UEFN will release at 2 pm (GMT-4) today 22 March to be used publicly by Fortnite Creators.
One of the reasons for Fortnite’s popularity is the wide variety of experiences and maps available to players, which till today was possible thanks to Fortnite Creative mode, which used “devices” in-game to create mechanisms. From today, we’ll see a HUUGE evolution in the way creators will create their Fortnite games – from now it will be defined as Fortnite Creative 2.0.
UEFN builds upon the existing capabilities of Unreal Engine to create a custom version of the engine specifically designed for Fortnite. This allows game developers to create Fortnite experiences and maps with ease, thanks to the optimized tools and features available in UEFN.
One of the key features of UEFN is the Verse programming language. Verse is a high-level programming language that has been specifically designed for development related to Fortnite. It is built on top of Unreal Engine’s existing Blueprint system and provides developers with a simple and intuitive way to create complex game logic.
Verse it’s peculiar, in fact it is declarative (a variable in Verse stands for just one, immutable value), and higher order (lambdas are first class). Let’s hope it will be easy for developers to learn this new programming language!
Another important feature of UEFN is its robust toolset. The engine comes with a wide variety of tools and features that make it easy for developers to create high-quality Fortnite experiences and maps. These tools include a powerful level editor, asset management system (import), and real-time debugging tools, but also as stated in the Epic Games site modeling, materials and VFX, Sequencer and Control Rig, among others.
UEFN only supports PC now, but it will be supported in-game also on other platforms (Xbox, PlayStation, and mobile devices) in the distant future; though maps created with UEFN are playable on all platforms like it’s always been.
You can download it from the official website!
Fortnite developers will be able to create high-quality games much more quickly and, hopefully, easily (despite we can expect it to be hard at first, in the “learning stage”). I can’t wait to see the amazing games and experiences that will be created using this powerful engine, and you?