Epic Games releases development update on Fortnite mobile – Controls, 60 FPS, and more
It’s been quite a while since Epic Games gave any updates on the mobile version of Fortnite, but the November 2018 State of Mobile Development update was quite the doozy.
Even amidst all the updates coming to the PC and console versions of Fortnite lately, Epic has clearly been hard at work given the bevy of topics covered in this update.
Discussing everything from controls to HUD customizations to game performance, this update pretty much covers it all.
One of the biggest things Epic focuses on is the framerate and overall game performance for the mobile version of the game.
Not only will Epic Games be working on major improvements to optimization for the mobile title, but they will be unlocking 60 FPS functionality for certain high-end devices in the “near future.”
In the near future, we’ll be unlocking 60 FPS functionality on a limited set of high end devices. We’re doing some validation on devices to make sure they can maintain a high level of performance over multiple games without overheating. You’ll be able to drop into matches with more clarity than before and save those crisp plays to share with your friends!
Epic will also be introducing more customization options for the HUD, giving players much more freedom to be quicker at building like their PC and console brethren.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of this entire post was Epic’s statement on controller support on mobile, with the developer saying that it’s currently in the testing stages.
Controller support. We haven’t touched on this in some time, but we’re beginning testing on various controller setups as we work to enable support. We’ll give you a status update on these when we get it to a better state.
You can read the full State of Mobile Development post below:
STATE OF MOBILE DEVELOPMENT – NOVEMBER 2018
Heya folks,
Earlier this year we launched on iOS and more recently opened up Android to everyone. We have many important features and updates in development that we’re excited to share with you. Get the scoop on our ongoing dev efforts!
CUSTOMIZABLE HUD
We want you to have more control over your HUD, and an important step in that direction is to allow players to decide which elements are active or disabled at any given moment. We’ve added editable visibility settings for most HUD elements as well as grid snapping. Every HUD element has three states for the three modes of gameplay (building, editing and combat).
CONTROLS
We’re doing a big quality of life pass on many of the HUD elements. Small things that can dramatically impact the usefulness of the UI, like building slots being drag and droppable which could block other inputs or the wood resource button disabling autorun. We brought back building from the quickbar buttons, which we previously disabled due to it blocking some of our experienced builders. We dropped some of these features in the v6.10 update, so give us your thoughts.
Controller support. We haven’t touched on this in some time, but we’re beginning testing on various controller setups as we work to enable support. We’ll give you a status update on these when we get it to a better state.
60 FPS
In the near future, we’ll be unlocking 60 FPS functionality on a limited set of high end devices. We’re doing some validation on devices to make sure they can maintain a high level of performance over multiple games without overheating. You’ll be able to drop into matches with more clarity than before and save those crisp plays to share with your friends!
GAME PERFORMANCE/COMPATIBILITY
We’re continuing efforts in this area to improve perf across the board for compatible devices. It’s an area that benefits from all of the feedback you provide detailing your experiences on your device.
In the near future, we’re working on major performance improvements to Android 7 and some other older operating systems. We’ve since resolved this, providing a big win for performance. Additionally, we’ve been working on large scale optimization efforts to reduce the amount of memory Fortnite takes up. This should provide a more consistent frame rate during longer play sessions. For iOS players, we’re changing how our “shader cache” system operates to reduce size and impact on memory.
Longer term, we’re working with Phone manufacturers on Android optimizations and providing an overall smoother experience. As always, many of these updates are tied to operating systems (OS) so make sure you update drivers regularly!
INSTALLATION SIZE AND UPDATE EXPERIENCE
Fortnite is a living game with new content, LTMs, and cosmetics released every week, so downloads are necessary every time we update. We’re always working to reduce the update size and have made recent improvements that will result in smaller patches.
Thank you for all of your support and feedback!
Thanks,
The Fortnite Team
Source – Epic Games
