Create

A plug-in editor that runs the game.

Edit any resource, draw the galaxy, lay out a system, then fly your plug-in without leaving the editor. Built into the Mac app, with an early desktop version in the Linux and Windows beta.

Make your first plug-in Get the Mac app
The Plug-in Editor's galaxy map: 545 systems coloured by government, hyperlinks, nebulae and a government legend, with the editing tools on the left.
The galaxy map editor: drag systems, draw hyperlinks, colour by government. One-way links are flagged in red.
The Fed Destroyer open in the editor: a spinning sprite preview with its layers, and flight, shield, armour and cargo stats.
Ships show their sprite, layers and the stats the engine will actually use.
The Sol system in the editor: planets and stations laid out on a grid above a live game preview, with the system's traffic table on the right.
Lay out a system and watch it run in the live preview below.
Test Run

Fly it before you ship it.

Test Run starts a real game on your plug-in. Spawn fleets as friends or enemies, grant outfits, set control bits, start missions and jump anywhere, with god mode on while you look around.

Toolkit

Everything a plug-in needs.

  • Every resource typeForms for the main EV Nova types, checked byte for byte against the stock data, with a hex view for the rest.
  • Galaxy mapDrag systems, draw and erase hyperlinks, and set government colours and nebulae.
  • Star systemsPlace planets and stations with their real sprites, beside a live game preview.
  • Test runStart a game on your plug-in with a debug panel: spawn fleets, grant outfits, set bits, start missions.
  • Story toolsA control-bit index and a mission flow graph, so you can follow a storyline end to end.
  • Graphics and soundImport PNG and WAV, edit ship hardpoints, attach HD art.
  • Only your changesA plug-in holds just what you added or changed. The base game stays untouched.
  • Works in the originalSave as .rez or a classic resource file that EV Nova itself can load. HD art rides along as an extra layer the original ignores.
  • Share itList it in the community catalog and players install it in one tap.
Mac

In the Mac app today

Open Plugin Editor next to Plug-ins on the main menu. It takes over the window with a three-pane layout: resource types and tools, a list, and an inspector with a live preview.

Get it on TestFlight

Linux · Windows Early

The desktop editor

The Linux and Windows beta includes its own editor with the same idea: galaxy, system and story canvases, an inspector and previews. Open Plugin Editor from the main menu. It's early and has rough edges, so report anything odd.

Making a plug-in

From a blank plug-in to a new ship, a system and a mission, then sharing it.

Read the guide

Community plug-ins

See what others have built, and what yours could sit next to.

Browse the catalog

Resource formats

The reverse-engineering notes document every field the engine reads.

Read the notes