Summary
I Made a list with a lot of Issues for the Physics-tree (Device)
Shadows:
In the Editor, the tree does not cast any ground shadows or self-shadows. However, the shadows appear correctly when running the map in a Session.
Tree Ambience / Leaf Movement:
The tree’s ambient animation, such as the leaves moving, does not appear in-game until the tree is shot/damaged.
Interestingly, the ambient animation is completely visible and working in UEFN. The behavior should be consistent between the Editor and the in-game Session.
Destruction Effect / Damaged State
After shooting down the tree and then shooting the log/trunk, the destruction/damage effect disappears until the log is shot again.
After shooting it again, the trunk visually returns to a healthy-looking state, even though it is still heavily damaged and almost destroyed.
The visual damage state should remain consistent with the tree’s actual destruction state.
Game View:
When enabling Game View in UEFN (Keybind: G), the entire tree disappears from the viewport, which makes it very difficult to use the tree for environment design and level dressing.
The tree itself should remain visible in Game View. In this state, only the Box Component should disappear, not the entire tree, similar to how the bounding sphere of the Big Bush disappears when using Game View.
Snow Variant:
The tree currently appears to be missing its snow-covered variant.
Since this tree was originally used in the Chapter 3 snow biome, it would be useful to have a second style/variant option for the snow-covered version.
Prop Version:
It would also be useful to have a Prop version of the tree with the same Physics functionality available.
Currently, using the tree as a device can take up a significant amount of memory, which is unnecessary for creators who only want to use the tree as an environmental prop.
Having a dedicated Physics Prop version would allow creators to use the tree purely for environment and decoration purposes while still keeping its physics/destruction functionality, without requiring the device version and potentially using additional memory unnecessarily.
Please select what you are reporting on:
Unreal Editor for Fortnite
What Type of Bug are you experiencing?
Devices
Steps to Reproduce
Place Down the Physics Tree Device
Press G
Play a Session, destroy the tree and damage the fallen trunk
Expected Result
The tree should cast ground shadows and self-shadows correctly in the UEFN Editor, matching its appearance in a Session.
The tree’s ambient animations, including moving leaves, should be active both in UEFN and in-game without requiring the tree to be shot or damaged first.
The tree’s destruction and damage states should remain visually consistent with its actual damage state. The trunk should not visually reset to a healthy state while still being heavily damaged.
When Game View (G) is enabled in UEFN, the tree should remain visible for environment design. Only the Box Component should be hidden, similar to the behavior of the Big Bush’s bounding sphere.
A snow-covered style/variant should be available for the tree to better match its original Chapter 3 snow biome appearance.
A dedicated Physics Prop version should be available so creators can use the tree as an environmental asset while retaining its physics/destruction functionality, without needing to use the device version and unnecessarily increasing memory usage.
Observed Result
In the UEFN Editor, the tree does not cast ground shadows or self-shadows, while the shadows appear correctly during a Session.
The tree’s ambient animation, including the moving leaves, is visible and working correctly in UEFN. However, when in-game, the animation does not appear until the tree is shot or damaged.
After the tree is destroyed and the log/trunk is shot, the destruction/damage effect disappears. Shooting the log again causes the effect to return, while the trunk visually returns to a healthy-looking state despite remaining heavily damaged.
When Game View (G) is enabled in UEFN, the entire tree disappears from the viewport instead of only hiding its Box Component. This makes it difficult to use the tree for environment design.
The tree does not currently have a snow-covered variant, despite being originally associated with the Chapter 3 snow biome.
There is currently no dedicated Physics Prop version of the tree. Creators who only want to use the tree for environment design are required to use the device version, which can result in unnecessary memory usage.
Platform(s)
PC
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Additional Notes
I really love the tree and the idea behind adding a Physics Tree to UEFN. It is a great asset for environment design and adds a lot of life and interactivity to maps.
These issues have been present for quite a long time, and I have been hoping that they would eventually be fixed. Since they are still present, I wanted to properly report them so they can hopefully be looked into.
I hope these issues can be addressed, as fixing them and adding the snow variant and a dedicated Physics Prop version would make the tree even more useful for creators.