Fortnite's Big Novelty Could Transform Epic's Hit Shooter
Epic Games shared some important Fortnite-related news. The most important of these was the release of a powerful new tool designed for content creators in the game.
Big changes coming to Epic Games' hit shooter. During its more than seven-hour State of Unreal presentation at GDC 2023 (Game Developers Conference), the US developer unveiled a powerful new tool designed to create additional content for Fortnite.
A big change for content creators
Announced some time ago, the new Unreal Editor content editor for Fortnite (UEFN for short) is finally in the hands of players.. The capabilities of the new system were presented in a short teaser.
UEFN is a powerful editor based on Unreal Engine 5. It is to be a natural extension of the Creative Mode for content creators in Fortnite, which has long been available in the game.
However, unlike the aforementioned feature, UEFN will be a sort of separate entity, enabling modders to interact with advanced windows and rendering screen features.
The new tool, while certainly more difficult to use, therefore has much more potential than the creative mode limited to in-game mechanics.
Among the systems and features available within Unreal Editor for Fortnite, the developer lists:
- modeling and material processing tools,
- Niagara system for creating VFX effects,
- Verse programming language implementation.
The video below, which is an excerpt from the State of Unreal 2023 presentation, shows the editor in action. The developers showcase a number of tools available in UEFN, along with their possible uses.
Unreal Editor for Fortnite will undoubtedly mark a milestone in the development of Epic Games' wildly popular shooter. Although most gamers associate Fortnite mainly with the Battle Royale mode, it should be remembered that the title was only a certain framework, on the canvass of which talented developers created additional content or gameplay modes.
UEFN can already be found on Epic Games Store. The tool is free, so anyone interested in creating additional content can try their hand.
The continuation of big changes in Fortnite
While UEFN is the most important news of the last few days related to Epic Games' title, it is important to remember that the editor is a component of the larger changes that are constantly being implemented to Fortnite.
At yesterday's conference, a representative of the studio shared behind-the-scenes information related to the visual update. The switch to Unreal Engine version 5.1 and the implementation of Nanite and Lumen technologies significantly influenced Fortnite's appearance, and you can hear more about the issues and difficulties associated with the implementation of the aforementioned systems in the video below.
What will the future bring?
Although Fortnite is often a controversial topic in the gaming community and is undoubtedly not a game for everyone, it's so nice to see that despite being almost 6 years old, the game continues to be developed. New features, gameplay modes (such as the much-loved no-building mode), or tools like UEFN, mean that the title continues to attract crowds of old and new players.
Fortnite is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. The game will also be played on Android mobile devices.
