Patch 14.3 PTE Feedback
Micro-Stuttering
Over half of those who took part felt that there was an improvement with stuttering, experiencing less micro-stuttering on most maps. We are aware of some reports about FPS drops in the live game since the last patch, and we will continue to look into this.Ultrawide Monitor Compatibility
Three-quarters of those using an ultrawide monitor felt that there was a marked improvement, and the experience was what most players would expect from similar titles.Panther Tank
Over three-quarters of players who used the Panther during the PTE felt that the reload speed was now 'just right.'British Weapons
Although most players felt the improvements to British weapons were better, some feedback suggested the gun sights were still too large, and further work to improve weapon zeroing was needed.Practice Range
We already have a list of work we’d like to carry out for future iterations of the Practice Range, and much of this was also identified by players who took the time to submit feedback on their experience. There were also some great ideas that we will take a look at to see how we could implement these in future versions. [b]Some of the feedback included:[/b]- Increasing Shooting Range to 500m
- Moving Targets
- More navigation and prompts
- Respawning of vehicles and helmets
Plans for Optimization & Bug Fixing
Having realised our focus needed to change so that we could revisit the existing game and bug database, the roadmap for Hell Let Loose has changed, and we’re working to put a new one together that we’ll be able to talk more about in a future briefing. Some issues that you experience in the game don’t always happen in our own testing environments, which can make these bugs trickier to tackle, and we can struggle to reproduce certain issues that require a lot of players over a length of time. Reintroducing public testing is already helping with better understanding some of these bugs, while also helping shape the direction of the game.LODs
We know LODs are a big one for the community, and our Technical Art team are making their way through all the levels and optimizing some of the worst offenders. LODs are particularly important for console platforms, and decisions have to be made manually, with artists going in and tuning the distance at what certain objects should start rendering, which can be a lengthy and time-consuming process. Most of our levels also use something called HLODs: [quote=author]HLODs are a really cool bit of technology which makes it really cheap to render something, and if it's far enough away, it can look pretty close to what it would look like. But the creation of HLODs is tricky, it's very hard to get them to to look great, and is made harder with a more realistic looking game like Hell Let Loose. It's basically a constant challenge for the tech art team to to balance creating these cheaper to render versions of geometry so this will still run at a decent frame rate on all of the hardware that we support, while not looking terrible - and it’s a time consuming process. You will notice literally every single update the LODs will be improved in numerous different areas on all the maps, and this is one of those areas where I don't think we could, you know, within the next few years tackle every single part of every single level that exists and make them perfect - so if the community can basically let us know the worst offenders, they’ll go to the top of our priority list. - Kieran, Studio Technical Director[/quote] Patch 14.3 will be introducing some further LOD optimization for certain maps, however, if you’ve noticed particular issues that are having a high impact, please let us know by getting in touch with Player Support!Rubber-banding
While we’ve made changes to both PC and Console platforms to help reduce rubber-banding, we know there is still more to be done.VOIP
We’re continuing to work closely with Vivox to understand how we improve the quality and experience for players. [quote=author]They actually recently reached out to us as they had themselves been looking into user reports of voice issues and have managed to identify that there was an issue with people who were using mobile-based data networks for connecting to the game. There was a high chance that the VOIP basically stopped working and the connection would fail. That has been fixed in the latest SDK which we have updated for Patch 14.3. - Kieran, Studio Technical Director[/quote] VOIP can be challenging for us, as it is rare we ever get issues in the development environment, and Vivox identified that there is a configuration difference between what we use for the development environments on the server side, and what’s happening in the actual live game - so we’re also working with them to make sure they’re the same, which may help us better understand some of the issues being experienced, during development, so we can fix them. [quote=author]We've typically had to make improvements and fixes and then wait for the next update to go live to then identify what is breaking. We are utilizing analytics to be able to identify issues, so it's a case of every single update we will spend some time sitting down and having a look at those analytics to go like, okay what's broken now, and then we can fix another thing, but again, typically we won't be able to reproduce that issue in our development environment so it becomes a case of making a fix and then the next update goes live we repeat the cycle. So, unfortunately, when it comes to this, it's currently quite a slow turnaround for us - but we do continue to work on it every single update. - Kieran, Studio Technical Director[/quote]British Forces Rework
Both during the AMA, and in the dev interview, we outlined what we’re doing to essentially make good on the British forces - including new, more accurate weapons, uniforms, and vehicles. This is a large piece of work, and we want to get it right, so improvements to the British forces will be something you see arrive in the game in phases.Historical Accuracy
[quote=author]The Bren absolutely should have a bipod. For someone who's been shown how to use a Bren gun by other historians, I can absolutely attest to bipod - the Bren needs a bipod. - Matt, Studio Creative Director[/quote] We want to ensure we’re bringing accurate firearms to the game on a per-theatre basis. For example, although some British weapons were used across all theatres, there were some that were specific to North Africa or Western Europe - and we want to make sure the experience is accurate for both.Weapons
Bren Gun - we are going to do a bipod for the Bren, which will be publicly tested to understand the best balancing, whether it sits on the Machine Gunner role, or whether it works for the Automatic Rifleman. British Thompson - we will be doing the 1928A1 Thompson. SMLE - we will be doing the SMLE No.1 MKIII that was used throughout WWII. No.32 Scope with No.4 MKI - as a new sniper rifle. Sten MKV - as an additional Sten gun. Gammon Bomb - also known as the No.82 Grenade, this will work as an 'explode-on-impact' device to help specific roles deal with lighter armoured vehicles.
[i]SMLE No.1 MKIII High Poly (1)[/i]
[i]SMLE No.1 MKIII High Poly (2)[/i]
Armour
In terms of armour, we are going to do specific pieces of armour for the British, specifically for North Africa, and have a look at the armour that’s available for Driel, including:- Churchill Mk.III for North Africa
- Churchill Mk.VII for Europe
- M3 Stuart ‘Honey’
- Crusader Mk.III
- Valentine Mk.II
- Matilda II
[i]Churchill Mk.III and Mk.VII High poly - WIP[/i]
Uniforms
We will also be making good on the uniforms for both North Africa, and Western Europe, including shorts and short sleeve uniforms for the British, as well as the German DAK uniform. [quote=author]We'll do the same thing with the camo for those Vehicles [mentioned above] as well, so you'll be able to play North Africa with the correct uniforms, with historically accurate weapons and vehicles and armour, against the Germans with the German equivalent. What it will do, is it will make the theatres much more flavoursome and historically accurate, but much more thematic as a player, so that North Africa will feel very different, as it should, compared to say, Europe. I hope that gives people some inclination of the commitment we have to making sure that all the all the gear, all the toys, all the weapons, all the equipment you'll be playing with, is 100% authentic and accurate. - Matt, Studio Creative Director[/quote] Here’s a first-look at some of the uniform work in progress!
[i]High poly for the new British desert uniform[/i]
[i]High poly for the new German DAK uniform[/i]
[i]Improved British helmet with straps, for a better fit and more accuracy[/i]
