AFortnitefan’s image comparing the graphics between the game’s first chapter and the all-new Chapter 4 is quickly making the rounds online. WhileFortnite’s graphics have never necessarily been the primary appeal of the wildly popular battle royale title, it has retained its own signature cartoony art style. While that specific look is still there,Fortnitehas made great strides in improving its visuals since first launching, as can be seen by the comparison images below.
Epic Games' ultra-popular free-to-play game just concluded its third Chapter a few days ago. As has become the custom with the end of a chapter,Fortnite capped off Chapter 3 with the “Fracture” end event. The cinematic event saw Loopers attempt to defend the island by positioning in the Reality Tree to stop The Herald. After ultimately failing and having the Chapter 3 island explode, Brie Larson’s The Paradigm manages to stitch together a new island for Chapter 4.
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The image comparing the graphics of Chapter 1 to Chapter 4 comes courtesy of Reddit user u/BlaZeToWab7934, who posted the viral image to aFortnitesubreddit. The top image is ofFortniteChapter 1, showing a player looking out overold POI fan-favorite Loot Lake. While there aren’t any eyesores to point out, the textures, lighting, and colors come off as a bland, making the scene look a bit washed out, especially in comparison to the Chapter 4 image below. The newer image clearly shows a dramatic improvement in graphical fidelity, withFortnitelooking better in virtually every regard.
The substantial improvement inFortniteChapter 4’s graphics is thanks to new Unreal Engine 5 features.FortniteChapter 4 utlizes Unreal Engine 5.1, making it the first major commercial title to use the powerful graphics engine. Two of the biggest difference makers contributing to the game’s visual improvements within Unreal Engine 5.1 are Lumen and Nanite. Lumen is a global illumination technology which creates extremely life-like lighting, while the Nanite technology allows for detailed objects and level geometry to automatically shift the level of visible detail on a surface depending on the player’s distance from it.
This isn’t the first timeFortnitehas given itself a graphical boost at the start of a new season, either. Back in 2021, Epic rolled out anew graphic setting option during Chapter 2 Season 7for players with high-end setups, which included things like improved bloom and lens flares, explosions, as well as smoke and liquid simulations. While noticeable at the time,Fortnite’s latest improvement is being viewed as its most substantial ever, making the game look the best it’s ever been.
Fortniteis available on mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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