Task Force Admiral · published · build 21919371
Note & credit: action screenshots were provided by players on the game's discord. Big thanks to them!
Welcome back, admirals!
One more week - we can't believe it's been nearly three weeks since the early access release. Honestly it feels like forever, but there's probably a reason for that. We've been up on the deck non-stop ever since d-day and it starts to show. Still, the week has been busy, so let's have a look at what has been done, and what is yet to come.
Lot of work behind the scenes. We won't repeat ourselves in here, as there's enough contents as it is, but if you are curious about it, please do take the time to have a look at our patch notes from yesterday.
Since then, another update has hit the digital shelves of your Steam library. That patch includes the following changes:
Improved automatic FDO & Scrambles interception logic that will impact fighter responsiveness against strikes.
Minor improvements were made to fleet maneuvers when turning into the wind when the task force is set in a non-circular (non-ring) formation.
Fixed the glitches on arresting barriers introduced in the last patch.
Game won't "acquire" the mouse anymore.
Except when the player is controlling an aircraft.
This means the -nograb option is no longer necessary.
New models are being integrated in-game (yay, new targets), and will continue to be integrated next week, so as to be readily available for the new scenarios. Said new scenarios are set to be released hopefully in the last week of February or the first week of March, depending on our progress and our debugging, as some new mechanics will have to come into play to enable them.
In the meantime, we released an "ironman" version of Midway for you to try out, set around a second Japanese carrier task force supporting carrier divisions 1 & 2.
A Flight to Somewhere?
Historically, Fletcher's morning search proved overly cautious, and Mitscher's morning strike the complete opposite. But what if their fears of being flanked by an unannounced second force had proven right? For tough players only, along with tough choices!
In this scenario, American historical tactical fears prove validated, as the Kido Butai is not anymore a mere blob headed for Midway. This scenario is meant to be more challenging, but is in no way impossible, as many of our players have discovered so far. It requires finesse as your fighters will be under heavy pressure to repulse the enemy's onslaught, and catching the odd scout at the right moment could be the difference between a quiet morning and a deadly one.
The whole point is to allow us to scale the game up, as the extra 120 or so aircraft it adds to the mix along with a new task force will help us better identify issues belonging to that sort of complex engagements. You will also have the opportunity to strike Junyo, a ship not often seen in videogames over the years, that we are happy to reintroduce - along with Hiyo - to the digital world of carrier warfare. Her sleek liner lines are a sight to behold - it's now up to you to massacre these with little mercy!
Next week our lead dev JB will take a well-deserved rest for a week, so as to take a small break from the hectic time he has gone through since before the release. As such, the flow of smaller updates will pause for the duration of his rest.In the meantime, Victor our newly minted deputy lead dev will try to organize our QA pipeline by scouring the forums and the discord, finding yet non-addressed issues that he will either report in orderly fashion to JB, or try to fix by himself. In doing so, he will be assisted by Lawson, our Discord mod, who is currently compiling a much-needed FAQ topic which will be published on the Steam forums. These efforts will also come in handy to properly write our helping tips, as the famed Wolfpack345 has kindly accepted to assist us in filming a dozen animated short videos, designed to be accessible as an overlay from the game's stations, in order to provide some sort of narrated companion.
As for what's next, Victor is only getting started. Among other things, he'll give us a hand in getting other core functions ready - including the mission editor and the much-awaited cinematic in-game replay system. Please make him feel welcome, for he's only getting started!
Thank you all for being with us on this journey. We'll do our best not to disappoint.
That’s all for today. Thank you all for your continued support, and see you next week with fresh news!
With love,
The TFA Team