Question: What Game Engine Does Fortnite Use?

Answer

Fortnite, the popular battle royale game from Epic Games, is developed using the Unreal Engine. Specifically, Fortnite is known for being created with Unreal Engine 4.

The Unreal Engine is a powerful, versatile game engine developed by Epic Games. It's widely used in the industry for developing AAA games due to its high-quality graphics capabilities and robust toolset that allows for creating complex gameplay mechanics, realistic physics, and engaging multiplayer experiences.

Unreal Engine’s Blueprint visual scripting system is a key feature that has been particularly advantageous for rapid prototyping and iteration during development. This allows developers to create gameplay elements without needing to write code, making it accessible for both programmers and non-programmers.

Given that Epic Games develops both Fortnite and the Unreal Engine, they are able to tightly integrate game features with engine capabilities. They have also used Fortnite as a showcase for new Unreal Engine features, implementing them into the game to push the boundaries of what can be achieved within their game engine.

Furthermore, as the Unreal Engine evolves, Fortnite often receives updates that take advantage of the latest engine improvements. For example, when Unreal Engine 5 was announced, Epic Games mentioned that Fortnite would eventually be migrated to the new engine version to benefit from its advanced features like the Nanite virtualized geometry system and Lumen global illumination.

To illustrate how a game feature might be implemented in Unreal Engine 4, here is a very basic outline of spawning an actor (an object in the game world, such as a weapon or item) using Blueprints:

1. Open the Blueprint Editor.
2. Get a reference to the class of actor you want to spawn (e.g., a weapon).
3. Choose where in the game world to spawn the actor (location and rotation).
4. Use the "Spawn Actor from Class" node, feeding it the class, location, and rotation.
5. Optionally, set properties on the spawned actor or bind events to it.

For example, if you're spawning a weapon, you might set its damage value or customize its appearance right after spawning it.

Here is a snippet showing what the Blueprint nodes might look like in textual form (not actual code):

Event BeginPlay
    -> Spawn Actor from Class (WeaponClass, Location, Rotation)
       -> Set Damage (DamageValue)
       -> (Other custom logic)

Once this Blueprint is executed within the game, it will dynamically create an instance of the specified actor class at the desired location in the world.