Fortnite: Battle Royale Season 9 is jumping into the future, and that means some pretty drastic map changes for Fortnite Island. There’s new areas like Neo Tilted Towers and the Mega Mall, along with new ways to get around like Slipstreams and Sky Platforms. To be honest, it’s a lot to process. Here’s a quick breakdown of all the biggest map changes in Fortnite Season 9. Analysis: At the Start of Fortnite Season 9, the Game Has an Identity Crisis Fortnite Season 9 Map Changes: Neo Tilted Towers Neo Tilted Towers Epic Games The most noticeable change is the return of Tilted Towers with a pretty huge twist. Fortnite’s major city, best known for being one of the deadliest places on the map, is back with a totally new futuristic look that you’ll definitely want to check out. Neo Tilted Towers Epic Games As a side note, if you’re feeling nostalgic for the old Tilted, you can find part of the destroyed clock tower over at Junk Junction. Fortnite Season 9 Map Changes: Mega Mall Mega Mall Epic Games Another new location, Mega Mall replaces retail row. It’s basically exactly what it sounds like: a giant mall. Mega Mall also features a Slipstream that circles around it for easy transportation, just like Neo Tilted Towers. Mega Mall Epic Games Fortnite Season 9 Map Changes: Pressure Plant Pressure Plant Epic Games Located near the volcano that appeared in Season 8, Pressure Plant is a new location seemingly designed to draw power from the lava pouring onto the map. It seems to be a smaller area, but it looks like there could be some fun stuff to explore. Fortnite Season 9 Map Changes: Loot Lake It’s not a major change, but the brick buildings around Loot Lake have been upgraded with a more futuristic look. If you’re in the area, drop by to check them out. Fortnite Season 9 Map Changes: Slipstreams Slipstreams in Neo Tilted Towers Epic Games Possibly the biggest overall changes to the map, Slipstreams are basically Fortnite’s version of the public transportation tubes from Futurama. There’s one big loop in the middle of the map and two smaller ones encircling Neo Tilted and Mega Mall. Here’s a map showing the location of all three Slipstreams: Here's an approximation of what the Slipstream route looks like. Epic Games Fortnite Season 9 Map Changes: Sky Platforms Fortnite Sky Platforms Epic Games Fortnite also added new Sky Platforms to the map. These are basically small platforms high up in the air. They don’t seem to serve much of a purpose, but there’s already a challenge requiring you to visit all seven, so you might as well get it out of the way. Here’s our map of all known Sky Platforms in Fortnite right now: Much like pirate camps, the sky platforms are evenly dispersed around the map — except they're in the sky. Epic Games Fortnite Season 9 Map Changes: Zeppelins Finally, it looks like Fortnite’s vision of the future includes zeppelin billboards floating through the skies. For now, it doesn’t seem like these add much to the game besides enhancing the general cyberpunk vibe, but maybe that will change as Season 9 progresses. Epic Games According to the in-game countdown, Fortnite Season 9 doesn’t end until July 23.<doc-sep>Fortnite Season 9 is finally here, and as expected, there’s a whole lotta changes. Now Season 8’s volcano has stopped spewing lava and disrupting the map, we’re left with two new major locations. The first is Neo Tilted, a replacement for the much loved Tilted Towers. There’s also Mega Mall, a future-themed shopping arcade. Both of these feature the new slipstream channels which you can see on the screens here – those big posts with circular shapes on top. Slipstreams What are Slipstreams? Basically a new form of movement you can use to zip around the map. Jump into a Slipstream and the wind will you move across the map. You can change channels and experiment with bobbing up and down to gain and slow your speed. You’ll be launched out the end of a stream, and more interestingly, projectiles such as explosives and vehicles can also move through Slipstreams. You’ll also find air vents around the map, which can be used to boost players – don’t worry, you won’t take any fall damage from them. Fortbytes Season 9 introduces Fortbytes to Fortnite. Fortbytes are collectible computer chips that once found promise to unlock the secrets of Season 9. You’ll need to find all 100 of them, with the first 18 available today, and at least one new Fortbyte added to the map every day throughout the season. Fortbytes will only appear to those who own the Season 9 Battle Pass. Fortnite Season 9 battle Pass Speaking of which, here’s the lowdown on the Season 9 Battle Pass. As always, buying the Battle Pass automatically unlocks two new skins, with more unlocked as you rank up. The Season 9 Battle Pass costs 950 V-Bucks. Watch on YouTube Fortnite Battle Royale Season 9 Patch Notes WEAPONS + ITEMS Added Combat Shotgun Semi-Automatic Holds 10 Shells. Fires 9 pellets per shot for 73 / 77 / 81 base damage. Tight spread and fast fire rate. Headshot multiplier of 1.70x. Reloads 2 shells at a time. Available in Rare, Epic, and Legendary variants. Available from Floor, Chests, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines Adjusted Tactical Shotgun damage Base damage increased from 66/70/74 to 71/75/79 Reduced Drum Gun availability from 16.732% to 7.155% Reduced Boom Bow availability from 1.292% to .755% Unvaulted Grenades Vaulted Clingers Vaulted Buried Treasure Vaulted Pump Shotgun Vaulted Poison Dart Trap Vaulted Scoped Revolver Vaulted Suppressed Assault Rifle Vaulted Thermal Assault Rifle Vaulted Balloons Bug Fixes & Improvements Turbo building after gliding now works correctly. The stink bomb damage audio and effects were not playing if you damaged yourself. Fixed the Shadow bomb occasionally not making the player invisible on the Xbox One the first time it’s used. Misplacement of Launch Pads in mid-air has been resolved. Pirate Cannon camera issues due to network latency have been resolved. The Reboot Card deposit sound effects no longer play in replay mode while the Van is on Cooldown. The Reboot Van card sound effects will no longer be heard when a squadmate disconnects. GAMEPLAY Slipstreams These tunnels of wind passively carry players down the stream. Players can move faster and change direction when actively trying to move down the Stream. Use directional input to gain extra velocity. Experiment with bobbing up and down for higher speeds. Players are launched when exiting the tube based on their movement speed and exit angle. Projectiles and Vehicles can also enter the Slipstream. Air Vents The powerful gusts of air from these environmental items can launch players short distances and grant immunity to fall damage. Fortbytes Fortbytes are a series of 100 collectible computer chips available to Battle Pass owners. As you collect Fortbytes, you’ll decrypt a mysterious image. Collect them all to unlock rewards and uncover the secrets of Season 9. On the first day of Season 9, there are 18 Fortbytes available to find. At least 1 new Fortbyte will be unlocked each day. Check the Challenges Tab for detailed information on which Fortbytes are currently available and when the others unlock. Fortbytes cannot be collected after Season 9 ends. Disconnected players will stay in the world for 60 seconds. They still take damage and count for elimination points. Bug Fixes & Improvements Resolved an issue with the UI showing health gains incorrectly if the player canceled the consumable close to completion time. PS4 controller lighting not always matching your pin color when in Squads. Players not able to use Hold to Swap if they previously picked an item up normally Adjusted turbo building to be more forgiving under poor network conditions Fixed cases of jittery movement under certain conditions. LIMITED TIME MODE ROTATION TRIOS Classic Battle Royale with Three-Person Squads. SOLID GOLD Fight to the finish using Legendary weapons! ONE SHOT Low Gravity. Every player has 50 health. Sniper weapons are the only weapon, Bandages are the only healing item. Jump high and aim well! EVENTS Players who have already qualified to be in the World Cup will be marked with a World Cup badge on the event leaderboards Leaderboards now have a button to sort games by the number of top leaderboard players in them. This will help identify the most critical active games from a leaderboard standing view. The in-game HUD now has different icons for points for Arena matches and weekend tournament matches. PERFORMANCE Improved frame rate on Nintendo Switch, particularly when large numbers of characters are onscreen. Addressed some cases of invisible characters after skydiving. AUDIO Better tactical audio when inside player-built structures: Enemy Pickaxe impact within ~one building tile radius has new, louder sound. Wallbreak by enemy close/behind player much clearer/louder. Explosion audio improvements- shorter, higher dynamic range sounds that will make explosion audio clearer and punchier. UI Bug Fixes & Improvements “Swap” text appearing in the pickup UI will no longer appear when picking up more resources than the player can carry. The initial storm warning timer was incorrectly showing as 0. Spectators and replay watchers can now report users. Fixed party invites not showing up in the UI if the user logged out and back in again. SPECTATING Spectating a player’s match will now automatically follow that player. MOBILE Auto fire will now trigger on vehicles. Added option for increasing elimination feed line count in the HUD Layout Tool. Dragging/Dropping from the quickbar is now allowed while jumping. The location of the boost button on Android for the X-Stormwing has been moved to avoid triggering the Home button. Squad formation is now accessible. Bug Fixes & Improvements The delay with interacting when using the quickbar slots has been resolved. Weapon icons now correctly display icons on the quickbar. Fixed sliders that were broken in the Dead Zone tab of the Controller Options. Auto fire adjustments: Semi-automatic weapons now fire correctly. Increased acquisition delay for shotguns. Dynamite trajectory indicator is now correctly displayed during use. Ziplines can no longer be ridden past their endpoints. Autorun no longer takes more than two taps to initiate after jumping from Battle Bus. Cooldown Timer visual for boost buttons on vehicles is now displayed correctly. The camera no longer shakes when entering the X-Stormwing. Left virtual thumbstick no longer becomes invisible when holding left or right and pressing the fire button. The Harvest Tool UI button in HUD layout is no longer invisible. The stair railing in Pleasant Park no longer clips through the door. Variant numbers partially hidden in the preview screen by the “X” button. The Dream cosmetic is now correctly displaying: The butterfly Eye glow effect Widow’s Bite pickaxe visual effect issue has been resolved. The Cooldown ring timer showing briefly when switching seats in Cannon. Interact Icon is no longer missing with certain consumables. Input Blocked text will no longer appear when opening the inventory. The Item Shop arrows now display correctly on iPhone XS Max. GENERAL Reworked default button layout to be consistent across vehicles (Enter, Exit, Switch Seat and Boost) UI Sub-game select screen has been refreshed. Bug Fixes & Improvements Improved visibility of squad icons on lobby player pads in large parties Squad icons in large parties can no longer show an empty slot as ready<doc-sep>It’s that time again. Parents across the world are doling out $15 to Epic Games after the developer released Season 9, the latest update for its hit game Fortnite that’s particularly popular among kids and young adults. Fortnite is estimated to have more than 250 million players, and it has proven to be a major money-spinner for Epic thanks to sales of seasonal Battle Passes, skins and virtual items for avatars. That’s very much the focus for Season 9, which dropped today and is really about the cosmetics, with the latest Battle Pass unlocking more than 100 rewards, including a range of new skins and characters. Season 9 is an upgrade that’ll keep existing gamers locked into Fortnite through evolution — there are no radical changes to excite new or less-active players. In terms of gameplay, Fortnite has added at least three new locations. Neo Tilted replaces Tilted Towers, which was destroyed by a volcano eruption last week, then there’s Mega Mall, which is an upgrade on Retail Row, and Pressure Plant which is where the volcano used to be. Epic has added “Slipstreams,” which are turbines that power a wind-based transport system for getting across the map quickly, and potentially adding an interesting new combat angle. There’s also a new “Fortbytes,” which is essentially a hidden item challenge. Gamers who bought a Battle Pass can collect a series of 100 collectible computer chips that are scattered across the map. There are an initial 18 released, with a new arrival each day — those who collect them all can unlock rewards and “secrets.” There’s just one new gun on offer, the combat shotgun, which doesn’t seem particularly impressive, while grenades have returned. A large number of weapons have been removed — or “vaulted” in Epic parlance — and they include clingers, pump shotgun, poison dart trap, scoped revolver, suppressed assault rifle, thermal assault rifle and balloons. That’s about the sum of the new update, although Fortnite does now include three new limited time games: three-person squad “trios,” a “solid gold” mode that uses legendary weapons and “one shot,” a sniper-only battle set in a low-gravity environment. Note: The original version of this article has been updated to correct that Pressure Plant is another new location added in Season 9<doc-sep>
Fortnite Season 9 kicks off today, and the patch notes have been revealed. Check out the cinematic reveal trailer above, where the dark fate of banana man Peely is revealed. The highlights of Season 9, then: New locations like Neo Tilted and Mega Mall have emerged in the wake of the volcano's eruption, bringing the map some more futuristic-looking new locations to check out. Peely's Banana Stand and Nugget Hut are among the places to see. A new transportation system called Slipstreams are also a major part of this update, which let you travel around the map using streams of wind. Here's how Epic describes Slipstreams: These tunnels of wind passively carry players down the stream. Players can move faster and change direction when actively trying to move down the Stream. Use directional input to gain extra velocity. Experiment with bobbing up and down for higher speeds. Players can move faster and change direction when actively trying to move down the Stream. Use directional input to gain extra velocity. Experiment with bobbing up and down for higher speeds. Players are launched when exiting the tube based on their movement speed and exit angle. Projectiles and Vehicles can also enter the Slipstream. A new environmental item called Air Vents also provide players a boost across the map, with no damage penalty for doing so. A semi-automatic combat shotgun has been added to the game, too. Battle Pass owners can collect 100 of a new item called Fortbytes, which go some way to revealing the mysteries behind this season. Here's how Epic describes them: Fortbytes are a series of 100 collectible computer chips available to Battle Pass owners. As you collect Fortbytes, you’ll decrypt a mysterious image. Collect them all to unlock rewards and uncover the secrets of Season 9. On the first day of Season 9, there are 18 Fortbytes available to find. At least 1 new Fortbyte will be unlocked each day. Check the Challenges Tab for detailed information on which Fortbytes are currently available and when the others unlock. Fortbytes cannot be collected after Season 9 ends. Vaulted weapons and items include Clingers, Buried Treasure, Pump Shotgun, Poison Dart Trap, Scoped Revolver, Suppressed Assault Rifle, Thermal Assault Rifle, and balloons. Find the full list of patch notes here. Find all battle pass items here.