(you can select all and lock them all at once under OSX; notice the small lock in the bottom-left corner of each icon)
After having downloaded ResEdit (direct download link), use it to install NovaTools according to its instructions, if it’s not already done. In this tutorial, we’ll see how to open data files (which have the same structure and can be opened by the same tools as plug-ins), then make and edit a new plug-in. But before we begin, though, it is better to take a precaution: lock all Nova data files. Whether you run OSX or MacOS 9 and below, locking files is done by selecting the files in the Finder, hitting command-I for Get Info, then checking the “locked” checkbox. Do it for all the files inside your “Nova Files” folder, save for Nova Music and the four movies.
This should be done because ResEdit automatically saves changes you may mistakenly do, so if there is a problem, the files will remain modified, and that’s not a good thing. By locking them, nothing will turn wrong to the point you will have to reinstall the game.
When you’re done locking, open ResEdit. After the splash screen, you get an open dialog. Find and open Nova Data 4. After confirming you really wish to open this locked document, you should obtain something like this.
You see some various icons with one 4-letters name each, oütf for instance. Double-click the oütf one. You get a new window with a (long) list of named things, that are called resources. oütf (including the dots above the u) is called a resource type, it’s a 4-char code that identifies the kind of resources; Nova uses several of them such as shïp, dësc, etc... Open other resource types (wëap, përs) to familiarise yourself with the ResEdit interface. Notice there are numbers in the first column of the resource list (128, 129, 130, 131...); this number is the resource ID: it identifies the resource among the other resources in the list (that are of the same type), you can’t have two resources of the same type with the same ID in the same file. The second column contains the size of each resource, but it’s not interesting for now. The third column contains the resource name, which makes it obvious here the oütf resources match outfits: “Light Blaster”, “IR Missile Launcher”, etc...
Now, go back to the oütf resource list, and double-click the first one, named “Light Blaster”. This should open a new window looking like that:
This is the NovaTools oütf editing window. If NovaTools hadn’t been installed, ResEdit would show instead a window with hexadecimal gibberish. Thanks to NovaTools, there are a number of checkboxes, menus, text and number fields that show the caracteristics of the outfit, some obvious (Cost), some less obvious.
Let’s modify the Light Blaster so that it weights only 1 ton instead of 3. You could make the modification here, but it wouldn’t be saved, since the file is locked. No, don’t unlock it. Instead, we will create a new file that will hold the modified resource; such a file is a plug-in. Plug-ins allow for safer tinkering (since you just need to remove them from the “Nova Plug-ins” folder to revert to the unmodified game), easier distribution of modifications (since you only need to transmit in a plug-in what is new or modified, not the whole Nova Data file), and make it possible (but not all plug-ins are compatible) to use more than one plug-in at the same time.
ResEdit (even with the help of NovaTools) cannot create a plug-in file. Fortunately, I have an empty one right here, download it and make a copy of it each time you want to create a new empty plug-in to fill with data.
Then, open a copy of this blank plug-in with ResEdit. You’ll see an empty window, as your plug-in contains nothing so far. Then, return to the oütf list of Nova Data 4, select the Light Blaster, and tell ResEdit to copy (command-C or Edit -> Copy). Just click the empty window of your plug-in (to tell ResEdit the destination), then tell to paste (command-V or Edit -> Paste). The window should no longer be empty, and contain an oütf icon: as you copied an oütf resource, ResEdit created an oütf resource list, containing just one resource for now: double-click the oütf icon, there will only be the Light Blaster in the list. Double-click the Light Blaster, and now you can edit the Mass field and put 1 instead of 3:
Indeed, the Nova Bible tells that this field states the number of ton(s) the outfit takes from the ship’s free mass. Close then the editor window.
Check that the Light Blaster in your plug has ID 128. This is very important, as the main feature of plug-ins is: . This is the overriding rule, and you should know it perfectly. If there is no resource in the data files with the same type and the same ID, the resource in the plug will simply be loaded on top of the resources in the data files. This means that, as the “Light Blaster” in the data files has type oütf and ID 128 as well, the game when launching will completely disregard the “Light Blaster” found in the data files and load the “Light Blaster” in your plug instead. Once this is checked, save your plug-in, and quit ResEdit.
Move your new plug-in to the Nova Plug-ins folder, and launch Nova. Then go to a Federation outfitter. The Light Blaster should now be displayed with a mass of 1 ton. Clearly an improvement over the original design!
If Nova crashes at some point before you can see that, there is a problem, tell us about it in the EV Developer’s Corner, with all the info you can give (platform, editor, when it does crash and pilotlog and debuglog). If it simply does not work, i.e. the light blaster still has a mass of 3 tons, quit Nova and double-check everything. Same thing if you don’t see any Light Blaster. If it still doesn’t work after having double-checked, tell us about it in the EV Developer’s Corner, telling what you did and what does not work.
Otherwise, congratulations, you successfully made your first plug-in! Notice the resource in the plug-in overrided the resource in the data file with the same ID. If the ID of the Light Blaster in the plug-in had been one oütf ID unused in Nova Data 4, there would have been both the original Light Blaster and the modified one in the outfitting. Notice that, in order to modify the ID or the name of a resource in ResEdit, you need to select the resource in the resource list, tell “get resource info” (command-I or Resource -> Get Resource Info...), and modify the resource ID and name in the dialog. Be careful: only use IDs between 128 and 639 (bounds included) for outfits, Nova won’t load any oütf resource with an ID out of this range.
Now you’ve made your first plug-in and gotten the fundamental concepts of plugmaking, you can move on to bigger things. I advise you to begin by reading The Bible Explained to Dummies guide, then for each resource the relevant annotated template (that you can find if you go back to the topic list). There are also specific guides for some complicated Nova features (such as one for Contribute/Require and Scanmask).