Project Fortress (known internally as FortressGame, unofficially known as either Fortnight or simply "Fortress") refers to early prototypes of Fortnite created between late 2011 (shortly after the game was revealed at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards) and early 2012. These builds were made on Unreal Engine 3 and predate the Online Tests. To date, only one build, dating to March 6, 2012, has gameplay footage recorded and this alongside other builds dating to this era are currently lost.[1]
The "Welcome 2 Limbo" Map in Project Fortress
Gameplay[]
The gameplay featured in videos of this build showcase an earlier version of building, upgrading and attacking. Upgrading took several seconds and was a minigame instead of it happening instantaneously like in later builds. Monsters are present in this build, albeit do not attack as a result of a bug. Later in the video, when the author killed several husks, the 1-UP sound effect from the Super Mario Franchise can be heard. It is unknown if crafting existed in this build.
From the footage we've seen, one of the modes (missions?) in Project Fortress was a survival game taking place over the timespan of a fortnight (hence the game name) where you build a base and your object is to survive, scavenge and defend your base from husks
The map is informally known as Limbo, based on the "WELCOME 2 LIMBO" sign seen at the beginning of the video. The build in this video was created possibly around March 6, 2012.
Fortnite Early Prototype shown at GDC 2013
Fortnite was meant to be "dark and super grim" as said by Billy Bramer (Lead Gameplay Programmer at Epic Games), but later changed their gamestyle to make it cartoony and more friendly.[2] In the Project Fortress build, there is an early version of the Fortnite VGA trailer from 2011, and at the end instead of it saying "Fortnite", it says "Fortnight". This is probably what the game was going to be called before release! You can watch the video of the early version of the trailer here[3].
Fortnight Logo
Music[]
The "Project Fortress" EXE icon
The tracks used in the "Project Fortress" build have been found, they are the following:
- Breathing Trouble
- Death by Drowning
- Descent
- Eon
- Gas
- Low Flow
- Luma
- New Combat ("Or" in Spotify)
- Torul
- Unlighted
Trivia[]
- Smashers were originally known as brutes.
- These builds borrows assets from Gears of War 3 given that this build was made not too long after.
- The character the player plays as in this build was known internally as "FNGuy" however he has been nicknamed "John Fortress." Two other characters are seen in keyart of this era. Said character would be the inspiration for Southie.
- Husks had a mucher lighter skin tone than in later versions and also had high pitches shrieks. Instead of disappearing into a purple puff upon death, they explode into bones with a pool of blood on the ground.
- In an early gameplay trailer, the one of the sounds of the brute attacking the player sounds similar to one of the sounds used in Ben 10: Alien Force.
- Trying to harvest materials other than wood does not seem to work.
- Uncle Pete's Pizza Pit, while exists, used to have a clown for its mascot as opposed to Tomatohead in later builds. A modified version of the clown head was later reused for the Nite Nite outfit.[4] In fact, a lot of assets from this era are still used in modern Save the World and Athena albeit with slight modifications.
- The type of gameplay in these versions is similar to how LEGO Fortnite is today.
- Despite the builds being known internally as "FortressGame" and the build being known by the community as "Project Fortress", it's official name still remains as "Fortnite". It is only reffered to as "Project Fortress" to differentiate it from the Online Tests and from the full release.
- Many of Project Fortress's assets are still used to this day in Fortnite Save The World, Battle Royale, Reload, and many creative maps
- Despite this, Fortnite is still refferred to as "Fortress" in some instances within the game files.
- The cubemap for reflections is a screenshot taken from one of these builds.
Discord[]
Anyone who wants to provide information or anything related to this, can join our public Discord server dedicated to the search for the Online Tests and even Project Fortress info: https://discord.gg/wpYPdK2AFj