Fortnite isn't exactly the most graphically intense game and, while its cartoony visuals can be easily recognized and make it appealing to look at, nobody is playing it for the graphics. However, Epic Games is trying to find ways to improve them, though not always successfully. Recently, it had to remove a "hi-rez textures" option that ironically made the graphics worse.
In lieu of that, fans can instead look forward to the upcoming ray tracing and DLSS 2.0 update from NVIDIA, which was announced earlier this month. At the time, we didn't have a release date for the update but, as of today, we know that it will be incorporated very soon. In fact, it's coming to the game tomorrow, September 17.
In case anyone doesn't quite understand how ray tracing and DLSS can improve Fortnite's visuals, we have some comprehensive breakdowns of the changes it will bring. Firstly, according to NVIDIA itself, DLSS makes visuals appear much smoother by improving frame rates, while also providing players options to maximize ray tracing settings and increase output resolutions.
As for ray tracing, there are four key details. The first is ray traced reflections. Basically, water and other reflective surfaces will actually be able to display accurate reflections, so players will be able to see themselves in mirrors and such. Second is ray traced shadows. Obviously, shadows are already in Fortnite, but with ray tracing, these shadows can more realistically stretch across the environment. Their resolution is also improved and shadows will dynamically update depending on the time of day, so players will be able to see them actually change in real-time as the sun sets or rises.
Third is ray traced ambient occlusion, which is also related to shadows. When objects and/or surfaces meet, light is occluded i.e. stopped or obstructed, which in turn creates more subtle shadows. Ray tracing allows this form of shadowing to be far more accurate. Lastly, we have ray traced global illumination. Because Fortnite's world is composed of dynamically built and destroyed objects, pre-baked light interaction isn't possible, with sky lights being the only means of providing real-time environmental lighting. But with ray tracing, additional bounced light can be added.
If none of this made sense, basically it all makes the game look prettier and almost lifelike in how it handles lighting. A quick look between images of Fortnite now and how it will look with these additions and we can see some very noticeable differences.
This isn't all fans have to look forward to this week. Epic has confirmed that another concert will be held in-game this weekend and will feature the Grammy Award winning rapper Anderson .Paak.
It hasn't all been good news for Epic, though. It's still in the midst of a lawsuit with Apple and Google and now Apple has stated that Fortnite will not be reinstated on its app store until next year at the earliest.
Fortnite is available for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: DSOGaming