Cool thanks. I spent some time this morning mowing down ice legion on a quad-bike so hope to get through the ice challenges too!

Played this for the first time the other day, on the Switch. My nephew got his Switch earlier this week so needed to be prepared but haven't heard anything since.

I was surprised by how it runs, 30fps doesn't feel smooth with this game at all. B was playing on PC so I installed it there as well, but haven't had a look yet. Was pretty fun to be able to play it with the two of us in a party though.

Haven't played for ages, and can't say I ever got particularly good (best finish was 3rd IIRC) but you'll find life easier if you take the battle bus to the farther reaches of the map and drop where it's more deserted, giving you time to rinse some of the buildings and acquire some decent guns before you encounter anyone. It's more likely you'll be able to take opponents from behind as you catch them trying to outrun the perimeter at the same time as you.

The main obstacle to becoming good at the game for me seemed to be in quick tower/defence building, but I never really put the time in to get to that point. Once you're confident with the run & gun side, get to work on the building, then you should hopefully be clocking up top 10 finishes 4/5 games.

I do tend to recommend to anyone new to the game that they jump into the various Limited Time Modes that are available.

Currently it's Team Rumble - 2 large teams, first team to 100 kills wins. Respawns are enabled so it doesn't matter if you get beat, just jump back in and try again. You'll begin to learn the map, you can practice your building in a non-stressfull environment, and you'll get to see more combat in a single game of that than in an hour of normal BR.

Regarding tips vids, I wouldn't even know where to start I'm afraid. I haven't watched anything like that since the game came out, and it's changed so much that none of that stuff is relevant anymore.

stormyskiesahead wrote:

And honestly, the only way to get better is to play and practice - watch what others do and try and emulate some of it.

Yeah I was afraid this was the case. I might put on some Twitch in the background while studying and try to pick up some tips.

Played some Team Rumble the first time I started it, was definitely a good thing to get used to the map etc. I'll see if my nephew is up for that next time, I've mainly been following him around and want to feel slightly less useless. To be fair he sounds happy enough whenever he finds a weapon he likes or a balloon or whatever.

Don't think I'll ever put enough time into this to get anywhere but as long as my nephew enjoys it I'll play with him.

If you’re on PS4 then I’m up for doing that one fella

Fortnite has PS4 / Bone crossplay btw, you just need to add each other through Epic Friends.  The in-game voice chat is entirely acceptable.

Today's update comes with Overtime challenges to do before Season 8 starts. Complete 13 of these challenges by Feb 27 and you'll get the Season 8 Battlepass for free!

The Battlepass is a huge money maker. Apex has really got 'em worried, eh?

Yeah, exactly. Just think of the Vbucks you've got as a nice lil bonus from Epic.

And honestly, doing the challenges is the only real thing that's keeping me playing. I've clocked well over 1000 hours on BR and the burn-out is real. I wasn't sure if I was gonna buy the next Battlepass, but I'll absolutely do the challenges to get it for free.

I think you have to be an existing Battlepass holder to get these new Overtime challenges for that free S8 pass.

There are a bunch of special valentine challenges available as well, but they're open to everyone.

Haven't seen them yet but that's always been an issue, some weeks are fun but others pretty much suck.

If Jimmy's not available I should be able to hide in a corner with you for 3 matches sometime this weekend.

Not sure Jimmy but add me to your epic friends and we'll get a game at some stage. What's your epic name Stormy? I'll add you on Bone later anyway.

So we're more than halfway through Season 8 and I thought I'd give a lil update on my thoughts about the current state of Fortnite BR.

The constantly evolving nature of this game really is something else, from the never ending flood of new items, weapons, and consumables, to the map changes and seasonal events.  This season saw the reworking of the entire North East section of the map to go with the current pirate theme, including a new tropical biome featuring a huge-ass volcano, rivers of lava, Aztec / Mayan style temples, and a lagoon complete with a moored pirate ship.  We also got big changes and additions to Creative mode, with some stunning player designed featured maps and game modes, and the Block (an area of the actual BR map that changes to a new player built creation every week) continues to impress.  The entire fontend also looks fantastic, with reworked menus to go with those lovely and ever changing lobby screens. 





Gameplay wise we have newly added solo and duo Competitive modes, and an expansion of the various in-game tournaments that have been going on for a while now.  Success in these can lead to serious prize money and give normal players the chance to compete in Epic supported Esports events alongside some of the biggest names on Twitch.

The thing is, I'm not enjoying the main BR game any more, and it's been going this way for a while.  Turbo-building was the beginning of the end for me.  The skill gap in this game always was crazy, but turbo-building took that skill gap to a level I've never experienced in a competitive shooter before.  You're effectively playing two games at once, a normal shooter with all the game awareness, positioning and aiming skillz that requires - and an absurdly difficult free-form puzzle building game.  It used to be a nice 50/50 balance between building and shooting, now it's more like 90/10 in favour of building.  But not old-style wall and ramp building, we're talking 30 story skyscraper in 1.7 seconds building.  I simply lack the mental and physical dexterity to compete in what this game has become, and it's feels bad (still managed to get a winners umbrella in every season since launch though).  

However, Epic realised long ago that there were many, many people like me around, and so they created the large team Limited Time Modes.  50v50, Team Rumble, Disco Domination, etc.  Modes that feature either 32 or 50 people per side, some with respawns enabled, some with objectives to play around.  Building is still everywhere but it's not the dominant factor, shooting is king.  These modes have been a blast, and are quite honestly the only reason I'm still playing BR at all. 

Another thing this game has absolutely nailed is the moentization.  No loot boxes, you buy what you want, and Fortnite's cosmetics are in a league of their own.  The skins are phenomenal, as are the matching gliders, backpacks, picks, and weapon wraps.  Then there's the emotes, from general pop culture, to K-pop dances, to unapologetic trolling.  They're a joy.  And then there's the Battle Pass, the quality and quantity of content here is unmatched by any of the sorry attempts of it's rivals, and the addition of weekly, event, and skin related challenges and rewards (some of which are available to non-Battle Pass holders, as with the daily challenges) give you plenty to grind for, and even give people who don't feel like playing the core game modes a reason to mess around in the general sandbox. 





So yeah, Fortnite BR.  A game I'm not enjoying in the same way I used to, but that I am still enjoying.  It's a funny one. 

Anyhoo, here's some shotties and snipes.  From LTM's.  Obvs.

I've never won. I only play to complete challenges and level up the Battle Pass to get loot for my son. Mostly do these in Team Rumble. The end game in other modes is too full on with the building so I don't know if I'll ever get an umbrella for him.