Task Force Admiral News

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!


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







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!





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.







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!

Dear players, supporters, and friends of Task Force Admiral,

We are thrilled to announce that the player base for the Task Force Admiral demo has surged past 40,000 downloads and activations. Yes, more than 40,000 people have tried our game. According to Steam's data, out of 30,000 users with measured playtime, the average duration was 2 hours and 23 minutes. Impressively, 18% have played for more than 5 hours, which is remarkable considering the limited content available!

We will not let you down. We are currently developing several improvements and surprises for the demo. To start, we will continue to support it by squashing as many crashes and debilitating bugs as possible. The latest changelog can be found at the end of this post.







[h2]Current state of the demo & kickstarter[/h2]

The demo is being patched almost daily and will soon enter a phase where we start adding small, incremental content all the way until the end of the trial period. Yes, Next Fest was a fantastic time for us as we celebrated the Steam festival with you. Just as the demo was available before the festival proper, we are keeping it online until March 22nd, coinciding with the end of the Kickstarter campaign.



Regarding the Kickstarter campaign, it is going exceptionally well! We are nearing 1000% completion of our original goal and are well on our way to reaching the next stretch goal, which includes native support for Tacview. We explain here and here why this is not just a minor, inconsequential addition. It serves a greater purpose, and we're excited to achieve this milestone within the next few days. Once we reach that point, brace yourselves for the next step - it will be quite cool, believe me!



Need some cues on how to play? Worry not! Besides Wolfpack's excellent early video now featured on our steam store page, have a look at these vids - his part 2, of course, but also the fantastic contributions of RAMJB, Ryu1940 and The Warsimmer who will walk you through every single function in the demo - some you might not even know existed in the first place!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

As for the limitations of the demo, it's important to clarify a couple of things. Two features are currently unsupported (even if, under the right circumstances, they might seem viable): maneuvers near land masses (due to the absence of actual pathfinding for our AI) and surface combat (which is currently only implemented as a token defense system for your ships). There's no need to report issues with these; they are intentionally not fully implemented yet. To the question, "Will they be supported?" I can assure you, "They certainly will!" Just not in this demo, not yet. And for those who might be tempted to venture too far north, be aware that you might get a "bloody nose" when our content update hits Steam sometime next week...





[h2]Bring out the big guns and damn the torpedoes![/h2]

About that, if you really want to use guns, allow us to show you an alternative that happens to be already available in the line-up of our publisher: Boat Crew!



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1633370/Boat_Crew/

Back in the day we were pretty happy to introduce the team to our publisher, and so far it seems it was a great match indeed. Ever since then, Boat Crew has improved, found its public, and grown a fond community receptive to its easy-going - yet comprehensive approach to the topic.



Boat Crew now has it all, including big friendly guns and aircraft carriers, for more and more extreme violence in the Slot. We'll get to revisit the era & the area soon enough in our own way in Task Force Admiral, but until then don't hesitate to give the game a chance, the team sure deserves some love, and is on its way to accomplish even greater things, as one can easily see in their choices of gameplay modes & units.





[h2]Demo Changelog[/h2]

Last but not least, here are the latest changes made to the demo over the past days.

LATEST UPDATES & BETAS CONSOLIDATED CHANGE LOGS : 05-03-2025

Note: changes made to both build (stable & beta).

STABILITY
- Another array of 10 different crashes has been identified and solved
- Fixed a bug that divided a task force into smaller chucks when speed was set too high

USER INTERFACE
- Added a small widget on the left of the air ops timeline to improve feedback about the air ops status aboard the selected carrier. A fly-over info tooltip will provide you with context on demand

GAMEPLAY
- Greatly improved timing of scout missions landings. Aircraft from these missions will land back on carrier at least three times faster
- Improved ship-to-ship avoidance logic
- Clamped waypoint max speed to the fleet's slowest ship, outside of damage. Note that a damaged ship will fall behind the formation until it is detached by the player, as designed
- Improved fighter AI behavior
- Improved large strike package formation keeping and behavior

IMPORTANT NOTE

- Some of the changes brought to the aircraft AI mean that older saves are unfortunately no longer compatible with the current build. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Big thanks again to all the players who provide us with the vital intel allowing us to catch 'em bugs & hunt down 'em crashes. Everybody have a great time!

For a complete changelog updated regularly, please refer to this topic in the relevant Steam discussion forum.

Thank you all for your time and friendship, and see you up there in the skies over the Coral Sea!

The DDG Team

Dear all,

Thank you very much for testing our demo over the past couple of days. As expected, it hasn’t been a smooth ride - after all, this is a demo of our current beta, and there’s still a lot of optimization left to do.

We've had to sift through hundreds of reports covering all sorts of issues, from crashes to texture problems and GUI glitches. We’re incredibly grateful for the community’s help so far, as it allows us to make adjustments ahead of the proper Steam Fest. The Kickstarter has also been a great success, proving that quite a few of you have enjoyed the experience, even with its current limitations. The demo has already been downloaded more than 10,000 times, and this is just the beginning. To those who might still have questions or don't find their answers in the demo guide, please have a look at Wolfpack345's video on youtube, who will take you step by step through the current mission. Part 1 is live!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

As for our immediate plans, we’ve been rolling out fixes at a hectic pace since release. Our top priority is addressing the most critical crashes, followed by fixing gameplay-affecting bugs. Sometimes, these fixes may introduce new issues of varying severity - that’s the nature of testing without the luxury of a full QA cycle. Once we’ve tackled the major bugs, we’ll focus on refining the gameplay experience and possibly adding some extra fun to the demo. We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding—there’s still a lot of work ahead!

For those experiencing issues, please create a thread in the dedicated MicroProse Discord channel (the fastest way) or post in the Steam general discussion section (which may take a bit longer). We’ll do our best to address your concerns, but please understand that there’s only so much we can handle each day. Thank you for your patience once again.

We’re actively reading the forums. Unfortunately, we can’t respond to every topic, but we’ll do our best. A huge thank you to those who support and believe in us. If you have unanswered questions, feel free to ask. And to those who disagree with how we’ve handled this project, we still appreciate you giving it a shot.

As for the Kickstarter, it's going pretty well too - we reached our initial objective within 2 hours of launch! Nearly all stretch goals were unlocked already, and we're thinking about what's next. We'll make sure though that it doesn't take priority over fixing what's been shown to be broken - that remains our one priority.



Above all, let’s keep things civil and respectful between you and us, and between yourselves. No need to start flame wars or throwing names. Thank you for your cooperation.

See you soon for some more good news, hopefully!

Cheers,

The TFA Team

[Image credit - thanks to Katen_SM for the lovely screenshots!]

Greeting to you all, Task Force Admiral followers !

It is going to be a very short update (the shortest ever, but it's been quite a day!). Let's be efficient, because some of you will be impatient to go out there have fun.

First item: our Demo is ready! Just head to our store page, and it's there, in a glorious green button.



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1281220/Task_Force_Admiral__Vol1_American_Carrier_Battles/



Second item: our Kickstarter campaign is live! Click below to go have a look and tell us if something inspires you! It will be up for 30 days or so, so take your time to see if there's anything you like in there, and don't hesitate to ask around if you need more information!



And last but not least, a nice KS launch trailer from JP Ferré!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Take care, everyone, and tell us what you think!
Cheers,
The TFA Team

The Task Force Admiral Team

Greeting to you all, Task Force Admiral followers !

First of all, best wishes of good health & happy life to you and all your loved ones. The team wishes you all the greatest things - and hope to spend this new year along with your soon enough.


(alright it was the Christmas card, but it looks too good to be left behind - say hi to Taffy!)



Regarding our Kickstarter campaign, please refer to post #1 & post #2 on Steam for a proper intro. I will still copy paste a remark I posted a few days ago as for the reason why this campaign exists in the first place, as a quick recap :

The Kickstarter is about the physical box, plain & simply, with extra steps - that is, a digital option to allow those who want to support without getting a box to do so (with some extra contents), beta access & stretch goals. We still have dev money, it won't make it happen faster or slower (just happen bigger).

As for what the demo will be about, allow us to direct you towards this preview from Tim Stone on TallyHo Corner, which will give you a small taste of the things to come.



As for the Kickstarter proper and to be kept updated, this way below, please:



One side we have not talked about just yet is that one interesting perk of running a campaign on Kickstarter : the famed stretch goals.




A stretch goal is like the bonus level of a video game: you’ve already crushed the main challenge (funding the project), and now you're unlocking extra cool rewards! It’s our way of saying, “Hey, let’s dream bigger together and make this project even more epic!”. It’s not about adding new perks to the game which will not slow down development, but make the gameplay more diverse, making good use of the simulation engine we developed for what remains, first and foremost, a strategy game.

So, what do we have in store? You’ve seen these items mentioned already in the survey you filled over the last few weeks – but let’s get into more details here and now. It’s not about hubris or getting over- optimistic about the campaign, for these goals might not all be attainable the first time, but they do remain medium-term relevant objectives.









We’ve heard your cries from the crow’s nest! Everyone loves those little guys scurrying around on deck, and we’re just as excited to bring them to life. Help us hit this stretch goal, and we’ll populate the decks with charming (but static) crewmen to add some life to the action.



Picture them standing ready at their posts, dodging imaginary seagulls, or just looking busy—until the chaos of combat hits. Don’t worry, we won’t leave them stranded during a sinking ship scenario! They’ll even strike dramatic poses for specific action triggers like air operations and action stations. The crew is standing by... ok, still & a bit stiff, but better than ghost ships, I suppose!









Ready to take your ears on a journey? Our legendary musical duo, Aleksi Aubry-Carlson and Jonathan Figoli, have crafted some amazing tunes, especially those of Cold Waters, War on the Sea, Xenonauts, and more recently Sea Power — but now they’re dreaming big as far as Task Force Admiral is concerned. With your help, we’ll level up the game’s soundtrack by teaming up with an orchestra for some live performance-powered music!



Imagine the stirring melodies of air and naval combat performed live, sending chills down your spine as you lead your fleet to glory. Think Silent Hunter, Battlestations, and War Thunder, cranked up to eleven with orchestral magic. Your fleet deserves an epic soundtrack, so they’ll be making just that!







Do you hear that? That’s the roar of Corsairs and Hellcats taking off! Help us hit this goal, and we’ll expand the timeline to include the climactic battles & what-ifs of 1943. Join the fight with Essex-class carriers, Iowa-class battleships, A6M5 Zeros, and more, as the Solomons campaign heats up and the skies over Bougainville and Rabaul become a battlefield of legends.









Ready to suit up, ace? This stretch goal puts you in the cockpit of your pixel fighters so that you might get dirty. Barrel-roll through flak, chase down torpedo bombers, and go head-to-head with the dreaded Zero in exhilarating dogfights.



Think of it as your “top gun” moment—diving through enemy formations, skimming the ocean’s surface, and saving your fleet one fiery fireball at a time. If you loved the nostalgic thrills of Pacific Air War and the ability to jump into the cockpit in the heat of the action in the carrier battles mode, this is your chance to relive just that, joystick (or mouse) in hand!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We will include a crude experiment in the demo of how it might feel like in-game (see above for a video posted on Youtube a few weeks ago). If you're into that sort of fun, give us a hand and make it happen for real with this stretch goal.







Do you have what it takes to man the guns yourself? With this optional mode, we’ll let you hop at the commands of a 20mm Oerlikon, a 1.1-inch "Chicago Piano" or a 40mm Bofors twin-mount and take the fight directly to the incoming planes.



Feel the adrenaline as you track targets, unleash flurries of bullets, and try to keep your cool under pressure as Kate skim the waves on their way to scalp you. Can you stop that last torpedo bomber before it gets through? Or will you shoot down that helldiving Val seconds before its bomb gets released? This is your moment to shine—or to feel the sting of salty sea spray on the first row in defeat!







Who wants static when you can have cinematic? With this stretch goal, your tiny 3D crewmen come to life—running, saluting, scrambling to action stations, and who knows what!



But wait, there’s more! We’ll also bring the flag plot to life with officers and sailors moving around, pointing at charts, and coordinating the chaos. Imagine the default in-game view pulsing with activity, like it’s been done in submarines games since Silent Hunter 3. Pushing the boundaries of your own naval drama is what Task Force Admiral is all about!





You’ve mastered the skies of the Pacific, but can you handle the rough seas from up-close? With this stretch goal, we’ll let you take direct control of ships in the most intense naval battles of the Pacific. Command your destroyer through a night battle, dodge incoming torpedoes, and unleash fiery broadsides in the perilous waters off Guadalcanal.



Whether it’s day or night, surface combat or shore bombardment, this mode lets you captain the action and builds upon the foundation of our out-of-the-box surface combat mechanics. Get ready to channel your inner naval tactician—because every wave brings new challenges... or a spread of long lances in the Iron Bottom Sound!







Here. We hope it kinda sums up the possibilities offered by this campaign. Stay put, a few weeks still to wait, and it should hit the digital world in full swing.

Take care, everyone!
Cheers,
The TFA Team

The Task Force Admiral Team



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