Intro to Fortnite Creative
Ever dream of creating your own Fortnite islands? You’re in the right place! This step-by-step guide will walk you through everything you need to know to create your very first Fortnite game - an escape room!
Watch the Getting Started video for an overview on how to open Fortnite Creative, create your first starter island, and add prefabs, props, and devices.
Just watch for now, we'll revisit each of these steps in more detail in the following videos.
Step 1: Create an Island
First, we need a place to build our escape room. Go to your creative hub and pick a starter island that’s mostly flat and empty.
Don’t worry too much about the island itself; what matters is the escape room you build on it.
Give your island an awesome name, but make sure it is something you will be able to remember. I’m going to call mine “The Great Escape Room.”
Step 2: Prefabs & Props
Next, we need to pick a prefab building for our escape room. There are lots of prefabs to choose from, which can be overwhelming. Just remember, we need a building with doors so we can lock the player inside. (I am going to pick the “Blue House.”)
After you pick a prefab, explore inside and add or change props (like furniture and decorations) to make it look how you want. You can remove walls or move things around to make it your own.
Are you getting frustrated placing items precisely where you want them? Check out these tips.
Step 3: Lock the Doors!
When someone starts your game, they should be in a locked room. To do this, we need to add some special devices.
First, put player spawners in the room where you want players to start. Place four spawners so when you play with your friends, everyone has a spot.
To lock doors, place the lock device on a wall next to the door. The light on the lock will turn blue when it’s placed correctly.
Step 4: Test the Game
Open the main menu and select “Start Game.” You should spawn in a locked room with no escape. Try to break out of the room with your pickaxe.
Oh no! We need to change our island settings to prevent this kind of escape. Open the main menu and select “End Game” to return to editing.
Go to the island settings and turn off “Environment Damage” and “Building Can Destroy Environment.” Test your game again to make sure it works right.
Step 5: Make a Plan
Now is the fun part - designing the escape route.
Devices in Fortnite Creative can be linked to one another in a chain of events. For example, you can use a button device to start a water device, which triggers a wildlife spawner to create a chicken that you must tame in order to unlock the door.
Or you could just use a chair device so that if the player sits down, the door opens.
The possibilities are endless.
Step 6: Hide a Key
When designing your escape room, try using the conditional button, which only works when the player has a certain item. Then any item in the game can be used as a key to unlock a door.
What creative ways can you find to use a hidden item as a key for your escape room?
Once you have planned your escape route, get building!
Going Further
Your escape room should have a prefab structure with four player spawner devices in a locked room where a series of connected devices and/or keys unlocks the room, allowing the player to escape.
But you don't have to stop there. Here are a few ways you can go above and beyond, turning this escape room into an awesome gaming experience.
Bonus: Moody Atmosphere
The island settings allow you to change the look and feel of your game, switching the Time of Day, changing the Fog Thickness, or adding a unique Camera Filter to the entire experience.
Special items like the Flashlight or Torch can be used in dark rooms to create a spooky vibe.
Adding text to the wall or floors with the Billboard device can further enhance the story of your game.
Bonus: Traps & Enemies
Link a Damage Trap to a Trigger device to stop any player who steps in the wrong spot.
The Sentry device spawns a custom enemy who can be given any weapon and scaled to any size.
The Creature Placer device will spawn a monster.
You can even link these enemies to other devices, so that eliminating an attacker can unlock a door.
Bonus: Keeping Score
Turn your escape room into a competitive game by tracking the player’s time from start to finish.
You’ll need to add a Score Manager device and trigger it when the player escapes. You’ll also need to modify these islands settings:
• Fastest Time Win 🠆 Enable
• Total Rounds 🠆 3
• Time Limit 🠆 None
• Score to End 🠆 1
• Round Win Condition 🠆 Score
• First Scoreboard Column 🠆 Time
Share Your Creation
We'd love to see what you made. Maybe we will even feature it in our student showcase!
Send us an email with a link to a video capture of your escape room.
Here are some tips to make the best possible video, but if your creation is selected for the showcase, we will work with you to create a professional in-game recording.
Inquiries? Email learnbuildwin@gmail.com
Portions of the materials used are trademarks and/or copyrighted works of Epic Games, Inc. All rights reserved by Epic. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Epic.