"Task Force Admiral" - WW II carriers RTS.

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

Was a good read Have a nice weekend!

[Tektolnes]

Just saw this after reading through the Flare Path on Friday - looks really promising.

 

What's the best books that people recommend for reading up on this subject? I've only read Shattered Sword so far and enjoyed that a lot.

[Gambit21]

9 hours ago, Tektolnes said:

 

What's the best books that people recommend for reading up on this subject? I've only read Shattered Sword so far and enjoyed that a lot.

 

Guadalcanal by Richard B. Frank.

It's about Guadalcanal specifically,  and these guys don't have islands yet, but it's nevertheless one of the best books ever written on the PTO.

Pacific Air by David Sears is good, Fire in the Sky by Eric Bergeroud is excellent. 

 

For Midway itself tough to beat Shattered Sword.

 

 

[Amiral_Crapaud]

15 hours ago, Tektolnes said:

Just saw this after reading through the Flare Path on Friday - looks really promising.

 

What's the best books that people recommend for reading up on this subject? I've only read Shattered Sword so far and enjoyed that a lot.

Thank you!

 

Besides Gambit's recommendation, I can only highlight again the importance of John Lundstrom's work in our research and our thinking. He happens to be the top authority in terms of USN fighter combat narrative in 1942 and the author of the best study on Admiral Fletcher, while being gifted with a true talent for writing (which isn't necessary a thing I'd say about all the brilliant people presently on my bookshelf).

 

 

[Tektolnes]

Thanks both. 

[Amiral_Crapaud]

You're welcome!

 

* * * * * * *

 

I know there might be some fans of big cats with very big engines in here, so here we come... Time for the Final Countdown!

 

Splash the Zeroes - I say again: Splash the Zeroes!

 

 

I wished we could have kept it for April fools’ but news stuck in unexpected ways recently. We teamed up with our bros at Triassic Games for a small flying homage to Kirk Douglas, who passed away last week. You might remember him as the skipper of USS Nimitz in the Final Countdown. We had a Zero, they had a Tomcat, so why not make a small crossover for a last fly over? Rest in Peace Captain Yelland! ?
 

If you are into Wildcats, we’re pretty sure you cannot be insensitive to the charms of a Tomcat! Especially prowling on the tail of a Zero…
(All right, that’s a four-bladed zero, but we had to make do – still better than a repainted Texan, am I right! Be nice!)

We tried to have them do things to each other, but it is already a miracle that they might want to stay within the same engine - we're not going to ask much more for now ?

 

[Tyberan]

Wow that's a great shot.

[Amiral_Crapaud]

Thanks Tyberan

Also our sincere thanks to the Il-2 team for their kind hospitality in the new subforum. It is very heartwarming.

 

Shamrock wrote a generous piece about us on Stormbirds. A Q&A should follow. Not sure those who have been following for a certain time will discover many things, but there are still a few new screenshots. Enjoy!
https://stormbirds.blog/2020/02/25/command-the-seas-and-the-skies-with-drydock-dreams-games-task-force-admiral/

[Amiral_Crapaud]

Hello there Ladies & Gents!

Our February devblog update just went live:

 

 

https://drydockdreams.games/2020/02/28/dancing-under-the-stars/

 

Don't hesitate to come by and say hi people! Getting the media stuff ready for this one sure made me sweat... ?

 

Cheers and enjoy the weekend

[LLv34_Flanker]

S! 

 

Great stuff, Captain C?

[Amiral_Crapaud]

Thank you Flanker, happy to know you like it ?

 

Hope you'll all like this too, by the way ?

 

 

[Feathered_IV]

Nice!  Informative too.  I really enjoyed that   ?

[LLv34_Flanker]

S! 

 

Small tidbits making the game alive, backstories why and how things happened to both men and equipment. 

Edited March 4, 2020 by LLv34_Flanker

[Vig]

Love for the TBD!  I can't believe it!  ?

[Amiral_Crapaud]

Thank you guys, always a pleasure to read your kind words

 

Today, a little silly experiment - watching our 2D artist work on a drawer, M1 helmets - and a coffee mug in the Flag Plot, that is the main room where the player will stand most of the time (when he/she's not player God up in the air, that is)

 

 

Now that we know that the whole thing works well, we'll try to find something more exciting to texture for the next time

 

Everybody enjoy your weekend!

[Feathered_IV]

That was strangely soothing  

Will the player stand alone in this space while in game, or will other figures be visible there too?  Also, is it a 3-dimensional space that you can move around in, or is it a series of locations that the player jumps between?  

Whatever the answer, very much looking forward to it!

[Amiral_Crapaud]

Thanks Feathered!

 

Well as usual the answer is not a simple affair.

To make it clear, every crew-related stuff belongs to the "cool factor" category - that is a feature that is not game-impacting. Having guys around or not is not going to enable or disable functions, and crew interactions are going through a 2D interface anyway. This means that the implementation is highly dependent on the two most important things of which any development has little - that is time and money.

 

In that regard, from a producer's standpoint, the current priority is a follows:

- Static/baked-moving crew for all ships (in order to get rid of the ghost ship effect)
- Dynamic crew on the flight deck (pushers, pilots running to their machines...)
- Animated crew in the flag plot, the kind you'd find in Silent Hunter 3 for instance, only comes last

In the case of the latter, we also have to take into consideration the overall GUI. These guys will be seated at stations that are accessible to the player for gameplay purpose besides function keys, in the tradition of game menus in the 1990s - for instance, you'd naturally click on the radio shack to open the intelligence interface, or on the plane roster to open the plane management panel. We've got to make sure that they look busy and yet do not hamper the player's options (but we could very well have them clickable along with their station I suppose).

 

Regarding the flag plot proper, it is a full 3D environment where your moves are limited in the fashion of Silent Hunter 3 (that is, without the debug mode ^^). Clicking on a station makes you travel to it in a near instantaneous but still fluid and believable fashion (aka what you see with our Map View preview) - using the F-key makes it immediate. In that regard at least for volume 1, you'll be expected to move on "rails" and not in a complete free roaming camera mode (which would explain why these knobs on this cabinet are a bit angular - whatever was just painted before your eyes in the video will be barely noticeable at all considering it is more or less in a dead angle).

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

Video shows how much work goes into making all those details seen in the finished product. Was nice to watch.

[Amiral_Crapaud]

hehe Thanks Flanker!

Now, as promised, something a bit more exciting.
That is, if you're into Zero art. But who isn't? ?

 

 

[LLv34_Flanker]

S! 

 

The artist drew that with free hand?! ? Zero has sleek lines for sure. And pilots liked it's flying characteristics. 

[Amiral_Crapaud]

Yes he did! And yes they did ^^

By the way, now that we have drawn the bug, here's a sneak peek at the ladies it flies from...

Cute line up, hey? Still missing Ryujo, Junyo & Hiyo though, they're on their way. Besides, we allowed ourselves a bit of fantasy with a 1944-rate Zuikaku & Zuiho.

No need to introduce them to the crowds - do we? ?

 

 

 

 

 

[LLv34_Flanker]

S! 

 

Great lineup. How about "Shinano" ? Was sunk by an US submarine yes, but for a what if scenario? 

[Tyberan]

NOICE

[Amiral_Crapaud]

Thank you boys!

@LLv34_Flanker unfortunately you won't get to see a Shinano before long I am afraid... We're still resolutely staying within the limits of 1942. This will have to wait

But no worries, we fully intend to entertain you most honestly in the meantime!

 

Here, as a token of good faith, here are a few shots of our new Yorktown 3D model. Don't you dream, it's not so much about walking down there than giving a good impression when you're looking at it from the outside (remember that American hangar decks have a lot of big apertures all around the place). Knowing you're pretty much staying about a CV 99% of the time in vol.1, better make sure that they look pretty on the inside & the outside both

Yorktown was our very first model, so she was in dire need of an update. It's now done, and properly so I dare say. All of this bonanza doesn't go over 100k polygons, a real feat. Can't praise my 3D artist enough for his skills!

Cheers everybody - and stay safe!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

That was interesting, planes hanging from the ceiling so to say. Efficient use of space. Were those planes hung up that required maintenance or just reserve planes?

[Amiral_Crapaud]

They were spares, that could be reasonably reassembled overnight. It's a rather efficient system indeed - because of their lack of available space overhead and other design choices, the Japanese & the British are forced to crate reserve planes instead, which didn't make them as readily available in case of losses. If you take into account the fact that the Americans commonly used a deck park, it explains why even a Yorktown class could reach 100 planes in terms of actual capacity and still remain operational. All together, taking into account the sum of these techniques, that's more than twice what a British carrier of the time would carry, and a good third over the maximum capacity of a IJN carrier.

Edited March 29, 2020 by Amiral_Crapaud

[Amiral_Crapaud]

Now for any rivet counter in the room,
 

We are currently reworking (mildly) the A6M2 Zero model we made for our project Task Force Admiral using the kind & precious assistance of Ryan Toews.

As a man who helped with the reconstruction of the famed "Blayd Zero", if there's one soul who knows which rivet goes where and which shade of grey to pick, he's certainly the one! Big thanks to him for his time and fantastic help. Well, ladies & gentlemen, one Japanese plane done... 17 to go! ?

But obviously, the Zero deserves quite the attention. If there's one ubiquitous foe you are going to meet often out there in these tropical skies of ours, it is certainly this one! This might deliver us with one of the most accurate representations of the bird ever to fly in anger in a digital sky. Well, so far at least...

I am pretty sure any fan of the Zero (and there might be some in here) will find the content of his suggestions useful, so feel free to use them for your own project! Hopefully his contribution will be used elsewhere too, I am feeling guilty for all the time he spent on this already ?

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[-RR-Napoleon-]

Wow! Amazing work, really appreciating the level of detail you and your team are putting into this! 

[LLv34_Flanker]

S! 

 

Stunning detail. Shame, that not many original Zeros are left Such a beauty. 

[LukeFF]

That's dedication!

[Feathered_IV]

Nice one.  It’s hard to tell from the renders and it may be beyond the scope of the sim, but I would probably add that the cowling on the A6M2 is not a circular tube as such but is slightly deeper than it is wide, with a bit of a tapering down on the top when viewed in profile.  Also the width of the cowl flaps may benefit from a slight reduction.  Mind you that is super nitpicky on what is really a very beautiful model. ?

[Amiral_Crapaud]

Thank you guys!

Thanks Feathered - external help has poured in over the last few days, so at any rate don't worry too much about the Zero, I think they (I mean, the obsessed fanboys) have it covered and covered again ?

But it's funny to end up having that sort of episodes - really brings the power of a community together. I enjoy every single minute of it.

 

Talking about work, well our latest dev update has been put online. Some more goodies you haven't seen even if you've been a follower in here, but also a first sneak peek at air ops in motion - and the way we designed them. More on that below - Cheers!

https://drydockdreams.games/2020/04/02/tropical-inceptions/

 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by Amiral_Crapaud

[LLv34_Flanker]

S! 

 

Nice video! Will the planes eventually fold their wings after landing or spread them before flight? How about landing priority, for example a plane damaged but still able to hold pattern landing last so it would not possibly clog the deck in case of crashing? 

 

Have a nice weekend

[Trooper117]

Very cool!

[Tektolnes]

Congrats on getting a publisher.

 

In the air ops section you mention that in the flight characteristics you can manage attack coordination. Will both sides abilities in this area be reflected where, from my limited reading, the Japanese had the ability to get multiple strike packages on target simultaneously while the Americans hadn't really developed this tactic properly yet (except possibly Yorktown)? Or will the option to fully coordinate attacks be available to the US side without any downsides even though it wasn't fully part of their tactical doctrine at the time? 

[Gambit21]

On 3/31/2020 at 9:36 AM, Amiral_Crapaud said:

Now for any rivet counter in the room,
 

We are currently reworking (mildly) the A6M2 Zero model we made for our project Task Force Admiral using the kind & precious assistance of Ryan Toews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fantastic!

 

The A6m2-21 is one of the aircraft that I’ve modeled myself in the 3D. Flap/wing fairing area were a bear. 

 

I modeled it for high-res illustration purposes, so externals only. Yet to be textured.

 

I’m getting more and more excited about this project.

Looking forward to seeing more. The Pacific is where my heart is at. 

[Amiral_Crapaud]

On 4/3/2020 at 3:53 PM, LLv34_Flanker said:

S! 

 

Nice video! Will the planes eventually fold their wings after landing or spread them before flight? How about landing priority, for example a plane damaged but still able to hold pattern landing last so it would not possibly clog the deck in case of crashing? 

 

Have a nice weekend

 

Thank you for the feedback chaps! Much appreciated.
Now, one at a time, there's a lot to be said ?

 

Yes, they unfold their wings before taking off, and they fold them when landing. You don't see it here though because Dauntlesses don't have folding wings, but it's the case with mostly everybody else (except F4F-3s & F2As). Some of them were hydraulically assisted, some weren't, but for all intents & purposes as long as we don't have animated crew I doesn't make much of a difference.

Regarding landing priority, we intend to have indeed a priority system for damaged planes, or anybody who needs to "pancake" for a reason or another (fuel, ammo, etc...). Being damaged doesn't mean that you are absolutely an additional risk. The pilot comes first. Actually landing early gives the pilot more room to maneuver, landing after everybody else while the deck is clogged with returnned planes invites disaster more often than not

 

Clogging the deck after landcrashing will be a thing but these things are taken care of rather quickly. That's what the giant cranes are for.

 

Cheers mate, nice weekend to you too ^^

[Amiral_Crapaud]

20 hours ago, Tektolnes said:

Congrats on getting a publisher.

 

In the air ops section you mention that in the flight characteristics you can manage attack coordination. Will both sides abilities in this area be reflected where, from my limited reading, the Japanese had the ability to get multiple strike packages on target simultaneously while the Americans hadn't really developed this tactic properly yet (except possibly Yorktown)? Or will the option to fully coordinate attacks be available to the US side without any downsides even though it wasn't fully part of their tactical doctrine at the time? 

Ok, now that's a question from someone who obviously knows his stuff.

Current plan is as follows:
 

- Let's have side A & side B as defined in the editor. As a side note, it's not "automatic": side A doesn't have to be USN & B IJN - it is made so we can also make blue on blue stuff

- Each side has to pick a few parameters during initial mission building. One of the is the carrier air doctrine. Surface doctrine is another.

- These "doctrine" files come with a certain number of rules. For the surface doctrine, naturally, it affects maneuvers, formations, specifics of each side (you'd have basically a USN 42 & a IJN 42 choice, perhaps more variations). For carrier air doctrine, it covers all the point you mentioned.

- That is, if defined as the air doctrine for the player, USN 42 doctrine does affect mission planning. That is, whenever you prepare a mission, you have to do it for each flight deck available. This is not a feature you can deactivate - at the lesser level of realism, it just means that you can manage strikes for everybody, but on a single-carrier basis. On the highest level of realism, if Fletcher wants to manage air ops on Enterprise and Hornet too, he will have to decide that, cope with communication problems (if you're not in TBS range you will have to use the radio -> risk of counter detection) and risk a higher level of SNAFU.

 

- It also comes with all the other details as detailed in USF-74 & USF-77: types of missions, doctrine options for the missions, launch modes available (normal, deferred, urgent...), arming procedures (on deck, on hangar), and naturally everything happening in the air with the planes (formations, procedures, landing modes, etc...).

 

- On the other hand, side 2 with a IJN air carrier doctrine will shift its planes, manage its strikes along different lines. The IJN side isn't playable in vol.1, but if it was - by their standards - the IJN "player" when using the same interface for air ops would have different choices, and be allowed composite strikes using several decks, albeit with other limits/penalties (there's a structural limit on what can be done with each doctrine. American doctrine certainly is a mess, but it allows if needed for a complete air group strikes with several deckloads. Japanese division-level strikes will be what they are, that is decks contributing half half in waves of single deckloads. It's not a free for all, these things will be taken into account, and the modular way we implement them allow us to keep on improving them, or modders to change them later on.

 

I don't wanna hide anything. As it is, IJN air carrier doctrine will be a tad simplified compared to the US one. In nature at any rate, it is less of an anarchy to operate anyway, due to the absence of deck park for the planes (I can tell you, making sure a US carrier with 70 operational planes remains open for business is not small feat). But some details will still need to be adjusted along the way, and it will not be as advanced - still gotta find time and the right people to make sure that everything's perfect, and I'll start worrying about that when we will get the US right. Still, we will make sure that the IJN doctrine sets makes the KB both a credible and dangerous opponent, and that all the main ingredients to the sort of SNAFU that took place that morning of June 1942 will be there to reproduce comparable or different results. On both sides, that is. So in that regard, you can rest easy, it looks like we're on the same wavelength here

 

Cheers!

 

14 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

 

Fantastic!

 

The A6m2-21 is one of the aircraft that I’ve modeled myself in the 3D. Flap/wing fairing area were a bear. 

 

I modeled it for high-res illustration purposes, so externals only. Yet to be textured.

 

I’m getting more and more excited about this project.

Looking forward to seeing more. The Pacific is where my heart is at. 

Good to know - we'll make sure to do right by you and your heart both

[Amiral_Crapaud]

Now there's that one ship, you might have heard of her.?
 

She went down exactly 75 years & a few hours ago.

Even though people knew her as a ferocious monster or a very expensive floating resort, one can say that although it failed to deliver the Imperial Japanese Navy with a decisive weapon, High Command still nailed the marketing - after all, she delivered us with a very acceptable anime series & fanboys are still drooling over her 18 inchers decades afterwards.?
 

Ladies & gentlemen, I introduce you to Lady Yamato, in her 1945 garment (but don't worry, the proper 1942 outfit - and her sister Musashi's own configuration - will be available soon too)!
Of course, useful to war effort like a dead brick worth 70.000 tons of steel, but hey. Judging by her popularity, awesomeness is a currency better suited to our days of peace, I'd say!

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2020 by Amiral_Crapaud

[Vig]

Beautiful model, well done!  Ironic that the one time she managed to engage other surface vessels she was foiled by a few destroyers, a superbly-handled destroyer escort, and a handful of inadequately-armed aircraft from Taffy 3.  I hope you are modeling USS Samuel B. Roberts to the same high standard!   

Edited April 7, 2020 by Vig