The Latest News: Torpedoes, Rabaul & Localization

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!

Regarding Localization

As mentioned in our previous update, there is still much work to do on that front, and we are thankful to all you non-English speakers for your patience. With a single dev on the team, we need to make sure we allocate his time properly, so as to manage many different aspects of the game at the same time. Some in-game features had to be implemented before we could move on to localization: the time to translate the game has come, though.

We are starting with Simplified Chinese, for two main reasons. First of all, it is a challenge in terms of in-engine implementation, considering that it does not use the usual Latin alphabet (remember, we have a custom engine, so everything often has to be built from the ground up). Secondly, it is also the largest non-English speaking community playing the game, and as such was a priority target as the first language to implement.

It is still at an early stage: we started with the GUI and immediate game functions. We will follow up with scenario content, aka briefings and victory messages, for instance. Phase 3 will then coincide with the release of the tutorial videos, and will include subtitles for all video content, which should arrive around the time the new briefing videos become available for the scenarios that do not have them yet.

Concurrently, as we progress on that track, we will tackle the next language. It will be German, for two reasons that are close to why Chinese was picked: it is, by all standards, the most challenging language to adapt to a GUI in terms of length (which might require some changes for it to work) and, obviously, it is also the second largest non-English speaking community playing the game. It will go through the same phases as Chinese. Hopefully, in both cases, the result will live up to our players' expectations.

[p align="start"]In any case, as you can see, it might sound boring and look more like housekeeping to you, but these are fundamental steps for the future development of the game: they will not only accompany the tutorial videos, but also the revision of the scenario briefing interface (which should soon include some new content to make sure each player has as clear a picture as possible before clicking the start button).

Regarding Tutorials

As mentioned in a previous update, Wolfpack345 was kind enough to provide us with well-narrated video tutorials, which will serve as an honest stop-gap measure before the interactive tutorial kicks in.

The core content will consist of 8 videos:

• Map and Timeline

• 3D World

• Ouija Board

• Formation Editor

• Defensive Air Ops

• FDO

• Scout Menu

• Strike Menu

Ahead of their in-game integration, they can be watched on this playlist, in addition to the FDO tutorial above.

[dynamiclink href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcnZGXW7lHrQ"][/dynamiclink]

Again, sorry for the time it took. We're hard at work on the in-game player and this should be ready to go by the end of next week.

Regarding the Rest

As you can see, some of the work lately has gone into the torpedo attack logic. As always, it is still not perfect, but at least your pilots should no longer miss slow or immobilized targets. Also, the damage system has been improved, and some ships should now sink all by themselves: we will add some more spice to it once we get to scuttling, of course.

[p align="start"]Regarding SOPAC, the missing piece that was Rabaul will soon be ready for further adventures: it is already operational in scenarios such as "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold". Same thing with Henderson Field. We have been developing a tech that allows us to activate bases according to historical conditions (so that we do not have a Henderson Field around in May 1942, or no US aircraft and defenses before August 1942).

[p align="start"]As you can guess, all this work takes time: our single dev is overcompetent, but also overworked, and every single new feature needs time to be implemented and debugged. As we move forward, these new challenges will be fewer and fewer in number, but while we are busy in the EA stage, this comes with the territory. In that regard, thank you for being patient and understanding, as we are relying on your friendship to keep us afloat and build something special together. Something that will last, and might leave a (good) mark on the genre.

At any rate, big thanks to you all for reading these lines. As always, do not forget to pay us a visit. Do not forget either to have a look at what the modding crew is doing: although we cannot advise people to use a mod just yet, as these are easily broken by newer builds, know that every day that passes brings TFA closer to greatness, in no small part thanks to their creativity. New fan scenarios are available there:

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

[p align="start"]Thank you all, and fair seas.

The TFA Team