Nova in active development0.1529 Sep to 8 Oct 2026
Fixes you can feel
- Large resource packs no longer crash on open
- Ten improvements switched on after side-by-side checks
- New interface and AI animation assistant land behind switches
23 June to 8 October 2026
Devlog
Patch notes for every dev build, and every dated milestone since the first attempt in June. Known issues and things that did not work stay in, because they are part of the record.
01
Dev builds
Fourteen builds with public patch notes, newest first. Scroll sideways or use the arrows.
0.14to 28 Sep 2026
A full clean-up inside
- Saving runs in the background and reports honestly
- Main source file from 77,072 to 10,695 lines
- GPU debug-layer errors from 3,885 to 0; 84 of 84 product tests pass
0.134 to 19 Sep 2026
Glow, grain and reflections
- Glow from HDR light, one-pixel film grain, AgX and PBR Neutral looks
- Eleven reflection improvements on; flat mirrors show the sky
- A playback bug found in a hands-on test, fixed
0.1220 Aug to 3 Sep 2026
Root causes and switches
- A VRAM budget setting and nine pipeline fixes in one day
- Transparent textures in linear light; experimental model import
- Stages 1 to 4, then 15 eye-approved improvements switched on
0.1017 to 19 Aug 2026
Reflections everywhere
- Four reflection improvements on; the preview brought in line with the viewport
- Preview playback 48% faster, scrubbing 58% faster
- Settings for the shadow cache and a VRAM budget
0.911 to 15 Aug 2026
Memory for light
- Per-pixel memory for AO and GI, with zero visual change by design
- Cleaner distant shadows on by default
- Independent lighting sliders; camera shake on the active camera only
0.88 Aug 2026
The viewport stops waiting
- The viewport no longer waits for the preview window
- Checked on the heaviest test scene while playing
- Exports stayed pixel-identical
0.77 Aug 2026
Preview and export brought together
- The preview window's Render mode brought in line with the export
- Checked on several test scenes and repeated runs
0.66 Aug 2026
Correct light on stretched parts
- Lighting direction on stretched and mirrored parts, once visibly off, is now accurate
- Shipped as opt-in first, checked by two independent reviews
0.56 Aug 2026
A safety net first
- Automatic pixel-by-pixel checks before any lighting change may land
- Nothing new on screen, on purpose
0.424 Jul to 1 Aug 2026
Reflections for everyone
- Planar reflections on by default for every object type
- AO edge banding fixed; glow brightness cap removed
- Export panel controls wired up properly
0.319 to 24 Jul 2026
Light arrives
- Shadows with a shadow cache, ambient occlusion and bounced light
- The first reflection groundwork
- Viewport and preview matched the final output on the test scenes
0.27 to 19 Jul 2026
A deeper editor
- Lighting and biome colours on imported worlds
- Character import with a skin picker; multi-select transforms
- Full undo and a timeline overhaul
0.13 to 7 Jul 2026
The first week
- Viewport navigation and keyframe editing
- Particles with presets; world and schematic import
- Skyboxes and an early preview window
02
Every dated milestone
93 entries from the project history, newest first, rewritten in plain language.
October 202605 entries
- Editor
AI animation assistant: the first piece lands
A server that lets an AI assistant read and edit a project's animation through 14 typed tools is in the codebase, and timing logic that existed twice in the renderer was merged into one, with identical output.
- Picture
New interface resumes; bounced light can use the sky dome
Five interface packages landed in a day behind an off switch, and bounced light can now take its colour from a captured dome of the surroundings (still off, waiting for a visual check).
- Engine
Live-test findings fixed
Large resource packs no longer crash on open, pasted keyframes land on the selected object, and lights without shadows light the scene again. Decision: every project will use one full render path.
- Picture
The first fixes of the final stage switch on
Five improvements became defaults after side-by-side checks (contact shadows, reflection-capture refresh fix, local light shadows, PNG overlay edges, glow in mirrors), each with an off switch that restores the old picture exactly.
- Engine
Foundations under the picture
GPU resource handling, a single lighting loop instead of two copies, one source for 199 default values, and editor undo were reworked with zero pixels changed. Settings moved to a fixed user folder.
September 202607 entries
- Engine
Groundwork, data safety and the importer
Playback can render without a window, tests now fail when sabotaged, movie export no longer reports success after a failed write, and the model importer work landed in the main codebase.
- Engine
Code audit complete; the final stage begins
The whole engine was read in 17 chapters. The main source file was split into modules, from 77,072 lines to about 10,700, and a full shader build became about 2.5 times faster.
- Picture
Quality stage closed; a playback bug fixed
A hands-on test on real animation work found playback using incomplete lighting data. That case was fixed, and the frame-rate cost of the new features was published as measured.
- Picture
Reflection stage closed: 11 improvements on by default
Screen-space and mirror reflections were switched on together after a visual check, then three real bugs were fixed, including sky reflections that came out too dark.
- Picture
Real film grain, bloom from real light, two-sided leaf shadows
Film grain is one pixel fine instead of large smudges, bloom is taken from the scene's light before tonemapping, and thin leaves or fences from imported models can cast shadows from both sides.
- Picture
Reflections stop reflecting themselves; two new looks
Curved metal no longer fills with black holes, fog now appears inside reflections, and two tonemapping looks were added: PBR Neutral and AgX looks.
- Picture
Materials that listen, contact shading that works
Particle blocks use the gloss, metal and glow you set, the first exported frame stops drifting, contact shading really renders, and building one heavy shader went from 59 minutes to under 4.
August 202630 entries
- Picture
15 eye-approved improvements on by default
Five rounds of visual checks switched on 15 improvements, from sky lighting to glass and reflection fixes, and three reflection bugs found along the way were fixed.
- Engine
Stages 1 to 4 closed: 48 steps landed
Cheap fixes, cures for visible symptoms and a single path for all colour maths landed, which reduced one source of preview and export differences; full parity is still in progress.
- Engine
Stage 1: every measuring gate proven honest
Sixteen measuring tools were installed in one day with zero pixels moved, including a fix for a shader-naming bug that could stop the app at start.
- Engine
Eight deep-dive chapters, four old complaints explained
A research campaign read the renderer topic by topic (tonemapping, reflections, shadows, AO and GI, temporal and more) and found the root causes of four long-standing complaints.
- Editor
3D model import, experimental
GLB and glTF models show up with textures, emissive and normal maps, correct two-sided faces and mirrored parts, and bones in their rest pose.
- Picture
Transparent PNG blotches fixed at the root
Semi-transparent textures are composited in the right colour space, measured before and after, and switched on after a visual check.
- Picture
Nine render-pipeline fixes in one day
Environment keyframes work in any order, glow on back faces appears, sky shine stops leaking into floor mirrors, and accumulated renders use blue-noise sampling.
- Engine
A video memory budget you can set
A VRAM budget setting (Auto, or 2 to 8 GB) with texture and mesh eviction, so heavy scenes lower their detail quietly instead of failing.
- Engine
Faster preview and scrubbing
Preview playback got 48% faster and scrubbing 58% faster; per-frame shadow cost dropped 93%, and a crash when the shadow atlas grows was fixed.
- Picture
The preview window matches the viewport
Four reflection-quality improvements became defaults after a hands-on test, so the preview window reflects the same way as the main viewport and far mirrors stop flickering.
- Picture
The clean floor reflection on stop is back
The clear mirror floor when playback stops returns, and camera shake now moves only the active camera.
- Picture
Eight fixes overnight: lighting sliders and glow
Two lighting strength sliders that moved each other are independent again, and a glow fix based on two diagnosed root causes landed.
- Engine
Twelve reviewed changes in one day
Twelve changes landed in a single day, each with a full build check, closing a misleading test and nearly removing the ghost trail after camera moves.
- Picture
Preview modes return; AO noise sticks to the world
The preview window's display modes came back, and ambient-occlusion noise now sticks to the world instead of the screen, reducing moving-camera flicker in measurements (held off pending a visual check).
- Picture
Cleaner distant shadows on by default
In a visual check, the cleaner distant-shadow fix won and became the default; a world-locked noise fix lost because the screen looked noisier.
- Picture
Lighting memory complete
The per-pixel memory for AO and GI was finished: emissive light now reacts faster, and a blind comparison ended in a tie, so the safe default stayed.
- Picture
Memory for light, built invisibly
Nova got a separate per-pixel memory for AO and GI, built with zero visual change by design, and lighting on stretched objects became correct by default.
- Picture
Distant shadow banding cured
Banding in far shadows was largely removed while close contact shadows stayed intact, and a measurement tool pinned most moving-camera wobble on bounced light.
- Engine
The viewport stops waiting
The main viewport no longer waits for the preview window, checked on the heaviest test scene, with exports unchanged.
- Picture
Preview Render mode brought in line with the export
On three test scenes, checked twice each, the preview window's Render mode matched the final export, and a hands-on test agreed.
- Picture
Surface direction fix lands
Lighting direction on stretched and mirrored parts, which could be visibly off, is now correct (opt-in at first).
- Engine
Four candidates measured, all held off
Four rendering fixes were measured pixel by pixel and kept off until a visual check, so nothing changes on screen without a decision.
- Engine
A tamper-resistant check
The test guarding the surface direction fix passed 44 of 44 checks and can be re-verified on a clean copy of the code.
- Engine
Inside work with zero pixels moved
Nine clean-up items landed, including one shared source for colour maths, proven with 178 of 178 shaders byte-identical.
- Engine
Measuring tools for performance claims
A new timing slot and a fail-closed performance check mean claims like "this is cheaper" can be tested instead of argued.
- Engine
Progress tracker rebuilt, item by item
Every open item in the progress tracker now states what it is for, why it has its status, what it depends on, and how it is checked.
- Engine
The first overnight batch
The first overnight work batch landed 7 of 8 items, with an independent review agreeing on all six of its checks.
- Engine
183 open items, one plan
All open items were gathered into a single double-check plan, organised as two parallel work tracks.
- Editor
Smoke test after the mirror switch-on
Planning only: the mirror behaviour in the preview window was explained, and two small defects plus nine interface items were sorted into three waves.
- Picture
Planar mirrors on by default
After soak and endurance tests (20 runs, byte-identical) and a visual check, flat mirrors became the default for everyone, with an off switch.
July 202650 entries
- Editor
A blurred backdrop for the Export menu
Groundwork for a soft blurred backdrop behind the Export menu landed, a suspected memory leak turned out to be normal growth, and work recovered cleanly after a power cut.
- Picture
The "pulsing" complaint explained
The pulsing in reflections turned out to have two parts, only one of them inherited, and a colour error in bounced light was found: the first visible chance to look better than before.
- Engine
Independent audit passed
An adversarial audit checked 104 claims and the corrections were applied in the open; two decisions got stronger after being challenged.
- Engine
A suspected bug closed without code
A motion-data issue blamed on playback came from the camera; the measuring tool was fixed and no product code was needed.
- Picture
The edge band is fixed
Four approved fixes became defaults, including the band along screen edges that came and went; AO error at the edges fell clearly.
- Engine
Two decision documents
The closing pass ended with two documents for decision: five changes to approve, each with its downsides stated, and the scope of the next big loop.
- Picture
The edge band pinned to its cause
A dedicated test scene pinned the screen-edge band to one AO step, and a fix that already existed was lined up for approval.
- Picture
Where on screen the problem lives
Per-pixel heat maps showed a fixed-width band on all four screen edges, narrowing the suspects to one blur step.
- Picture
Three rounds of eye tests find the trigger
Hands-on tests showed the flicker appears when the camera moves, and split it into a large AO part and a small GI part.
- Picture
The preview settles when still
The preview window settles to an identical frame when the playhead is still; the remaining issue only happens while playing.
- Picture
The flicker lives on moving pixels
Bounced light wobbles far more on moving pixels than on still ones, which set the next step: proper motion vectors.
- Engine
Architecture audit: right, but incomplete
A broad audit confirmed the renderer's structure is sound and matches industry practice, and named what was missing for stable bounced light.
- Editor
Render presets and faster loading
Render presets landed with two save fixes, opening the heaviest test scene got faster, and six of ten old visual doubts turned out not to be Nova bugs.
- Picture
Glow on target; three precision fixes
Glow on the reference scene landed on its target brightness, and precision fixes for transforms, normals and leaf highlights landed in a day.
- Editor
Bend IK and modifiers
Bend IK with target and influence controls landed with its own test, plus a Modifiers panel, and a 45-item plan was picked from 236 candidates.
- Picture
Ambient occlusion and hybrid GI land
Ambient occlusion with an optional GTAO mode and hybrid global illumination landed, and imported material maps now actually work.
- Picture
Lighting and shadows complete
Direct lighting and shadows landed as one complete package, with a 3D shadow cache, after an independent review found no blockers.
- Picture
Viewport and export brought in line
The long-standing "render looks different from the viewport" complaint was addressed: on the test scenes, the viewport's Render mode and the exported image matched.
- Picture
A temporal foundation
Exact, deterministic progressive supersampling landed as an opt-in foundation, and four smaller items, including block sets and paths, were merged.
- Picture
One quality recipe for every view
The export, the viewport's Render mode and the second view now share one quality recipe, wind timing no longer depends on frame rate, and an interface mock-up was finished.
- Picture
The busiest day so far
Scene texture capacity went from 256 to 1,024, HD pack mipmaps arrived, and face-rig eyes, extruded shapes and transparency edges were fixed on real projects.
- Editor
A full timeline, and fog without a white band
The timeline gained 19 improvements, from row dragging and marquee select to keyframes at the playhead, and fog no longer leaves a white band at the horizon. Hands-on test: 12 of 12.
- Editor
World import and face rigs
Importing Minecraft worlds as scenery was completed, models render as expected by default, and face rigs show the right parts from the front and the back.
- Editor
Render phase one and multi-select
The first render phase merged after a line-by-line audit, and full multi-select transform with per-part paste landed in the editor.
- Editor
Hands-on test passed; a new world reader
A full hands-on test passed, and work began on a new map reader that brings sky light, block light and biome colours to imported worlds.
- Editor
Splash screen, particle editor, softer light
A splash screen, a What's New panel, cinematic export, font import and a first particle editor tab landed, and material maps, subsurface scattering and soft sun became defaults.
- Engine
Progress re-checked
A re-scan of the feature list confirmed the tracker was in sync, and realistic water was added as a planned idea.
- Editor
25 items in one session
Backups with timed autosave, project properties and a new micro-motion system for the interface were among 25 items that landed.
- Picture
Material maps and subsurface scattering on
Specular and normal material maps and the first stage of subsurface scattering became defaults; Save As copies resources, and Blockbench import arrived.
- Editor
Special blocks and a scene library
Special blocks, folders and template management moved forward, and a VRAM profiler pointed at the biggest memory cost.
- Picture
Soft sun and timeline polish
Soft sun shadows landed, five timeline improvements were confirmed in hands-on use, and blue tree canopies were traced to light passing through the leaves.
- Engine
Feature list audited line by line
A line-by-line check of the feature list against the tracker found two finished items that were not yet marked done.
- Editor
Undo, fixed for good
Undo was traced through four layers of bugs and confirmed working in hands-on use, alongside a large batch of timeline improvements.
- Editor
Onion skin and audio
Onion skinning (five frames before and after) and audio playback with a waveform on the timeline landed, plus eight quality-of-life fixes.
- Engine
Specs approved, the build queue starts
Six design specs were approved (special blocks, banners, paths, soft sun, subsurface scattering and an interface framework) and the build queue started.
- Editor
First tester feedback logged
Eleven feedback items from a test user were logged, one timeline bug was fixed right away, and a nine-item spec pack was completed.
- Editor
Priorities set; clouds fixed
A work-priority list put the animation workflow (onion skin, audio, IK) first, and dark clouds were fixed.
- Picture
Depth of field, sky and wind
Depth of field, enchantment glint, sun, moon and star billboards, horizon haze and global wind arrived, plus spot and point lights.
- Editor
Copy, paste and spawning
Copy and paste for objects and keyframes, keyframe duplication, and spawning characters and mobs from the workbench landed.
- Editor
Click to pick; a Render Settings panel
GPU picking lets you click even tiny objects such as eyes, and a Render Settings panel exposes glow, AO, shadows, GI, reflections and anti-aliasing.
- Picture
Glow arrives
The glow pass landed, so gates, eyes and gems finally light up, along with a second view and a big interface sprint (13 of 19 items).
- Editor
Viewport tools and skyboxes
Walk navigation, tool modes, snapping, a grid overlay and image skyboxes landed, and camera controls follow the familiar scheme.
- Editor
Particles and scenery import
Deterministic particles with 14 presets, scenery import from .schem, .schematic and Minecraft worlds, and OBJ and Blockbench import.
- Engine
Future ideas written down
Long-term ideas (video motion capture to keyframes, ray tracing, volumetrics, upscaling) were recorded outside the plan, and Project 0 was recorded as the origin story.
- Picture
Bounced light and temporal anti-aliasing
HDR scene rendering with deferred tonemapping brought global illumination, glass shadows were fixed, and temporal anti-aliasing landed (now experimental, off by default).
- Editor
35 interface items planned
The interface and quality-of-life work was split into 35 tracked items, growing the plan from 90 to 105 features.
- Picture
Cascaded sun shadows
Three-cascade sun shadows arrived, and a bug that switched off shadow casters was fixed.
- Engine
Every feature gets a build track
Each feature in the tracker was tagged with the work track that builds it.
- Engine
The progress tracker starts
A progress tracker started with 90 features in 12 areas, each with a status.
- Engine
Nova starts from zero
Development restarted as a fully native C++ engine with no dependency on the old one, using a detailed plan learned from Project 0.
June 202601 entry
- Engine
Project 0, retired
A first attempt attached a modern renderer to the original engine. It hit a quality ceiling and was retired. Its lessons became Nova's plan.