Blocking Out My Fortnite Level

 I started this morning by creating a top-down map layout of my new Fortnite point-of-interest, using the original Coney Crossroads as a reference for scale and street positions. Once I was happy with my design, I imported the map image as a decal in Unreal Engine 5, and projected it onto my terrain. This gave me a handy reference right in the viewport to start shaping the terrain accurately. Next, I sculpted the land using UE5’s built-in landscape tools, matching elevation, adding a river, and placing two bridges leading into my location.

Once the landscape felt right, I quickly realized the default UE5 character was a bit too small compared to a standard Fortnite character, so I scaled it up by around 7% to match Fortnite’s height. This adjustment helped make sure my buildings felt natural and the sightlines matched Fortnite’s style better.

Now I’m laying out my buildings using the Fortnite grid, which is exactly 512 Unreal Units per square. Using this grid makes it easy to keep my structures, like the watchtower and temple, at the right scale and feeling good during gameplay. I’ve got my watchtower walls built out. Currently it is four stories tall, and I’m adding floors and stairs to test if the scale feels right. If it ends up feeling oversized, I might shrink it down later.

Take Over Camera

In this segment, I created a blueprint designed to commandeer the player’s camera and transition it into a cinematic view. The challenge arose from the limitations of the AWALS pack, which doesn’t provide a reference camera until the game starts. To work around this, I extracted the player’s camera directly from the player controller and stored it in a variable for later recall. This allowed me to switch seamlessly between the default third-person perspective and the cinematic camera positioned far out over the Cornwall cliffs, woods, and the vast ocean.

This cinematic camera not only offers a breathtaking view of the landscape and the abandoned mining site but also foreshadows the next sections of the level where Nathan Drake begins his climb up the side of the mine building. By dynamically switching perspectives, the blueprint enhances the narrative flow and immerses the player deeper into the environment. Overall, this solution balances technical constraints with creative storytelling, providing both a functional gameplay mechanic and a visually engaging experience that aligns with the Uncharted spirit.