Every stage has a goal and a result you can check. Finished stages show what was measured; open ones say what "done" will mean. There are no dates on purpose.
Stage 8 of 8: architecture, scaffolding and performance.
The closing stage tidies the data and shader foundations, rebuilds reflections and sky light, splits transparency and the camera effect chain, and measures performance before chasing it. Every change to the picture goes through a switch and a side-by-side check.
Current priority: finish the render pipeline and the interface. No release date is planned yet.
10 fixes already switched on after visual checks (3 to 6 October), each with an off switch that restores the old picture exactly.
From the first native editor to the stage running now. The full dated log is in the devlog.
Work that moves next to the render stages.
Since 29 Sep 2026, paused 1 to 6 Oct
Theme, row density, panel cards and value controls are redesigned behind a switch that stays off until the look is approved by eye. Seven integration packages landed on 7 and 8 October; the eighth is being integrated.
Opened 8 Oct 2026
A file-based server with 18 tools to read and edit a project's animation, a separate tool for now. Planned: a live bridge into a running Nova, a motion template library and rig profiles, then an end-to-end test.
Paused since 1 Oct 2026
GLB, glTF and OBJ import with rigs and animation is in the codebase behind a switch; imported characters move part by part for now. It is paused so effort can go to the animation assistant, and reopens on a later decision.
Built and merged, but switched off by default until they pass their checks. Five are approved for a batch switch-on; none of them is active yet.
Every project uses the same full-quality path, whatever its older engine setting. Approved.
Characters no longer show through cut-out overlay planes. Approved.
Extruded skin details follow animated skin swaps. Approved.
HD texture packs without seams between atlas tiles. Approved.
Face-rig eyes stay visible in every render path. Approved.
Finer handling of lens distortion edges, chromatic aberration and the depth-of-field ratio.
Texture filtering in the style of the classic editor. It needs one more step before it can be judged.
Bounced light captured from the surrounding scene. It waits to be switched on with the next bounced-light package.
What comes next, and what "done" means for each. No dates.
Next public milestone: a test build for community testers. No date yet.
The large reflection package, shared temporal code, transparent draws and their shadows, the camera effect chain, sky and glass, then performance.
Done when every everyday animation task from the old interface can be done in the new one.
Done when an assistant such as Claude can make keyframe edits in the running app, and every edit can be undone like a hand-made one.
Done when imported characters bend smoothly at the joints and import leaves the experimental switch.
A version anyone can download. No date until the render pipeline and the interface are finished.
Listed for transparency only; none of these is scheduled. Hardware ray tracing and AI upscaling are long-term ideas with no work started. Softer subsurface scattering for skin and thin materials is being researched, nothing more.
One rule across every stage: where Nova's maths is correct and an older result is not, Nova follows the correct maths, and says so.
Nova in active development