How A Community Creator Helped Completely Revamp Fortnite Gyro Aiming Controls
"," Shoot your shot; is something you hear often, and doing it can be pretty scary. Still, for Julian "," Jib; Smart, a video game input specialist, it helped him land the project of a lifetime: develop an entirely new gyro aiming control system for one of the biggest games in the world, Fortnite. Simply put, Smart "," shot his shot." He emailed Epic Games and essentially said, "," your gyro systems are great, but they can be better, and know-how.
"It was a bold statement. You see, Epic Games created the most famous battle royale in recent memory, further augmented by a highly successful online storefront. Moreover, the company developed Unreal Engine, one of the world's most-used video game engines. But, when you know something well, and you can back it up, a shot like this is worth the effort, and perhaps to Smart surprise, Epic responded positively, saying, let do it.
Flick Stick creator and input specialist, Julian "Jib" Smart So, Smart began implementing a new and improved gyro aiming system for Fortnite on PlayStation consoles, Switch, PC, and Android, and added officially-sanctioned controls for his creation, Flick Stick – features that are now live in the game as of today. We spoke to Smart about how development went, what it’s like for him to see his passion project in Fortnite, and why gyro aiming and additional options like Flick Stick are not just a win for advanced-level Fortnite players but a triumph for accessibility initiatives too.
“ This has been super exciting,” Smart says It feels like it’s been this four-year journey, and this is just the biggest step in it. One thing we talk about in the gyro community is what's it going to take for this stuff to take hold [across video games] for there to be an impact? And it’s going to be a huge game; it’s going to be a game where controls matter to players.
That game needed to be something as big as Fortnite – it doesn't hurt that Fortnite is where Smart gyro goals landed, and now the one-person developer is beyond excited to see if gyros like this take off in other massive titles. Introducing additional controls and options in a game is never a bad idea because it makes playing games more accessible for everyone.
Smart interest in gyro input took off following the 2015 release of Nintendo S platoon, a third-person shooter whose primary aim mechanic uses gyro controls. Back then, Smart was dying to get his hands on S platoon because it was unique for a developer as prominent as Nintendo to default to gyro aiming. He always knew that adding a gyro to a player’s tool increased precision and accuracy. S platoon was a perfect proof of concept.
Smart would begin developing new input controls and options as a side gig/hobby after the S platoon release. He eventually fell in love with the gyro community.
“ I will learn how to do gyro controls well,” Smart recalls telling himself. “ And then I can create resources. I can tell other developers and players with authority, ‘ this is how easy or hard it is; this is what you need to do. Let's just do it.’ So I made an open-source input called Joy shock mapper.
” From there, Smart created a YouTube channel to show people how to do what he was doing. He also made a website called Gyro Wiki, a trove of resources on how to implement good gyro controls. Things took off from there, and soon Smart became a well-known figure in the gyro input community.
How to enable Gyro Aiming in Fortnite and motion settings
Epic Games unleashed the Fortnite v19.30 update filled with bug fixes, the Uncharted collab (coming 17th), and much more of 15th February 2022. Alongside the new content comes something many players did not expect, a fully-fledged Fortnite Gyro Aiming controls feature on all supported platforms.
Epic Games, in collaboration with input specialist and flick stick creator Julian "Jibbed" Smart, has enabled Gyro Aiming motion controls for on gyro-supported platforms with the Fortnite v19.30 update.
This will allow you to move your camera in Fortnite by turning the controller, giving players more accuracy (in theory) than standard stick aiming.
But didn't Fortnite already have Gyro-based controls? Well, on Android and Nintendo Switch it did, but this is a more robust gyro control, available on Android, Switch, PC (with a Dual Shock 4 or Dual Sense controller) as well as PS4 and PS5.
Note that Gyro Aiming is not available when playing Fortnite through GeForce NOW on PC or mobile Fortnite Gyro Aiming active modes explained You might not always want Gyro Aiming controls active while playing a match of Fortnite.
If you play Fortnite on Switch, you’re probably already aware of how much the console’s gyro aiming options can up your game. Now, gyro aiming is making its way to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC, and Android devices with the now-live v19.20 update. And that’s not all: gyro aiming across the board has been greatly improved thanks to a collaboration with input specialist and Flick Stick creator Julian “Jibs” Smart.
For the uninitiated, the Flick Stick is input on analog sticks that allow for quick turnarounds. For example, with Flick Stick enabled, you could quickly flick your right analog stick down to do an immediate 180-degree turn. In a game like Fortnite, quick turns like that can greatly enhance your ability to survive. Add in the extra precision that gyro aiming for, and you’ve got some Victory Royales in your future.
Enable or disable gyro controls in the ‘Touch and Motion’ tab of the settings, An Epic Games blog post reads. “Do this by toggling ‘Gyro Aiming’ to either on or off. When on, you’ll be able to control the camera by turning the controller. This offers more precision than standard stick aiming, but it doesn’t have to replace it entirely. Usually, players will still use the right stick for most camera control, while using gyro aiming for finer adjustments that are difficult to do with the joystick
” When you dive into the Touch and Motion tab, you’ll notice all sorts of new options and that speaks to Fortnite new and improved gyro aiming and Flick Stick controls, courtesy of Smart – for an in-depth read about how Smart, a Fortnite community member, shot his shot and pitched Epic Games all-around better gyro aiming controls, be sure to read Game Informer’s feature about the developer.
There are two Active Mode settings to choose from: Active Mode (Combat) and Active Mode (Building). In Active Mode (Combat), you can choose Scope Only, which activates gyro only when aiming scoped weapons, Scope or Aiming, which uses gyro when aiming any weapon regardless of scope, Scope, Aiming, Harvesting, which uses gyro when aiming any weapon or swinging any harvesting tool, or Always, which keeps gyro on at all times.
For Active Mode (Building), you can select None, which turns gyro off, Editing, which turns gyro on when editing but not when building, or Always, which keeps gyro on at all times.
Epic Games says if you set either Active Mode to an "Always" setting, it’s recommended to have another way to disable gyro so that you can easily reset your controller and camera position. You can do this by setting the “Look Stick Effect” option next to “Disables,” or, in the controller customization settings, by customizing your controls to include a “Gyro Modifier” button.
Lock Stick Effect: What The Right Stick Does To Gyro Here, you can choose what the right analog stick does to your gyro aiming. If you set “Look Stick Effect” to “None,” the right stick does not affect gyro as the name implies. If you set it to “Disables,” gyro deactivates once you use the stick. Setting this effect to “Enables,” however, will make it so that gyro remains on while you’re using the right stick. This does not turn off the gyro when the right stick is not in use.
As expected, you’ll be able to adjust gyro aiming sensitivity. When set to the default value of 1.0, the camera will move the same amount as the controller. Sensitivity is automatically reduced as you zoom in with long-range weapons, but you can change this in the “Advanced Gyro Options.
” “You can also adjust the ratio of vertical to horizontal sensitivity,” Epic Games writes on its blog post. “Additionally, you’re able to increase sensitivity for when you’re turning the controller quickly. This is controlled by the ‘Acceleration’ option. Keep Acceleration disabled or set it to 1.5X, 2X, 4X, Legacy, or your custom sensitivity (Legacy refers to the acceleration of the motion controls that were on Nintendo Switch and Android before v19.20).
” Elsewhere in the Touch and Motion tab, you’ll find that you can adjust settings to control aim steadiness when keeping a controller nearly still. You can also turn Flick Stick on or off here and for the most serious of gyro users, turn on “Advanced Gyro Options” to unlock many more settings such as the ability to change your axes of rotation or even having a button that inverts your gyro aim at the fly.
Flick Stick: Epic Games and Smart have also implemented Flick Stick control, which is a type of input created by Smart. “Found in the ‘Touch and Motion’ tab as well, turn on Flick Stick so that when you point the right stick in a certain direction, the camera will quickly flick to face that direction,” Epic Games writes. “Since this means you can no longer aim up or down with the right stick, this requires gyro aiming to be enabled. Flick Stick is generally recommended for experienced gyro players, but some new gyro players get a hold of it quickly.
” If you’re interested in playing with gyro aiming at, here are some tips from Epic Games:
For new gyro players: “We recommend enabling gyro and not adjusting any other gyro settings (except sensitivities if you feel the need to change them). We also recommend keeping Flick Stick off. With gyro enabled and other settings at default, the gyro is only active when aiming. This way, it simply adds to traditional stick aiming, giving you a chance to get used to what gyro’s best at fine aiming adjustments.
” For experienced gyro players: “We recommend setting your aim mode to Always and binding another input to disable gyro. A simple way to do this without losing controller real estate is to combine it with another input. For example, you can set Crouch/Slide and Gyro Modified (which disables gyro) to the same button, then active either one depending on how long you press the button.
” For players who want to give Flick Stick a try: “We recommend setting your Look Stick Effect to Enables. This way, even in an aim mode in which the gyro is not active all the time, you can still make vertical adjustments when you need to by engaging the flick stick.”
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