NESFab Studio v0.1 — Available on itch.io
NESFab Studio

NESFab
Studio

The NES development IDE
you always wanted

A complete NES game development environment. CHR tile editor, metatile composer, nametable painter, object classes, and a purpose-built language that compiles directly to 6502 assembly.

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Core Features

Everything in one place

No more juggling a dozen separate tools. NESFab Studio unifies every stage of NES game development in a single, cohesive environment.

CHR Editor
Draw NES CHR tiles directly in the studio. Full palette support, 8×8 pixel grid, multiple banks. See your sprites live as you paint them.
Nametable Painter
Paint your level nametables using metatile stamps. 16×15 metatile grid maps directly to the NES PPU nametable — what you see is what runs.
Metatile Composer
Build 2×2 metatile sets from your CHR tiles. Assign palette attributes per quadrant. Build reusable tile vocabularies for your levels.
NESFab Language
Write game logic in NESFab — a purpose-built language that compiles to optimized 6502. First-class NES concepts: NMI handlers, PPU registers, OAM, palettes.
Object Classes
Define typed object classes with custom fields directly in the map editor. Spawn points, enemy configs, and triggers — all visible and editable in context.
Integrated Build
One-click build that generates .fab source files from your maps and compiles the full project. The console shows errors and paths inline — no terminal switching.
Development Flow

Write code.
Paint levels.
Build ROMs.

NESFab Studio collapses the full NES development cycle into a single project. Your .chr, .fab, and map files all live together and compile in one step.

01
Draw CHR tiles
Paint 8×8 pixel tiles in the CHR editor. Organize across CHR banks. Tiles are instantly available in the metatile and map editors.
02
Compose metatiles
Combine 4 CHR tiles into a 16×16 metatile. Assign palette attributes to each 2×2 quadrant for accurate NES attribute table output.
03
Paint the nametable
Stamp metatiles onto the 16×15 level grid. Place object instances — enemies, spawn points, triggers — directly on the map.
04
Write NESFab logic
Open main.fab and write your game loop, NMI handler, and entity logic. The language maps 1:1 to NES hardware primitives.
05
Build & run
Hit Build. The studio generates .fab data files from your maps, compiles the project, and outputs a ready-to-run .nes ROM.
MAIN.FAB — NESFab source
// CompTest — NESFab main entry point   nmi game_nmi()   {PPUSCROLL}(0)   {PPUSCROLL}(0)   {PPUMASK}(PPUMASK_BG_ON)   ppu_upload_oam_poll_pads(0)   mode main()   : nmi game_nmi     {PPUCTRL}(0)     {PPUMASK}(0)     // Upload palette   for U i = 0; i < 16; i += 1     palette[i] = pal_level(i)     ppu_upload_palette()     {PPUSTATUS}()   {PPUADDR}($20)   {PPUADDR}($00)
CHR SHEET — 8×8 tiles · CHR-0 · 64 tiles total
CHR Tile Editor

Pixel-perfect
tile art

Paint NES CHR tiles directly inside the studio. The editor enforces the NES 4-color-per-tile limit and gives you a live zoomed preview with the full CHR sheet visible alongside.

✦ Pencil, eraser, fill, eyedropper tools
✦ 4-color NES palette enforced per tile
✦ Multiple CHR banks, live preview
✦ Auto-save on every edit stroke
Nametable & Level Editor

Paint levels
tile by tile

The nametable editor maps your metatile stamps directly to the NES's 16×15 metatile nametable grid. Object instances sit on a separate layer, keeping visual and data concerns clean.

✦ Stamp, dropper, and fill tools
✦ Toggle MT grid and attribute grid overlays
✦ Separate tile and object layers
✦ Generates .fab data automatically on save
Nametable
Metatiles
Palettes
Objects
Object System

Type-safe
game objects

Define object classes with typed fields — U8, U16, Bool — and place instances directly on the map. The compiler generates tight 6502 data tables from your object definitions.

✦ Integer and boolean typed fields
✦ Per-class color coding on the map
✦ Multiple object classes per scene
✦ Compiled to efficient 6502 data tables
Object Classes level.scene
Classes
enemies
spawn_points
// Object class: enemies
// Fields: 1
ct U8 hitpoints = 100
Fields
hitpoints
U8
100
Add Field
Metatile Editor

16х16 tiles with
palette control

Compose 2×2 metatiles from your CHR tileset and assign one of four palettes to each 2×2 attribute block. The editor enforces NES hardware constraints so there are no surprises at compile time.

✦ TL / TR / BL / BR quadrant selection
✦ Per-quadrant palette assignment (0–3)
✦ Live full CHR sheet for tile picking
✦ Subtile index shown on hover
Editing MT #00 Subtile: 0
TL
TR
BL
BR
PALETTE
CHR SHEET
See It in Action

Watch the
full showcase

See NESFab Studio's CHR editor, metatile composer, nametable painter, object system, and build pipeline all working together in a complete walkthrough.

Buy on itch.io — $10
Start Building

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Buy on itch.io — $10 Explore Features