HellForge 0.1.8 BETA

An update to the HellForge beta: Lua mods through HD2Runtime, a mods list in the F8 editor, and an
all planets open Galactic War. Download HellForge-Setup.exe below and run it. On an existing installation it
offers Update and keeps your game copy, profiles and mods.

Lua mods (HD2Runtime)

• HD2Runtime mods run on HellForge. Install Bingus Shared Loader and HD2Runtime 0.50.0 (the HellForge bridge
  version) like any other mod, then the Lua mods made for them. On HellForge, HD2Runtime changes nothing in the game
  by itself: HellForge makes every change, so the F8 editor shows what each Lua mod changed.
• What works: every field HD2Runtime mods change, every HD2Runtime event (missions, players, damage, kills, heals,
  shots and hits, weapon switches, explosions, bug holes), and its actions (heal, limbs, statuses, pushes, the Supply
  Pack, explosions, projectiles, homing and per-shot changes, the Pelican, kill credit, the mission timer freeze).
• Not on HellForge: HD2Runtime's custom stratagems (HellForge stratagem mods do that) and enemy controls.
• Lua mods are client-only: they are not part of the modlist code, so friends don't need the same ones.
• The Mods page warns when a Lua mod needs Bingus Shared Loader or HD2Runtime and it is missing, and when an
  HD2Runtime is too old for HellForge.
• This is new and mostly untested in game. Tell us what breaks.

F8 editor

• A MODS page: the HellForge mods and the Lua mods in two lists, each with the values it changed (click one to open
  it).
• Values a mod set are marked everywhere: blue for HellForge mods, purple for Lua mods, on fields, headers and
  categories. Reset goes back to the mod's value, not the game's.

Launcher

• Galactic War: "All planets open". The frozen war with every planet open for a liberation, one faction per map
  sector, factions from the fronts. Choose it with the live and frozen wars.

Setup

• The patch is found more reliably. Setup now reads every Steam library (a leftover copy on another drive no
  longer hides your game), accepts a game with a Steam update queued or paused (its files are still the patchable
  version), and recognises the patchable version by its files too. If Steam is busy with the game (updating,
  verifying) or the game is running, setup says so instead of offering the Steam console download.

For mod makers

• SDK 11: events for heals, mission stats, weapon switches, explosions, bug holes and damage before it applies (which a
  mod may change), and actions (heal, limbs, statuses, velocity, the Supply Pack, explosions, projectiles, the Pelican,
  kill credit, the mission timer, shot rules). See docs/mods.md. SDK 10: mods lists the session's mods.

You need

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), and HELLDIVERS 2 on Steam: the current version (patched by setup) or build 25480438
• Steam running and signed in to an account that owns the game or has it through Steam Family Sharing
• About 25 GB free on the drive you install to (plus about 2 GB while the patch pack is applied), and one Windows
  administrator prompt

Windows SmartScreen may warn that the setup is unrecognised: it is not code-signed yet (More info > Run anyway).

Found a problem? Report it in the Discord (link in the launcher's sidebar) or as a GitHub issue. The launcher's Save logs to
Desktop button (Console page) collects what we need.

Share this release by linking to it, not by reuploading the setup (licence). Mods made with the SDK are
yours, under any licence (MIT-0 SDK).

SHA-256 of HellForge-Setup.exe: 665BFFEEB709116094A65C057ACA55D2C0335D91C2A6E4216589DC93F044E58D

HellForge 0.1.7 BETA

Setup now works with the current Steam version of HELLDIVERS 2. Download HellForge-Setup.exe below and run it. On an
existing installation it offers Update and keeps your game copy, profiles and mods.

Setup

• No more Steam console downloads for the current game version. When Steam has the current HELLDIVERS 2 (build
  25988413), setup downloads a patch pack (about 1.7 GB, checked against its SHA-256) and makes HellForge's game copy
  (build 25480438) by patching your own Steam files. A 24 GB depot download is no longer needed. Your Steam
  installation is only read, never changed.
• Other game versions still use the Steam console download (download_depot) as before.
• A smaller game copy: 19 depot files HellForge never uses are no longer copied or checked (135 files instead of
  154). Existing installations keep working as they are.

Editor (F8)

• Weapons that fire an entity (the Breacher's charge, the Maelstrom's rockets and similar) now edit that entity's
  explosive, explosion and damage rows. Before, their speed and explosion edits changed rows the weapon doesn't use.
  The unused rows' fields are hidden, and a saved edit of one is skipped.

You need

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), and HELLDIVERS 2 on Steam: the current version (patched by setup) or build 25480438
• Steam running and signed in to an account that owns the game or has it through Steam Family Sharing
• About 25 GB free on the drive you install to (plus about 2 GB while the patch pack is applied), and one Windows
  administrator prompt

Windows SmartScreen may warn that the setup is unrecognised: it is not code-signed yet (More info > Run anyway).

Found a problem? Report it in the Discord (link in the launcher's sidebar) or as a GitHub issue. The launcher's Save logs to
Desktop button (Console page) collects what we need.

Share this release by linking to it, not by reuploading the setup (licence). Mods made with the SDK are
yours, under any licence (MIT-0 SDK).

SHA-256 of HellForge-Setup.exe: F658DAC6E96F66C036B7BE3F9E78DBDE632B85AACE6CDA5FAB6C4C38619F9884

HellForge 0.1.6 BETA

A big update to the HellForge beta: many more editor fields, the editor in co-op, game settings import and a
level-11 fix. Download HellForge-Setup.exe below and run it. On an existing installation it offers Update and
keeps your game copy, profiles and mods.

Editor (F8)

• More fields, close to HD2R Editor's set:
  • underbarrel weapons' damage and handling
  • the K-9's rate of fire
  • plasma weapons' charge
  • sway and recoil for exosuit arms, emplacements, FRV machine guns and tank guns
  • explosion damage taken on damage zones (vehicles, the ballistic shield)
• Hellpod payloads: choose what a call-in's pod drops (Resupply, support weapons, backpacks...), and how many.
• Armory and explosions:
  • the armor penetration the armory displays
  • the Epoch's and Railgun's overcharge explosion
  • the Urchin's pulse explosion
  • a set of smaller one-off fields
• Attachment changes are sent to the running game (respawn or re-equip to see them). If one doesn't show, it applies
  from the next session as before.
• Presets carry pod slots, arm swaps and armory labels too.
• Opens next to other overlays. Players with an overlay (Discord, RivaTuner/Afterburner, Overwolf, NVIDIA...) whose
  F8 did nothing should now get the editor.
• Easier to read:
  • fire modes, burst rounds and rate of fire X, Y and Z sit together
  • scrollbars in the choice popups are visible
  • notes under some rows explain special values

Co-op

• A joiner's editor shows the host's changes, with the usual marks and the Changes tab, read-only. The joiner's own
  changes step aside while they are in the host's lobby and come back after.
• Attachments, exosuit arm swaps, pod payloads and the other choice rows now follow the host too.

Launcher

• Import settings from HELLDIVERS 2 (Profile page, Game settings): copies your options and, if you like, your key
  bindings from the normal game into the profile. Undo import takes it back.
• Vanilla Plus is bundled (on by default, switch it off on the Mods page): stratagem beacons stick where they land,
  hellpods steer over any ground, reinforcements land at their beacon.
• Updating replaces older copies of the bundled mods (editor, Hell Forge difficulty, Vanilla Plus), so you don't need
  to download them separately. Old copies are moved to mods-retired, with their settings kept.

Hell Forge (level 11)

• No more Eradicate as a main objective. Level 11 mixes two missions into one, and an Eradicate mission could still be
  picked as the second, adding its kill objective.

For modders

• SDK 9: set_stat (write one value of an attachment or other record live) and copy_row (copy a whole record from
  another, used for the Urchin's pulse). See docs/mods.md.

You need

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), and HELLDIVERS 2 on Steam, build 25480438
• Steam running and signed in to an account that owns the game or has it through Steam Family Sharing
• About 25 GB free on the drive you install to, and one Windows administrator prompt

Windows SmartScreen may warn that the setup is unrecognised: it is not code-signed yet (More info > Run anyway).

Found a problem? Report it in the Discord (link in the launcher's sidebar) or as a GitHub issue. The launcher's Save logs to
Desktop button (Console page) collects what we need.

Share this release by linking to it, not by reuploading the setup (licence). Mods made with the SDK are
yours, under any licence (MIT-0 SDK).

SHA-256 of HellForge-Setup.exe: 94E3B5105B8956CE6D55ADC555B19D5454A10769843B090C58CBB04D0901DE41

HellForge 0.1.5 BETA

An update to the HellForge beta: Windows Firewall is no longer needed. Download HellForge-Setup.exe below
and run it. On an existing installation it offers Update and keeps your game copy, profiles and mods.

Changed

• A new network block, no Windows Firewall required. HellForge used to keep its copy of the game offline with
  Windows Firewall rules, which broke for players whose security suite (Kaspersky, Norton, Bitdefender, a VPN with a
  kill switch...) switched the firewall off or let traffic past it. The block now lives in the Windows Filtering
  Platform, the layer underneath Windows Firewall, and holds whether the firewall is on or off. It still allows the
  copy to reach only this PC.
• Setup places the block and checks it works before it finishes. The wizard asks Windows for permission once, puts
  the block in place and proves the copy cannot reach the internet. If that fails, setup stops and says so instead of
  leaving you with a session that will not start.
• Uninstall HellForge (Settings > Installation) removes the new block, its shortcuts and the folder.

Existing installations

Updating keeps your firewall rules, and sessions keep working as before. To move to the new block, open
Settings > Installation > Check and repair and allow the Windows permission prompt.

If setup stops at the network block

• Windows permission was declined: start setup again and allow the prompt (look for a flashing shield in the taskbar).
• "Base Filtering Engine (BFE) is off": it is a core Windows service. Turn it back on (Services > Base Filtering
  Engine, or net start BFE as administrator) and start setup again.

You need

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), and HELLDIVERS 2 on Steam, build 25480438
• Steam running and signed in to an account that owns the game or has it through Steam Family Sharing
• About 25 GB free on the drive you install to, and one Windows administrator prompt

Windows SmartScreen may warn that the setup is unrecognised: it is not code-signed yet (More info > Run anyway).

Support, news and mods: the Discord link in the launcher's sidebar.

Share this release by linking to it, not by reuploading the setup (licence). Mods made with the SDK are
yours, under any licence (MIT-0 SDK).

SHA-256 of HellForge-Setup.exe: E2EAE8F67BD6EDD5F352EBBD66C4A49E0782213DA6D938B7EC26FF3A3DB01A44

HellForge 0.1.4 BETA

An update to the HellForge beta with two crash fixes. Download HellForge-Setup.exe below and run it. On an
existing installation it offers Update and keeps your game copy, profiles and mods.

Co-op: everyone in a group should update to 0.1.4. The in-game editor changed, so its modlist code changed too.

Fixed

• Hell Forge difficulty: opening the map crashed the game on missions with many objectives and a route (a convoy
  path, say). The map has room for 16 markers; the route's marker went past them. It stops at 16 now: on the biggest
  missions some objectives may have no marker on the map, but the map opens.
• In-game editor (F8): typing a number into a list of choices crashed the game, for example in a weapon's
  third-person reticle.

Changed

• Weapon reticles are picked by style. "Third-person reticle" was a Yes/No choice, but the game stores a reticle
  style there, so "Yes" gave the weapon a different reticle. It now lists the styles the game's weapons use, each named
  with the weapons that have it ("Railgun (15): RS-422 Railgun..."), so any weapon can take another's reticle. Type the
  number or a name to find one. If you saved "Yes" or "No" on a weapon before, that field shows a bare 1 or 0 now (an
  odd reticle in game): reset it or pick a style. HD2R Editor presets still import: off is no reticle, on is the weapon's own.

If a session won't start

• Windows never asked for permission to add the firewall rules: look for a flashing shield in the taskbar, or start
  HellForge once with Run as administrator. The rules stay, so later starts need neither.
• "Required loopback/egress controls failed": something on your PC is letting traffic past Windows Firewall,
  usually a VPN with a kill switch or another firewall (Kaspersky, Norton, Bitdefender, ESET, Portmaster...). Close or
  pause it and start the session again.

You need

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), and HELLDIVERS 2 on Steam, build 25480438
• Steam running and signed in to an account that owns the game or has it through Steam Family Sharing
• About 25 GB free on the drive you install to, and one Windows administrator prompt
• Windows Firewall switched on for every network type (setup checks and tells you)

Windows SmartScreen may warn that the setup is unrecognised: it is not code-signed yet (More info > Run anyway).

Support, news and mods: the Discord link in the launcher's sidebar.

Share this release by linking to it, not by reuploading the setup (licence). Mods made with the SDK are
yours, under any licence (MIT-0 SDK).

SHA-256 of HellForge-Setup.exe: B14ABD8064C8C6649A83DB3B6FD064B6C6221FFC693CD30C7C1C951728E20E0A

HellForge 0.1.3 BETA

An update to the HellForge beta: co-op fixes for custom stratagems. Download HellForge-Setup.exe below and run
it. On an existing installation it offers Update and keeps your game copy, profiles and mods.

Co-op: everyone in a group must update to 0.1.3. Friends on different versions are told so and can't join each
other (before, they could join and then see things differently).

These co-op fixes are new and not yet tested in a full co-op game. If something still looks different on a
friend's screen, or a game crashes, please send the session logs from both PCs (the launcher's Save logs to Desktop) on the Discord.

Fixed

• Co-op: the Shredder Silo now works as the game's own silo does: the PC in charge of the missile launches it and
  everyone sees the launch, the flight and the blast. In 0.1.2 a host could crash when a friend launched it.
• Co-op: custom Pelican stratagems (Stratagem Compendium's gunships) no longer sit on the ground for the other
  players; they fly for everyone.
• Co-op: friends who order the same mods differently now get the same stratagems, weapons and Pelicans. Before,
  what a mod added could be numbered differently on each PC and turn up as another mod's on a friend's screen.

Changed

• Old session logs are cleaned up: the launcher keeps the newest 10 sessions' logs. Crash dumps had added up to
  gigabytes.

Known issues

• In co-op, a custom Pelican's gun may aim a little differently on the other players' screens than on the caller's.

If a session won't start

• Windows never asked for permission to add the firewall rules: look for a flashing shield in the taskbar, or start
  HellForge once with Run as administrator. The rules stay, so later starts need neither.
• "Required loopback/egress controls failed": something on your PC is letting traffic past Windows Firewall,
  usually a VPN with a kill switch or another firewall (Kaspersky, Norton, Bitdefender, ESET, Portmaster...). Close or
  pause it and start the session again.

You need

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), and HELLDIVERS 2 on Steam, build 25480438
• Steam running and signed in to an account that owns the game or has it through Steam Family Sharing
• About 25 GB free on the drive you install to, and one Windows administrator prompt
• Windows Firewall switched on for every network type (setup checks and tells you)

Windows SmartScreen may warn that the setup is unrecognised: it is not code-signed yet (More info > Run anyway).

Support, news and mods: the Discord link in the launcher's sidebar.

Share this release by linking to it, not by reuploading the setup (licence). Mods made with the SDK are
yours, under any licence (MIT-0 SDK).

SHA-256 of HellForge-Setup.exe: 460D41FE74DBA04BD42F78DCE19CE40862C8E93AD7DED18EB2C925DF93A21CEC

HellForge 0.1.2 BETA

An update to the HellForge beta: co-op fixes, the editor in DirectX 11, and Steam Family Sharing. Download
HellForge-Setup.exe below and run it. On an existing installation it offers Update and keeps your game copy,
profiles and mods.

Co-op: everyone in a group should update to 0.1.2. The fixes below run on every PC (the Shredder Silo) or on the
host's (rejoining after a crash).

New

• Steam Family Sharing: if you play HELLDIVERS 2 through Steam Family Sharing, setup and sessions accept it now.
  Steam still checks your licence, and Steam's own rule applies: one family member plays a shared game at a time.
• The in-game editor (F8) works with DirectX 11 (Settings > Launch options: --use-d3d11). Before, it never opened.

Fixed

• Co-op: a friend's Shredder Silo now launches and explodes on everyone's screen. The others heard its countdown but
  never saw the missile or the blast, only what it left behind.
• Co-op: a player whose game crashed couldn't join the lobby again until the host restarted. They can rejoin now.
• The Mods page counted Local Stats in "friends need the same N gameplay mods". It isn't compared (in co-op everyone
  plays with the host's stats), and the sentence now says so.

If a session won't start

• Windows never asked for permission to add the firewall rules: look for a flashing shield in the taskbar, or start
  HellForge once with Run as administrator. The rules stay, so later starts need neither.
• "Required loopback/egress controls failed": something on your PC is letting traffic past Windows Firewall,
  usually a VPN with a kill switch or another firewall (Kaspersky, Norton, Bitdefender, ESET, Portmaster...). Close or
  pause it and start the session again.

You need

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), and HELLDIVERS 2 on Steam, build 25480438
• Steam running and signed in to an account that owns the game or has it through Steam Family Sharing
• About 25 GB free on the drive you install to, and one Windows administrator prompt
• Windows Firewall switched on for every network type (setup checks and tells you)

Windows SmartScreen may warn that the setup is unrecognised: it is not code-signed yet (More info > Run anyway).

Support, news and mods: the Discord link in the launcher's sidebar.

Share this release by linking to it, not by reuploading the setup (licence). Mods made with the SDK are
yours, under any licence (MIT-0 SDK).

SHA-256 of HellForge-Setup.exe: DE26944422250764A6007B7F65890AFECC35134BBF6A61987ECF70DA2E28949F

HellForge 0.1.1 BETA

An update to the HellForge beta: co-op fixes, DirectX 11 and more ways to add mods. Download HellForge-Setup.exe
below and run it. On an existing installation it offers Update and keeps your game copy, profiles and mods.

Co-op: everyone in a group needs 0.1.1. The modlist check changed, so friends on 0.1.0 and 0.1.1 with two or more
gameplay mods won't match.

New

• Launch options (Settings > Launch options), as in Steam: --use-d3d11 starts the game with DirectX 11. Steam's
  %command% --use-d3d11 form works too. The first DirectX 11 start can be slow.
• Add mods... takes .7z as well as .zip and .rar, for mods and cosmetic packs alike.

Fixed

• Co-op: a game crashed when a friend's Shredder Silo missile landed (the player who didn't fire it).
• Co-op: joiners kept their own values for mod stratagems (such as the Stratagem Compendium's silos) instead of the
  host's. A joiner's editor now takes its own off while joined and puts them back afterwards.
• Co-op: friends with the same gameplay mods in a different order were refused. The order no longer has to match;
  keeping it the same still avoids surprises (where two mods change the same thing, the top one wins on each PC).
• Cosmetic packs with a "VANILLA" or "Default" choice (Better Aim Reticles, Better Map Markers, Improved Railgun
  Sights...) were refused as "includes a folder outside the pack". They load now.
• The in-game editor's category list can scroll when it doesn't fit (a large UI scale on a smaller screen).

If a session won't start

• Windows never asked for permission to add the firewall rules: look for a flashing shield in the taskbar, or start
  HellForge once with Run as administrator. The rules stay, so later starts need neither.
• "Required loopback/egress controls failed": something on your PC is letting traffic past Windows Firewall,
  usually a VPN with a kill switch or another firewall (Kaspersky, Norton, Bitdefender, ESET, Portmaster...). Close or
  pause it and start the session again.

You need

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), and HELLDIVERS 2 on Steam, build 25480438
• Steam running and signed in to the account that owns the game
• About 25 GB free on the drive you install to, and one Windows administrator prompt
• Windows Firewall switched on for every network type (setup checks and tells you)

Windows SmartScreen may warn that the setup is unrecognised: it is not code-signed yet (More info > Run anyway).

Support, news and mods: the Discord link in the launcher's sidebar.

Share this release by linking to it, not by reuploading the setup (licence). Mods made with the SDK are
yours, under any licence (MIT-0 SDK).

SHA-256 of HellForge-Setup.exe: F35D337A4188706CE8A1211EB24A2E2BB8D989F0B6AF9B413B62706B7428DA85

HellForge 0.1.0 BETA

The first public beta of HellForge: offline HELLDIVERS 2 with a modding SDK. Download HellForge-Setup.exe
below and run it. On an existing installation it offers Update and keeps your game copy, profiles and mods.

What you get

• Your own offline copy of HELLDIVERS 2. Setup copies the game from your Steam library and checks every file against
  Steam's hashes. It runs against a local backend on your PC and never connects to official servers, so it can't be used
  to play online with a modified game. Your normal Steam game is never changed.
• Co-op with Steam friends is the only multiplayer: host or join friends from your Steam friends list who also run
  HellForge, with the same gameplay mods. No matchmaking, no public lobbies.
• An in-game editor (F8) to change the stats of weapons, stratagems, armor, vehicles and boosters live.
• The Hell Forge difficulty (level 11, after Super Helldive): bigger maps, far more enemies and objectives.
• A Mods page: add mods and cosmetic packs from their zips, switch them on and off, drag them into load order.
• A C mod SDK with docs and examples, from a one-line weapon edit to new stratagems, weapons, sentries, models and
  difficulties. Mods ship their sources; HellForge builds them with a pinned compiler. Start with
  docs/first-mod.md.

You need

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), and HELLDIVERS 2 on Steam, build 25480438
• Steam running and signed in to the account that owns the game
• About 25 GB free on the drive you install to, and one Windows administrator prompt
• Windows Firewall switched on for every network type (setup checks and tells you)

Windows SmartScreen may warn that the setup is unrecognised: it is not code-signed yet (More info > Run anyway).

Support, news and mods: the Discord link in the launcher's sidebar.

Share this release by linking to it, not by reuploading the setup (licence). Mods made with the SDK are
yours, under any licence (MIT-0 SDK).

SHA-256 of HellForge-Setup.exe: 7804F4D5C261BB89C2AD36F4A0AC2E34DC104513BFBE222961A5A0A3FB329CDA