as well as tracking and stealthy movement.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
you must understand what NetHack is doing with the screen. The
NetHack screen replaces the ``You see ...'' descriptions of text
adventure games. Figure 1 is a sample of what a NetHack screen
- might look like.
+ might look like. The way the screen looks for you depends on
+ your platform.
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ --------------------------------------------------------------------
The bat bites!
------
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- Player the Rambler St:12 Dx:7 Co:18 In:11 Wi:9 Ch:15 Neutral
+
+ Player the Rambler St:12 Dx:7 Co:18 In:11 Wi:9 Ch:15 Neutral
Dlvl:1 $:0 HP:9(12) Pw:3(3) AC:10 Exp:1/19 T:257 Weak
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ --------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 1
3.1. The status lines (bottom)
- The bottom two lines of the screen contain several cryptic
- pieces of information describing your current status. If either
- status line becomes longer than the width of the screen, you
+ The bottom two lines of the screen contain several cryptic
+ pieces of information describing your current status. If either
+ status line becomes longer than the width of the screen, you
might not see all of it. Here are explanations of what the vari-
ous status items mean (though your configuration may not have all
the status items listed below):
experience level, see below).
Strength
- A measure of your character's strength; one of your six ba-
- sic attributes. A human character's attributes can range
- from 3 to 18 inclusive; non-humans may exceed these limits
+ A measure of your character's strength; one of your six ba-
+ sic attributes. A human character's attributes can range
+ from 3 to 18 inclusive; non-humans may exceed these limits
(occasionally you may get super-strengths of the form 18/xx,
- and magic can also cause attributes to exceed the normal
- limits). The higher your strength, the stronger you are.
+ and magic can also cause attributes to exceed the normal
+ limits). The higher your strength, the stronger you are.
Strength affects how successfully you perform physical
- tasks, how much damage you do in combat, and how much loot
+ tasks, how much damage you do in combat, and how much loot
you can carry.
Dexterity
- Dexterity affects your chances to hit in combat, to avoid
- traps, and do other tasks requiring agility or manipulation
+ Dexterity affects your chances to hit in combat, to avoid
+ traps, and do other tasks requiring agility or manipulation
of objects.
Constitution
- Constitution affects your ability to recover from injuries
+ Constitution affects your ability to recover from injuries
and other strains on your stamina.
Intelligence
- Intelligence affects your ability to cast spells and read
+ Intelligence affects your ability to cast spells and read
spellbooks.
Wisdom
Charisma
Charisma affects how certain creatures react toward you. In
- particular, it can affect the prices shopkeepers offer you.
+ particular, it can affect the prices shopkeepers offer you.
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
Alignment
Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic. Often, Lawful is taken as good
and Chaotic as evil, but legal and ethical do not always co-
- incide. Your alignment influences how other monsters react
+ incide. Your alignment influences how other monsters react
toward you. Monsters of a like alignment are more likely to
- be non-aggressive, while those of an opposing alignment are
+ be non-aggressive, while those of an opposing alignment are
more likely to be seriously offended at your presence.
Dungeon Level
How deep you are in the dungeon. You start at level one and
- the number increases as you go deeper into the dungeon.
- Some levels are special, and are identified by a name and
- not a number. The Amulet of Yendor is reputed to be some-
+ the number increases as you go deeper into the dungeon.
+ Some levels are special, and are identified by a name and
+ not a number. The Amulet of Yendor is reputed to be some-
where beneath the twentieth level.
Gold
- The number of gold pieces you are openly carrying. Gold
+ The number of gold pieces you are openly carrying. Gold
which you have concealed in containers is not counted.
Hit Points
- Your current and maximum hit points. Hit points indicate
- how much damage you can take before you die. The more you
- get hit in a fight, the lower they get. You can regain hit
- points by resting, or by using certain magical items or
- spells. The number in parentheses is the maximum number
+ Your current and maximum hit points. Hit points indicate
+ how much damage you can take before you die. The more you
+ get hit in a fight, the lower they get. You can regain hit
+ points by resting, or by using certain magical items or
+ spells. The number in parentheses is the maximum number
your hit points can reach.
Power
- Spell points. This tells you how much mystic energy (mana)
- you have available for spell casting. Again, resting will
+ Spell points. This tells you how much mystic energy (mana)
+ you have available for spell casting. Again, resting will
regenerate the amount available.
Armor Class
A measure of how effectively your armor stops blows from un-
- friendly creatures. The lower this number is, the more ef-
+ friendly creatures. The lower this number is, the more ef-
fective the armor; it is quite possible to have negative ar-
mor class.
Experience
Your current experience level and experience points. As you
- adventure, you gain experience points. At certain experi-
- ence point totals, you gain an experience level. The more
+ adventure, you gain experience points. At certain experi-
+ ence point totals, you gain an experience level. The more
experienced you are, the better you fight and withstand mag-
ical attacks. Many dungeons show only your experience level
here.
Time
- The number of turns elapsed so far, displayed if you have
+ The number of turns elapsed so far, displayed if you have
the time option set.
Hunger status
- Your current hunger status, ranging from Satiated down to
- Fainting. If your hunger status is normal, it is not dis-
+ Your current hunger status, ranging from Satiated down to
+ Fainting. If your hunger status is normal, it is not dis-
played.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- Additional status flags may appear after the hunger status:
- Conf when you're confused, FoodPois or Ill when sick, Blind when
+ Additional status flags may appear after the hunger status:
+ Conf when you're confused, FoodPois or Ill when sick, Blind when
you can't see, Stun when stunned, and Hallu when hallucinating.
3.2. The message line (top)
The top line of the screen is reserved for messages that de-
- scribe things that are impossible to represent visually. If you
- see a ``--More--'' on the top line, this means that NetHack has
- another message to display on the screen, but it wants to make
- certain that you've read the one that is there first. To read
+ scribe things that are impossible to represent visually. If you
+ see a ``--More--'' on the top line, this means that NetHack has
+ another message to display on the screen, but it wants to make
+ certain that you've read the one that is there first. To read
the next message, just press the space bar.
3.3. The map (rest of the screen)
- The rest of the screen is the map of the level as you have
- explored it so far. Each symbol on the screen represents some-
- thing. You can set various graphics options to change some of
- the symbols the game uses; otherwise, the game will use default
+ The rest of the screen is the map of the level as you have
+ explored it so far. Each symbol on the screen represents some-
+ thing. You can set various graphics options to change some of
+ the symbols the game uses; otherwise, the game will use default
symbols. Here is a list of what the default symbols mean:
- and |
. The floor of a room, ice, or a doorless doorway.
- # A corridor, or iron bars, or a tree, or possibly a kitchen
+ # A corridor, or iron bars, or a tree, or possibly a kitchen
sink (if your dungeon has sinks), or a drawbridge.
> Stairs down: a way to the next level.
< Stairs up: a way to the previous level.
- + A closed door, or a spellbook containing a spell you may be
+ + A closed door, or a spellbook containing a spell you may be
able to learn.
@ Your character or a human.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
\ An opulent throne.
a-zA-Z and other symbols
- Letters and certain other symbols represent the various in-
- habitants of the Mazes of Menace. Watch out, they can be
+ Letters and certain other symbols represent the various in-
+ habitants of the Mazes of Menace. Watch out, they can be
nasty and vicious. Sometimes, however, they can be helpful.
I This marks the last known location of an invisible or other-
- wise unseen monster. Note that the monster could have
+ wise unseen monster. Note that the monster could have
moved. The 'f' and 'm' commands may be useful here.
- You need not memorize all these symbols; you can ask the
- game what any symbol represents with the `/' command (see the
+ You need not memorize all these symbols; you can ask the
+ game what any symbol represents with the `/' command (see the
next section for more info).
4. Commands
- Commands are initiated by typing one or two characters.
- Some commands, like ``search'', do not require that any more in-
- formation be collected by NetHack. Other commands might require
- additional information, for example a direction, or an object to
+ Commands are initiated by typing one or two characters.
+ Some commands, like ``search'', do not require that any more in-
+ formation be collected by NetHack. Other commands might require
+ additional information, for example a direction, or an object to
be used. For those commands that require additional information,
- NetHack will present you with either a menu of choices or with a
- command line prompt requesting information. Which you are pre-
+ NetHack will present you with either a menu of choices or with a
+ command line prompt requesting information. Which you are pre-
sented with will depend chiefly on how you have set the menustyle
option.
- For example, a common question, in the form ``What do you
- want to use? [a-zA-Z ?*]'', asks you to choose an object you are
- carrying. Here, ``a-zA-Z'' are the inventory letters of your
- possible choices. Typing `?' gives you an inventory list of
- these items, so you can see what each letter refers to. In this
- example, there is also a `*' indicating that you may choose an
- object not on the list, if you wanted to use something unexpect-
+ For example, a common question, in the form ``What do you
+ want to use? [a-zA-Z ?*]'', asks you to choose an object you are
+ carrying. Here, ``a-zA-Z'' are the inventory letters of your
+ possible choices. Typing `?' gives you an inventory list of
+ these items, so you can see what each letter refers to. In this
+ example, there is also a `*' indicating that you may choose an
+ object not on the list, if you wanted to use something unexpect-
ed. Typing a `*' lists your entire inventory, so you can see the
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- inventory letters of every object you're carrying. Finally, if
+ inventory letters of every object you're carrying. Finally, if
you change your mind and decide you don't want to do this command
after all, you can press the ESC key to abort the command.
- You can put a number before some commands to repeat them
- that many times; for example, ``10s'' will search ten times. If
+ You can put a number before some commands to repeat them
+ that many times; for example, ``10s'' will search ten times. If
you have the number_pad option set, you must type `n' to prefix a
- count, so the example above would be typed ``n10s'' instead.
- Commands for which counts make no sense ignore them. In addi-
- tion, movement commands can be prefixed for greater control (see
+ count, so the example above would be typed ``n10s'' instead.
+ Commands for which counts make no sense ignore them. In addi-
+ tion, movement commands can be prefixed for greater control (see
below). To cancel a count or a prefix, press the ESC key.
- The list of commands is rather long, but it can be read at
- any time during the game through the `?' command, which accesses
- a menu of helpful texts. Here are the commands for your refer-
+ The list of commands is rather long, but it can be read at
+ any time during the game through the `?' command, which accesses
+ a menu of helpful texts. Here are the commands for your refer-
ence:
? Help menu: display one of several help texts available.
- / Tell what a symbol represents. You may choose to specify a
+ / Tell what a symbol represents. You may choose to specify a
location or type a symbol (or even a whole word) to explain.
Specifying a location is done by moving the cursor to a par-
- ticular spot on the map and then pressing one of `.', `,',
- `;', or `:'. `.' will explain the symbol at the chosen lo-
+ ticular spot on the map and then pressing one of `.', `,',
+ `;', or `:'. `.' will explain the symbol at the chosen lo-
cation, conditionally check for ``More info?'' depending up-
on whether the help option is on, and then you will be asked
- to pick another location; `,' will explain the symbol but
- skip any additional information; `;' will skip additional
- info and also not bother asking you to choose another loca-
- tion to examine; `:' will show additional info, if any,
- without asking for confirmation. When picking a location,
- pressing the ESC key will terminate this command, or press-
+ to pick another location; `,' will explain the symbol but
+ skip any additional information; `;' will skip additional
+ info and also not bother asking you to choose another loca-
+ tion to examine; `:' will show additional info, if any,
+ without asking for confirmation. When picking a location,
+ pressing the ESC key will terminate this command, or press-
ing `?' will give a brief reminder about how it works.
- Specifying a name rather than a location always gives any
+ Specifying a name rather than a location always gives any
additional information available about that name.
& Tell what a command does.
- < Go up to the previous level (if you are on a staircase or
+ < Go up to the previous level (if you are on a staircase or
ladder).
> Go down to the next level (if you are on a staircase or lad-
der).
[yuhjklbn]
- Go one step in the direction indicated (see Figure 2). If
- you sense or remember a monster there, you will fight the
- monster instead. Only these one-step movement commands
- cause you to fight monsters; the others (below) are
+ Go one step in the direction indicated (see Figure 2). If
+ you sense or remember a monster there, you will fight the
+ monster instead. Only these one-step movement commands
+ cause you to fight monsters; the others (below) are
``safe.''
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
[YUHJKLBN]
- Go in that direction until you hit a wall or run into some-
+ Go in that direction until you hit a wall or run into some-
thing.
m[yuhjklbn]
- Prefix: move without picking up objects or fighting (even
+ Prefix: move without picking up objects or fighting (even
if you remember a monster there)
F[yuhjklbn]
- Prefix: fight a monster (even if you only guess one is
+ Prefix: fight a monster (even if you only guess one is
there)
M[yuhjklbn]
Prefix: move until something interesting is found.
G[yuhjklbn] or <CONTROL->[yuhjklbn]
- Prefix: same as `g', but forking of corridors is not con-
+ Prefix: same as `g', but forking of corridors is not con-
sidered interesting.
- _ Travel to a map location via a shortest-path algorithm.
- Stops on most of the same conditions as the Rush commands
- do. For ports with mouse support, the command is also in-
- voked when a mouse-click takes place on a location further
+ _ Travel to a map location via a shortest-path algorithm.
+ Stops on most of the same conditions as the Rush commands
+ do. For ports with mouse support, the command is also in-
+ voked when a mouse-click takes place on a location further
than 1 cell away from the current position.
. Rest, do nothing for one turn.
a Apply (use) a tool (pick-axe, key, lamp...).
A Remove one or more worn items, such as armor. Use `T' (take
- off) to take off only one piece of armor or `R' (remove) to
+ off) to take off only one piece of armor or `R' (remove) to
take off only one accessory.
^A Redo the previous command.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- d Drop something. Ex. ``d7a'' means drop seven items of ob-
+ d Drop something. Ex. ``d7a'' means drop seven items of ob-
ject a.
D Drop several things. In answer to the question ``What kinds
- of things do you want to drop? [!%= aium]'' you should type
- zero or more object symbols possibly followed by `a' and/or
+ of things do you want to drop? [!%= aium]'' you should type
+ zero or more object symbols possibly followed by `a' and/or
`i' and/or `u' and/or `m'.
Da - drop all objects, without asking for confirmation.
e Eat food.
- E Engrave a message on the floor. Engraving the word ``El-
+ E Engrave a message on the floor. Engraving the word ``El-
bereth'' will cause most monsters to not attack you hand-to-
hand (but if you attack, you will rub it out); this is often
- useful to give yourself a breather. (This feature may be
- compiled out of the game, so your version might not have
+ useful to give yourself a breather. (This feature may be
+ compiled out of the game, so your version might not have
it.)
E- - write in the dust with your fingers.
- f Fire one of the objects placed in your quiver. You may se-
+ f Fire one of the objects placed in your quiver. You may se-
lect ammunition with a previous `Q' command, or let the com-
puter pick something appropriate if autoquiver is true.
o Open a door.
- O Set options. A menu showing the current option values will
- be displayed. You can change most values simply by select-
- ing the menu entry for the given option (ie, by typing its
- letter or clicking upon it, depending on your user inter-
- face). For the non-boolean choices, a further menu or
+ O Set options. A menu showing the current option values will
+ be displayed. You can change most values simply by select-
+ ing the menu entry for the given option (ie, by typing its
+ letter or clicking upon it, depending on your user inter-
+ face). For the non-boolean choices, a further menu or
prompt will appear once you've closed this menu. The avail-
- able options are listed later in this Guidebook. Options
- are usually set before the game rather than with the `O'
+ able options are listed later in this Guidebook. Options
+ are usually set before the game rather than with the `O'
command; see the section on options below.
p Pay your shopping bill.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
q Quaff (drink) a potion.
- Q Select an object for your quiver. You can then throw this
- using the `f' command. (In versions prior to 3.3 this was
- the command to quit the game, which has now been moved to
+ Q Select an object for your quiver. You can then throw this
+ using the `f' command. (In versions prior to 3.3 this was
+ the command to quit the game, which has now been moved to
`#quit'.)
r Read a scroll or spellbook.
^R Redraw the screen.
- s Search for secret doors and traps around you. It usually
+ s Search for secret doors and traps around you. It usually
takes several tries to find something.
- S Save (and suspend) the game. The game will be restored au-
+ S Save (and suspend) the game. The game will be restored au-
tomatically the next time you play.
t Throw an object or shoot a projectile.
W Wear armor.
x Exchange your wielded weapon with the item in your secondary
- weapon slot. The latter is used as your second weapon in
- two-weapon combat. Note that if one of these slots is emp-
+ weapon slot. The latter is used as your second weapon in
+ two-weapon combat. Note that if one of these slots is emp-
ty, the exchange still takes place.
X Enter explore (discovery) mode, explained in its own section
^X Display your name, role, race, gender, and alignment as well
as the various deities in your game.
- z Zap a wand. To aim at yourself, use `.' for the direction.
+ z Zap a wand. To aim at yourself, use `.' for the direction.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- Z Zap (cast) a spell. To cast at yourself, use `.' for the
+ Z Zap (cast) a spell. To cast at yourself, use `.' for the
direction.
^Z Suspend the game (UNIX(R) versions with job control only).
( Tell what tools you are using.
- * Tell what equipment you are using; combines the preceding
+ * Tell what equipment you are using; combines the preceding
five type-specific commands into one.
$ Count your gold pieces.
- + List the spells you know. Using this command, you can also
- rearrange the order in which your spells are listed. They
- are shown via a menu, and if you select a spell in that
+ + List the spells you know. Using this command, you can also
+ rearrange the order in which your spells are listed. They
+ are shown via a menu, and if you select a spell in that
menu, you'll be re-prompted for another spell to swap places
- with it, and then have opportunity to make further ex-
+ with it, and then have opportunity to make further ex-
changes.
\ Show what types of objects have been discovered.
! Escape to a shell.
# Perform an extended command. As you can see, the authors of
- NetHack used up all the letters, so this is a way to intro-
- duce the less frequently used commands. What extended com-
- mands are available depends on what features the game was
+ NetHack used up all the letters, so this is a way to intro-
+ duce the less frequently used commands. What extended com-
+ mands are available depends on what features the game was
compiled with.
#adjust
(R)UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
Talk to someone.
#conduct
- List which challenges you have adhered to. See the section
+ List which challenges you have adhered to. See the section
below entitled ``Conduct'' for details.
#dip Dip an object into something.
Jump to another location.
#loot
- Loot a box or bag on the floor beneath you, or the saddle
+ Loot a box or bag on the floor beneath you, or the saddle
from a horse standing next to you.
#monster
- Use a monster's special ability (when polymorphed into mon-
+ Use a monster's special ability (when polymorphed into mon-
ster form).
#name
Turn undead.
#twoweapon
- Toggle two-weapon combat on or off. Note that you must use
- suitable weapons for this type of combat, or it will be
+ Toggle two-weapon combat on or off. Note that you must use
+ suitable weapons for this type of combat, or it will be
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
#? Help menu: get the list of available extended commands.
If your keyboard has a meta key (which, when pressed in com-
- bination with another key, modifies it by setting the `meta'
- [8th, or `high'] bit), you can invoke many extended commands by
- meta-ing the first letter of the command. In NT, OS/2, and PC
+ bination with another key, modifies it by setting the `meta'
+ [8th, or `high'] bit), you can invoke many extended commands by
+ meta-ing the first letter of the command. In NT, OS/2, and PC
NetHack, the `Alt' key can be used in this fashion.
- M-2 #twoweapon
+ M-? #? (not supported by all platforms)
+
+ M-2 #twoweapon (unless the number_pad option is enabled)
M-a #adjust
M-s #sit
- M-t #turn
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+ M-t #turn
+
M-u #untrap
M-v #version
M-w #wipe
- If the number_pad option is on, some additional letter com-
+ If the number_pad option is on, some additional letter com-
mands are available:
+ h Help menu: display one of several help texts available,
+ like ``?''.
+
j Jump to another location. Same as ``#jump'' or ``M-j''.
k Kick something (usually a door). Same as `^D'.
``M-l''.
N Name an item or type of object. Same as ``#name'' or ``M-
- N''.
+ n''.
u Untrap a trap, door, or chest. Same as ``#untrap'' or ``M-
u''.
them straight on, horizontally or vertically. Doorways without
doors are not restricted in this fashion.
- Doors can be useful for shutting out monsters. Most mon-
- sters cannot open doors, although a few don't need to (ex. ghosts
- can walk through doors).
-
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+ Doors can be useful for shutting out monsters. Most mon-
+ sters cannot open doors, although a few don't need to (ex. ghosts
+ can walk through doors).
+
Secret doors are hidden. You can find them with the `s'
(search) command. Once found they are in all ways equivalent to
normal doors.
pets (see below) and some other monsters will follow along if
they're close enough when you travel up or down stairs, and occa-
sionally one of these creatures will displace you during the
- climb. When that occurs, the pet or other monster will arrive on
- the staircase and you will end up nearby.
-
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+ climb. When that occurs, the pet or other monster will arrive on
+ the staircase and you will end up nearby.
+
5.4. Ladders (`<', `>')
Ladders serve the same purpose as staircases, and the two
sters with you. Like you, your pet needs food to survive. It
usually feeds itself on fresh carrion and other meats. If you're
worried about it or want to train it, you can feed it, too, by
- throwing it food. A properly trained pet can be very useful un-
- der certain circumstances.
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+ throwing it food. A properly trained pet can be very useful un-
+ der certain circumstances.
+
Your pet also gains experience from killing monsters, and
can grow over time, gaining hit points and doing more damage.
Initially, your pet may even be better at killing things than
If you're carrying too many items, NetHack will tell you so
and you won't be able to pick up anything more. Otherwise, it
will add the object(s) to your pack and tell you what you just
- picked up.
-
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+ picked up.
+
As you add items to your inventory, you also add the weight
of that object to your load. The amount that you can carry de-
pends on your strength and your constitution. The stronger you
objects may act poorly or detrimentally in other ways.
Objects can also be blessed. Blessed items usually work
- better or more beneficially than normal uncursed items. For ex-
- ample, a blessed weapon will do more damage against demons.
+ better or more beneficially than normal uncursed items. For
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+ example, a blessed weapon will do more damage against demons.
+
There are magical means of bestowing or removing curses upon
objects, so even if you are stuck with one, you can still have
the curse lifted and the item removed. Priests and Priestesses
the `x' command, which exchanges your primary (the one being
wielded) and secondary weapons. And if you have proficiency in
the ``two weapon combat'' skill, you may wield both primary and
- secondary weapons simultaneously; use the `#twoweapon' extended
- command to engage or disengage that. Only some types of
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- characters (barbarians, for instance) have the necessary skill
- available. Even with that skill, using two weapons at once in-
- curs a penalty in the chance to hit your target compared to using
- just one weapon at a time.
+ secondary weapons simultaneously; use the `#twoweapon' extended
+ command to engage or disengage that. Only some types of charac-
+ ters (barbarians, for instance) have the necessary skill avail-
+ able. Even with that skill, using two weapons at once incurs a
+ penalty in the chance to hit your target compared to using just
+ one weapon at a time.
There might be times when you'd rather not wield any weapon
at all. To accomplish that, wield `-', or else use the `A' com-
a chance to fire varies from turn to turn. You can explicitly
limit the number of shots by using a numeric prefix before the
`t' or `f' command. For example, ``2f'' (or ``n2f'' if using
- number_pad mode) would ensure that at most 2 arrows are shot even
- if you could have fired 3. If you specify a larger number than
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+ number_pad mode) would ensure that at most 2 arrows are shot even
+ if you could have fired 3. If you specify a larger number than
would have been shot (``4f'' in this example), you'll just end up
shooting the same number (3, here) as if no limit had been speci-
fied. Once the volley is in motion, all of the items will travel
tal overall skills, so you need to actively choose which skills
to enhance and which to ignore.
- 7.3. Armor (`[')
- Lots of unfriendly things lurk about; you need armor to pro-
- tect yourself from their blows. Some types of armor offer better
- protection than others. Your armor class is a measure of this
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+
+
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+ 7.3. Armor (`[')
+
+ Lots of unfriendly things lurk about; you need armor to pro-
+ tect yourself from their blows. Some types of armor offer better
+ protection than others. Your armor class is a measure of this
protection. Armor class (AC) is measured as in AD&D, with 10 be-
ing the equivalent of no armor, and lower numbers meaning better
armor. Each suit of armor which exists in AD&D gives the same
The `A' command can also be used to take off armor as well as
other worn items.
- 7.4. Food (`%')
- Food is necessary to survive. If you go too long without
- eating you will faint, and eventually die of starvation. Some
- types of food will spoil, and become unhealthy to eat, if not
- protected. Food stored in ice boxes or tins (``cans'') will usu-
- ally stay fresh, but ice boxes are heavy, and tins take a while
- to open.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+
+
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+ 7.4. Food (`%')
+
+ Food is necessary to survive. If you go too long without
+ eating you will faint, and eventually die of starvation. Some
+ types of food will spoil, and become unhealthy to eat, if not
+ protected. Food stored in ice boxes or tins (``cans'') will usu-
+ ally stay fresh, but ice boxes are heavy, and tins take a while
+ to open.
+
When you kill monsters, they usually leave corpses which are
also ``food.'' Many, but not all, of these are edible; some also
give you special powers when you eat them. A good rule of thumb
The command to read a scroll is `r'.
- 7.6. Potions (`!')
-
- Potions are distinguished by the color of the liquid inside
- the flask. They disappear after you quaff them.
- Clear potions are potions of water. Sometimes these are
- blessed or cursed, resulting in holy or unholy water. Holy water
- is the bane of the undead, so potions of holy water are good
- things to throw (`t') at them. It is also sometimes very useful
- to dip (``#dip'') an object into a potion.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+ 7.6. Potions (`!')
+
+ Potions are distinguished by the color of the liquid inside
+ the flask. They disappear after you quaff them.
+
+ Clear potions are potions of water. Sometimes these are
+ blessed or cursed, resulting in holy or unholy water. Holy water
+ is the bane of the undead, so potions of holy water are good
+ things to throw (`t') at them. It is also sometimes very useful
+ to dip (``#dip'') an object into a potion.
+
The command to drink a potion is `q' (quaff).
7.7. Wands (`/')
Putting on a ring activates its magic. You can wear only
two rings, one on each ring finger.
- Most rings also cause you to grow hungry more rapidly, the
- rate varying with the type of ring.
-
- The commands to use rings are `P' (put on) and `R' (remove).
- 7.9. Spellbooks (`+')
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- Spellbooks are tomes of mighty magic. When studied with the
- `r' (read) command, they transfer to the reader the knowledge of
- a spell (and therefore eventually become unreadable) -- unless
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack Guidebook 27
- NetHack Guidebook 27
+ Most rings also cause you to grow hungry more rapidly, the
+ rate varying with the type of ring.
+ The commands to use rings are `P' (put on) and `R' (remove).
+ 7.9. Spellbooks (`+')
+ Spellbooks are tomes of mighty magic. When studied with the
+ `r' (read) command, they transfer to the reader the knowledge of
+ a spell (and therefore eventually become unreadable) -- unless
the attempt backfires. Reading a cursed spellbook or one with
mystic runes beyond your ken can be harmful to your health!
Tools are miscellaneous objects with various purposes. Some
tools have a limited number of uses, akin to wand charges. For
- example, lamps burn out after a while. Other tools are contain-
- ers, which objects can be placed into or taken out of.
+ example, lamps burn out after a while. Other tools are
- The command to use tools is `a' (apply).
- 7.10.1. Containers
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- You may encounter bags, boxes, and chests in your travels.
- A tool of this sort can be opened with the ``#loot'' extended
- command when you are standing on top of it (that is, on the same
- floor spot), or with the `a' (apply) command when you are
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack Guidebook 28
- NetHack Guidebook 28
+ containers, which objects can be placed into or taken out of.
+ The command to use tools is `a' (apply).
+ 7.10.1. Containers
- carrying it. However, chests are often locked, and are in any
- case unwieldy objects. You must set one down before unlocking it
- by using a key or lock-picking tool with the `a' (apply) command,
- by kicking it with the `^D' command, or by using a weapon to
- force the lock with the ``#force'' extended command.
+ You may encounter bags, boxes, and chests in your travels.
+ A tool of this sort can be opened with the ``#loot'' extended
+ command when you are standing on top of it (that is, on the same
+ floor spot), or with the `a' (apply) command when you are carry-
+ ing it. However, chests are often locked, and are in any case
+ unwieldy objects. You must set one down before unlocking it by
+ using a key or lock-picking tool with the `a' (apply) command, by
+ kicking it with the `^D' command, or by using a weapon to force
+ the lock with the ``#force'' extended command.
Some chests are trapped, causing nasty things to happen when
you unlock or open them. You can check for and try to deactivate
Very large humanoids (giants and their ilk) have been known
to use boulders as weapons.
- 7.14. Gold (`$')
- Gold adds to your score, and you can buy things in shops
- with it. There are a number of monsters in the dungeon that may
- be influenced by the amount of gold you are carrying (shopkeepers
- aside).
- 8. Conduct
- As if winning NetHack were not difficult enough, certain
- players seek to challenge themselves by imposing restrictions on
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack Guidebook 29
- NetHack Guidebook 29
+
+ 7.14. Gold (`$')
+
+ Gold adds to your score, and you can buy things in shops
+ with it. There are a number of monsters in the dungeon that may
+ be influenced by the amount of gold you are carrying (shopkeepers
+ aside).
+ 8. Conduct
+ As if winning NetHack were not difficult enough, certain
+ players seek to challenge themselves by imposing restrictions on
the way they play the game. The game automatically tracks some
of these challenges, which can be checked at any time with the
#conduct command or at the end of the game. When you perform an
tins of any monsters not mentioned above, and the various other
chunks of meat found in the dungeon. Swallowing and digesting a
monster while polymorphed is treated as if you ate the creature's
+
+
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 30
+
+
+
corpse. Eating leather, dragon hide, or bone items while poly-
morphed into a creature that can digest it, or eating monster
brains while polymorphed into a (master) mind flayer, is consid-
used here only in the context of diet. You are still free to
choose not to use or wear items derived from animals (e.g.
leather, dragon hide, bone, horns, coral), but the game will not
-
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 30
-
-
-
keep track of this for you. Also note that ``milky'' potions may
be a translucent white, but they do not contain milk, so they are
compatible with a vegan diet. Slime molds or player-defined
eliminate a species of monsters by genocide; playing without this
feature is considered a challenge. You can change the form of
any object into another object of the same type (``polypiling'')
- or the form of your own body into another creature (``polyself'')
- by wand, spell, or potion of polymorph; avoiding these effects
- are each considered challenges. Finally, you may sometimes re-
- ceive wishes; a game without an attempt to wish for an object is
- a challenge, as is a game without wishing for an artifact (even
- if the artifact immediately disappears).
- 9. Options
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- Due to variations in personal tastes and conceptions of how
- NetHack should do things, there are options you can set to change
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack Guidebook 31
- NetHack Guidebook 31
+ or the form of your own body into another creature (``polyself'')
+ by wand, spell, or potion of polymorph; avoiding these effects
+ are each considered challenges. Finally, you may sometimes re-
+ ceive wishes; a game without an attempt to wish for an object is
+ a challenge, as is a game without wishing for an artifact (even
+ if the artifact immediately disappears).
+ 9. Options
+ Due to variations in personal tastes and conceptions of how
+ NetHack should do things, there are options you can set to change
how NetHack behaves.
9.1. Setting the options
Any line in the configuration file starting with ``OP-
TIONS='' may be filled out with options in the same syntax as in
- NETHACKOPTIONS. Any line starting with ``DUNGEON='', ``EF-
- FECTS='', ``MONSTERS='', ``OBJECTS='', ``TRAPS='', or ``BOUL-
- DER='' is taken as defining the corresponding dungeon, effects,
- monsters, objects traps or boulder option in a different syntax,
- a sequence of decimal numbers giving the character position in
- the current font to be used in displaying each entry. Such a se-
- quence can be continued to multiple lines by putting a `\' at the
- end of each line to be continued. Any line starting with `#' is
- treated as a comment.
-
- The default name of the configuration file varies on differ-
- ent operating systems, but NETHACKOPTIONS can also be set to the
- full name of a file you want to use (possibly preceded by an
+ NETHACKOPTIONS. Any line starting with ``DUNGEON='',
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+ ``EFFECTS='', ``MONSTERS='', ``OBJECTS='', ``TRAPS='', or ``BOUL-
+ DER='' is taken as defining the corresponding dungeon, effects,
+ monsters, objects traps or boulder option in a different syntax,
+ a sequence of decimal numbers giving the character position in
+ the current font to be used in displaying each entry. Such a se-
+ quence can be continued to multiple lines by putting a `\' at the
+ end of each line to be continued. Any line starting with `#' is
+ treated as a comment.
+
+ The default name of the configuration file varies on differ-
+ ent operating systems, but NETHACKOPTIONS can also be set to the
+ full name of a file you want to use (possibly preceded by an
`@').
9.4. Customization options
Set the character used to display boulders (default is rock
class symbol).
- catname
- Name your starting cat (ex. ``catname:Morris''). Cannot be
- set with the `O' command.
- character
- Pick your type of character (ex. ``character:Monk''); syn-
- onym for ``role''. See ``name'' for an alternate method of
- specifying your role. Normally only the first letter of the
- value is examined; the string ``random'' is an exception.
- checkpoint
- Save game state after each level change, for possible
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack Guidebook 33
- NetHack Guidebook 33
+ catname
+ Name your starting cat (ex. ``catname:Morris''). Cannot be
+ set with the `O' command.
+ character
+ Pick your type of character (ex. ``character:Monk''); syn-
+ onym for ``role''. See ``name'' for an alternate method of
+ specifying your role. Normally only the first letter of the
+ value is examined; the string ``random'' is an exception.
- recovery after program crash (default on).
+ checkpoint
+ Save game state after each level change, for possible recov-
+ ery after program crash (default on).
checkspace
Check free disk space before writing files to disk (default
+ - disclose it without prompting.
- - do not disclose it and do not prompt.
- (ex. ``disclose:yi na +v -g -c'') The example sets inventory
- to prompt and default to yes, attributes to prompt and de-
- fault to no, vanquished to disclose without prompting, geno-
- cided to not disclose and not to prompt, conduct to not dis-
- close and not to prompt. Note that the vanquished monsters
- list includes all monsters killed by traps and each other as
- well as by you.
- dogname
- Name your starting dog (ex. ``dogname:Fang''). Cannot be
- set with the `O' command.
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack Guidebook 34
- NetHack Guidebook 34
+ (ex. ``disclose:yi na +v -g -c'') The example sets inventory
+ to prompt and default to yes, attributes to prompt and de-
+ fault to no, vanquished to disclose without prompting, geno-
+ cided to not disclose and not to prompt, conduct to not dis-
+ close and not to prompt. Note that the vanquished monsters
+ list includes all monsters killed by traps and each other as
+ well as by you.
+ dogname
+ Name your starting dog (ex. ``dogname:Fang''). Cannot be
+ set with the `O' command.
dungeon
Set the graphics symbols for displaying the dungeon (default
effects
Set the graphics symbols for displaying special effects (de-
fault ``|-\\/*!)(0#@*/-\\||\\-//-\\| |\\-/''). The effects
- option should be followed by a string of 1-29 characters to
- be used instead of the default special-effects characters.
- This string is subjected to the same processing as the dun-
- geon option.
- The order of the symbols is: vertical beam, horizontal
- beam, left slant, right slant, digging beam, camera flash
- beam, left boomerang, right boomerang, four glyphs giving
- the sequence for magic resistance displays, the eight sur-
- rounding glyphs for swallowed display, nine glyphs for ex-
- plosions. An explosion consists of three rows (top, middle,
- and bottom) of three characters. The explosion is centered
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+ option should be followed by a string of 1-29 characters to
+ be used instead of the default special-effects characters.
+ This string is subjected to the same processing as the dun-
+ geon option.
+
+ The order of the symbols is: vertical beam, horizontal
+ beam, left slant, right slant, digging beam, camera flash
+ beam, left boomerang, right boomerang, four glyphs giving
+ the sequence for magic resistance displays, the eight sur-
+ rounding glyphs for swallowed display, nine glyphs for ex-
+ plosions. An explosion consists of three rows (top, middle,
+ and bottom) of three characters. The explosion is centered
in the center of this 3 by 3 array.
Note that in the next release, new symbols may be added, or
help If more information is available for an object looked at
with the `/' command, ask if you want to see it (default
- on). Turning help off makes just looking at things faster,
- since you aren't interrupted with the ``More info?'' prompt,
- but it also means that you might miss some interesting
- and/or important information.
- horsename
- Name your starting horse (ex. ``horsename:Trigger''). Can-
- not be set with the `O' command.
- IBMgraphics
- Use a predefined selection of IBM extended ASCII characters
- to display the dungeon/effects/traps instead of having to
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack Guidebook 36
- NetHack Guidebook 36
+ on). Turning help off makes just looking at things faster,
+ since you aren't interrupted with the ``More info?'' prompt,
+ but it also means that you might miss some interesting
+ and/or important information.
+ horsename
+ Name your starting horse (ex. ``horsename:Trigger''). Can-
+ not be set with the `O' command.
+ IBMgraphics
+ Use a predefined selection of IBM extended ASCII characters
+ to display the dungeon/effects/traps instead of having to
define a full graphics set yourself (default off). This op-
tion also sets up proper handling of graphics characters for
such terminals, so you should specify it when appropriate
menu_deselect_all
Menu character accelerator to deselect all items in a menu.
+
+
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 37
+
+
+
Implemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default
'-'.
menu. Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports. Default
'^'.
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 37
-
-
-
menu_invert_all
Menu character accelerator to invert all items in a menu.
Implemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports. Default
monsters
Set the characters used to display monster classes (default
``abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU-
- VWXYZ@ '&;:~]''). This string is subjected to the same pro-
- cessing as the dungeon option. The order of the symbols is
- ant or other insect, blob, cockatrice, dog or other canine,
- eye or sphere, feline, gremlin, humanoid, imp or minor de-
- mon, jelly, kobold, leprechaun, mimic, nymph, orc, piercer,
- quadruped, rodent, spider, trapper or lurker above, horse or
- unicorn, vortex, worm, xan or other mythical/fantastic in-
- sect, light, zruty, angelic being, bat or bird, centaur,
- dragon, elemental, fungus or mold, gnome, giant humanoid,
- invisible monster, jabberwock, Keystone Kop, lich, mummy,
- naga, ogre, pudding or ooze, quantum mechanic, rust monster,
- snake, troll, umber hulk, vampire, wraith, xorn, yeti or ape
- or other large beast, zombie, human, ghost, golem, demon,
- sea monster, lizard, long worm tail, and mimic. Cannot be
+ VWXYZ@ '&;:~]''). This string is subjected to the same
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- set with the `O' command.
+ processing as the dungeon option. The order of the symbols
+ is ant or other insect, blob, cockatrice, dog or other ca-
+ nine, eye or sphere, feline, gremlin, humanoid, imp or minor
+ demon, jelly, kobold, leprechaun, mimic, nymph, orc,
+ piercer, quadruped, rodent, spider, trapper or lurker above,
+ horse or unicorn, vortex, worm, xan or other mythical/fan-
+ tastic insect, light, zruty, angelic being, bat or bird,
+ centaur, dragon, elemental, fungus or mold, gnome, giant hu-
+ manoid, invisible monster, jabberwock, Keystone Kop, lich,
+ mummy, naga, ogre, pudding or ooze, quantum mechanic, rust
+ monster, snake, troll, umber hulk, vampire, wraith, xorn,
+ yeti or ape or other large beast, zombie, human, ghost,
+ golem, demon, sea monster, lizard, long worm tail, and mim-
+ ic. Cannot be set with the `O' command.
msghistory
The number of top line messages to save (and recall with ^P)
wand, gold, gem or rock, boulder or statue, iron ball,
chain, and venom. Cannot be set with the `O' command.
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 39
+
+
+
packorder
Specify the order to list object types in (default
``")[%?+!=/(*`0_''). The value of this option should be a
pettype
Specify the type of your initial pet, if you are playing a
-
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 39
-
-
-
character class that uses multiple types of pets; or choose
to have no initial pet at all. Possible values are ``cat'',
``dog'' and ``none''. Cannot be set with the `O' command.
for ``character''. See ``name'' for an alternate method of
specifying your role. Normally only the first letter of the
value is examined; `r' is an exception with ``Rogue'',
- ``Ranger'', and ``random'' values.
- safe_pet
- Prevent you from (knowingly) attacking your pets (default
- on).
- scores
- Control what parts of the score list you are shown at the
- end (ex. ``scores:5 top scores/4 around my score/own
- scores''). Only the first letter of each category (`t',
- `a', or `o') is necessary.
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- showexp
- Show your accumulated experience points on bottom line
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack Guidebook 40
- NetHack Guidebook 40
+ ``Ranger'', and ``random'' values.
+ safe_pet
+ Prevent you from (knowingly) attacking your pets (default
+ on).
+ scores
+ Control what parts of the score list you are shown at the
+ end (ex. ``scores:5 top scores/4 around my score/own
+ scores''). Only the first letter of each category (`t',
+ `a', or `o') is necessary.
- (default off).
+ showexp
+ Show your accumulated experience points on bottom line (de-
+ fault off).
showscore
Show your approximate accumulated score on bottom line (de-
tombstone
Draw a tombstone graphic upon your death (default on).
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 41
+
+
+
toptenwin
Put the ending display in a NetHack window instead of on
stdout (default off). Setting this option makes the score
of the default traps characters. This string is subjected
to the same processing as the dungeon option.
-
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 41
-
-
-
The order of the symbols is: arrow trap, dart trap, falling
rock trap, squeaky board, bear trap, land mine, rolling
boulder trap, sleeping gas trap, rust trap, fire trap, pit,
truncated. Not all window ports will adjust for all settings
listed here. You can safely add any of these options to your
config file, and if the window port is capable of adjusting to
+
+
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 42
+
+
+
suit your preferences, it will attempt to do so. If it can't it
will silently ignore it. You can find out if an option is sup-
ported by the window port that you are currently using by check-
Where to align or place the status window (top, bottom,
left, or right).
-
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 42
-
-
-
ascii_map
NetHack should display an ascii character map if it can.
font_size_menu
NetHack should use this size font for menu windows.
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 43
+
+
+
font_size_message
NetHack should use this size font for the message window.
inverse video is often used; with tiles, generally displays
a heart symbol near pets.
-
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack Guidebook 43
-
-
-
large_font
NetHack should use a large font.
map_mode
NetHack should display the map in the manner specified.
+ player_selection
+ NetHack should pop up dialog boxes, or use prompts for char-
+ acter selection.
+
popup_dialog
NetHack should pop up dialog boxes for input.
preload_tiles
- NetHack should preload tiles into memory. For example, in
- the protected mode MSDOS version, control whether tiles get
- pre-loaded into RAM at the start of the game. Doing so en-
+ NetHack should preload tiles into memory. For example, in
+ the protected mode MSDOS version, control whether tiles get
+ pre-loaded into RAM at the start of the game. Doing so en-
hances performance of the tile graphics, but uses more memo-
ry. (default on). Cannot be set with the `O' command.
NetHack should scroll the display when the hero or cursor is
this number of cells away from the edge of the window.
+ splash_screen
+ NetHack should display an opening splash screen when it
+ starts up (default yes).
+
tiled_map
NetHack should display a tiled map if it can.
Specify the preferred height of each tile in a tile capable
port.
- tile_width
- Specify the preferred width of each tile in a tile capable
- port
- use_inverse
- NetHack should display inverse when the game specifies it.
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- vary_msgcount
- NetHack should display this number of messages at a time in
- the message window.
- 9.6. Configuring NetHack for Play by the Blind
- NetHack can be set up to use only standard ASCII characters
- for making maps of the dungeons. This makes the MS-DOS versions
- of NetHack completely accessible to the blind who use speech
- and/or Braille access technologies. Players will require a good
- working knowledge of their screen-reader's review features, and
- will have to know how to navigate horizontally and vertically
- character by character. They will also find the search capabili-
- ties of their screen-readers to be quite valuable. Be certain to
- examine this Guidebook before playing so you have an idea what
- the screen layout is like. You'll also need to be able to locate
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack Guidebook 44
+ tile_width
+ Specify the preferred width of each tile in a tile capable
+ port
+ use_inverse
+ NetHack should display inverse when the game specifies it.
- NetHack Guidebook 44
+ vary_msgcount
+ NetHack should display this number of messages at a time in
+ the message window.
+ windowcolors
+ NetHack should display windows with the specified fore-
+ ground/background colors if it can.
+ 9.6. Configuring NetHack for Play by the Blind
- the PC cursor. It is always where your character is located.
- Merely searching for an @-sign will not always find your charac-
+ NetHack can be set up to use only standard ASCII characters
+ for making maps of the dungeons. This makes the MS-DOS versions
+ of NetHack completely accessible to the blind who use speech
+ and/or Braille access technologies. Players will require a good
+ working knowledge of their screen-reader's review features, and
+ will have to know how to navigate horizontally and vertically
+ character by character. They will also find the search capabili-
+ ties of their screen-readers to be quite valuable. Be certain to
+ examine this Guidebook before playing so you have an idea what
+ the screen layout is like. You'll also need to be able to locate
+ the PC cursor. It is always where your character is located.
+ Merely searching for an @-sign will not always find your charac-
ter since there are other humanoids represented by the same sign.
- Your screen-reader should also have a function which gives you
- the row and column of your review cursor and the PC cursor.
- These co-ordinates are often useful in giving players a better
+ Your screen-reader should also have a function which gives you
+ the row and column of your review cursor and the PC cursor.
+ These co-ordinates are often useful in giving players a better
sense of the overall location of items on the screen.
- While it is not difficult for experienced users to edit the
- defaults.nh file to accomplish this, novices may find this task
- somewhat daunting. Included in all official distributions of
+ While it is not difficult for experienced users to edit the
+ defaults.nh file to accomplish this, novices may find this task
+ somewhat daunting. Included in all official distributions of
NetHack is a file called NHAccess.nh. Replacing defaults.nh with
- this file will cause the game to run in a manner accessible to
- the blind. After you have gained some experience with the game
- and with editing files, you may want to alter settings to better
+ this file will cause the game to run in a manner accessible to
+ the blind. After you have gained some experience with the game
+ and with editing files, you may want to alter settings to better
suit your preferences. Instructions on how to do this are includ-
- ed in the NHAccess.nh file itself. The most crucial settings to
+ ed in the NHAccess.nh file itself. The most crucial settings to
make the game accessible are:
IBMgraphics
number_pad
A lot of speech access programs use the number-pad to review
- the screen. If this is the case, turn off the number_pad
+
+
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 45
+
+
+
+ the screen. If this is the case, turn off the number_pad
option and use the traditional Rogue-like commands.
Character graphics
- Comment out all character graphics sets found near the bot-
- tom of the defaults.nh file. Most of these replace
- NetHack's default representation of the dungeon using stan-
- dard ASCII characters with fancier characters from extended
- character sets, and these fancier characters can annoy
+ Comment out all character graphics sets found near the bot-
+ tom of the defaults.nh file. Most of these replace
+ NetHack's default representation of the dungeon using stan-
+ dard ASCII characters with fancier characters from extended
+ character sets, and these fancier characters can annoy
screen-readers.
10. Scoring
- NetHack maintains a list of the top scores or scorers on
+ NetHack maintains a list of the top scores or scorers on
your machine, depending on how it is set up. In the latter case,
- each account on the machine can post only one non-winning score
- on this list. If you score higher than someone else on this
- list, or better your previous score, you will be inserted in the
- proper place under your current name. How many scores are kept
+ each account on the machine can post only one non-winning score
+ on this list. If you score higher than someone else on this
+ list, or better your previous score, you will be inserted in the
+ proper place under your current name. How many scores are kept
can also be set up when NetHack is compiled.
- Your score is chiefly based upon how much experience you
+ Your score is chiefly based upon how much experience you
gained, how much loot you accumulated, how deep you explored, and
how the game ended. If you quit the game, you escape with all of
- your gold intact. If, however, you get killed in the Mazes of
+ your gold intact. If, however, you get killed in the Mazes of
Menace, the guild will only hear about 90% of your gold when your
- corpse is discovered (adventurers have been known to collect
+ corpse is discovered (adventurers have been known to collect
+ finder's fees). So, consider whether you want to take one last
+ hit at that monster and possibly live, or quit and stop with
+ whatever you have. If you quit, you keep all your gold, but if
+ you swing and live, you might find more.
+ If you just want to see what the current top players/games
+ list is, you can type nethack -s all on most versions.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ 11. Explore mode
+ NetHack is an intricate and difficult game. Novices might
+ falter in fear, aware of their ignorance of the means to survive.
+ Well, fear not. Your dungeon may come equipped with an ``ex-
+ plore'' or ``discovery'' mode that enables you to keep old save
+ files and cheat death, at the paltry cost of not getting on the
+ high score list.
+ There are two ways of enabling explore mode. One is to
+ start the game with the -X switch. The other is to issue the `X'
+ command while already playing the game. The other benefits of
+ explore mode are left for the trepid reader to discover.
- NetHack Guidebook 45
- finder's fees). So, consider whether you want to take one last
- hit at that monster and possibly live, or quit and stop with
- whatever you have. If you quit, you keep all your gold, but if
- you swing and live, you might find more.
- If you just want to see what the current top players/games
- list is, you can type nethack -s all on most versions.
+
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- 11. Explore mode
- NetHack is an intricate and difficult game. Novices might
- falter in fear, aware of their ignorance of the means to survive.
- Well, fear not. Your dungeon may come equipped with an ``ex-
- plore'' or ``discovery'' mode that enables you to keep old save
- files and cheat death, at the paltry cost of not getting on the
- high score list.
- There are two ways of enabling explore mode. One is to
- start the game with the -X switch. The other is to issue the `X'
- command while already playing the game. The other benefits of
- explore mode are left for the trepid reader to discover.
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 46
+
12. Credits
- The original hack game was modeled on the Berkeley UNIX
- rogue game. Large portions of this paper were shamelessly
- cribbed from A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom, by Michael C. Toy
- and Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold. Small portions were adapted from
+ The original hack game was modeled on the Berkeley UNIX
+ rogue game. Large portions of this paper were shamelessly
+ cribbed from A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom, by Michael C. Toy
+ and Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold. Small portions were adapted from
Further Exploration of the Dungeons of Doom, by Ken Arromdee.
NetHack is the product of literally dozens of people's work.
- Main events in the course of the game development are described
+ Main events in the course of the game development are described
below:
- Jay Fenlason wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny
+ Jay Fenlason wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny
Woodland, Mike Thome and Jon Payne.
Andries Brouwer did a major re-write, transforming Hack into
- a very different game, and published (at least) three versions
+ a very different game, and published (at least) three versions
(1.0.1, 1.0.2, and 1.0.3) for UNIX machines to the Usenet.
- Don G. Kneller ported Hack 1.0.3 to Microsoft C and MS-DOS,
- producing PC HACK 1.01e, added support for DEC Rainbow graphics
- in version 1.03g, and went on to produce at least four more ver-
+ Don G. Kneller ported Hack 1.0.3 to Microsoft C and MS-DOS,
+ producing PC HACK 1.01e, added support for DEC Rainbow graphics
+ in version 1.03g, and went on to produce at least four more ver-
sions (3.0, 3.2, 3.51, and 3.6).
- R. Black ported PC HACK 3.51 to Lattice C and the Atari
+ R. Black ported PC HACK 3.51 to Lattice C and the Atari
520/1040ST, producing ST Hack 1.03.
Mike Stephenson merged these various versions back together,
- incorporating many of the added features, and produced NetHack
+ incorporating many of the added features, and produced NetHack
+ 1.4. He then coordinated a cast of thousands in enhancing and
+ debugging NetHack 1.4 and released NetHack versions 2.2 and 2.3.
+ Later, Mike coordinated a major rewrite of the game, heading
+ a team which included Ken Arromdee, Jean-Christophe Collet, Steve
+ Creps, Eric Hendrickson, Izchak Miller, John Rupley, Mike Threep-
+ oint, and Janet Walz, to produce NetHack 3.0c.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.0 was ported to the Atari by Eric R. Smith, to
+ OS/2 by Timo Hakulinen, and to VMS by David Gentzel. The three
+ of them and Kevin Darcy later joined the main development team to
+ produce subsequent revisions of 3.0.
+ Olaf Seibert ported NetHack 2.3 and 3.0 to the Amiga. Norm
+ Meluch, Stephen Spackman and Pierre Martineau designed overlay
+ code for PC NetHack 3.0. Johnny Lee ported NetHack 3.0 to the
+ Macintosh. Along with various other Dungeoneers, they continued
+ to enhance the PC, Macintosh, and Amiga ports through the later
+ revisions of 3.0.
+ Headed by Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller
+ and Janet Walz, the development team which now included Ken Ar-
+ romdee, David Cohrs, Jean-Christophe Collet, Kevin Darcy, Matt
+ Day, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- NetHack Guidebook 46
- 1.4. He then coordinated a cast of thousands in enhancing and
- debugging NetHack 1.4 and released NetHack versions 2.2 and 2.3.
- Later, Mike coordinated a major rewrite of the game, heading
- a team which included Ken Arromdee, Jean-Christophe Collet, Steve
- Creps, Eric Hendrickson, Izchak Miller, John Rupley, Mike Threep-
- oint, and Janet Walz, to produce NetHack 3.0c.
+ NetHack Guidebook 47
- NetHack 3.0 was ported to the Atari by Eric R. Smith, to
- OS/2 by Timo Hakulinen, and to VMS by David Gentzel. The three
- of them and Kevin Darcy later joined the main development team to
- produce subsequent revisions of 3.0.
- Olaf Seibert ported NetHack 2.3 and 3.0 to the Amiga. Norm
- Meluch, Stephen Spackman and Pierre Martineau designed overlay
- code for PC NetHack 3.0. Johnny Lee ported NetHack 3.0 to the
- Macintosh. Along with various other Dungeoneers, they continued
- to enhance the PC, Macintosh, and Amiga ports through the later
- revisions of 3.0.
- Headed by Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller
- and Janet Walz, the development team which now included Ken Ar-
- romdee, David Cohrs, Jean-Christophe Collet, Kevin Darcy, Matt
- Day, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric
- Raymond, and Eric Smith undertook a radical revision of 3.0.
+ Raymond, and Eric Smith undertook a radical revision of 3.0.
They re-structured the game's design, and re-wrote major parts of
- the code. They added multiple dungeons, a new display, special
- individual character quests, a new endgame and many other new
+ the code. They added multiple dungeons, a new display, special
+ individual character quests, a new endgame and many other new
features, and produced NetHack 3.1.
- Ken Lorber, Gregg Wonderly and Greg Olson, with help from
- Richard Addison, Mike Passaretti, and Olaf Seibert, developed
+ Ken Lorber, Gregg Wonderly and Greg Olson, with help from
+ Richard Addison, Mike Passaretti, and Olaf Seibert, developed
NetHack 3.1 for the Amiga.
- Norm Meluch and Kevin Smolkowski, with help from Carl Sche-
+ Norm Meluch and Kevin Smolkowski, with help from Carl Sche-
lin, Stephen Spackman, Steve VanDevender, and Paul Winner, ported
NetHack 3.1 to the PC.
Jon W{tte and Hao-yang Wang, with help from Ross Brown, Mike
- Engber, David Hairston, Michael Hamel, Jonathan Handler, Johnny
- Lee, Tim Lennan, Rob Menke, and Andy Swanson, developed NetHack
+ Engber, David Hairston, Michael Hamel, Jonathan Handler, Johnny
+ Lee, Tim Lennan, Rob Menke, and Andy Swanson, developed NetHack
3.1 for the Macintosh, porting it for MPW. Building on their de-
velopment, Barton House added a Think C port.
Timo Hakulinen ported NetHack 3.1 to OS/2. Eric Smith port-
- ed NetHack 3.1 to the Atari. Pat Rankin, with help from Joshua
- Delahunty, was responsible for the VMS version of NetHack 3.1.
+ ed NetHack 3.1 to the Atari. Pat Rankin, with help from Joshua
+ Delahunty, was responsible for the VMS version of NetHack 3.1.
Michael Allison ported NetHack 3.1 to Windows NT.
- Dean Luick, with help from David Cohrs, developed NetHack
- 3.1 for X11. Warwick Allison wrote a tiled version of NetHack
- for the Atari; he later contributed the tiles to the DevTeam and
+ Dean Luick, with help from David Cohrs, developed NetHack
+ 3.1 for X11. Warwick Allison wrote a tiled version of NetHack
+ for the Atari; he later contributed the tiles to the DevTeam and
tile support was then added to other platforms.
+ The 3.2 development team, comprised of Michael Allison, Ken
+ Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin Darcy,
+ Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric
+ Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner, released
+ version 3.2 in April of 1996.
+ Version 3.2 marked the tenth anniversary of the formation of
+ the development team. In a testament to their dedication to the
+ game, all thirteen members of the original development team re-
+ mained on the team at the start of work on that release. During
+ the interval between the release of 3.1.3 and 3.2, one of the
+ founding members of the development team, Dr. Izchak Miller, was
+ diagnosed with cancer and passed away. That release of the game
+ was dedicated to him by the development and porting teams.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ During the lifespan of NetHack 3.1 and 3.2, several enthusi-
+ asts of the game added their own modifications to the game and
+ made these ``variants'' publicly available:
+ Tom Proudfoot and Yuval Oren created NetHack++, which was
+ quickly renamed NetHack--. Working independently, Stephen White
+ wrote NetHack Plus. Tom Proudfoot later merged NetHack Plus and
+ his own NetHack-- to produce SLASH. Larry Stewart-Zerba and War-
+ wick Allison improved the spell casting system with the Wizard
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- NetHack Guidebook 47
- The 3.2 development team, comprised of Michael Allison, Ken
- Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin Darcy,
- Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric
- Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner, released
- version 3.2 in April of 1996.
+ NetHack Guidebook 48
- Version 3.2 marked the tenth anniversary of the formation of
- the development team. In a testament to their dedication to the
- game, all thirteen members of the original development team re-
- mained on the team at the start of work on that release. During
- the interval between the release of 3.1.3 and 3.2, one of the
- founding members of the development team, Dr. Izchak Miller, was
- diagnosed with cancer and passed away. That release of the game
- was dedicated to him by the development and porting teams.
- During the lifespan of NetHack 3.1 and 3.2, several enthusi-
- asts of the game added their own modifications to the game and
- made these ``variants'' publicly available:
- Tom Proudfoot and Yuval Oren created NetHack++, which was
- quickly renamed NetHack--. Working independently, Stephen White
- wrote NetHack Plus. Tom Proudfoot later merged NetHack Plus and
- his own NetHack-- to produce SLASH. Larry Stewart-Zerba and War-
- wick Allison improved the spell casting system with the Wizard
- Patch. Warwick Allison also ported NetHack to use the Qt inter-
+ Patch. Warwick Allison also ported NetHack to use the Qt inter-
face.
- Warren Cheung combined SLASH with the Wizard Patch to pro-
- duce Slash'em, and with the help of Kevin Hugo, added more fea-
- tures. Kevin later joined the DevTeam and incorporated the best
+ Warren Cheung combined SLASH with the Wizard Patch to pro-
+ duce Slash'em, and with the help of Kevin Hugo, added more fea-
+ tures. Kevin later joined the DevTeam and incorporated the best
of these ideas in NetHack 3.3.
+ The final update to 3.2 was the bug fix release 3.2.3, which
+ was released simultaneously with 3.3.0 in December 1999 just in
+ time for the Year 2000.
+
+ The 3.3 development team, consisting of Michael Allison, Ken
+ Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin Darcy,
+ Timo Hakulinen, Kevin Hugo, Steve Linhart, Ken Lorber, Dean
+ Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and
+ Paul Winner, released 3.3.0 in December 1999 and 3.3.1 in August
+ of 2000.
+
+ Version 3.3 offered many firsts. It was the first version to
+ separate race and profession. The Elf class was removed in pref-
+ erence to an Elf Race, and the races of Dwarves, Gnomes, and Orcs
+ made their first appearance in the game alongside the familiar
+ Human race. Monk and Ranger roles joined Archeologists, Barbar-
+ ians, Cavemen, Healers, Knights, Priests, Rogues, Tourists,
+ Valkyries and of course, Wizards. It was also the first version
+ to allow you to ride a steed, and was the first version to have a
+ publicly available web-site listing all the bugs that had been
+ discovered. Despite that constantly growing bug list, 3.3 proved
+ stable enough to last for more than a year and a half.
+
The 3.4 development team initially consisted of Michael Al-
- lison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps,
- Kevin Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Kevin Hugo, Steve Linhart, Ken Lor-
- ber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet
- Walz, and Paul Winner. Warwick Allison joined just before the
- release of NetHack 3.4.0.
+ lison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Kevin Hugo, Ken
+ Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and
+ Paul Winner, with Warwick Allison joining just before the re-
+ lease of NetHack 3.4.0 in March 2002.
- As with version 3.2, various people contributed to the game
+ As with version 3.2, various people contributed to the game
as a whole as well as supporting ports on the different platforms
that NetHack runs on:
Pat Rankin maintained 3.4 for VMS.
- Michael Allison maintained NetHack 3.4 for the MS-DOS plat-
+ Michael Allison maintained NetHack 3.4 for the MS-DOS plat-
form. Paul Winner and Yitzhak Sapir provided encouragement.
- Dean Luick, Mark Modrall, and Kevin Hugo maintained and en-
+ Dean Luick, Mark Modrall, and Kevin Hugo maintained and en-
hanced the Macintosh port of 3.4.
- Michael Allison maintained and enhanced the console port of
- 3.4 for the Microsoft Windows NT/2000 platform.
+ Michael Allison, David Cohrs, Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas,
+ and Yitzhak Sapir maintained and enhanced 3.4 for the Microsoft
+ Windows platform. Alex Kompel contributed a new graphical inter-
+ face for the Windows port.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- NetHack Guidebook 48
+ NetHack Guidebook 49
Ron Van Iwaarden maintained 3.4 for OS/2.
- Janne Salmijarvi and Teemu Suikki maintained and enhanced
- the Amiga port of 3.4 after Janne Salmijarvi resurrected it for
+ Janne Salmijarvi and Teemu Suikki maintained and enhanced
+ the Amiga port of 3.4 after Janne Salmijarvi resurrected it for
3.3.1.
- Christian ``Marvin'' Bressler maintained 3.4 for the Atari
+ Christian ``Marvin'' Bressler maintained 3.4 for the Atari
after he resurrected it for 3.3.1.
- Alex Kompel contributed a new graphical port of 3.4 for Mi-
- crosoft Windows.
-
There is a NetHack web site maintained by Ken Lorber at
http://www.nethack.org/.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
- NetHack Guidebook 49
- Adam Aronow Irina Rempt-Drijfhout Mike Gallop
- Alex Kompel Izchak Miller Mike Passaretti
- Andreas Dorn J. Ali Harlow Mike Stephenson
- Andy Church Janet Walz Norm Meluch
- Andy Swanson Janne Salmijarvi Olaf Seibert
- Ari Huttunen Jean-Christophe Collet Pat Rankin
- Barton House Jochen Erwied Paul Winner
- Benson I. Margulies John Kallen Pierre Martineau
- Bill Dyer John Rupley Ralf Brown
- Boudewijn Waijers John S. Bien Richard Addison
- Bruce Cox Johnny Lee Richard Beigel
- Bruce Holloway Jon W{tte Richard P. Hughey
- Bruce Mewborne Jonathan Handler Rob Menke
- Carl Schelin Joshua Delahunty Robin Johnson
- Chris Russo Keizo Yamamoto Roland McGrath
- David Cohrs Ken Arnold Ron Van Iwaarden
- David Damerell Ken Arromdee Ronnen Miller
- David Gentzel Ken Lorber Ross Brown
- David Hairston Ken Washikita Sascha Wostmann
- Dean Luick Kevin Darcy Scott Bigham
- Del Lamb Kevin Hugo Scott R. Turner
- Deron Meranda Kevin Sitze Stephen Spackman
+ NetHack Guidebook 50
+
+
+
+ Adam Aronow Helge Hafting Mike Engber
+ Alex Kompel Irina Rempt-Drijfhout Mike Gallop
+ Andreas Dorn Izchak Miller Mike Passaretti
+ Andy Church J. Ali Harlow Mike Stephenson
+ Andy Swanson Janet Walz Norm Meluch
+ Ari Huttunen Janne Salmijarvi Olaf Seibert
+ Barton House Jean-Christophe Collet Pat Rankin
+ Benson I. Margulies Jochen Erwied Paul Winner
+ Bill Dyer John Kallen Pierre Martineau
+ Boudewijn Waijers John Rupley Ralf Brown
+ Bruce Cox John S. Bien Richard Addison
+ Bruce Holloway Johnny Lee Richard Beigel
+ Bruce Mewborne Jon W{tte Richard P. Hughey
+ Carl Schelin Jonathan Handler Rob Menke
+ Chris Russo Joshua Delahunty Robin Johnson
+ David Cohrs Keizo Yamamoto Roland McGrath
+ David Damerell Ken Arnold Ron Van Iwaarden
+ David Gentzel Ken Arromdee Ronnen Miller
+ David Hairston Ken Lorber Ross Brown
+ Dean Luick Ken Washikita Sascha Wostmann
+ Del Lamb Kevin Darcy Scott Bigham
+ Deron Meranda Kevin Hugo Scott R. Turner
+ Dion Nicolaas Kevin Sitze Stephen Spackman
Dylan O'Donnell Kevin Smolkowski Stephen White
Eric Backus Kevin Sweet Steve Creps
Eric Hendrickson Lars Huttar Steve Linhart
Eric R. Smith Mark Gooderum Steve VanDevender
- Eric S. Raymond Mark Modrall Tim Lennan
- Erik Andersen Marvin Bressler Timo Hakulinen
- Frederick Roeber Matthew Day Tom Almy
- Gil Neiger Merlyn LeRoy Tom West
- Greg Laskin Michael Allison Warren Cheung
- Greg Olson Michael Feir Warwick Allison
- Gregg Wonderly Michael Hamel Yitzhak Sapir
- Hao-yang Wang Michael Sokolov
- Helge Hafting Mike Engber
+ Eric S. Raymond Mark Modrall Teemu Suikki
+ Erik Andersen Marvin Bressler Tim Lennan
+ Frederick Roeber Matthew Day Timo Hakulinen
+ Gil Neiger Merlyn LeRoy Tom Almy
+ Greg Laskin Michael Allison Tom West
+ Greg Olson Michael Feir Warren Cheung
+ Gregg Wonderly Michael Hamel Warwick Allison
+ Hao-yang Wang Michael Sokolov Yitzhak Sapir
Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks
of their respective holders.
- NetHack 3.4 February 4, 2002
+ NetHack 3.4 March 12, 2002
projects / nethack / commitdiff