This Is What Fortnite Was Like With NO Bloom! Footage From Shooting Test #2

in this article today we're going to be talking about bloom and the general shooting/aiming mechanics of Fortnite. So it's a known fact that most weapons in Fortnite use a bloom-based shooting system. And as I've explained before, bloom is basically the increasing size of your cross-hair after firing multiple shots, where there's a random chance for the bullets you shoot to go off in slightly different directions even if you haven't changed your aim. 

It's a mechanic that the majority of Fortnite players dislike, because it adds an element of RNG to pretty much every non-close range fight in the game. And I'm sure that about 99% of you guys watching this video already knew that. But, how many of you were aware of the fact that Epic Games actually temporarily experimented. with a version of Fortnite that had absolutely 0 bloom. That's right, this actually did happen, and in this video I'll be showing you guys footage of Fortnite without bloom, as well as discussing the impact that bloom vs. no-bloom and other general shooting mechanics would have on the game. So, without further ado, let's get right into it. 

Ok guys, so over a year ago in December of 2017, Fortnite was attempting to make some pretty drastic changes to the way gunfights worked in their game. This came in the form of, what was basically an LTM, known as "Shooting Test". This was a public mode that pretty much anybody could play, and it was a way for Epic to kinda track statistics and gather feedback from players, about the shooting changes they temporarily were testing in the mode. 

A decent amount of people know about shooting test #1, which most notably led to the inclusion of first shot accuracy into regular Fortnite Battle Royale. But, a lot less people know about shooting test #2 and, there's a pretty good reason why that is. 

Because shooting test #2 was never even supposed to be seen by the public. It was accidentally released into the game during some random short time period, and other than that accidental release, was never seen again. That's really interesting because shooting test #2 was designed to test the impact of what Epic called "perfect accuracy" and "recoil". Perfect accuracy basically just meant no bloom, and I'm sure all of you guys know what recoil is. Since it was released at a totally random time, with absolutely no announcement, and this was when Fortnite was no where near as popular as it is now. There really isn't a lot footage of this shooting test available online, there's a lot of test #1 but, not much at all of test #2. 

Luckily, I was given permission by a youtuber named "Silx", to show you guys about 45-60 second of clips from shooting test #2, pretty much showcasing what Fortnite looks like without bloom. It's really crazy to see, and he does an awesome job of showing it, because he's actually a really good player. So I'll have his youtube link on the screen and you guys are definitely gonna wanna pay attention to this clip, because it's something that not many people have ever seen. Alright guys, so what you just witnessed was basically what Fortnite would be like if bloom was simply not a part of the game.

Hopefully you guys realized that because this shooting test took place all the way back during season 2 of Fortnite, the game was played very differently than the way its played today. Also, keep in mind that recoil was also present in this clip. I think it was a bit hard to tell simply because Silx was so good at controlling it, but, trust me, it was there. And even though I never played it myself, apparently recoil was actually fairly difficult to control on controller. 

So, I know what the majority of you guys are likely thinking right now. Probably something along the lines of "Oh my gosh, that looks so awesome, it would make Fortnite so much more skill-based and rewarding towards players who have good aim, why didn't they make that change permanent?" And, I'll be honest, when I first saw this, that was pretty much my reaction as well. But, as I began to read more about it, and started hearing some opinions from players who actually played the shooting test, I kinda started to change my mind. And I'm definitely not saying that bloom is good or anything. 

But, even though we can all acknowledge that the bloom-based shooting system of Fortnite is flawed, you need to understand the truly massive impact that removing bloom would have on the game. For example, the Fortnite community is always pretty much unanimously against any kind of change thats a nerf to building. We saw it with the explosive penetration damage change in season 6, saw it again with things like the infinity sword and planes being able to ram through structures, and most recently saw it when the boombox was added to the game. 

Removing bloom from weapons would easily be one of the biggest nerfs to building in Fortnite history. The randomness of bloom in Fortnite is what makes "reaction building" as it's called, so incredibly effective in so many different scenarios. Let's say for example you're running in an open field with 0 protection, and there's a guy about 40 meters away crouched, ready to open fire on you with his gold scar. In the current version of Fortnite with bloom, he'll probably be able to shoot about 5 shots before you're able to react and protect yourself. And, because of bloom, he'll probably hit maybe 1-3 of those shots. 

That's definitely a considerable chunk of damage, but, at least you'll be able to build and then have a chance in the rest of the fight. In the world of Fortnite without bloom, if that player has even decent aim, he's probably shooting 5 shots before you can react and hitting 5 shots before you can react. And with the damage that a gold scar does, you're most likely dead before you even know what happened. I know people may disagree, but, I personally wouldn't want Fortnite to turn into that kind of a game. Yeah, sure, it would emphasize things like being smart on rotations and utilizing natural cover as much as possible, but, that isn't the type of game that Fortnite is. 

Even though I didn't do it on purpose, I basically just described what PUBG is right there. I think that what makes people love Fortnite so much is that because of building, you can play incredibly aggressively 24/7 and still be able to consistently win game. And, it's pretty much an undeniable fact that removing bloom would almost force you to play much more passive because you could be lasered by an AR for all your health at any given second. 

Also, building upon that, this change would be a pretty major nerf to practically all of the shotguns in the game as well. Even though the shotgun meta in Fortnite has certainly had its fair share of ups and downs, I think most people agree that shotguns in general are good for Fortnite. They're definitely not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but they operate in a way where they're mostly really rewarding if you're accurate with them, and you're going to struggle if you aren't. And just as a cherry on top, the shotgun meta right now is as close to perfectly balanced as it's been in a while. 

What you saw in a few of those shooting test #2 clips, is that silx would basically just use his AR in point-blank fights, because with no bloom it basically did as much burst damage as any shotgun in the game. And with shotguns, they work really well because they dp offer insane burst damage, but if you can't get into a point blank range situation, they're totally useless. And if ARs can laser people from long range while also being incredibly deadly close range, it really messes with the fundamental way the game is played. 

But, it is definitely possible that perfect accuracy would play out a lot differently if implemented into fortnite now. And maybe a lot of the potential problems problems we discussed could be solved with with something as simple as a considerable AR nerf, to make it so that they aren't absolutely deadly at every range. So, again I just want to make it clear that I'm not trying to say that bloom is a perfect mechanic or that it shouldn't be changed. I think having such a major part of the game being pretty heavily influenced by RNG is a bad thing, and I would love to see Epic continue to try to improve Fortnite's shooting mechanics. 

I just wanted to point out that removing bloom would have a much larger impact on the game than a lot of people realize. And maybe for some of you, Fortnite being more like PUBG is something you would be really in favor of. But for others, this may be an example of being careful what you wish for. I think the overall best solution may be to keep bloom in game, yet continue to add more weapons like the deagle and heavy AR, that when used correctly, aren't really affected by bloom. 

So, I hope you guys enjoyed this article and if you readed the entire thing be sure to let me know with a comment down in the comment section below. I wanna know, After readed this article are you team bloom or team no bloom? Let me know with a comment. Be sure to leave a comment.