Yesterday, I’d have described Fortnite as a fairly handsome sport that runs on something. After right now’s huge Chapter 4 replace, I would describe Fortnite as a graphical showcase that demonstrates simply how fairly the subsequent era of 3D video games will look.
Fortnite’s all-new, multi-biome map is a wonderland of saturated landscapes which can be popping much more since I turned on Epic’s proprietary, real-time ray-traced international illumination and reflection choices.
That is all because of Fortnite Chapter 4’s change to Unreal Engine 5.1 (opens in new tab), which permits Epic’s Nanite “virtualized geometry” method and Lumen lighting/reflection tech. Epic describes Nanite as a approach of bettering texture element (it is one of many issues that made that Matrix Awakens PS5 tech demo (opens in new tab) look so good), but it surely warns that turning it on can cut back efficiency in Fortnite.
After you have Nanite on (discover it underneath the Show tab), just a few different key graphical choices unlock: Digital Shadows, Lumen lighting, and Lumen reflections. The dynamic shadows look nice with the brand new map’s frequent time-of-day shifts, however I have been principally having fun with the ray-traced reflections and lighting, particularly noticeable in forests and icy areas.
Timber mirrored in ice and fantastically lit branches will not look new to PC players who’ve loved ray tracing succesful GPUs for the final handful of years, however the neat a part of Lumen is that it is {hardware} agnostic. These fairly reflections are with {hardware} ray tracing set to Off. Optionally, you possibly can unleash your RTX card’s tensor cores on Lumen to get larger high quality outcomes, however that is (once more) liable to decrease efficiency.
Talking of efficiency, you are positively taking a look at an fps hit when you activate all one of the best lighting/reflection choices. I am on an RTX 3060 at 1080p with Lumen reflections and lighting set to the second-highest setting, and I am averaging round 75 fps. That is with Unreal Engine 5’s new Temporal Tremendous Decision on as nicely, an upscaling method that replaces DLSS (facet word: Epic has disabled DLSS in Fortnite, but it surely’s momentary). I am pleased with the outcomes for the way nice the sport now appears, but it surely’s not excellent. I am experiencing some annoying stutters after I load into the pre-game foyer and periodic framerate dips are a slight trouble. If I took my Fortnite play critically I would in all probability flip off each bell and whistle that inches me farther from a locked 144 fps, however since I do not, the tradeoffs are price it to this point.
That TSR upscaling introduces some graphical weirdness to the primary minute or so of a match, too. Characters in movement generally go away behind grainy blurs that may get distracting. I observed this will look particularly unhealthy when trying shut up at cel-shaded character skins, like this dancing Sasuke Uchiha (opens in new tab). It is a ghosting impact just like what used to occur loads in older variations of DLSS (and nonetheless persists in some video games).
Some developments are extra impactful than others. Epic additionally notes that Lumen lighting introduces bouncing, reflective lighting to interiors. I discovered this characteristic extremely spectacular after I performed Metro Exodus with RTX on, however I am not seeing an enormous distinction in Fortnite but. To date the insides of buildings look about pretty much as good as they did earlier than to my eye, which is possibly a testomony to Fortnite’s sturdy artwork route.
What Fortnite Chapter 4 has carried out right here is unprecedented within the service sport age. Fortnite, a sport obtainable on the whole lot from cellphones to the Nintendo Change, has turn out to be a graphical powerhouse with options that Epic is simply recommending for PCs with an RTX 2080 or higher. We do not sometimes anticipate builders to make important graphical developments to already-released video games, not to mention these 5 years into their lifetime. It exhibits that Epic is altering Fortnite with the occasions not solely in its gameplay, however its look.
Yeah, I am completely bought on Lumen and Nanite. Delivery this in a 60 fps giant scale multiplayer sport…that is nuts. Simply superb work from the crew at Epic. pic.twitter.com/VcxfsG2RexDecember 5, 2022
To be clear, this is not an altruistic replace on behalf of Epic. That is the makers of Unreal Engine 5 exhibiting off what its product can do with one of many largest leisure platforms on the planet, with hopes that increasingly studios will hitch their wagon to Epic’s battle bus. Although, I am unsure Epic has to do far more convincing, contemplating all the massive video games already introduced to be making the UE5 soar—Redfall (opens in new tab), Stalker 2 (opens in new tab), Tekken 8 (opens in new tab), and The Witcher 4 (opens in new tab) to call just a few.
I believe a number of of these video games can be a significantly better showcase for UE5 than Fortnite’s cartoony worlds, however Chapter 4 is a formidable debut, and it is cool to get a sneak peek on the tech that among the largest video games of the close to and much future could have entry to.
