Task Force Admiral · published · build 22333860
Note & credit: Action screenshots were provided by players on the game’s Discord — today featuring Ferda1947, TyGamer, TWC Walmart, Spicywolf, Munchlol & Ram399. Big thanks to them!
Thank you again for joining us. As you know very well by reading the patch notes, we are not there just yet, and I am afraid we might disappoint when it comes to the contents of what is to follow - still, as you can see, we have hardly been idle, and we've been progressing as much as possible on as many fronts as possible. Still, we will focus soon our attention on a central gameplay mode in the days to come so as to satisfy the needs of those who crave for more varied tactical situations (we can't blame them for sure). This should buy us a little more time while you're busy managing your heroic pixel guys over Midway.
Another week, another round of fixes pushed to the public branch. Crash reports have decreased very substantially but we're still tracking down the odd issues, while trying to make sure we're not creating new ones, which is easier said than done. Indeed, some of these patch notes might be summarized in a couple lines, but truth be told, the work behind the scenes can take the better part of a long day of work, independently from the actual issue.
Added AAA defenses on Midway.
Midway Island is supposed to be a bastion, but until now, attacking aircraft had a rather more relaxed time over the target than they historically should have. Ground-based Marine anti-aircraft fire is now active over the island. This makes land strikes a genuine proposition requiring proper approach planning, and gives the island's defenders something to say about the Kido Butai birds buzzing around. This is also the first step toward broader land-based defensive systems — relevant for Henderson Field and for future scenarios beyond the current Midway theater. It was at any rate one of the missing pieces when it came to prepare the ground for damage persistence, as a non-trivial number of aircraft assigned to these missions, on recovery, would prove to be unusable in a hurry, or even totaled. This will happen eventually.
Fixed SB2U defensive turret.
The Vindicator's rear gunner was, until now, essentially decorative. This has been corrected. He will now do his job — which in a slow, underpowered dive bomber against a Zero is still not going to end well for him, but at least he'll go down fighting.
Reworked attack patterns for ground strikes.
Ground attack runs were previously using approach logic tuned primarily for ship targets — which produced some visually and tactically awkward results when applied to fixed land positions. Attack patterns for ground strikes have been reworked accordingly, giving your pilots more sensible behavior and improving the overall effectiveness and legibility of land attack missions. The AAA addition above will ensure they still have to earn it. That is bringing us closer to player-managed ground strikes too, of course.
Fixed planes crashing at takeoff & landing from Midway.
Aircraft operating from the island's airfield were experiencing a variety of departure and arrival accidents entirely unrelated to enemy action — which is not the kind of attrition we want to be simulating. The runway logic has been corrected. Midway's air group can now take off and land without the field itself claiming more victims than the Japanese.
Fixed bombs remaining attached to a broken invisible wing.
That has now been properly resolved — without introducing new crashes this time, we are pleased to report - at least from the feedback we could collect. If you still see it happening or came across a strange CTD, please tell us more.
Fixed crashes when moving planes to and from storage.
A related stability issue around the storage transfer system. The conditions that could trigger it overlapped with the multi-wave scenario above — moving aircraft in and out of the pool while missions were in various states of planning or execution. This has been addressed alongside a hangar/deck scheduling fix.
Not everything in this update is about things blowing up — though we appreciate that this is a large part of the appeal. This week, we'd like to turn the spotlight over to our composer Aleksi Aubry-Carlson (and his partner in crime Jonathan Figoli) who sat down to walk through his work on the TFA soundtrack in detail. If you have ever found yourself pausing to listen to what's playing beneath the surface of a carrier strike, this one is for you.
The session Aleksi presents centers on three main pieces: the introduction track, the main combat track, and the conclusion, which are put together by code so as to dynamically switch according to action, à-la-Tie Fighter — and it is worth noting that what you are hearing in the video is still very much a work in progress, with orchestration ongoing and mixing not yet done.
We have always believed that the score is one of the less-discussed but genuinely important elements of what makes TFA feel like more than a wargame. Hearing the construction behind it makes that case more clearly than we ever could. Go have a listen — it is about five minutes well spent. As you might know, one of our Kickstarter goals was to fund an actual orchestral recording of said OST, and this is what Aleksi is prepping himself for. More about that later, as he starts to show more of what lies under the musical hood.
We owe you a candid update on where the new scenarios stand, and on a decision we have made this week.The honest situation is this: the three scenarios announced in previous SITREPs each depend on gameplay functions that are still in development — expanded strategic objectives, AI behaviors for more complex air ops, multi-force setups.... These are not optional embellishments. They are structural requirements, for without them, those scenarios either don't work properly or they work in a technically functional but experientially flat way. We have maintained from the beginning that we would rather keep you waiting than ship something that leaves a bad first impression.That position has not changed. But we are players too, and we are aware that "the scenarios are coming, be patient" is a thing that might start to wear thin when you have content — ships, aircraft, the full Midway order of battle — sitting in the game right now with nowhere to deploy it.So this week, we are making a short course correction.Rather than waiting for the full new mechanics to be ready before delivering any new gameplay, we are going to focus immediate effort on a Midway-focused branch of the battle generator. The goal is straightforward: give you access to the larger current arsenal through a generated mission format that doesn't depend on the new functions still in development.This means introducing meaningful variability into the generator itself: starting positions for both forces drawn from a wider range of possibilities, uncertainty about what you'll be facing and where, and enough variation between runs to make each engagement feel distinct rather than scripted. It is not a campaign. It is not the deep battle generator rework we have planned for later. But it will put some of the new assets in front of you now, and it will give you something to come back to while we continue building the larger pieces behind the scenes.It is not the ideal solution — we want to be clear about that. The proper treatment of these scenarios, with all the new mechanics they deserve, is still coming. But it is a bridge we think you will find useful, and building it will not delay the work already underway on the bigger picture.Hopefully results will be visible and give the game some more depth of contents.
Until we get stuff ready on our end, another reminder about the modding discord here:
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE BUORD DISCORD
And as you know Task Force Admiral also has its own server. For any in-depth, direct support for technical issues, please do pay our tech support section a visit.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE OFFICIAL TFA DISCORD
Thank you all for your time and your patience - as always, it means the world to us. Hopefully the next update will be a bit beefier. Until then, thank you for sticking around!
Cheers,
The TFA Team