Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles

[Asid]

Patch Notes (24474765) : New scenario - Kantai Kessen!
Thu, 30 July 2026


Screenshots by Matlock, CptXile & g0ld3ngames

07/30/2026

After a short mandatory Summer break, the team is back in action. The newer patch

•     New scenario: "Kantai Kessen". Protect a relief convoy on its way to Midway as the Japanese navy tries to interdict it and provoke a decisive engagement with your carriers. Enterprise, Hornet, Yorktown and Saratoga are making a pincer around the enemy fleet - will it hold long enough?

        Note: the relief force in Midway is the first occurrence of an allied non-player naval unit in a scenario. You cannot change its course or speed for now, so do try to sweep ahead of it. It can also set as a target to be covered with CAP from your carriers.

•     New objects fully integrated: BB Yamato, BB Nagato, CA Mogami, APD Manley.
•     Japanese seaplanes can now carry bombs (Jake, Pete) and torpedoes (Mavis, Emily) when allowed to strike. Beware.
•     A new pop-up was added to allow you to jump to your strike in the 3D view when it makes contact with the enemy. It works along the same lines as the current fighter alert, and can be disabled in the settings.
•     Several fixes done to the GUI for widescreens.
•     Fixed several AI and GUI bugs, along with a few new crashes.

Have fun & take care!

The Team

[Asid]

[EA SITREP #16] The Latest News: Torpedoes, Rabaul & Localization
Sat, August 22, 2026




Some new stuff in the latest build, along with a few comments



Note & credit: Action screenshots were provided by players on the game's Discord - today featuring Hood_fr, Pidgeyarmy, Hyacinth, Poodle007, munchlol, Potatogranate, Oriskany, Reis, Glenn & Foxman!



Dear Friends, Dear Fans,

A little update at the end of the holiday season regarding our current progress.

First of all, a new patch hit the digital shelves yesterday: you might have noticed it. Here are the official patch notes, also available in-game at startup:




21/08/2026

• Many improvements were made to torpedo bomber AI. US torpedo bombers in particular should now show more convincing attack patterns.
• Damage model update. Ships on the receiving end of punitive damage should go under more reliably.
• Added Simplified Chinese support.

  The language can now be changed in the Options menu, under the "Game" category.

  This is still a work in progress: only the GUI is translated for now. More content will follow. Please report any major issues.

• Started integrating the Rabaul area. Still a work in progress, but do not hesitate to give it a spin. It can be seen in the "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold" scenario.
• Minor GPU memory usage optimizations. If you notice any new visual bug, please report it.
• Fixed a camera bug when pausing the game.
• Other bug and crash fixes.

Now, a few comments are in order, so as to provide some context. Stay with us!

Read on...

[Asid]

Patch Notes (2026-08-25) : Video Tutorials + New demo + MPS Publisher Sale!
Tue, August 25, 2026



Wolfpack345's video tutorials are now integrated in-game in a new interface. The demo has been updated.



Screenshots by Alan, Oriskany & Foxman


08/25/2026



A new patch including the previously mentioned video tutorials is now available. Besides, an updated version of the demo, incorporating these changes as well as the Simplified Chinese localization, has also been put online.

• New video tutorials: to access them, you can either click on the Naval Academy button in the main menu, or open them in-game through the new icon on the toolbar at the top of the screen. Currently, these videos are only available in English and without subtitles, but once the new video player has been sufficiently tested and debugged, we will integrate these new functions. Concurrently, we will carry on with the work on the interactive tutorials and the other videos (Briefings, Tactics).

• Changed the Ouija overlay GUI so that all modes are now using the same "blackboard" look.
• Unit icons on the strategic map have been improved.
• Fixed a bug related to multiple deckloads strikes.
• Fixed an issue with map icons tooltip.
• Fixed a timeline tooltip issue.
• Most of the other fixes are about the new GUI and a few problematic crashes which were caused by these new functions.
• Also, of note: an updated version of the demo has been put online, that includes the Chinese localization and the tutorial videos.

Last but not least, Task Force Admiral is on sale until Monday, September 7, 10 AM PDT as part of the MicroProse Publisher Sale! Click here to check out all the deals! These include of course games such as Battleship Command, Sea Power, HighFleet, Boat Crew, Carrier Command 2... A myriad of titles you might be interested in if you enjoyed Task Force Admiral, whether because they are about carriers, WW2, or naval combat in general.

Also note that the very tempting Deck + Conn will be available from September 1, that is, Tuesday next week. It will take you to space in a manner reminiscent of naval surface and submarine combat, in an excellent, innovative package that will nonetheless feel strangely familiar to players who experienced the early 1990s.



Take command of a nuclear-powered space corvette in a Cold War-flavored sci-fi campaign. Balance tactics, crew, and limited resources in a dynamic forever-war. Retro pixel art meets deep strategy fifteen minutes into the future of 1989.
Available: Sep 1, 2026
Deck & Conn

Have fun & take care!

The Team

[Asid]

Patch Notes (2026-09-05) : Housekeeping, Fixes and... Batman
Sat, September 5, 2026



This patch is mostly about housekeeping, but a pretty nice extra! Say hi to the paddle-guy!


Screenshots by Alan, Foxman & 『GӨᄂDΣП』1


09/05/2026

• Added animated Landing Signal Officer (LSO) on all Yorktown class carriers. If things work as expected will only be active during landing sequences (with his platform deployed accordingly). If you encounter any bug, we'll be happy to have a look.

• Added an option to unfold all the sections when clicking on a mission in the OOB.

    Enabled by default.
    You can disable it in the options, under the game category.

• Fixed missing normal maps on all ships.
• Midway battle generator fixes:

    Fixed Junyo and Ryujo not doing anything.
    Fixed wrong video on debriefing.

• Fixed ghost contact map plots turning back to normal after 24hrs
• Fixed Ouija's carrier selection box being rendered before plane icons.
• Fixed Ouija & Damage panels rendering order.Added Landing Signal Officer on all Yorktown class carriers.
• Added an option to unfold all the sections when clicking on a mission in the OOB.

    Enabled by default.
    You can disable it in the options, under the game category.

• Fixed missing normal maps on all ships.
• Midway battle generator fixes:

    Fixed Junyo and Ryujo not doing anything.
    Fixed wrong video on debriefing.

• Fixed ghost contact map plots turning back to normal after 24hrs
• Fixed Ouija's carrier selection box being rendered before plane icons.
• Fixed Ouija & Damage panels rendering order.

Have fun & take care!
The Team

[Asid]

[EA SITREP #18] New clouds, new toys, new mods
Sat, October 17, 2026



Some new tech, new objects, and modding fest!


Note & credit: Action screenshots were provided by players on the game's Discord - today featuring Chill, Highexplosive, Munchlol & Incepted




Dear Friends, Dear Fans,
Some fresh news, and some fresh screens! Nothing ground breaking, but the fire lives on: welcome back to your SITREP!

The Latest Patch
Lately our dev has been reworking a specific aspect of Task Force Admiral's visuals which also had big implications in regard of the performance. Allow us to introduce you to a revamp of our cloud, smoke and fire VFX!

16/10/2026

• Improved clouds renderer implemented. It will now look nicer, faster and should also have fewer bugs.

- But if you see any new bug, please do report!

• Introducing in the same patch a new smoke renderer, used only for the IJN carrier funnel smoke for now.
• Fixed inputs bound to a POV Hat in dogfight mode.
• Fixed bad tree placement on the Midway map.
• Fixed bugs in debriefing menu.
• Integrated Haruna's damage model.
• Improved plane packing on deck.

The cloud thing deserves some attention, because it was our first implementation of our new tech for everything fluffy. It is part of a light but necessary revamp of our VFX, which hopefully will satisfy those among you who had their reserves so far. It looks pretty good in motion, with smoke columns merging into each others. Fire is being reworked too. Hope you'll like this sneak peek of what's coming!











Read on...

[Asid]

Patch Notes (2026-10-24) : New Smoke VFX + Scenario options + Summary of Fixes
Sat, October 24, 2026



TFA has now a new smoke VFX system, along with more scenario options


Screenshots by Potatogranate, George, Hood & Reis.

We have finished implementing the new smoke effects. They come with a few extra tweaks that are the vanguard of the features needed to give our players more scenario options and, eventually, a working scenario editor.

We are keenly aware that VFX were not necessarily at the top of your priority list, but we needed to make an optimization pass, and this was a good opportunity to introduce mechanics that will prove useful in the future.



10/24/2026

• Smoke from damage will now change in volume and color depending on the seriousness of the fire it emanates from.

Comment: the new smoke is not just for looks. We updated our smoke generation technology across the board so that it can be used wherever it is needed. Applications include funnel smoke, damage smoke for ships and aircraft, and, in the future, smokescreens. In this particular case, we made a few aesthetic choices regarding how the smoke is generated. We are well aware (cf. what some of you pointed out on Discord) that the color of smoke primarily depends on what is burning, but it is also true that existing photos and footage of catastrophic fires aboard WW2 carriers often show white smoke clouds early on (see Lexington, Bunker Hill), and whiter smoke again as the ship burns out (see Hiryu). With that in mind, you will often see white smoke as the first sign of an internal fire, and it will grow darker as the fire spreads. On the other hand, exposed areas of the ship, including the open hangars aboard US carriers, will see the smoke of an uncontrolled fire turn black very quickly, adding some variety. We hope you will like what you see, and that you will appreciate the external gameplay indicators it gives you about the damage the enemy has suffered - or the damage your own ships are currently taking.

Please also note that Japanese carriers are not emitting their emblematic white funnel smoke at all times anymore: sprinklers are now only activated during air operations, so as to keep the smoke at a lower altitude. Seen from the outside, this should be an interesting indication of their on-going plans.

• The scenario briefing interface has been reworked to allow for further development, and some functions have been automated. More are on the way.

The "Conditions" button now gives you access to all available weather and astronomical information.



The "Order of battle" button now generates a complete order of battle of friendly forces present in this scenario.



Options to randomize weather and customize difficulty are now available under the "Scenario options" button. Set these options before you launch the scenario.



Among these options, a selector allows you to add experience to the air units of either side. This should please those of you who would like their pilots to be better at dropping bombs in non-generator scenarios. Hope this helps!

As for wind direction and weather, both are fairly self-explanatory: wind direction will obviously affect your air operations, since your carrier will have to steam against the wind during takeoffs and landings; and the more clouds there are, the better the chances that your scouts (or the enemy's) will miss something in the soup up there

Comment: our next step in that department will be to standardize the AI in the single scenarios and lay down the basics of the future system that will be used in longer scenarios and in a dynamic campaign. We should be good to go from there. In the meantime, we will update the existing scenarios and make new ones once this is done.

• Bug fix: objects will no longer suddenly disappear from the screen when the field of view in increased.
• Fixed another bug affecting ship renders in the UI on old AMD GPUs.
• Improved GPU usage on old GPUs.
• Added 2 options to customize cloud quality and improve performances on more low-end configurations. Please do share with us the effects and any bug you encounter.

Thank you for your attention! And don't forget to join us on discord if you want to exchange with others about the game.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE OFFICIAL TFA DISCORD

Best, and take care,
The TFA Team