Hey everyone,
Welcome to Developer Briefing #77!
This week we're happy to be sharing with you the date for Patch 11, talking about what's next for your Uniform suggestions as well as revealing a new Uniform that's coming soon. We'll also be showing off a bit more of the revamped Foy that you'll be getting in Update 7...
I'm going to hand things over to Max now as gives you his update from the team!
An update from Max, Lead Developer
Hi all,
We’re currently hard at work on Update 7 - which is shaping up to easily be our most significant and large Update yet.
Normally, it’s a very easy process for us to put together a dev briefing, as we simply deep-dive into the coming features, artwork or other systems. However, in this case we want to maintain some excitement and surprise for what’s to come, so we’ll be starting to unveil the full scope of changes closer to the release date (and there are a LOT of things that we’re excited about!).
Over the next couple of weeks we’ll also be taking the opportunity to look at some of the methods and processes we use currently in the game to create the various different aspects of it.
Tactical Maps and Community Talent
We were blown away this week when a very talented Hell Let Loose subreddit member
u/Tommy2Legs who put together an incredible Hell Let Loose style tactical map of Juno Beach - the famous Canadian D-Day landing site.
Featuring the same visual language as our own maps, as well as near-perfect scale and layout, we thought it was an incredible piece of artwork.
We not only wanted to show off the incredible work they did on it, but it has also provoked some discussion about pulling back the curtain on the huge amount of work that goes into creating these highly detailed maps, so watch this space!
Patch 11 - May 28th!
Patch 11 will be dropping shortly on Thursday, May 28th.
While it feels small to us compared to our usual Updates, it fixes some aspects we’ve had fed back to us in regards to Update 6, as well as laying the groundwork for our push towards Update 7.
On top of the above Patch 11 will also include some additional customisation options for your soldiers.
We’ll be releasing the full change-log which will include all the bug fixes, adjustments and new cutomisations closer to the release date.
Cosmetic Suggestions & Something New
Well, what a fantastic response!
Thanks for all your feedback on the Hell Let Loose subreddit with suggestions for new uniforms, helmets and other cosmetic additions. We’ve collated and saved all submissions we’ve received, as well as the additional information you provided.
Soon we’ll start the process that’ll allow us to continue adding these to the game in an ongoing fashion in every patch and Update. We’ve also read much of the additional feedback about the customisation system itself and are looking at any changes that need to be made.
We've also got a little extra something for you! Below you can find some beautiful new renders of the in-game models for the new M43 Combat Uniform for the US forces. This will be added to the game shortly.
Continued Level Design Work
Alongside work on 3 unannounced maps, we’ve also been overhauling and upgrading nearly every other existing map in the game. We thought we’d show off a bit more of the Foy work to tide you over while you wait for Update 7.
We fully intend for Update 7 to drastically improve your gameplay experience across many of the most beloved maps - while at the same time we’re also working to make those less popular maps just as successful as the others.
We’re paying particular attention to creating viable infantry paths from Strongpoint to Strongpoint, while also enabling access for vehicles. While open 200m fields lead to poor infantry gameplay, cluttering the entire map with constant objects will harm vehicle gameplay. We’ve played a huge amount and identified a relative cover density per meterage. With this in mind, we’ve been making copious notes on particularly challenging or boring Strongpoints or map locations and have been building them out with greater detail and level of interest.
Please bear in mind that the following images are as work-in-progress.
We’ve built out many existing Strongpoints with additional approaches.
Studying the farming infrastructure of the Belgian countryside, we’ve worked hard to create interesting and varied approaches. Previously, a great weakness of Foy’s gameplay was the un-ending and coverless fields - where wire fences would often result in an impossible assault across 200m+ of open ground. With these changes, we expect armour to be just as potent, but with greater and more intense and interesting infantry battles to take place on and between the Strongpoints themselves.
The AA position has had several open and closed buildings added, with particular attention paid to eyelines and access points.
The push between the AA position and Trainline now features a pleasant birch forest on the east side of the trainline, including semi-destroyed German positions and supplies placed in the forest to conceal them from the air. While the fastest route is to push along the train line itself, capturing this wooded area will provide a defensible spawn location and an easy place to support the fighting at both Strong Points.
Dugout Barn has been overhauled, retaining the tiny farming buildings at the corner, but expanding it with a trench network and several other larger structures. We’ve created more openings in the wire fences, and replaced several of them with stone walls so as to create more hard cover for the open-field battles. These deeper trench networks feature locations designed for in-cover spawn placement, and will provide tense CQB gameplay as they’re flushed out.
That wraps up this week's Developer Briefing, we hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
See you on the frontline!
