Along with the start of the first season of the fourth chapter in Fortnite, the developers have updated the Unreal Engine game engine to version 5.1. In this official guide, you will find out what exactly has changed and what graphics settings are available for PC.
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Unreal Engine 5 was a huge leap in terms of image quality. It allows you to create extremely detailed worlds, one of which is the island of the “Royal Battle”. The latest Unreal Engine 5 features like Nanite, Lumen, virtual shadow maps and temporal ultra-high resolution are available now in Fortnite Battle Royale on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Cloud!
More about Nanite, Lumen, Virtual Shadow Mapping and Temporal Super-Resolution
How do these UE5 features affect the Fortnite Battle Royale graphics? Read on to dive into the technical details, or skip straight to the pictures!
Nanites
Nanite allows you to create detailed architecture. Thanks to this technology, buildings consisting of millions of polygons can be drawn in real time without losing quality: all bricks, stones, boards and decorative wall elements are separate models. The same applies to natural landscapes. Any tree is made up of about 300,000 polygons, and every stone, flower, or tuft of grass is also a model.
Lumen
Lumen technology creates realistic ray-traced reflections on glossy surfaces and water surfaces. It also provides real-time global illumination at 60 fps. Marvel at the mesmerizing interior lighting as well as the character models reacting to their surroundings (for example, a red carpet can create a red glow on equipment). In addition, equipment with the radiance property will illuminate nearby objects and surfaces.
Virtual shadow maps
Thanks to virtual maps, the shadows have become even clearer. Each model of a brick, leaf or other object casts a shadow, and the characters have realistic self-shadowing. This means that hats and other items of equipment will also cast shadows.
Temporal Super Resolution
Temporal Ultra-Res is an enhancement to Fortnite’s temporal anti-aliasing that delivers high-quality graphics without frame rate drops.
Fortnite on Unreal Engine 5: Image Gallery
Changes to graphics settings on PC
With the introduction of new UE5 features in Fortnite Battle Royale on PC, the following graphics options have changed:
Display section in graphics options
Render Mode option
Moved from Advanced Graphics Settings to Display.DirectX 12 is now the default render mode on PCs with certain high-end graphics cards.Performance render mode beta has been successfully completed. It is now called “Performance – Reduced Level of Detail”.
V-sync option
Moved from the “Advanced Graphics Settings” section to the “Display” section.
Graphics section in graphics options
Motion Blur option
Moved from ‘Advanced Graphics Settings’ to ‘Graphics’. Now disabled by default. Selecting ‘Auto Detect Quality’ under ‘Graphics Quality’ will not enable this setting, but the game may disable it on a PC with low performance.
Graphics Quality section in Graphics Options
Super Temporal Resolution option
This setting has the following values: Recommended (default): The most suitable 3D resolution is selected for your screen. Performance: Performance is prioritized over the quality of the final image by rendering the image at a lower resolution. .Quality: prioritizes final image quality over performance by rendering the image at a higher resolution. Native: allows frames to be rendered at native screen resolution at the cost of possible performance degradation. Custom: allows you to adjust the 3D resolution using a slider.
Nanite Virtual Geometry option
Only available when DirectX 12 is selected as the render mode. If Nanite Virtual Geometry is enabled, Nanite will be used in-game. when Quality Configuration is set to High or Epic. Please note that this setting cannot be changed during a match.
Global Illumination option
Enables Lumen Global Illumination when High or Epic is selected. With Nanite disabled, this setting has two values: off only. and “background shading” (background shading provides a reduced quality of ambient light with darkened corners). With Nanite on, two more values appear: “Lumen – high.” and “Lumen – epic.” Please note that this setting cannot be changed during a match.
Reflection option
Enables Lumen reflections when set to High or Epic. With Nanite disabled, this setting has two options: off only. and “screen space” (screen space – the quality of reflections depends solely on the current image on the screen). When Nanite is on, two more values \u200b\u200bappear: “Lumen – high.” and “Lumen is epic.”
Hardware Ray Tracing option
When you enable hardware ray tracing for global illumination and Lumen reflections, the hardware ray tracing calculation is used (the “Hardware ray tracing” option in the “Graph quality” section has replaced the “Ray tracing” section). Disabled by default. To enable hardware ray tracing: Enable Nanite (i.e. Nanite Virtual Geometry must be enabled). Global Illumination or Reflections must be set to Lumen – High. or “Lumen – epic.” After changing this setting, restart the game.
“Automatic quality detection”
When auto-detect quality is enabled, most graphics settings will be set to low, medium, high, or epic quality levels. Values for global illumination and reflections will also be set. Anti-Aliasing & Super Resolution will be set to TSR Low, TSR Medium, TSR High. or “TSR – Epic” and Temporal Super Resolution will be set to “Recommended”.
Note: We have temporarily disabled DLSS in Fortnite on PC as we are currently testing its compatibility with UE5 features.
Answers to questions on Nanite, Lumen, Virtual Shadow Mapping and Temporal Super-Resolution
Are Nanite, Lumen, Virtual Shadow Maps, and Temporal Super-Resolution being used on the copyright islands and in Save the Storm?
Nanite, Lumen and virtual shadow maps are currently not used on the copyright islands and in Save the World. But temporary ultra-high resolution is available.
What are the minimum system requirements to enable Nanite on PC?
Graphics card: NVIDIA: Maxwell generation graphics cards or later AMD: GCN generation graphics cards or later Latest graphics driver version Operating system: Windows 10 version 1909.1350 or later with DirectX 12 Agility SDK support
What are the recommended system requirements to enable Nanite on PC?
Graphics Card: NVIDIA: GeForce RTX 2080 or later AMD: Radeon RX 5700 or later Latest Graphics Driver Operating System: Latest Windows 10 with DirectX 12 Agility SDK support Windows 11 Latest DirectX Version:
If I’m playing Fortnite on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S, what do I need to do to enable Nanite, Lumen, Virtual Shadow Maps, and Temporal Super Resolution?
To get Nanite, Lumen, virtual shadow maps and temporary ultra-high resolution to work on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X | S, turn off the “120 fps” mode in the “Graphics” section of the graphics options.
Attention streamers and video creators planning to create content during Chapter 4 of Fortnite!
The island of the Royal Battle has changed its appearance greatly in the fourth chapter and will appear before your viewers in a new form. If before your viewers and fans saw the picture only in the “performance” mode, now is the time to show them all the possibilities of Unreal Engine. Here are some tips for those who want to showcase Nanite and Lumen in all their glory:
Switch the rendering mode to DirectX 12. Turn on automatic quality detection in the graphics settings. Adjust the Temporal Ultra High Resolution setting to find the optimal ratio of graphics quality and frame rate, depending on the system you are using to stream or record video.
Legacy Operating System Support Changes
Beginning with Battle Royale Chapter 4 Season 2, players will need Windows 10 or newer to continue playing properly on PC. Support for Windows 7 and 8 in Fortnite will be officially ended.
Fortnite continues to evolve, and we are forced to make changes to our support system to be able to improve existing technology and expand the game in line with our vision for the future of Fortnite. Legacy operating systems are increasingly exposed to security risks and are missing a number of modern features. These restrictions force our developers to spend more and more time looking for workarounds instead of developing the game.
Players who are unable to upgrade their operating system can use the NVIDIA GeForce NOW service. This is one of the available alternative ways to play Fortnite on Windows 7 or 8 PC properly.
