World, Ahoy!

The state of Task Force Admiral as of October 2019

Fellow gamers, followers and virtual sailors of all kinds and all seas,

Welcome to our world, welcome to Task Force Admiral – welcome aboard! We’re breaking ground here, making waves for our first post on our humble dev blog.

It has been six months since our lead developer JB started to work full-time on the game. Finally; we are happy to use the opportunity offered by this brand new website to show our progress to our future audience. Most of the features you can read about in these pages are still in their infancy and might need some more work before going public. Still, in the following short tech demo reel you will be shown some of the features already unveiled to a few people around the internet in the course of the past summer. We hope that they still look solid enough in their current state, even a few months later!

The following tech features are showcased in this short film. You will witness:

• Take-offs and formation flying involving some F4F-4 fighters ;
• A zoom sequence taking us from the map view to the actual 3D world in real-time, along with custom map labels ;
• A demonstration of our procedural terrain generation made from actual level maps ;
• A showcase of our dynamic day/night cycle and weather system ;
• A quick look at our in-engine physics showing how ships roll dynamically in heavy seas ;
• A few glimpses of our early FX effects for naval artillery ;
• A detailed view of our engine for ballistics and naval damage ;
• A few details about how textures an dynamic decals/markings are managed by the engine (skinners, rejoice!) ;
• A few shots of the player’s command hub – that is, the Admiral’s Flag Plot – and faces of some of the men you will interact with during the narrative sequences ;
• Some of the 90+ 3D ships models expected at release for Vol.1 ;
• Some TBDs demonstrating our early carrier AI landing routines and wing folding (yes I know, it’s too fast! But at least it works properly for now) ;
• Our dedicated Air Boss AI in action, shuffling around the planes on the flight deck and clearing the bow for a group take-off ;
• A F4F-3 Wildcat painted as Butch O’Hare’s number 15 harassing a bomber formation not unlike the one he faced off Bougainville in his Medal of Honor moment, as a preliminary test for our dynamic air-combat AI (work in progress, don’t worry about the ammo count and the damage model, it is just a prototype) ;
• A TBD making its R-1830 Twin Wasp roar, demonstrating the current state of our sound engine ;
• A few sequences showcasing what we plan for environmental sounds of all sorts.

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Saying that the road is still long would be quite the understatement. Even though activity is happening 24/7 in our worldwide workshop as I write these lines, we are still far enough from a playable vertical slice that promising it for 2020 would feel premature, if not bold. Still, progress is steadily being accomplished every day, and I thank my team for their dedication and their trust in this endeavor. However, any machine, as efficiently designed or managed as it may be, needs some form of fuel to run. That fuel that keeps us going is coming from you.

By the end of this development cycle, we hope to be fortunate enough to meet your expectations, to succeed in crafting enough of a jewel to find our audience and redefine, with your precious support, the very genre for the years to come. In the meantime, always expect the utmost honesty and openness about our work, our results and delays – and, please, do not shy away from asking questions. Each and every new element you might bring to the table will be food for thought and could very well end up being that additional twist or bit of soul we were looking for.

Don’t hesitate to drop us a line, it means the world to us. Wish us fortune, for the seas will be heavy on our long journey to Point Luck! o7

Amiral Crapaud & the Team