- A Final Farewell to TFE - 24 April 2025
Dear Friends and Members of the TFE Community, It is with heavy hearts we share that Tip of the Spear: Task Force Elite is now retired on Steam. Over the years, our small team poured everything it had into this project — working late nights, weekends, and even holidays — driven by the team’s passion and your support. Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t overcome persistent technical challenges preventing us from scaling beyond 50 concurrent players. Ultimately, we weren’t able to recoup our investment or find a publisher to keep development going, and were forced to shut our doors in the highly competitive gaming market last year. This announcement has been a long time coming, and we’re grateful for your patience as some of our team prioritized looking after their families during very difficult times behind the scenes. Saying goodbye is never easy, but we hope TFE will live on in your…
- Red Spear Game Studio Update February 2024 - 3 February 2024
Hey to everyone in our Task Force Elite Community, 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. It hasn't been an easy journey, though. 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 Ronzalo, from our TFE community, Stats and other cool stuff. 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. Thi…
- Core Gameplay Vision - 7 May 2023
Hi Everyone, This is the final part of my 3-part blog. If you haven’t already seen them, check out my previous two posts about the team and QA testing. Since I specialise in gameplay, for the last part of this development blog I would like to share my personal goals for gameplay changes upcoming this year and what I will be focusing on and pushing for as an individual on the team. I’ll mostly be referring to gameplay changes in the rest of the post as per update 4.4.0 (which was unfortunately part of our larger update that was reverted from the live servers for the time being). The things that I am going to be working on personally are: Weapons and Game Balance Clarity and Visual Improvements Sound/Audio & General Competitive Viability Weapons and Game Balance Starting off, I am pleased to say that we’ve received a lot of feedback regarding the new weapon values and weapon feel, though…
- QA Testing Environment Changes - 26 March 2023
Hi Everyone, This is Part 2 of a 3-part blog. If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, I recommend reading it first! You can find it here. I have a vision for Quality Assurance. I want to build a task force for internal gameplay testing before an update reaches the live servers. To this end, I have requested a better Internal Testing Environment. It will also help other team members in creating their own QA teams. Up until now, our outdated QA systems meant that whenever we wanted to test a newer version of the game, the live servers had to go down. This was and is unacceptable and I would like to apologise. I hope it never happens again. Due to that limitation, we had limited opportunities to test the updates before they reached you, the community. Even when we did perform tests, we found only 1/10th of the issues that were reported to us after the released update (TFE 4.4). It’s crucial for us…
- What has the team been up to? - 18 March 2023
Hi Everyone, My name is Lucas . I’m an ex-competitive FPS player. I was, officially, Lead Level Designer from 2019 to early 2021, though since I've been mostly supporting the project from behind the scenes. I have done a lot for this project over the past 5 years (wow, it’s been this long already?), way before early access was released and before the company was even formed. Basically, though you may not have heard of me, I am one of the core members from the very start of the project, one who had an impact on the decisions and gameplay vision of TFE — pre-alpha, alpha and early access. Before RSS and before TFE, my dream has always been to build a spiritual successor to the old titles we know and love. That was my sole original purpose for pursuing a career in the video game development industry. I was going to build a team and build this dream game myself after acquiring the necessary…
- RSS Team Announcement - 19 February 2023
Dear Friends, I would like to be open with you about the future of Task Force Elite as a game and the future of Red Spear Studios as a team. I want to provide clarity on some speculations and false information floating around about what is going on behind the scenes at RSS. As many of you are aware, there have been changes and challenges the past year, within our team and regarding TFE as a project. There has, unfortunately, been a failure to deliver on promises to you, the community, as well as a lack of communication and game service issues. We have a vision and we are moving forwards. We will build on what we have started, we will complete TFE and we will grow together, as a community and as a video game studio. I would like to inform you first and foremost that Luis will be handing organisational and day-to-day operation duties to me as the new Managing Director. Luis will remain ou…
- TFE Update 4.4 - 6 December 2022
Hi everyone! We are happy to finally release the Update 4.4. We are sorry for the delay, but we faced some significant technical challenges after submitting the shipping build to Steam. Fortunately that is now resolved, in the most part, and the update is now ready to be tested by all of you. We understand that there will be bugs and other issues that we may have missed during QA testing, and we request all your support by reporting any and all issues you may find as well as feedback about the improvements we've made. We have some known issues that we need to report, the main one being: - Map vote system is unoperational. We request servers hosts to keep map voting option off. We're working on this issue. We are going to release the changelog and patch notes soon. For this update, it represents 6 months of work, and its quite extensive. Also we're almost ready to release the Website & F…
- Roadmap AMA - 31 July 2022
We would like to invite you to participate today in our AMA, to take place in 30 minutes (July 31 at 4pm Central European Time / 3pm UK / 10am EST) in our official discord channel: https://discord.gg/redspear Our Roadmap to Release: The following are estimated times for release. The features mentioned per version can be changed without prior notice on the course of development, but remains our goals for each version. The planned versions and release dates: Version 4.4 ― October 2022 Version 4.5 ― November 2022 Version 4.6 ― December 2022 Version 5 Beta ― January 2023 Global Improvements ― Version 4.4 ―――――――――――――――――― - Upgraded engine version to 4.25 - Multiple bug fixes as reported by community - Performance Optimizations - Delivering custom maps more efficiently - Reducing custom map sizes greatly by increasing default game installation files - Improved and further developed communi…
- Update 4.2 is out! - 15 August 2021
Patch notes: -Night vision (press "N" by default or rebind) -Change Loadout in dead screen-respawn phase/pre-match -New reload mechanism -Several small bugs fixes -New map: Bank crash by Night (most voted by community) available in TKOTH, TDM, DM, CTF and Team Conquer -Server browser server list now presented by desc order of population Have fun!
- Hot fix for Early Access 4.0 - 17 May 2021
Hot fix for Early Access 4.0 Full changelog: Fixed stats not showing correctly in profile page Fixed missing default spawn key for Indian outpost/checkpoint Added sounds for checkpoint ignition process Bravo checkpoint fix in Bank Crash Team Conquer Moved checkpoint A on Desert Valley Sunset - Team Conquer Moved spawn of TFE on Desert Valley Sunset - Team Conquer Added cover/buildings for TFE spawn at Desert Valley Sunset - Team Conquer Increased size of zones for all Checkpoints of Airbase Increased size of zones for all Checkpoints of Bank Crash Fixed Bravo checkpoint on Bank Crash Important Note: If you're having problems spawning at Checkpoints, please reset your key bindings in game options.
- Early Access 4.0 : New Game mode and more! - 15 May 2021
Early Access 4.0 is now out! As we get closer to the full game release, this new update introduces a new game mode: Team Conquer, as well as several improvements, content, tweaks and fixes to the game. EDDIE, our upcoming custom map maker, based on Unreal Engine 4 platform, which is the most asked feature by the community, is now completed. We're currently working on the documentation, tutorials and file system clean up to reduce the HD Requirements for the tool. We've also completed the integration with our server manager tool, to create a seamless experience for map makers and server hosts. EDDIE will be subject of a separate release, first dropping to the map makers who have signup on our official forums, www.taskforceelite.com, up to March 15, as alpha testers for the tool. We will get in touch with the testers in the coming days, after we address any issues or bugs that may arise o…
- Update 3.8.1 - Small patch - 29 March 2021
Following our 3.8 update roll out, which was our smoothest to date, with the help of the community, we found a few items needing patching , which are now included in this hot patch (3.8.1). The changelog: Removed metal ladder to control tower top on Airbase Additional colisions to avoid players to jump to viper's nest roofs Fixed ladders on Raid (Thanks @Deus) Inactivity timer auto-kick from lobby changed to 2 min (Thanks @Nazgul) Removed armory from Outpost Bravo on Raid Moved position of Outpost Bravo on Raid Added crates to allow Red Spear access to first floor balcony on Outpost Alpha side on Raid Zone tweak on Under Siege. It now covers the entire ground floor area of both buildings. Before it was up to 1 meter from the door Fixed gap in walls in Under Siege Increased area of zone on Bank Crash to cover the 3rd Floor entire volume and rooftop (Thanks @Lost) Fixed bodies of injured…
- Massive 3.8 update - 26 March 2021
The update 3.8 (which also includes 3.7), is a massive update to Task Force Elite, with more than one hundred bug and issues fixes and map tweaks. The 3.8 update is the most stable, most tested and debugged build of the game to date. It brings a more smoother experience and it lays down the ground work for the Early Access 4.0, which will also be known as the beta 1.0, which is also only days away. Follows the changelog for this update: Fixed crosshair issue when toggling menu while ADS Fixed pistol ADS persistent when climbing ladder (Thanks @Flypaper) Updated default crosshair for M203-standalone Player will not be disconnected if not in lobby (to avoid ghosting and imbalance issue) Added more keys bindings including hard-coded commands like the F6 force respawn or the spectator commands (Thanks @Aeon) Fixed keyboard input locked when clicked on tactical map Reverted BadBeat zone heig…
- Update 3.6 rolling out! - 25 February 2021
We're currently deploying a massive update: Early access 3.6. This update is the groundwork for major features like Vehicles, Map maker, competitive clan wars ,new game modes, spectactor mode to name a few. We expect some instability to happen within the next 48 hours, while we roll out hot fixes to address the bugs and issues being reported by the community. Some basic features like not being able to respawn at outposts, as well as seeing enemy tags are happening, which we are addressing as fast as possible. Bug hunting season is now open! Please help us by reporting any bugs or issues you may encounter while playing the game within the next 48 hours, so we can address each and every report as soon as possible. To report these bugs you can join our discord server at https://discord.com/invite/d6HhVwq , our forums at www.taskforceelite.com, of if you prefer, leave us a topic on our stea…
- Map release: Blizzard and hotfixes - 17 January 2021
We released a small update (version 3.5c) a few days ago that included: - New map: Blizzard (snow map) - Map vote fix - New folder structure (in preparation for map maker) - Killing fields map overhaul We're currently working on the community map maker, which is a custom version of the Unreal engine 4 editor that will work seamlessly with the custom server tool to host your own games, your own maps, community shared maps or run clan matches. The server tool, which is a work in progress, is available at Steam tools > Task Force Elite dedicated server tool For documentation and support please check: Linux: https://www.taskforceelite.com/topic/50-linux-server-tool-hosting-guide/ Windows: https://www.taskforceelite.com/topic/424-windows-server-tool-hosting-guide-for-single-machine-server-type/ Or reach out via our discord server: https://discord.com/invite/d6HhVwq
- Update 3.5 - 5 January 2021
Changelog Update 3.5 Improved scoreboard (thanks @Duz for designing) Fixed invisible walls in Narcos's Den Fixed invisible building in Killingfield Fixed issues with new ladder mechanic Removed black bushes from distance in Bank Crash map Added randomization if map vote is a tie Fixed gap in blocking volume in CQB Underground Added condition check when crouching in tight spaces to prevent clipping through floor Added community stats on servers hosted via community server tool Fixed decal see that allowed to see through and hide players Forced walking when looking down scope in sniper's weapons Added ability to add custom clan avatar using URL on player profile Community managers can now issue global mute to players (text and voice) to players who violate code of conduct, present toxic behaviour using in-game chat. A few items are pending that will be introduced in another update very so…
- Winter sale Special! - 22 December 2020
Come and play the new snow map and Sky Garden included in the 3.4 version that dropped this week. Hot patch being worked on right now (coming this week) includes: (New Feature) Added bot difficulty cvar and practice slider Fixed map vote issue Fixed wooden boxes in RTE_Raid don't have physical material Fixed match not starting with Deathmatch gamemode in practice Fixed camera underground upon spawn Fixed death camera collision trace Fixed server name issue (name has an addition 8 in the end if name ends with s, thanks to @Kattoor) 3.4 Update includes: Features - New main menu Christmas design - Improved ladder mechanic with new animations for climb up and at top of ladder - New Kill rewards and medals system - Added animals and animal movement system - New server and stats API - Adding snow footstep sounds, snow footsteps particle effects and snow bullet hit effects - Improved spawn arm…
- New update 3.4 - Christmas special - 19 December 2020
Try the new content now available with update 3.4. Many bug fixes and polish were added along with new content (2 new maps featuring new biome) The full changelog available below: Features - New main menu Christmas design - Improved ladder mechanic with new animations for climb up and at top of ladder - New Kill rewards and medals system - Added animals and animal movement system - New server and stats API - Adding snow footstep sounds, snow footsteps particle effects and snow bullet hit effects - Improved spawn armour mechanic and medic chain mechanic (Players will lose their revive armor if they stand up and move while holding a weapon or utility, if they shoot back, or if they don't either move or shoot back the armor only expires at the end of the armor countdown timer, with the exception of medics in a specific cirscunstance. Medics retain their revive armor if they standup and mov…
- Stability Update - Early Access 3.3 - 26 November 2020
Here is the full changelog for v3.3 Features: Added EQU-8 anti-cheat system Gamemodes: Added beep sound for zone restart events TKOTH Maps: Fixed guard tower stairs in Desert Pharaoh Fixed floating objects in Killing Fields Fixed Raid walls and added shacks Bug fixes: Fixed claymores can be destroyed through walls Fixed getting revived/healed loses chat focus Fixed sniper bullet elevation not working consistently Fixed knives right stab not working sometimes Fixed wrong MVP names and scores end of match Fixed non-existent skins Fixed broken distance calculation from binocular in some maps Fixed dead player moving POI Gameplay mechanic: Updated new classes and weapons speed (medic now runs fastest with utilities/knives/syringe only) Improved character animations Removed first bullet 100% accuracy when moving Increased M4-M203 and F90-M203 40mm bullet by 1 Added the ability to scope and m…
- Small update - Balance & Tweaks - 6 November 2020
After the release of Early Access 3.0, as we now move into tweaking the competitive side of the game, such as the gun handling and balance between classes, we released a new small update with the following changelog: Movement tweaks - Values updated for movement (not velocity), its now butter smooth! (special thanks to some of our competitive community members who helped us achieve these values) Medic M4's nerf. - Red dot minimum size increased to 0.35 (this also affects m4/203) - Bigger bullet spread on hipfire and also on ADS Claymores nerf. - Max cap of claymores reduced from 3 to 2 m203 nerf. - Grenadiers now carry only 4 units of 40mm m203 ammunition Utilities adjustments - Grenadiers now carry 4 frag grenades instead of 5. - Grenadiers now carry 4 smokes instead of 5 - Grenadiers now carry 3 flash grenades - Gunners now can select to carry claymore RPD nerf - Hipfire accuracy for…
