-.TH NETHACK 6 "6 March 2004"
-.\" NetHack 3.6 nethack.6 $NHDT-Date: 1432512786 2015/05/25 00:13:06 $ $NHDT-Branch: master $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.10 $
+.TH NETHACK 6 "7 December 2015"
+.\" NetHack 3.6 nethack.6 $NHDT-Date: 1449616496 2015/12/08 23:14:56 $ $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.6.0 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.11 $
.SH NAME
nethack \- Exploring The Mazes of Menace
.SH SYNOPSIS
distinction, as he may eventually release a new version of his own.
.SH FILES
.PP
-All files are in the playground, normally /usr/games/lib/nethackdir.
+Run-time configuration options were discussed above and use a platform
+specific name for a file in a platform specific location. For Unix, the
+name is '.nethackrc' in the user's home directory.
+
+.br
+All other files are in the playground directory,
+normally /usr/games/lib/nethackdir.
If DLB was defined during the compile, the data files and special levels
will be inside a larger file, normally nhdat, instead of being separate
files.
+
.br
.DT
.ta \w'cmdhelp, opthelp, wizhelp\ \ \ 'u
.br
data, oracles, rumors Data files used by NetHack.
.br
-options, quest.dat More data files.
+quest.dat, bogusmon More data files.
+.br
+engrave, epitaph, tribute Still more data files.
+.br
+symbols Data file holding sets of specifications
+.br
+ for how to display monsters, objects, and
+.br
+ map features.
+.br
+options Data file containing a description of the
+ build-time option settings.
.br
help, hh Help data files.
.br
.br
record The list of top scorers.
.br
-logfile An extended list of games
+logfile An extended list of games played
+.br
+ (optional).
+.br
+xlogfile A more detailed version of 'logfile'
+.br
+ (also optional).
+.br
+paniclog Record of exceptional conditions
+.br
+ discovered during program execution.
+.br
+xlock.nn Description of dungeon level 'nn' of
+.br
+ active game 'x' if there's a limit on the
.br
- played.
+ number of simultaneously active games.
.br
-xlock.nnn Description of a dungeon level.
+UUcccccc.nn Alternate form for dungeon level 'nn'
.br
-perm Lock file for xlock.dd.
+ of active game by user 'UU' playing
.br
-bonesDD.nn Descriptions of the ghost and
+ character named 'cccccc' when there's no
.br
- belongings of a deceased
+ limit on number of active games.
.br
- adventurer.
+perm Lock file for xlock.0 or UUcccccc.0.
.br
-save A subdirectory containing the
+bonesDD.nn Descriptions of the ghost and belongings
.br
- saved games.
+ of a deceased adventurer who met his
+.br
+ or her demise on level 'nn'.
+.br
+.\"following line should contain <space><tab>
+
+.br
+save/ A subdirectory containing saved games.
+.br
+.\"following line should contain <space><tab>
+
+.br
+sysconf System-wide options. Required if
+.br
+ program is built with 'SYSCF' option
+.br
+ enabled, ignored if not.
+.br
+
+The location of 'sysconf' is specified at build time and can't be changed
+except by updating source file "config.h" and rebuilding the program.
+.br
+
+In a perfect world, 'paniclog' would remain empty.
.SH ENVIRONMENT
.DT
-.ta \w'HACKPAGER or PAGER\ \ \ 'u
+.ta \w'NETHACKDIR or HACKDIR\ \ \ 'u
USER or LOGNAME Your login name.
.br
HOME Your home directory.
.br
(probably /bin/mail or /usr/ucb/mail).
.br
-NETHACKDIR Playground.
+NETHACKDIR or HACKDIR Playground.
.br
NETHACKOPTIONS String predefining several NetHack
.br
options.
.br
-In addition, SHOPTYPE is used in debugging (wizard) mode.
+If the same option is specified in both NETHACKOPTIONS and .nethackrc,
+the value assigned in NETHACKOPTIONS takes precedence.
+.br
+
+SHOPTYPE and SPLEVTYPE can be used in debugging (wizard) mode.
+.br
+DEBUGFILES can be used if the program was built with 'DEBUG' enabled.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.PP
dgn_comp(6), lev_comp(6), recover(6)
-NETHACK(6) NETHACK(6)
+NETHACK(6) NETHACK(6)
nethack - Exploring The Mazes of Menace
SYNOPSIS
- nethack [ -d directory ] [ -n ] [ -p profession ] [ -r race ] [
- -[DX] ] [ -u playername ] [ -dec ] [ -ibm ]
+ nethack [ -d directory ] [ -n ] [ -p profession ] [ -r race ] [ -[DX] ]
+ [ -u playername ] [ -dec ] [ -ibm ]
- nethack [ -d directory ] -s [ -v ] [ -p profession ] [ -r race ]
- [ playernames ]
+ nethack [ -d directory ] -s [ -v ] [ -p profession ] [ -r race ] [
+ playernames ]
DESCRIPTION
- NetHack is a display oriented Dungeons & Dragons(tm) - like game.
- The standard tty display and command structure resemble rogue.
-
- Other, more graphical display options exist if you are using
- either a PC, or an X11 interface.
-
- To get started you really only need to know two commands. The
- command ? will give you a list of the available commands (as
- well as other information) and the command / will identify the
- things you see on the screen.
-
- To win the game (as opposed to merely playing to beat other peo-
- ple's high scores) you must locate the Amulet of Yendor which is
- somewhere below the 20th level of the dungeon and get it out.
- Nobody has achieved this yet; anybody who does will probably go
- down in history as a hero among heroes.
-
- When the game ends, whether by your dying, quitting, or escaping
- from the caves, NetHack will give you (a fragment of) the list of
- top scorers. The scoring is based on many aspects of your behav-
- ior, but a rough estimate is obtained by taking the amount of
- gold you've found in the cave plus four times your (real) experi-
- ence. Precious stones may be worth a lot of gold when brought to
- the exit. There is a 10% penalty for getting yourself killed.
-
- The environment variable NETHACKOPTIONS can be used to initialize
- many run-time options. The ? command provides a description of
- these options and syntax. (The -dec and -ibm command line
- options are equivalent to the decgraphics and ibmgraphics run-
- time options described there, and are provided purely for conve-
- nience on systems supporting multiple types of terminals.)
-
- Because the option list can be very long (particularly when spec-
- ifying graphics characters), options may also be included in a
- configuration file. The default is located in your home direc-
- tory and named .nethackrc on Unix systems. On other systems, the
- default may be different, usually NetHack.cnf. On DOS or Win-
- dows, the name is defaults.nh, while on the Macintosh or BeOS, it
- is NetHack Defaults. The configuration file's location may be
- specified by setting NETHACKOPTIONS to a string consisting of an
- @ character followed by the filename.
-
- The -u playername option supplies the answer to the question "Who
- are you?". It overrides any name from the options or configura-
- tion file, USER, LOGNAME, or getlogin(), which will otherwise be
- tried in order. If none of these provides a useful name, the
- player will be asked for one. Player names (in conjunction with
- uids) are used to identify save files, so you can have several
- saved games under different names. Conversely, you must use the
- appropriate player name to restore a saved game.
-
- A playername suffix can be used to specify the profession, race,
- alignment and/or gender of the character. The full syntax of the
- playername that includes a suffix is "name-ppp-rrr-aaa-ggg".
- "ppp" are at least the first three letters of the profession
- (this can also be specified using a separate -p profession
- option). "rrr" are at least the first three letters of the char-
- acter's race (this can also be specified using a separate -r race
- option). "aaa" are at last the first three letters of the char-
- acter's alignment, and "ggg" are at least the first three letters
- of the character's gender. Any of the parts of the suffix may be
- left out.
-
- -p profession can be used to determine the character profession,
- also known as the role. You can specify either the male or female
- name for the character role, or the first three characters of the
- role as an abbreviation. -p @ has been retained to explicitly
- request that a random role be chosen. It may need to be quoted
- with a backslash (\@) if @ is the "kill" character (see "stty")
- for the terminal, in order to prevent the current input line from
- being cleared.
-
- Likewise, -r race can be used to explicitly request that a race
- be chosen.
-
- Leaving out any of these characteristics will result in you being
+ NetHack is a display oriented Dungeons & Dragons(tm) - like game. The
+ standard tty display and command structure resemble rogue.
+
+ Other, more graphical display options exist for most platforms.
+
+ To get started you really only need to know two commands. The command
+ ? will give you a list of the available commands (as well as other
+ information) and the command / will identify the things you see on the
+ screen.
+
+ To win the game (as opposed to merely playing to beat other people's
+ high scores) you must locate the Amulet of Yendor which is somewhere
+ below the 20th level of the dungeon and get it out. Few people achieve
+ this; most never do. Those who have go down in history as heros among
+ heroes - and then they find ways of making the game even harder. See
+ the Guidebook section on Conduct if this game has gotten too easy for
+ you.
+
+ When the game ends, whether by your dying, quitting, or escaping from
+ the caves, NetHack will give you (a fragment of) the list of top scor-
+ ers. The scoring is based on many aspects of your behavior, but a
+ rough estimate is obtained by taking the amount of gold you've found in
+ the cave plus four times your (real) experience. Precious stones may
+ be worth a lot of gold when brought to the exit. There is a 10%
+ penalty for getting yourself killed.
+
+ The environment variable NETHACKOPTIONS can be used to initialize many
+ run-time options. The ? command provides a description of these
+ options and syntax. (The -dec and -ibm command line options are equiv-
+ alent to the decgraphics and ibmgraphics run-time options described
+ there, and are provided purely for convenience on systems supporting
+ multiple types of terminals.)
+
+ Because the option list can be very long (particularly when specifying
+ graphics characters), options may also be included in a configuration
+ file. The default is located in your home directory and named
+ .nethackrc on Unix systems. On other systems, the default may be dif-
+ ferent, usually NetHack.cnf. On DOS or Windows, the name is
+ defaults.nh, while on the Macintosh or BeOS, it is NetHack Defaults.
+ The configuration file's location may be specified by setting NETHACK-
+ OPTIONS to a string consisting of an @ character followed by the file-
+ name.
+
+ The -u playername option supplies the answer to the question "Who are
+ you?". It overrides any name from the options or configuration file,
+ USER, LOGNAME, or getlogin(), which will otherwise be tried in order.
+ If none of these provides a useful name, the player will be asked for
+ one. Player names (in conjunction with uids) are used to identify save
+ files, so you can have several saved games under different names. Con-
+ versely, you must use the appropriate player name to restore a saved
+ game.
+
+ A playername suffix can be used to specify the profession, race, align-
+ ment and/or gender of the character. The full syntax of the playername
+ that includes a suffix is "name-ppp-rrr-aaa-ggg". "ppp" are at least
+ the first three letters of the profession (this can also be specified
+ using a separate -p profession option). "rrr" are at least the first
+ three letters of the character's race (this can also be specified using
+ a separate -r race option). "aaa" are at last the first three letters
+ of the character's alignment, and "ggg" are at least the first three
+ letters of the character's gender. Any of the parts of the suffix may
+ be left out.
+
+ -p profession can be used to determine the character profession, also
+ known as the role. You can specify either the male or female name for
+ the character role, or the first three characters of the role as an
+ abbreviation. -p @ has been retained to explicitly request that a ran-
+ dom role be chosen. It may need to be quoted with a backslash (\@) if
+ @ is the "kill" character (see "stty") for the terminal, in order to
+ prevent the current input line from being cleared.
+
+ Likewise, -r race can be used to explicitly request that a race be cho-
+ sen.
+
+ Leaving out any of these characteristics will result in you being
prompted during the game startup for the information.
- The -s option alone will print out the list of your scores on the
- current version. An immediately following -v reports on all ver-
- sions present in the score file. The -s may also be followed by
- arguments -p and -r to print the scores of particular roles and
- races only. It may also be followed by one or more player names
- to print the scores of the players mentioned, by 'all' to print
- out all scores, or by a number to print that many top scores.
+ The -s option alone will print out the list of your scores on the cur-
+ rent version. An immediately following -v reports on all versions
+ present in the score file. The -s may also be followed by arguments -p
+ and -r to print the scores of particular roles and races only. It may
+ also be followed by one or more player names to print the scores of the
+ players mentioned, by 'all' to print out all scores, or by a number to
+ print that many top scores.
- The -n option suppresses printing of any news from the game
- administrator.
+ The -n option suppresses printing of any news from the game administra-
+ tor.
- The -D or -X option will start the game in a special non-scoring
- discovery mode. -D will, if the player is the game administra-
- tor, start in debugging (wizard) mode instead.
+ The -D or -X option will start the game in a special non-scoring dis-
+ covery mode. -D will, if the player is the game administrator, start
+ in debugging (wizard) mode instead.
- The -d option, which must be the first argument if it appears,
- supplies a directory which is to serve as the playground. It
- overrides the value from NETHACKDIR, HACKDIR, or the directory
- specified by the game administrator during compilation (usually
- /usr/games/lib/nethackdir). This option is usually only useful
- to the game administrator. The playground must contain several
- auxiliary files such as help files, the list of top scorers, and
- a subdirectory save where games are saved.
+ The -d option, which must be the first argument if it appears, supplies
+ a directory which is to serve as the playground. It overrides the
+ value from NETHACKDIR, HACKDIR, or the directory specified by the game
+ administrator during compilation (usually /usr/games/lib/nethackdir).
+ This option is usually only useful to the game administrator. The
+ playground must contain several auxiliary files such as help files, the
+ list of top scorers, and a subdirectory save where games are saved.
AUTHORS
- Jay Fenlason (+ Kenny Woodland, Mike Thome and Jon Payne) wrote
- the original hack, very much like rogue (but full of bugs).
+ Jay Fenlason (+ Kenny Woodland, Mike Thome and Jon Payne) wrote the
+ original hack, very much like rogue (but full of bugs).
- Andries Brouwer continuously deformed their sources into an
- entirely different game.
+ Andries Brouwer continuously deformed their sources into an entirely
+ different game.
- Mike Stephenson has continued the perversion of sources, adding
- various warped character classes and sadistic traps with the help
- of many strange people who reside in that place between the
- worlds, the Usenet Zone. A number of these miscreants are immor-
- talized in the historical roll of dishonor and various other
- places.
+ Mike Stephenson has continued the perversion of sources, adding various
+ warped character classes and sadistic traps with the help of many
+ strange people who reside in that place between the worlds, the Usenet
+ Zone. A number of these miscreants are immortalized in the historical
+ roll of dishonor and various other places.
- The resulting mess is now called NetHack, to denote its develop-
- ment by the Usenet. Andries Brouwer has made this request for
- the distinction, as he may eventually release a new version of
- his own.
+ The resulting mess is now called NetHack, to denote its development by
+ the Usenet. Andries Brouwer has made this request for the distinction,
+ as he may eventually release a new version of his own.
FILES
- All files are in the playground, normally
- /usr/games/lib/nethackdir. If DLB was defined during the com-
- pile, the data files and special levels will be inside a larger
- file, normally nhdat, instead of being separate files.
+ Run-time configuration options were discussed above and use a platform
+ specific name for a file in a platform specific location. For Unix,
+ the name is '.nethackrc' in the user's home directory.
+
+ All other files are in the playground directory, normally
+ /usr/games/lib/nethackdir. If DLB was defined during the compile, the
+ data files and special levels will be inside a larger file, normally
+ nhdat, instead of being separate files.
+
nethack The program itself.
data, oracles, rumors Data files used by NetHack.
- options, quest.dat More data files.
+ quest.dat, bogusmon More data files.
+ engrave, epitaph, tribute Still more data files.
+ symbols Data file holding sets of specifications
+ for how to display monsters, objects, and
+ map features.
+ options Data file containing a description of the
+ build-time option settings.
help, hh Help data files.
cmdhelp, opthelp, wizhelp More help data files.
*.lev Predefined special levels.
history A short history of NetHack.
license Rules governing redistribution.
record The list of top scorers.
- logfile An extended list of games
- played.
- xlock.nnn Description of a dungeon level.
- perm Lock file for xlock.dd.
- bonesDD.nn Descriptions of the ghost and
- belongings of a deceased
- adventurer.
- save A subdirectory containing the
- saved games.
+ logfile An extended list of games played
+ (optional).
+ xlogfile A more detailed version of 'logfile'
+ (also optional).
+ paniclog Record of exceptional conditions
+ discovered during program execution.
+ xlock.nn Description of dungeon level 'nn' of
+ active game 'x' if there's a limit on the
+ number of simultaneously active games.
+ UUcccccc.nn Alternate form for dungeon level 'nn'
+ of active game by user 'UU' playing
+ character named 'cccccc' when there's no
+ limit on number of active games.
+ perm Lock file for xlock.0 or UUcccccc.0.
+ bonesDD.nn Descriptions of the ghost and belongings
+ of a deceased adventurer who met his
+ or her demise on level 'nn'.
+
+ save/ A subdirectory containing saved games.
+
+ sysconf System-wide options. Required if
+ program is built with 'SYSCF' option
+ enabled, ignored if not.
+
+ The location of 'sysconf' is specified at build time and can't be
+ changed except by updating source file "config.h" and rebuilding the
+ program.
+
+ In a perfect world, 'paniclog' would remain empty.
ENVIRONMENT
- USER or LOGNAME Your login name.
- HOME Your home directory.
- SHELL Your shell.
- TERM The type of your terminal.
- HACKPAGER or PAGER Replacement for default pager.
- MAIL Mailbox file.
- MAILREADER Replacement for default reader
- (probably /bin/mail or /usr/ucb/mail).
- NETHACKDIR Playground.
- NETHACKOPTIONS String predefining several NetHack
- options.
-
- In addition, SHOPTYPE is used in debugging (wizard) mode.
+ USER or LOGNAME Your login name.
+ HOME Your home directory.
+ SHELL Your shell.
+ TERM The type of your terminal.
+ HACKPAGER or PAGER Replacement for default pager.
+ MAIL Mailbox file.
+ MAILREADER Replacement for default reader
+ (probably /bin/mail or /usr/ucb/mail).
+ NETHACKDIR or HACKDIR Playground.
+ NETHACKOPTIONS String predefining several NetHack
+ options.
+
+ If the same option is specified in both NETHACKOPTIONS and .nethackrc,
+ the value assigned in NETHACKOPTIONS takes precedence.
+
+ SHOPTYPE and SPLEVTYPE can be used in debugging (wizard) mode.
+ DEBUGFILES can be used if the program was built with 'DEBUG' enabled.
SEE ALSO
dgn_comp(6), lev_comp(6), recover(6)
- 6 March 2004 NETHACK(6)
+ 7 December 2015 NETHACK(6)
-
-
-
-RECOVER(6) 1993 RECOVER(6)
+RECOVER(6) RECOVER(6)
NAME
- recover - recover a NetHack game interrupted by disaster
+ recover - recover a NetHack game interrupted by disaster
SYNOPSIS
- recover [ -d directory ] base1 base2 ...
+ recover [ -d directory ] base1 base2 ...
DESCRIPTION
- Occasionally, a NetHack game will be interrupted by disaster
- when the game or the system crashes. Prior to NetHack v3.1,
- these games were lost because various information like the
- player's inventory was kept only in memory. Now, all per-
- tinent information can be written out to disk, so such games
- can be recovered at the point of the last level change.
-
- The base options tell recover which files to process. Each
- base option specifies recovery of a separate game.
-
- The -d option, which must be the first argument if it
- appears, supplies a directory which is the NetHack play-
- ground. It overrides the value from NETHACKDIR, HACKDIR, or
- the directory specified by the game administrator during
- compilation (usually /usr/games/lib/nethackdir).
-
- For recovery to be possible, nethack must have been compiled
- with the INSURANCE option, and the run-time option check-
- point must also have been on. NetHack normally writes out
- files for levels as the player leaves them, so they will be
- ready for return visits. When checkpointing, NetHack also
- writes out the level entered and the current game state on
- every level change. This naturally slows level changes down
- somewhat.
-
- The level file names are of the form base.nn, where nn is an
- internal bookkeeping number for the level. The file base.0
- is used for game identity, locking, and, when checkpointing,
- for the game state. Various OSes use different strategies
- for constructing the base name. Microcomputers use the
- character name, possibly truncated and modified to be a
- legal filename on that system. Multi-user systems use the
- (modified) character name prefixed by a user number to avoid
- conflicts, or "xlock" if the number of concurrent players is
- being limited. It may be necessary to look in the play-
- ground to find the correct base name of the interrupted
- game. recover will transform these level files into a save
- file of the same name as nethack would have used.
-
- Since recover must be able to read and delete files from the
- playground and create files in the save directory, it has
- interesting interactions with game security. Giving ordi-
- nary players access to recover through setuid or setgid is
- tantamount to leaving the playground world-writable, with
- respect to both cheating and messing up other players. For
-
-
-
-January Last change: 9 1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-RECOVER(6) 1993 RECOVER(6)
-
-
-
- a single-user system, this of course does not change any-
- thing, so some of the microcomputer ports install recover by
- default.
-
- For a multi-user system, the game administrator may want to
- arrange for all .0 files in the playground to be fed to
- recover when the host machine boots, and handle game crashes
- individually. If the user population is sufficiently
- trustworthy, recover can be installed with the same permis-
- sions the nethack executable has. In either case, recover
- is easily compiled from the distribution utility directory.
+ Occasionally, a NetHack game will be interrupted by disaster when the
+ game or the system crashes. Prior to NetHack v3.1, these games were
+ lost because various information like the player's inventory was kept
+ only in memory. Now, all pertinent information can be written out to
+ disk, so such games can be recovered at the point of the last level
+ change.
+
+ The base options tell recover which files to process. Each base option
+ specifies recovery of a separate game.
+
+ The -d option, which must be the first argument if it appears, supplies
+ a directory which is the NetHack playground. It overrides the value
+ from NETHACKDIR, HACKDIR, or the directory specified by the game admin-
+ istrator during compilation (usually /usr/games/lib/nethackdir).
+
+ For recovery to be possible, the run-time option checkpoint must have
+ been on.
+
+ NetHack normally writes out files for levels as the player leaves them,
+ so they will be ready for return visits. When checkpointing, NetHack
+ also writes out the level entered and the current game state on every
+ level change. This naturally slows level changes down somewhat.
+
+ The level file names are of the form base.nn, where nn is an internal
+ bookkeeping number for the level. The file base.0 is used for game
+ identity, locking, and, when checkpointing, for the game state. Vari-
+ ous OSes use different strategies for constructing the base name.
+ Microcomputers use the character name, possibly truncated and modified
+ to be a legal filename on that system. Multi-user systems use the
+ (modified) character name prefixed by a user number to avoid conflicts,
+ or "xlock" if the number of concurrent players is being limited. It
+ may be necessary to look in the playground to find the correct base
+ name of the interrupted game. recover will transform these level files
+ into a save file of the same name as nethack would have used.
+
+ Since recover must be able to read and delete files from the playground
+ and create files in the save directory, it has interesting interactions
+ with game security. Giving ordinary players access to recover through
+ setuid or setgid is tantamount to leaving the playground world-
+ writable, with respect to both cheating and messing up other players.
+ For a single-user system, this of course does not change anything, so
+ some of the microcomputer ports install recover by default.
+
+ For a multi-user system, the game administrator may want to arrange for
+ all .0 files in the playground to be fed to recover when the host
+ machine boots, and handle game crashes individually. If the user popu-
+ lation is sufficiently trustworthy, recover can be installed with the
+ same permissions the nethack executable has. In either case, recover
+ is easily compiled from the distribution utility directory.
NOTES
- Like nethack itself, recover will overwrite existing save-
- files of the same name. Savefiles created by recover are
- uncompressed; they may be compressed afterwards if desired,
- but even a compression-using nethack will find them in the
- uncompressed form.
+ Like nethack itself, recover will overwrite existing savefiles of the
+ same name. Savefiles created by recover are uncompressed; they may be
+ compressed afterwards if desired, but even a compression-using nethack
+ will find them in the uncompressed form.
SEE ALSO
- nethack(6)
+ nethack(6)
BUGS
- recover makes no attempt to find out if a base name speci-
- fies a game in progress. If multiple machines share a play-
- ground, this would be impossible to determine.
-
- recover should be taught to use the nethack playground lock-
- ing mechanism to avoid conflicts.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+ recover makes no attempt to find out if a base name specifies a game in
+ progress. If multiple machines share a playground, this would be
+ impossible to determine.
-January Last change: 9 2
+ recover should be taught to use the nethack playground locking mecha-
+ nism to avoid conflicts.
+4th Berkeley Distribution 7 December 2015 RECOVER(6)
projects / nethack / commitdiff