Fortnite - POI Concept and Blockout

I set out to analyze and refine close-quarters combat encounter design, taking inspiration from Fortnite's varied and fast-paced gameplay moments.

For this project, I concepted, whiteboxed, and iterated on a small POI, fully blocking-out the space using Fortnite's Creative mode (UEFN) to bring the design to life directly within the game.

I started by considering my design goals of the POI, and gathered references for the type of space I wanted to make.

My Process

- Create close-quarters combat area with tight-corners
- Fast-paced engagements with other players, emphasis on moving from cover to cover
- Encourage quick movement over and around obstacles
- Allow for strong engagements over 2 floors
- High angle can be approached from directly below
- Open and fluid movement between building and arena
- POI takes place as a Paintball arena, located outside
- The arena is surrounded by wooden walls, covered by paintball marks
- Booth lines the front entrance, splitting the main entrance lanes into 2
- Wall slightly divides the arena into 2, with a window between for tight pinch angles
- Building sits adjacent to arena, with window peering into arena on second floor
- Holes in ceiling provides strong height advantage, but leaves players out in the open air
- Cars outside of the arena provide cover from arena window
Blockout was created using UEFN.
- My first iteration focused on tweaking the secondary building.
  - I realized having a fully built-out secondary space was pulling too much attention away from the arena’s flow and making things feel a bit clunky.
  - Adding a staircase straight to the second floor from the outside really opened things up. It created a cool, dynamic way for players to enter the arena and made the rooftop way more accessible.
- I initially pictured the Open Entrances on the sides of the arena as small doorways
  - Switching to big garage doors made moving from outside to inside feel seamless ,and helped encourage more action instead of just a place to hide
- I made small adjustments to the main arena by bringing in larger shelving units to push the verticality a bit more
  - Players can climb over them or break them down
- I wanted to avoid making the level feel unnecessarily dense - I ensured to keep negative space to make movement feel more fluid
Through this project, I gained a deeper understanding of what makes a Fortnite POI feel smooth and replayable:
- All areas should offer multiple exits to maintain fluid movement and reduce frustrations
- Players should immediately recognize clear, intuitive routes between key areas
- I focused on establishing clear cover points and memorable landmarks to support both navigation and combat, rather than unnecessarily filling the space
- The game’s smooth traversal - like sliding, mantling, sprinting and jumping really shine when the environment supports them
  - Strategically placing climbable and vaultable objects and vertical paths adds skill-based opportunities for creative plays