Hey to everyone in our [b]Task Force Elite Community[/b], For quite some time now, we've been pouring our efforts into the latest version of Task Force Elite, crafted in Unreal Engine 5.1. [h3] [Recruitment Challenges] [/h3] It hasn't been an easy journey, though. [i]We've faced our fair share of challenges, especially with not being able to bring more team members on board full-time to speed things up. We have had the opportunity to collaborate with various developers, and while each experience has brought its own insights, we find that we are still searching for the ideal alignment with our project's specific needs. [/] Exception made to [b]Ronzalo,[/b] from our TFE community, [b]Stats[/b] and [i]other cool stuff.[/i] [h3] [Determined to get TFE out there] [/h3] [i]Here at Red Spear, we've grown from the DF & TFE community members into developers driven by passion. Though some of us put in full-time hours, we're primarily hobbyists with day jobs, so our progress, while committed, does take longer. This project has been our labor of love since 2017. Countless hours have been devoted to it, and we've made incredible strides.[/i] [b]Now, we're at a pivotal moment where it's crucial to realize our vision before time runs out.[/b] I know some of you might feel it's already too late, and I get where you're coming from. However, the easier path would have been to call it quits after the closure of Red Jake. But that's not us. We chose to double down, investing more resources and time to see this through. I can't express how proud I am of our team. Everyone is driven to deliver the best game possible within our means. We've never lost sight of our goal and have tirelessly worked towards it. 2024 is a pivotal year for us. We're all in, making a final push to get the Task Force Elite Beta out to you as soon as we can. [h3] [Our focus for a "free to play" Beta Release] [/h3] Our current focus is wrapping up the core functionality on the UE5.1 version. There still quite a way to go to fully implement the roadmap we want, but we won't wait for that day to come to release TFE Beta as free to play. We're going to release as soon as the core stuff is done & tested. Once that's done, [b]we're counting on your help for one big test[/b] – a stress test to see if we've finally overcome the scalability issues that have been a thorn in our side since 4.23.1. [h3] [The "thorn" in our side, scalability issues] [/h3] To give you more context, [b]we held off on major promotions for TFE[/b] because we encountered a serious issue with our net code. This problem caused unresponsive gameplay after a certain amount of players joined and logged into our TFE servers, eventually leading to a crash. Moving to Unreal Engine 5 was a strategic choice. This engine offers better network capabilities and net code solutions, which we hope will resolve our scalability challenges, amongst other things. But we need to test it out to be sure. So, keep your eyes peeled for an announcement in the future about a big testing day. [b]We will be inviting everyone who's willing to join us, fill the servers, and help us determine if we're ready for launch.[/b] [h3] [What can you expect from the game in UE5?] [/h3] - We've started refining and polishing the game up. - We're saying goodbye to some maps and polishing up community favourites with better visuals and gameplay. - Over time, we'll reintroduce other maps in a redesigned state. - As for the game's release model, we've decided to go Free to Play. - The focus will be on the gameplay, not cosmetics, though they will be available for purchase. [h3] [What's happening to Eddie and Task Force Elite during the transition to "Free to Play"?] [/h3] [i]In light of our recent strategic shift, and inspired by similar paths taken by other games and studios, we have chosen to ask STEAM to [b]temporarily[/b] delist our game from their store for purchase. However, [b]existing owners of the game will still have full access to play and receive updates[/b]. During this period, new player acquisitions will be paused. Additionally, in adherence to the new Terms of Service of Epic Games, we are removing EDDIE from Steam. We plan to reintroduce it later via the Epic Launcher, in compliance with these new terms.[/i] [h3] [Early Supporters, Perks & Benefits, and Post-Release model of support] [/h3] For our early supporters who bought the game during early access, we're cooking up some cool stuff like exclusive premium skins and a special colored name on the leaderboards. Post-release, we're dedicating a significant effort to market the game globally. Our hope is that you'll love playing it, which will motivate us to keep developing new content following a "Counter Strike"-like model of continuous support. We're not setting a release date just yet, but rest assured, we're aiming for sometime in 2024. [b]Thanks for being with us on this journey. RSS Team[/b]