barricades becoming invisible after 300m and not protecting the player

UX/UI

• Player uniform preview defaulting to Preset #1 even if Preset #2 has been selected
  
• Hovering over the Russian Anti-Tank loadouts causes the Barracks UI to reduce its size

VFX/SFX

• Some helmets show an incorrect texture

Free DLC - Near Miss

We want to say a big thank you to our entire community for continuing to support Hell Let Loose and welcoming the new team onboard. To express our gratitude, we’ll be releasing a brand new, free DLC, that’ll be landing alongside the update next month - here’s a sneak peek.

The intense damage war can inflict on a soldier's loadout is on full display in this new unique helmet pack, depicting close calls for each faction.


“Near Miss” M42 Battle Damaged Helmet (German)

The M42 is a German fabric covered helmet that’s seen better days. Battle damage from flying shrapnel and stray bullets ripped through the outer covering, exposing the dented protective layers beneath, nearly causing this infantry soldier to fall back in retreat.

“Near Miss” M1 Battle Damaged Helmet (US)

This heavily dented M1 helmet carries the forceful and violent scars of battle including falling prey to a sniper’s headshot. Luckily, the round merely added another blemish and didn't penetrate the outer shell.

“Near Miss” SSh-40 Battle Damaged Helmet (Soviet)

Ravaged by war, this Soviet helmet shows the carnage of high speed shrapnel hurling through the air. Not missing a moment on the frontlines, this particular SSh-40 has rusted with the seasons.

Weeklong and Steam Spring Sale

Kicking things off ahead of the Spring Sale, you can now pick up Hell Let Loose with a 33% discount on Steam, and enlist new recruits to prepare for the battles ahead!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/686810/Hell_Let_Loose/

Community Content

We certainly haven't been the only ones hard at work, check out some of the incredible artwork and screenshots coming through on the Official Hell Let Loose Discord server.
A cold and miserable tanker, inspired by the events in Bastogne. Illustrated by Lucas Roman


A United States soldier with the M2-2 Flamethrower waiting just out of sight, captured by SoulSniper


Infantry avoiding an incoming bombing run, captured by [233C] Chrysallia

War Correspondent, Content Creator and Community HLL Videos

Missed our last Developer Brief? Check out this video by Monoespacial!
https://youtu.be/cyptO18--O4

This is why you should play Hell Let Loose - Tomographic
https://youtu.be/_YU4t5Z5Fe0

Battle Highlights: Sainte-Mère-Église, January 22, 2023 - SoulSniper
https://youtu.be/w8_SqQ1uNy4

In case you weren’t sure you needed to see this, here’s The Fresh Basked Goods operating a tank with Bongos:
https://youtu.be/gk9gAHK0rD0


[discord.gg]Join the Discord here https://discord.gg/hellletloose

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HellLetLoose/
Twitter https://twitter.com/hell_let_loose
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/HellLetLoose
Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/HellLetLoose/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hellletlooseofficial/
Steam http://steamcommunity.com/groups/HellLetLoose

Join us next time for more detail on the update and see a first look at the upcoming battle-weary, infantry paid DLC, which will also be coming next month. See you all on the frontline!

The start of 2023 brings change, excitement, and anticipation to the world of Hell Let Loose.

We’re closing out winter by bidding a fond farewell to the team over at Black Matter, as they prepare to move on to their next project.

We thank them for their dedication to bringing this incredible game to life and wish them all the very best in their new endeavor.

A Message From Max and the Black Matter Team:

Originally posted by author:

“The last twelve months have been bittersweet for us as a team. We've been thrilled to see how our colleagues at Team17 have picked up the reins with such incredible enthusiasm and attention to detail, but we're also going to miss working on the title.

As a team, we want to say a huge thank you for the incredible support this community has given us for the years that we’ve worked on Hell Let Loose. It’s been a fantastic journey and one that we can’t quite believe when we look back at all that has happened.

Fundamentally, Hell Let Loose has taken on a life of its own and is now far bigger than we ever could have imagined. It’s been a privilege to work with you on refining it and crafting it into what it is today.

We are excited to join you on the battlefield now and in the future - not as developers, but finally as players - thrilled in the knowledge that the best days of Hell Let Loose are ahead of us.”

Although we’ll miss Black Matter on the production side, we’re looking forward to meeting them on the battlefield!

What can players expect from Hell Let Loose this year?

While it might appear quiet on the frontlines, we’re certainly not missing in action. Over the past few months, we’ve been busy building a brand-new Hell Let Loose studio, consisting of veteran developers who have worked on numerous AAA titles.

The new team significantly increases our development resources, allowing us to prioritize quality of life improvements across all platforms, before launching some exciting new updates to the game.

Community feedback has already begun shifting our focus toward improving the Hell Let Loose experience for 2023 and the years to come. The subsequent hotfix for Update 13 has now been rolled into a much bigger health update, aimed at supporting the stability of the game, and we’ll be sharing more about it soon.

With the new studio in place and the project handoff completed, players can expect to see a full roadmap for 2023 in the coming weeks, along with more regular updates, as-well-as clarity into our development processes.

Until then, you can join in on the conversation by visiting the Official Hell Let Loose Discord and stay up to date across our other social platforms:

[discord.gg]Join the Discord here https://discord.gg/hellletloose

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HellLetLoose/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/hell_let_loose
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/c/HellLetLoose
Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/HellLetLoose/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hellletlooseofficial/
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/groups/HellLetLoose

We’re excited about the road ahead and are looking forward to seeing you on the frontline!