While Dark and Darker is still in legal trouble, the sole creator is working hard to bring the popular fantasy role-playing game to a new platform: Fortnite.
The sole developer is Fern, a software engineer from the UK, who posted a video of their work-in-progress project on the Fortnite Creative Reddit. Caught up with the latest tech industry layoffs, they decided to “chill out” and work on personal projects. Hence the dark and dark maps.
“This project started long before UEFN even existed. I believe I started with the idea in January 2023. I’ve been updating myself with Unreal Engine 5 since I’ve done it with Unreal Engine 4 Multiple projects and looking to continue the latest version using all the great technology from nanite, lumen and Epic.”
“On March 22nd, the Fortnite Unreal Editor (UEFN) was released and I thought it was the best and fastest way to get this project into everyone’s hands and play with my friends. Using the The basics of Fortnite, if you think about it, it has a lot of the mechanics that Dark and Darker use, like treasure chests, shutting down storms, etc.”
Originally intended for Fern and their friends to have fun, Fern went on to say that they’ve been working “about 6 hours a day non-stop” on the “dark and darker Fortnite” island. Using his own personal experience with RPGs and YouTube videos, Fern has worked hard to perfect the Crypt 2 map and make it as accurate as possible. They even used the same Unreal Engine store assets used in Dark and Darker.
Fern hopes the map will be available and playable by other Fortnite players in the second half of April, as they’re currently awaiting approval from Epic’s Creator Program. Until then, they’ll continue to cut tribute maps. While this was work in progress ahead of the current legal dispute between Nexon and Ironmace, they hope it provides “fresh air” for those eager to play an ironmace RPG.
“I really wanted to show this to the community as we don’t seem to be doing playtests anytime soon and wanted to give the community ‘fresh air’. That’s the only way it’s going to work in it. People love the drama and have Jokes that Nexon has come to me, but they’re just kidding, Nexon can’t copyright a genre or how you put some assets in Fortnite.”
Not only is this another wild example of the creativity of the gaming community, but it’s also one of many great projects that have sprung up following the introduction of the Unreal Engine Editor in Fortnite. In this ever-growing metaverse space, player creations are becoming an increasingly important part of the AAA gaming industry, and perhaps the next wave of extraordinary new games will erupt from there.
If you want to stay up to date on what’s going on in Fortnite – you can check out the latest Attack on Titan x Fortnite update coming soon!
