British Forces Rework Part 2 - Now Live! | Dev Brief #199

Hello everyone,

Patch 14.8 – British Forces Rework Part 2 and the launch of Skirmish, is now live on all platforms.

This update completes the British rework phase of development. We decided to expand on the initial release of the British forces last year following a swath of valuable feedback. After two content updates comprising overhauls, we feel confident in the enhancements and improvements to transform this portion of the game. Thank you for your assistance in helping us accomplish this!



We’ve also implemented a new game mode, Control Skirmish. Based on feedback from previous PTEs, we’ve focused on refining our ‘seeding’ (rebranded to Control) game mode which originally featured on Foy and Kharkov.

Skirmish is a gateway experience for new players of Hell Let Loose. This game mode allows players to get straight into the action and experience some of the core mechanics of Hell Let Loose with fewer moving parts.

This is a quicker 50vs50 experience for some of our core audience who want to hop in for a few games and immerse themselves in the battle immediately.

Featuring a new type of garrison - the forward position, each side will be limited to one Armour squad and one Recon squad; the Commander can only spawn in medium tanks and no artillery pieces will be placed on the map.

Both teams start with control over their half of the map while the middle sector is neutral with a single capture point. Both teams must fight, attack and then defend this single capture point. Only the middle section of the map and the single capture point can change hands. At the end of the game, the team that controls the capture point is declared the winner.

To support this, there will be dedicated servers on PC, running these Skirmish maps, 24/7, so they’re always available for you to join.

• HLL Official - Europe #16 > HLL Official Skirmish - Europe #01
  
• HLL Official - US East #12 > HLL Official Skirmish - US East #01
  
• HLL Official - Asia #16 > HLL Official Skirmish - Asia #01

El-Alamein - Map Refresh & Oasis - Control Skirmish


When analysing the previous iteration of El Alamein, the map’s desolate landscape stood out as an area for improvement. Building placement has increased substantially to over 300%, whereas rocks have increased ~33%. We also recognised that many vehicle routes failed to connect throughout the map, featuring frequent dead ends – frustrating armour units. El Alamein was famous for its tank battles, and we’ve made changes to improve and add complete routes.

We’ve also worked on the HQs and capture points to improve balance and gameplay.

We’ve redesigned El Alamein to deliver an improved gameplay experience that also accommodates Skirmish. Map visuals and layout have been enhanced and improved – bringing graphical consistency to the level with an overall colour and tone pass. We’ve transformed the roads to increase visual quality; populated many open, empty areas; and new military posts have been set up across the map.

El Alamein has undergone a remarkable transformation, thanks to the hard work of the Environment Art team aiming to update the map making it feel refreshing and engaging. We recognised the frustrations and disappointments expressed by the player base regarding the previous state of El Alamein. Therefore, we dove into the level, eliminated dull open dead spaces, and elevated its overall appeal. The revamped version features many enhancements, including large and small canyons, new trench areas, revitalized town sections, abundant cover to thwart pesky snipers, an expanded oasis, and a newly incorporated town.

Additionally, lush foliage now adorns the entire map, enriching it with vibrant hues alongside the exciting new additions of ruins. But, for us, the most exciting new addition is the mines! You can move across the map through cool tunnels giving new routes and opportunities for gameplay across the map. We've listened to your feedback, and we hope you enjoy these improvements - welcome to the new and improved El Alamein.

Jack McFarland, Environment Artist - Expression Games

The Technical Art team have been working on steadily addressing the performance issues throughout Hell Let Loose. Some of these issues that stand out have been cataloguing and optimising excessive texture sizes, addressing missing VFX LODs, reducing excessive mesh densities and ensuring LODs are drawing at more performant distances.

The recent art refresh brought along a welcome facelift to El Alamein and with it some challenges for the Technical Art team. Working closely with the artists to ensure their vision was not compromised while keeping performance within acceptable limits. A lot of this was down to addressing the many new assets that had been added (adding to a strain on the CPU). This meant merging most assets as Hierarchical Instanced Static Meshes (HISM is an instancing method that allows for better memory performance and supports LODs with good asset culling which results in better rendering performance). When doing this pass we asked the artists to approach it with small to medium-sized HISM merges as we were mindful when reducing the draw calls on the CPU not to overburden the strain on the GPU.

In addition to this, we also addressed issues where there were excessive triangles on some assets (e.g. aircraft hangers) and proposed a much more efficient way to build them.

We addressed some VFX issues whereby some particles would continue to render beyond the point that they were visible to the player. An optimisation pass was implemented on the character driven VFX of dust/mud kick-up, we created LODs and set them to cull at a distance that was more performant and not noticeable by the player.

When looking at specific issues around frame drops, it was discovered that burning or damaged vehicles had a particle light with an excessive radius attached to the effect. This was drawing several times adding to light complexity and this has since been removed.

As well as optimising, we have been looking at improving the look of the fire VFX and adding some more atmospheric dust based effects to El Alamein.

There is also ongoing R&D into some new weather VFX coming to HLL which we can talk about in more detail in the coming briefings.

Technical Art Team - Expression Games

With Oasis being the central Capture Point on the map, it sits right in the heart of our talented Environment Art’s piece of map refresh work, so we decided to make that the centre of attention for Skirmish - Control Mode. The mixture of high, open elevation juxtaposed with the ruined compounds provide an interesting battle ahead which should cater to most playstyles.

Carl Rutter - Senior Level Designer, Expression Games

Driel - Map Updates & Underpass - Control Skirmish

With Control Skirmish’s focus on a single Capture Point, we wanted to utilise an area of the map that catered to multiple playstyles, with a myriad of approaches to gain control of the area.

To accomplish this, we created a custom Capture Point just north of the traditional “South Railway” objective in Warfare and Offensive, allowing players to fight over the “Underpass”. To enhance this area we placed additional train cars to block overly long sightlines straight down the railway tracks, as well as increasing the foliage and defensive structures along the embankments and surrounding the underpass itself.

Kienan Southern - Junior Level Designer, Expression Games

Red Devils [Paid]
The British Airborne played a pivotal role in Operation Market Garden, with Driel being one of the locations involved.



The plan employed all three Allied airborne divisions. The British incurred the hardest task of all – their directive was to capture the integral bridge over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem; the most distant objective from the Allied front line. Around 35,000 Allied parachute and glider troops were deployed to the operation.

The Red Devils DLC is playable in all recon and infantry squad roles.

Polish Parachute Brigade [Paid]
Polish Paratroopers played a key role for the Allied forces in Market Garden. Held responsible for the failure of Operation Market Garden, Major-General Stanislaw Sosabowski was used as a scapegoat to blame for the Battle of Arnhem fiasco.

Only the inhabitants of Driel recognised the devastating struggle the Polish army troops endured; suffering heavy losses through unfavourable circumstances and poor planning by the British High Command. They see the Polish soldiers as their liberators, with General Stanislaw Sosabowski at their head.

The Polish Parachute Brigade DLC is playable in all recon and infantry squad roles.

With Black Matter’s inclusion of the Driel map into the game we did extensive historical research into this part of Market Garden (the Allied operation in Holland in 1944). One of our key findings was the role of the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, part of the Allied airborne deployment, alongside the British 1st Airborne Division. In particular their actions at Driel and the bitter fighting and sacrifices made to aid in the British withdrawal from Arnhem. To honour the Polish involvement at Driel, we have included a new Polish paratrooper uniform and beret for players who wish to represent the Polish forces in this battle.

Matt White, Creative Director - Expression Games

Near Miss - British 8th Army [Free]


Created as a thank you for your support, especially over the past 12 months, the British Near Miss helmet references that trailer and the ensuing rework for the British forces.

New British Weapons and Armour

As part of this rework of the British content, we have looked at what weapons the British forces would have been equipped with. With that in mind, we have introduced:

• Sten Gun Mk V
  
• No.4 Mk I Sniper
  
• Thompson 1928A1
  
• No.82 Gammon Bomb

These are more thematic reflective, representative of the weapons used in the theatres, and more authentic to some of the forces in the battle—for example, the Sten Mk V used by the British Airborne in Operation Market Garden.

We also looked at what vehicles and armour should be included in El Alamein and Driel. Part of this work was to include armour that is more reflective of the history and so for El Alamein we have included:

• Crusader Mk III (Medium Tank)
  
• M3 Stuart ‘Honey’ (Light Tank)

And for Driel we have included:

• Churchill Mk VII (Heavy Tank)

Extra effort was made to include a second type of Churchill with the Mk VII to better reflect the variant of Churchill that would have been present in Western Europe in this point of the war.

Matt White, Creative Director - Expression Games

Having the opportunity to create iconic weapons and vehicles for Hell Let Loose is a
tremendous honour for myself and the team, and represents a very fun challenge in
the form of doing justice to the real-world look and history of said assets.

Maintaining historical accuracy is of paramount importance on a project like this,
everything from the exact model (and sometimes even sub-model) that would have
been used in that theatre at the time, the tools and equipment, and of course the
camo and markings all play into ensuring the asset is as accurate as possible whilst
also playing and feeling well in-game.

As these are the first new weapons and vehicles that Expression Games have added to the
game, we were particularly keen to ensure that these assets looked as awesome as
possible. Plenty of time was spent gathering reference images and combing through
videos to cover every angle, and even more time was dedicated to modelling and
texturing these assets to both look great and tell a story about the kind of conflict
they would have gone through.

I truly hope you have fun taking the M3 Stuart for a spin around the dunes of El Alamein, and land some nasty headshots using the new No.32 Scope for the No.4 Mk 1!

Daniel Midghall, Hard Surface Artist - Expression Games

No.82 Grenade (aka the ‘Gammon Bomb’)

The No.82 Grenade (aka the ‘Gammon Bomb’) is a new and unique piece of equipment dropping into Allied loadouts on Driel for Patch 14.8.

This detonate-on-impact device can be a devastating ambushing weapon against enemy infantry and a useful tool for disabling and destroying enemy vehicles.

Due to its size, shape and weight, the throwing distance of the Gammon Bomb differs from other grenades in-game by having a shorter range. Players have the ability to underarm throw this grenade for the purpose of dropping it onto enemy positions from above, however, trying this at ground level may lead to… an unfortunate outcome.

The table below gives an idea of how the No.82 can damage or destroy different vehicle types.

Jack Jenkins, Game Designer - Expression Games

Patch 14.8 Changelog
New Gamemode

• Skirmish

Updated maps:

• El Alamein Refresh
  
• Driel Updates

New weapons:

• No.4 Mk I Sniper (6 mags)
  
• Sten Gun Mk V (8 mags)
  
• No.82 Grenade ‘Gammon Bomb’
  
• Thompson 1928A1 Horizontal Grip Drum Mag (5 mags)
  
• Thompson 1928A1 Horizontal Grip Stick Mag (8 mags)

New tanks:

• Churchill Mk VII (Heavy Tank)
  
• Crusader Mk III (Medium Tank)
  
• M3 Stuart ‘Honey’ (Light Tank)

DLC:

• British Airborne (Paid)
  
• Polish Parachute Brigade (Paid)
  
• Near Miss Helmets - British 8th Army (Free)

Gore filter:

• The gore filter has been introduced as requested by content creators from the player base

Bug Fixes:
General:

• [Fixed] Smoke grenades in the shadow of other objects appear to flicker with light and shadow
  
• [Fixed] Performance issues on all maps are observed when firing the flamethrower
  
• [Fixed] [TPP] Molotov's can be seen through smoke clouds
  
• [Fixed] Breathing while sprinting audio can overlap itself
  
• [Fixed] Sten Gun asset is positioned slightly too high when ADS-ing
  
• [Fixed] After changing video settings and leaving the game the settings did not apply to the game
  
• [Fixed] Loading in some specific maps will trigger a softlock - Rarely seen however a fix was found
  
• [Fixed] Character model arms will flail wildly & unrealistically when quickly switching between loadout items
  
• [Fixed] The top of the Churchill Mk III heavy tank has an area where there is no player or bullet collision
  
• [Fixed] The Churchill Mk III has high armour instead of medium on its rear panel
  
• [Fixed] The Lewis Gun has a capacity of 47 rounds rather than 97 and a different number of magazines for each British faction
  
• [Fixed] Players can hide the satchel charge inside the Churchill Mk III tank
  
• [Fixed] The Medic's armband is missing from the Khaki Drill uniform

Purple Heart Lane:

• [Fixed] [PHL] Sky rain PFX are generally invisible & do not match the intensity of the rain effect on the ground
  
• [Fixed] H1 Trees outside the playable area are brighter than others also low-quality bushes are present

Kharkov:

• [Fixed] Some destroyed vehicles across the map present stone SFX and PFX
  
• [Fixed] [F6] Burned house wrecks and snow assets are missing collision in sector F6

El Alamein:

• [Fixed] [B6] Tank stops after colliding with the sand near the main road
  
• [Fixed] [F7] [C3] Significant FPS drop in the sector when turning toward the landscape
  
• [Fixed] El Alamein's colour scheme feels flat
  
• [Fixed] Bullet collision is not present on canvas covered barrels and tires in multiple sectors
  
• [Fixed] Vehicle outlines can be seen on the tactical map
  
• [Fixed] Incorrect penetration value on wooden railings
  
• [Fixed] [C6] The smoke in sector C6 presents LOD issues
  
• [Fixed] Airfield Hangers - sandbag asset not rendering
  
• [Fixed] Invisible bullet collision is present on the hangar's door
  
• [Fixed] Uneven terrain can cause built items to glitch into the ground or sky
  
• [Fixed] [I4] Floating Cart Asset located in sector I4
  
• [Fixed] Infantry mines will partially clip through the rear floor of the aircraft hangers
  
• [Fixed] H8 The cliff found in sector H8 presents misalignment issues
  
• [Fixed] [A5] The cliff found in sector A5 is misaligned with the ground
  
• [Fixed] H4 Wooden Pallets present draw distance issues
  
• [Fixed] In multiple hangars the terrain is misaligned
  
• [Fixed] [E3] Misaligned rock formation in sector E3
  
• [Fixed] [B5] A pile of crate assets is floating on sector B5
  
• [Fixed] A ripple effect is visible in a small radius around the player when driving on flat surfaces
  
• [Fixed] [J6] Assets in this sector are missing textures, polygon faces or are very noticeably misplaced
  
• [Fixed] [J5] Assets in this sector are missing textures, polygon faces or are very noticeably misplaced
  
• [Fixed] [C9] Assets in this sector are missing textures, polygon faces or are very noticeably misplaced

Driel:

• [Fixed] [A1] Windmil presents LOD issue
  
• [Fixed] [G1] Black textures can be seen on some steps
  
• [Fixed] [H9] A road is misaligned on sector H9

Free DLC for HLL Owners
Hell Let Loose console & PC owners will receive the ‘Hell’ Pattern Trench Gun for free in Classified: France '44!



You are tasked with commanding an elite team of allied special operators in Nazi-occupied France wreaking havoc in the run-up to D-Day in an ambitious turn-based tactics game. Take on the might of Germany's war machine and launch daring raids in occupied territory.

Classified: France ‘44 releases March 5th on Steam and current-gen consoles.

No activation is needed, it will show in your inventory if you own HLL.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2085370/Classified_France_44/