Fornite fans rejoice! Epic Games, its publisher, offers software called Unreal Editor, allowing players to create their own levels. Enough to stimulate interest in this very popular game.
With some 350 million users worldwide, Fortnite is undoubtedly one of the most popular games. And if its principle has evolved without radically changing – it is still a type of online game battle royale in which 100 players can compete on a “map”, a kind of gigantic virtual arena – it has undergone several important changes in its latest versions. Thus, a few months ago, Chapter 4 marked the transition from Fortnite to Unreal Engine 5, a new generation graphics engine offering better visual rendering, with more details and ray tracing – ray tracing technique – for light effects, all to make his world more realistic than ever.
And to allow fans to go even further in their universe, Epic games, the publisher of Fornite, has also just developed its Creative mode, a tool that allows the bravest to personalize the game by creating their own levels. Called Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), this software available since March 22 on Epic’s websiteallows, according to the publisher, to design, develop and publish games and experiences directly in Fortnite”,
Unreal Editor: Fortnite personalized by and for players
This editor adds new functions to the Creative mode of Fortnite. With it, players can create custom content such as building materials – very useful in the game to protect themselves from opponents or to monitor an area from above –, but also “textures, animations and audio content” as well as new scenery and visual effects, and even collaborate live with other players. We also note the arrival of a new programming language called Verse. In its beta version, it is a “prototype of the API and framework, but Verse’s capabilities will grow as the language evolves. Verse will become a fully supported programming language in the Unreal Engine”to use the words of Epic Games.
With the current Fortnite Creative mode, the player can build and modify islands by controlling a character on the game map. With this version 2.0, he will have access to the new tools of the UEFN without having to embody one. Each player’s creations will be shared with the rest of the global community of 270 million players, as they will be published on the online game platform. Developers accustomed to using Unreal Engine – which inspired the Unreal Editor – will not be out of place since they will find the familiar interface of the software. But beware, the editor will be limited: clearly, it will not be possible to use the new Creative mode as if we were using the entire Unreal Engine, and therefore to do anything. Subsequently, the tools will evolve to “add more functions […]giving creators control over even more aspects of their Fortnite experiences, and expanding the capabilities of the Verse API and framework.”. The Unreal Editor for Fortnite is already downloadable. And, in other good news, the publisher is implementing the new Creator Economy 2.0 program, which should allocate 40% of the net revenue generated by the Fortnite store to creator compensation. Indeed, as the latter produce content for the game, they will receive a sum of money according to the engagement rate generated by their creations. This should stimulate their creativity even more!
