Build Your First Island Rules: Island Settings

Welcome to the big leagues of Fortnite Creative! Today, you are not just placing blocks. You are becoming the Game Designer. You get to write the rulebook for your world.

Imagine you are building a soccer field. You need goals. You need players. But you also need rules. How many players? How long is the game? Do teams wear red or blue?

You set these rules using Island Settings. Think of it like the base settings on a video game console. You pick "Easy" or "Hard." You pick "2 Players" or "4 Players." Once you pick, that rule applies to everyone who joins your island.

In this tutorial, we will set up a simple 2-player soccer match. We will set the team colors. We will set the number of players. We will make sure the game knows it is a team sport. Let's build!

What You'll Learn

• What Island Settings are and why they matter.
• How to find the Details Panel in UEFN.
• How to set up Teams and Rounds.
• How to change Team Colors automatically.

How It Works

Island Settings are the brain of your island. They run before the game starts. They tell the game engine (the computer program) how to behave.

Think of your island like a school. The Island Settings are the school rules.

• Rule: No running in the halls.
• Rule: Wear a uniform.
• Rule: Class starts at 9 AM.

These rules apply to everyone in the school. Players cannot change them. If a player wants to change their own mouse speed, they use Game Settings. But if you want to change how many people can play your game, you use Island Settings.

In Fortnite Creative, these settings live inside a special device called Island Settings. It is like a control box. You drag it into your scene. Then, you open its brain (the Details Panel) to flip the switches.

Let's Build It

We will build a mini soccer game. We need two teams. We need four players total. Let's configure the rules.

Step 1: Find the Island Settings Device

First, we need the control box.

1. Open the Content Browser. This is your inventory of items.
2. Look for the folder named Fortnite.
3. Inside, find the Devices folder.
4. Search for "Island Settings."
5. Drag the Island Settings device into your 3D view.

It might look like a small box. That's okay. It does the heavy lifting.

Step 2: Open the Brain

Now we need to change the rules.

1. Click on the Island Settings device you just placed.
2. Look at the right side of your screen. You will see the Details Panel.
3. This panel shows all the settings for the selected item.
4. You will see a list called IslandSettings Details.

Step 3: Set the Players and Teams

Let's make it a team game.

1. In the Details Panel, find the Mode section. Click the arrow to open it.
2. Find Structure. Click the arrow to open it.
3. Change Max Players to 4.
4. Change Teams to 2.
5. Change Team Size to 2.

Now the game knows it is a 2v2 match.

Step 4: Set the Team Colors

We want Team 1 to be Blue. We want Team 2 to be Red.

1. Still in the Mode section.
2. Find Team Settings. Open it.
3. Find UI Team Colors.
4. Change it from "None" to Relationship.

This is a cool trick! "Relationship" means the game will automatically color-code the teams based on who is on which team. It saves you time!

Step 5: Set the Round Time

Do you want a time limit? Let's say no for now.

1. Find the Round section in the Details Panel.
2. Open End Condition.
3. Find Time Limit.
4. Set it to None.

This means the game only ends when one team scores enough points. It does not end because the clock runs out.

The Code Behind the Scenes

You might wonder, "Where is the Verse code?"

For Island Settings, you often don't need Verse code to set the rules. You use the editor. But Verse reads these settings.

Here is a tiny bit of Verse that shows how the game "knows" the team size. This is for you to understand the logic.

# This is a simple Verse script example
# It shows how the game stores the team size as a constant

using { /Verse.org/Simulation }

# We define a constant called TeamSize
# <computes> means it is calculated once at load time
TeamSize<computes> : int = 2

# The game uses this number to place players
# It knows to put 2 players on Team 1
# And 2 players on Team 2
# This matches our Island Settings!

In the editor, you set the number 2. Verse uses that number to decide where players stand. You don't have to type the number in Verse. The Island Settings device shares it with Verse automatically.

Try It Yourself

You did it! You set up the rules. Now, let's test them.

Challenge: Change the settings so that your game is a 1v1 match (1 player vs 1 player).

Hint:

1. Go back to the Island Settings device.
2. Open the Mode section.
3. Change Max Players to 2.
4. Change Teams to 2.
5. Change Team Size to 1.

Play the island! See how the players spawn? Only one person per team. Cool, right?

Recap

• Island Settings are the rulebook for your island.
• They are found in the Content Browser under Devices.
• You change them in the Details Panel.
• You can set Max Players, Teams, and Team Colors.
• These settings work for everyone who joins your game.

Great job, Game Designer! You have set the stage for your first multiplayer match. Next, we will learn how to make the ball spawn. Stay tuned!

References

• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/understanding-island-settings-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite-creative/understanding-island-settings-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/island-settings-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/5-rounds-of-econ-lessons-gameplay-example-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite-creative/ball-spawner-device-design-examples-in-fortnite-creative