Epic Games
Arguably the biggest change to come to Fortnite since its release into free-to-play comes tomorrow (January 18) in the form of new locations on the west side of the map.
Both Fortnite: Save the World and Battle Royale are receiving an update but this post will be focusing on the Battle Royale side of things. One of the criticisms of the game so far has been the relative emptiness of the west side of the map. All of that is changing with this update.
The new map will add five new locations: Junk Junction, Haunted Hills, Snobby Shores, Shifty Shafts and Tilted Towers. With the release of the new update you can certainly expect players to be dropping into these locations with high frequency.
Biomes are also coming with this update which will help give each area its own unique feel. Taking a glance at the new map also shows you an idea of what this will be like. For a more in-depth write-up about the new locations, you can read our post here.
Like the Halloween Event, Fortnite’s Christmas event went on well after the actual holiday which gave players several extra weeks to loot chests under Christmas trees and shoot snowballs from their grenade launchers. With the update players will no longer find these Christmas trees or Winter-themed grenade launchers. All good things must come to an end.
A new Battle Pass bonus will be available that gives players a free 5 tier head start in Season 3 when you buy the Season 2 Battle Pass. Players also have the option of buying 10 Battle Pass tiers for the price of six for a limited time.
If you haven’t noticed by now, friendly fire has been turned off and that’s something that is still being tested. For the time being, you don’t have to worry about being team killed in squads or blowing up your friends with RPGs or grenades.
A variety of performance issues are being ironed out with this update as well including:
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Added level streaming, which loads the world on-the-fly as you move around, enabling a richer map and improved performance.
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Improved frame rate by greatly reducing the number of objects that need to be updated.
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Loading times have been greatly improved. It’s over twice as fast to load into the match on PS4 and Xbox One!
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Loading content before matchmaking now completes quicker.
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Greatly reduced hitching when garbage collecting memory every minute.
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Greatly reduced hitching caused by updating objects when the time of day changes from day to night, and vice-versa.
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Reduced the amount of system and GPU memory used.
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Optimized the visual effects played when distant buildings are hit.
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Improved overall frame rate by optimizing how player animation and footsteps are handled.
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Cozy Campfire and Boogie Bomb items no longer cause a hitch when seen the first time in a match.
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Encountering players with specific skins for the first time in a match no longer causes a hitch.
For the full list of patch notes, head here. For more Fortnite: Battle Royale guides, features and news stay with us here at Heavy.
