Dear all!
A rather beefy update today. Stay with us, it will be worth the read!
State of the Demo: Upgrade incoming + Changelog Win a Copy of Task Force Admiral! Screenshot Contest with the Tally Ho Corner New Stretch Goal : Introducing the TFA Battle Stations! Good Friends & Good Dope! State of the Demo: Upgrade incoming + Changelog
So, it's simple. We're entering the last 10 days of the Kickstarter, and now that stability is becoming less and less of an issue (big thanks to everyone reporting bugs here and on Discord), we can try to spice up the existing offering a little in time for the final home run.
Starting next week (possibly as early as this weekend), you'll encounter a few more party poopers in the demo scenario, "Of Cranes & Patriots." Nothing too drastic- it’s still very reasonable and within the scope of what’s possible without breaking too much of the game as it stands- but it’s also a much more faithful recreation of the threat environment Task Force 17 faced that day. Rabaul as an airbase has been activated, along with Kamikawa Maru in the Louisiade Archipelago. This means many more eyes of all sizes in the sky and a heavy hammer ready to strike at any admiral pushing too far north...
All in all, it should add some variety and bring us closer to the kind of environment we envision for your average scenario. The more parameters, the merrier- and the greater the chance that everything will go completely wrong!
Speaking of things going wrong, JB, our dev, has been working hard on the builds lately. The latest beta build incorporates a series of improvements made over the past five days. Let us know if you’re still experiencing issues, but rest assured, we’re refining every aspect of Task Force Admiral one challenge at a time—and we’re not stopping now.
[h2]LATEST UPDATES & BETAS CONSOLIDATED CHANGE LOGS : 12-03-2025[/h2]
Note: changes made to both build (stable & beta).
[h3]STABILITY[/h3]
A few more crashes identified & fixed
[h3]USER INTERFACE[/h3]
Fixed inputs issue on the UI in 4K resolutions
[h3]GAMEPLAY[/h3]
Fighters are now firing more often (and missing more often too)
Improved TBD's flight model (issue of TBDs ditching on approach)
Fixed a bug corrupting a strike setup when planning is done while aircraft are landing
Fixed blocking issues with deck-management
Carriers can no longer receive aircraft if damage caused it to pitch or roll too much
Carriers are now accelerating faster before takeoffs
Fixed deprecated search flightplans being shown in Search Planner
Fixed duplicated payloads on aircraft after a strike has been canceled
Fixed Yorktown barrier animation
Fixed near misses being logged as torpedo hits in missions reports
Nobody Expects the Screenshot Inquisition!
We decided to work with fellow man of taste & tales Tim Stone over at Tally Ho Corner so as to give you all a possibility to win a digital edition of Task Force Admiral. You think your screenshots are cute and/or mean? Well, show us what you've got!
CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS All the rules are explained over there. Please follow them properly so as to be eligible, and don't hate us if we pick somebody that ain't you - we love you all!
So it’s stretch-goal time AGAIN! Introducing the TFA BATTLE STATIONS
Now it’s a real trick. It’s neat, we went over the AUD $300k limit – but the next goal is probably worth a bit more in work than what we would get with another AUD $50k perhaps. Up to you to see if it’s worth it.
As you know well, Task Force Amiral specifically hails from the legacy of two MPS Labs simulations that built our gaming culture – Task Force 1942 (1992) and 1942: The Pacific Air War (1994). Although TFA is primarily a strategy game, both TF1942 and PAW were simulations first and foremost, with a strategic layer aimed at providing the player with more gameplay options and a “long game” game mode.
So as to make it all fit back together and truly claim this lineage, it is time for us to venture a bit more in the simulation lane with one last ambitious stretch goal that will bring us back in time with a bang : introducing interfaces for the battle stations, namely the gun director and the F4F cockpit.
Yes, previous stretch goals made it a certainty that we would let you fire at stuff in your ship, in your plane, or even fashionably using a anti-air mount. But we did not say anything about putting you inside said environments and let you fire away at your enemies in a more orderly fashion. What those battle stations would bring to the game is yet another layer of immersion for the player.
- A gun director interface reminiscent of the classics of the genre (Task Force 1942, Great Naval Battles and Destroyer Command, to name a few), allowing you to use your main battery against enemy surface forces, but also your 5 inch guns in anti-ship and anti-air modes ;
- A good looking, working cockpit with animated gauges for your F4F-4, along the lines of what you had in Pacific Air War, Aces over the Pacific or even Pacific Strike, so as to down bandits in style.
Although the cockpit view would primarily come with controls optimized to let you look around and zoom, the gameplay addition is somewhat secondary to the improvement it brings to the feeling. For the gun director interface though, we will have to come up with a system that isn’t too hardcore, yet satisfying to use – an efficient balance of feeling and fun when shooting pixel shells at the enemy. We have ideas, but we still need to test them. This will take time, this will take resources.
Because this endeavor is notably more ambitious, as so as not to downplay its cost, we will set this stretch goal at the AUD $375k instead. We might get there. We might not. But we’ll work hard to achieve it, and we’re counting on you if you like what you see! Just bear in mind that like any other stretch goal (save perhaps for Tacview), the implementation is not a priority & will be done in due time when core mechanics will be safe and sound – see it more as an ornament to the original game than its main meat, even though it will certainly impact greatly your fun factor. As such expect this function to possibly be released after the 1.0. At any rate, this is a natural direction for us to head towards, but what this stretch goal ensures though is that it will not be behind a paywall as a DLC.
Good Friends & Good Dope
Talking about this stretch goal, we wanted to take the opportunity to introduce you to three PTO-related projects close to our hearts – projects that let you experience a first-person perspective at a level of realism we could never hope to reach, along with a classic command simulation that ties them together. These three projects are Combat Pilot, Battleship Command and Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal.
Combat Pilot has two uncommon qualities. First, it is the dream project of Jason Williams, who has already done so much for the revival of World War II air combat simulations over the past two decades – being instrumental in the rise of the modern IL-2 and its World War I counterpart. He has now decided to dedicate his energy and experience to a new project specifically focused on the Pacific Air War. Working alongside the dynamic and highly competent team at Entropy Aero the project has already made solid progress. You only need to see the love and expertise poured into the modeling of their 3D ships and planes to understand what true passion is (and to paraphrase our recent interview with Enigma [link to Enigma interview]: you can trust a Frenchman on these matters!).
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
What’s the second uncommon quality, you ask? It’s that the sim already has a playable build! Yes indeed – if you are willing to support the team in their endeavor on Patreon with an Ace Tier subscription [link], you can already fly around in an F4F-4 or A6M2 in their Pre-Alpha version of the game. Everything is still very much a work in progress, but just a few minutes of flying will show you that the team is on the right track to recreate a PTO experience like no other out there. And if you aren’t ready to support them financially just yet, adding the game to your Wishlist on their Steam store page [link] will already be a great help. So, if you want to do your part… you know where to go!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2761800/COMBAT_PILOT_CARRIER_QUALIFICATION/
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE PATREON!Battleship Command, although it is hailing from the same spot in his creator's heart, is a completely different beast. Its single dev, Bracer, has put all his energy in learning all the skills he needed to recreate the ultimate German Schlachtschiff experience! Take command of both Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and go out there lead the life of a modern-day corsair, until the moment you will not be able to escape the vigilant and vengeful claws of the Allied forces.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
A lot of thought went into this one, and there is much potential. As you can see in the screenshots, the creator went for a completely uncompromising and immersive adventure - shamelessly dedicated to recreate every inch of every pipe so that you might call these lost giants home.
We are happy to have given him a small token of help in the past, and we will be following his progress with great interest indeed. He doesn't have a steam page juste yet, so if you want to know more about him, the best is probably to join his discord
BY CLICKING HERE!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Last but not least, allow us to introduce Cyril Jarnot, the French designer behind
Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal, a game that remains, quite stubbornly and successfully, the best modern recreation of Carriers at War adrenaline (click on the pics below to go to the CB4G Steam Page). The place looks familiar to the players of the demo, doesn't it? For good reasons, obviously...!
Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal provides a hex-based, turn-based strategy experience focusing on historical carrier battles in the Pacific theater like no other – and with multiplayer to boot! Players manage fleets, launch air missions, and engage in reconnaissance, all within a framework reminiscent of traditional board wargames. The game emphasizes strategic planning, with fog of war mechanics and the need for meticulous scouting and timing just like ours – and even better: it is scheduled for a big update in the few months ahead, which will modernize it all around. She’s a keeper, you can believe us.
Wanna know more about that fantastic piece of PTO fun? Just click below, it's for sale online on Steam and quite the good deal when it comes to the number of hours you will spend playing it, waiting for the final version of our game!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1163340/Carrier_Battles_4_Guadalcanal__Pacific_War_Naval_Warfare/
There there, guys. Hope you had some fun. Thank you for following us, for supporting us, and see you soon for new adventures - we're nearly there, and we would be nowhere nearly there if it wasn't for you!
Cheers & take good care, all of you!
