NOVA Swift

NOVA Swift is a reimplementation of the Escape Velocity Nova engine (Ambrosia Software, 2002), written in Swift from a reverse-engineered reading of the original executable. It runs natively on macOS, iPadOS, iOS and tvOS, with a Godot frontend for Linux, Steam Deck and Windows (public beta).

It is not an emulator or a wrapper. The engine reads the game data from your own copy of EV Nova and plays it. No game data is included.

Website · Download · TestFlight beta · Releases · Plug-in catalog · Issues

Guides, screenshots and feature write-ups live on the website. This page is for the source tree.

Fidelity

The reference is the Windows release, EV Nova CE. Its executable was disassembled and decompiled, and each gameplay system was compared against NovaSwift and rewritten to match: flight, hyperjump and travel days, weapons and damage, the NPC AI state machine, spawning, per-system legal record, the economy, outfitter and shipyard, missions and control-bit scripting, the star map, targeting, landing, Player Info, saving and Strict Play. Where a formula was unclear, the original routine was run under emulation and its output compared.

Original behaviour is the default. Anything that changes the rules is an opt-in Enhancement and is off unless you turn it on.

No decompiled code is in this repository. The findings are written up as specs with function addresses in docs/reverse-engineering/.

One block is roughly 5% of that part of the original code: compared and matching or fixed to match (green), or handled differently on purpose, such as the save format and controls (teal). Every row is now complete: 671 of 671 portable functions. The number at the end of a row is matching functions out of the functions to port, not a progress percentage. This tracks how much has been checked, not how finished the game is. All 179 plan items are done. NovaSwift is in beta and has bugs. If something plays differently from the original, please open a fidelity issue. The function-by-function view is in docs/STATUS.md and on the website.

Features beyond the original, and parts of the original that aren't needed

Building

Requires a Mac with Xcode. data/base/ is git-ignored, so your game data stays on your machine.

git clone https://github.com/SirStig/NovaSwift.git
cd NovaSwift
scripts/setup.sh                # open-source dependencies
# copy your EV Nova data into data/base/ (see docs/GET_THE_DATA.md)
scripts/fetch-plugins.sh        # optional: free community plug-ins
swift build && swift test       # command-line check
open app/NovaSwift.xcodeproj    # pick a target and Run

Linux, Steam Deck and Windows

The data layer, simulation and story runtime are portable Swift. The Godot 4 frontend, bridged with SwiftGodot, runs the same World.step as the Apple build.

Prebuilt Godot packages are on GitHub Releases. The current build is 1.0.0-beta.1.

• NovaSwift-linux-x86_64.tar.gz: Linux x86_64 and Steam Deck.
• NovaSwift-macos-arm64.zip: macOS on Apple silicon, for testing. On a Mac, the native app is the one to use. It is not notarised, so right-click the app and choose Open the first time.
• NovaSwift-windows-x86_64.zip: Windows 10/11 x86_64. Extract it anywhere and run NovaSwift.exe. The build is not code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn the first time: choose More info, then Run anyway.

Install and first-run steps are on the download page. To build it yourself, see docs/PACKAGING.md. Design notes are in docs/GODOT_LAYER.md; what works is in docs/STATUS.md.

Repository layout

docs/                    Charter, status, roadmap, architecture, formats, RE specs
Sources/
  NovaSwiftKit/          Resource parsing, typed decoders, sprite/PICT codecs, plug-in editing
  NovaSwiftEngine/       Simulation: flight, combat, AI, spawning, diplomacy
  NovaSwiftStory/        Missions, crön events, NCB scripting, pilots, economy
  NovaSwiftNet/          Multiplayer transports (Game Center, local Wi-Fi), sessions, cross-play protocol
  NovaSwiftENet/         ENet client, host and LAN discovery (cross-play with the Godot builds)
  NovaSwiftSync/         Multiplayer world-state sync
  NovaSwiftHD/           HD sprites, 3D models and HD packs
  NovaSwiftPluginStore/  Plug-in catalog, download and install
  NovaSwiftServer/       Standalone dedicated server (+ NovaSwiftServerCore)
  novaswift-extract/     Command-line inspector and test harness
Tests/                   Unit tests per library
app/NovaSwift/           SwiftUI/SpriteKit app, including the Plug-in Editor
godot/                   Godot 4 frontend and SwiftGodot bridge
data/base/               Your EV Nova data (git-ignored)

Documentation

docs/README.md is the index. Start with the Charter, Status, Roadmap and Architecture.

Contributing

Bug reports, fidelity reports and pull requests are welcome; the issue tracker has templates for each. Plug-ins go to NovaSwift-Plugins. Please don't attach or commit EV Nova data files.

Legal

EV Nova and its data are copyrighted by their owners. This project does not redistribute them.

• Game data: you need your own copy of EV Nova. NOVA Swift only reads it.
• Community plug-ins: the catalog links to public downloads. A plug-in is only rehosted when its readme allows redistribution, and authors can ask for removal.
• Code: open source, see LICENSE.

The reverse-engineering docs describe behaviour in prose, short formulas and constants. No decompiled code is included.

NOVA Swift is a fan preservation and interoperability project in the spirit of OpenRA, OpenTTD and devilutionX. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ambrosia Software, ATMOS or the original authors.