Making Custom Backplates in Unreal Editor for Fortnite

Backplates display various types of information, such as a player’s avatar picture, gamer tag, health, shields, and more, on the HUD.

Backplates perform a number of functions, from helping identify teammates in multi-player cooperative games to identifying low health and shield stats.

In Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), backplates are made using materials or a mixture of textures and materials. Textures are used as containers that add a decorative flourish to the backplate, to add detail that a material can’t.

However, textures can be memory-intensive. This can add a strain on your memory budget and reduce the performance of your island. Textures and Texture Sample nodes in your material take up a large amount of memory.

Materials are best used to create flat designs, and can add animated effects to the backplate. Materials are less memory-intensive as they rely on the GPU to execute simple algebra math. This allows you to do a range of things, from creating simple shapes to animating complex interactions in a material.

When opting to use textures, be sure to use them sparingly — it is recommended that you avoid anything above 256 x 256 px for UI textures.