Hey Everyone,
Welcome to Developer Briefing #67!
This week we’ve got an important message from Lead Developer Max on the current situation with Covid-19 and how the Black Matter team is facing it!
After that, we’re going to be looking at the German Puma Sd.Kfz. 234, along with a brand new screenshot.
A Message From Max
Hi everyone,
We hope you’re all keeping well despite the current pandemic that is gripping much of the world.
As part of this Dev Briefing, we also wanted to openly communicate about how Coronavirus is affecting us here at Black Matter, and at our publisher - Team17.
As many of you may be aware, Black Matter is fortunate in that our remote working policies mean that the effect of Coronavirus on us from a business and development perspective is incredibly minimal. We have put in place contingencies should any of the team become sick, but we consider ourselves incredibly fortunate that nobody at Black Matter falls within an ‘at-risk’ category. The team is all hard at work - smashing through as many bugs as humanly possible while balancing out the coming overhauls and content.
We feel that over the next couple of months, the quality of Hell Let Loose as a title will be drastically improved for the better - and we’re very excited to finally reveal what we’ve been cooking up. Despite the turbulence in world affairs, we’re very optimistic and excited for 2020. There are so many new features, maps, weapons, customisation options to come, as well as optimisation and bug fixes. Currently, the team is working across a huge degree of content including but not limited to:
- 3 new maps (only one of which is set in Normandy and is nearly entirely urban)
- Finalising TPP and FPP overhaul. This is really where the largest look and feel change to the game will be. We’ll be running you through this soon.
- Entirely new ballistics system (travel time and more for all firearms), including bullet penetration.
- Map overhaul on one existing map (bug fixing, drastically increasing cover, visual upgrade and a far more interesting experience).
- Assets being created for two entirely new biomes.
- Implementation of new Commander abilities.
- New loadouts.
- New weapons being made.
- Implementation of Recon vehicles.
And much, much more (we’re also always working on bug fixes and optimisation).
With all of that said, today we’re excited to talk through the second Recon vehicle to be coming to Hell Let Loose - the Puma Sd.Kfz. 234!
The Puma Sd.Kfz.234
The Puma is the key reconnaissance vehicle for the German forces in Hell Let Loose. Much like its Greyhound counterpart, this vehicle will provide valuable frontline reconnaissance and useful firepower against soft targets.
Despite not seeing use in Germany’s desert campaigns, the Puma proved successful in its usefulness on both the Western and Eastern fronts of the war.
Thanks to its lightweight armour, powerful V12 diesel engine and independent suspension for each of its eight wheels the Puma was a highly mobile, hard hitting recon vehicle. This made it ideal support for multiple German Panzer Divisions, not only as fire support but as a key relay of information to the rest of the column via their radio communications kit.
The relative mobility of the Puma comes at a price though - light armour. In regards to how this translates to in-game, the Puma, much like the greyhound is highly vulnerable to all forms of anti-tank weaponry. From mines, to Bazookas, AT Guns and 'bigger' armoured vehicles, any Driver worth their salt will want to avoid meeting any of these at all costs unless absolutely necessary on the frontline.
But it should be mentioned that whilst in the Puma the crew will enjoy immunity from enemy small arms fire, giving them a great opportunity to push across enemy firing lines that include a high concentration of men and/or Machine Gunners.
As mentioned in last week’s Developer Briefing, we’ll be explaining exactly how our Recon vehicles will function in the very near future. We’ll also be taking the opportunity to formally introduce our new vehicle spawning mechanic as well as the new crewing options in both Recon and other upcoming vehicle variants - so watch this space!
We’ll see you on the frontline.
