Remove - require selection from inventory for `R' and `T'
commands even when wearing just one applicable
item.
+ swim - prevent walking into water or lava.
all - turn on all of the above.
By default, the pray choice is enabled, the others disabled.
-
NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
to an executable, which will be executed with the game message as
the program's only parameter.
- While it is not difficult for experienced users to edit the
- defaults.nh file to accomplish this, novices may find this task
+ The most crucial settings to make the game more accessible
+ are:
NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
- somewhat daunting. Included within the "symbols" file of all of-
- ficial distributions of NetHack is a symset called NHAccess. Se-
- lecting that symset in your configuration 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 via SYMBOLS= and ROGUESYMBOLS= in your
- configuration file to better suit your preferences. See the pre-
- vious section for the special symbols S_pet_override to force a
- consistent symbol for all pets and S_hero_override to force a
- unique symbol for the player character if accessibility is en-
- abled in the sysconf file.
-
- The most crucial settings to make the game more accessible
- are:
-
- symset:NHAccess
+ symset:plain
Load a symbol set appropriate for use by blind players.
- roguesymset:NHAccess
- Load a symbol set for the rogue level that is appropriate for
- use by blind players.
-
menustyle:traditional
This will assist in the interface to speech synthesizers.
Show menus on a cleared screen and aligned to the left edge.
number_pad
- A lot of speech access programs use the number-pad to review
+ A lot of speech access programs use the number-pad to review
the screen. If this is the case, disable the number_pad option
and use the traditional Rogue-like commands.
+ paranoid_confirmation:swim
+ Prevent walking into water or lava.
+
autodescribe
- Automatically describe the terrain under the cursor when tar-
+ Automatically describe the terrain under the cursor when tar-
geting.
mention_walls
- Give feedback messages when walking towards a wall or when
+ Give feedback messages when walking towards a wall or when
travel command was interrupted.
whatis_coord:compass
- When targeting with cursor, describe the cursor position with
+ When targeting with cursor, describe the cursor position with
coordinates relative to your character.
whatis_filter:area
- When targeting with cursor, filter possible locations so only
- those in the same area (eg. same room, or same corridor) are
+ When targeting with cursor, filter possible locations so only
+ those in the same area (eg. same room, or same corridor) are
considered.
whatis_moveskip
- When targeting with cursor and using fast-move, skip the same
+ When targeting with cursor and using fast-move, skip the same
glyphs instead of moving 8 units at a time.
+ nostatus_updates
+ Prevent updates to the status lines at the bottom of the
+ screen, if your screen-reader reads those lines. The same in-
+ formation can be seen via the "#attributes" command.
+ 9.16. Global Configuration for System Administrators
- NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
+ If NetHack is compiled with the SYSCF option, a system ad-
+ ministrator should set up a global configuration; this is a file
+ in the same format as the traditional per-user configuration file
+ (see above). This file should be named sysconf and placed in the
+ same directory as the other NetHack support files. The options
+ recognized in this file are listed below. Any option not set us-
+ es a compiled-in default (which may not be appropriate for your
+ system).
+ NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
- NetHack Guidebook 96
- nostatus_updates
- Prevent updates to the status lines at the bottom of the
- screen, if your screen-reader reads those lines. The same in-
- formation can be seen via the "#attributes" command.
+ NetHack Guidebook 96
- 9.16. Global Configuration for System Administrators
- If NetHack is compiled with the SYSCF option, a system ad-
- ministrator should set up a global configuration; this is a file
- in the same format as the traditional per-user configuration file
- (see above). This file should be named sysconf and placed in the
- same directory as the other NetHack support files. The options
- recognized in this file are listed below. Any option not set us-
- es a compiled-in default (which may not be appropriate for your
- system).
- WIZARDS = A space-separated list of user names who are allowed
+ WIZARDS = A space-separated list of user names who are allowed
to play in debug mode (commonly referred to as wizard mode). A
value of a single asterisk (*) allows anyone to start a game in
debug mode.
SHELLERS = A list of users who are allowed to use the shell es-
cape command (!). The syntax is the same as WIZARDS.
- EXPLORERS = A list of users who are allowed to use the explore
+ EXPLORERS = A list of users who are allowed to use the explore
mode. The syntax is the same as WIZARDS.
MAXPLAYERS = Limit the maximum number of games that can be run-
ning at the same time.
SAVEFORMAT = A list of up to two save file formats separated by
- space. The first format in the list will written as well as
- read. The second format will be read only if no save file in
- the first format exists. Valid choices are "historical" for
- binary writing of entire structs, "lendian" for binary writing
- of each field in little-endian order, "ascii" for writing the
+ space. The first format in the list will written as well as
+ read. The second format will be read only if no save file in
+ the first format exists. Valid choices are "historical" for
+ binary writing of entire structs, "lendian" for binary writing
+ of each field in little-endian order, "ascii" for writing the
save file content in ascii text.
- BONESFORMAT = A list of up to two bones file formats separated
+ BONESFORMAT = A list of up to two bones file formats separated
by space. The first format in the list will written as well as
- read. The second format will be read only if no bones files in
+ read. The second format will be read only if no bones files in
the first format exist. Valid choices are "historical" for bi-
nary writing of entire structs, "lendian" for binary writing of
- each field in little-endian order, "ascii" for writing the
+ each field in little-endian order, "ascii" for writing the
bones file content in ascii text.
- SUPPORT = A string explaining how to get local support (no de-
+ SUPPORT = A string explaining how to get local support (no de-
fault value).
- RECOVER = A string explaining how to recover a game on this
+ RECOVER = A string explaining how to recover a game on this
system (no default value).
- SEDUCE = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the SEDUCE
+ SEDUCE = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the SEDUCE
option. When disabled, incubi and succubi behave like nymphs.
+ CHECK_PLNAME = Setting this to 1 will make the EXPLORERS, WIZ-
+ ARDS, and SHELLERS check for the player name instead of the us-
+ er's login name.
- NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
+ CHECK_SAVE_UID = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
+ UID (used identification number) checking for save files (to
+ verify that the user who is restoring is the same one who
+ saved).
+ The following options affect the score file:
+ PERSMAX = Maximum number of entries for one person.
+ ENTRYMAX = Maximum number of entries in the score file.
- NetHack Guidebook 97
+ NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
- CHECK_PLNAME = Setting this to 1 will make the EXPLORERS, WIZ-
- ARDS, and SHELLERS check for the player name instead of the us-
- er's login name.
- CHECK_SAVE_UID = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
- UID (used identification number) checking for save files (to
- verify that the user who is restoring is the same one who
- saved).
- The following options affect the score file:
- PERSMAX = Maximum number of entries for one person.
+ NetHack Guidebook 97
+
- ENTRYMAX = Maximum number of entries in the score file.
- POINTSMIN = Minimum number of points to get an entry in the
+ POINTSMIN = Minimum number of points to get an entry in the
score file.
- PERS_IS_UID = 0 or 1 to use user names or numeric userids, re-
+ PERS_IS_UID = 0 or 1 to use user names or numeric userids, re-
spectively, to identify unique people for the score file.
- MAX_STATUENAME_RANK = Maximum number of score file entries to
+ MAX_STATUENAME_RANK = Maximum number of score file entries to
use for random statue names (default is 10).
- ACCESSIBILITY = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
- ability for players to set S_pet_override and S_hero_override
+ ACCESSIBILITY = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
+ ability for players to set S_pet_override and S_hero_override
symbols in their configuration file.
- PORTABLE_DEVICE_PATHS = 0 or 1 Windows OS only, the game will
- look for all of its external files, and write to all of its
- output files in one place rather than at the standard loca-
+ PORTABLE_DEVICE_PATHS = 0 or 1 Windows OS only, the game will
+ look for all of its external files, and write to all of its
+ output files in one place rather than at the standard loca-
tions.
DUMPLOGFILE = A filename where the end-of-game dumplog is
- saved. Not defining this will prevent dumplog from being cre-
+ saved. Not defining this will prevent dumplog from being cre-
ated. Only available if your game is compiled with DUMPLOG. Al-
lows the following placeholders:
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
+ 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
+ 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
+ Menace, the guild will only hear about 90% of your gold when your
+ 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.
- NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
+ NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
- NetHack Guidebook 98
+ NetHack Guidebook 98
- 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
- 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
- Menace, the guild will only hear about 90% of your gold when your
- 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
+ If you just want to see what the current top players/games
list is, you can type nethack -s all on most versions.
11. Explore mode
- NetHack is an intricate and difficult game. Novices might
+ 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 comes equipped with an "explore" 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
+ "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 command-line switch or with the play-
- mode:explore option. The other is to issue the "#exploremode"
- extended command while already playing the game. Starting a new
+ There are two ways of enabling explore mode. One is to
+ start the game with the -X command-line switch or with the play-
+ mode:explore option. The other is to issue the "#exploremode"
+ extended command while already playing the game. Starting a new
game in explore mode provides your character with a wand of wish-
- ing in initial inventory; switching during play does not. The
- other benefits of explore mode are left for the trepid reader to
+ ing in initial inventory; switching during play does not. The
+ other benefits of explore mode are left for the trepid reader to
discover.
11.1. Debug mode
Debug mode, also known as wizard mode, is undocumented aside
- from this brief description and the various "debug mode only"
- commands listed among the command descriptions. It is intended
+ from this brief description and the various "debug mode only"
+ commands listed among the command descriptions. It is intended
for tracking down problems within the program rather than to pro-
- vide god-like powers to your character, and players who attempt
- debugging are expected to figure out how to use it themselves.
- It is initiated by starting the game with the -D command-line
+ vide god-like powers to your character, and players who attempt
+ debugging are expected to figure out how to use it themselves.
+ It is initiated by starting the game with the -D command-line
switch or with the playmode:debug option.
- For some systems, the player must be logged in under a par-
- ticular user name to be allowed to use debug mode; for others,
- the hero must be given a particular character name (but may be
- any role; there's no connection between "wizard mode" and the
- Wizard role). Attempting to start a game in debug mode when not
- allowed or not available will result in falling back to explore
+ For some systems, the player must be logged in under a par-
+ ticular user name to be allowed to use debug mode; for others,
+ the hero must be given a particular character name (but may be
+ any role; there's no connection between "wizard mode" and the
+ Wizard role). Attempting to start a game in debug mode when not
+ allowed or not available will result in falling back to explore
mode instead.
+ 12. Credits
- NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
+ The original hack game was modeled on the Berkeley UNIX
+ rogue game. Large portions of this document 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 scores of people's work.
+ Main events in the course of the game development are described
+ below:
+ Jay Fenlason wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny
+ Woodland, Mike Thome, and Jon Payne.
+ NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
- NetHack Guidebook 99
- 12. Credits
- The original hack game was modeled on the Berkeley UNIX
- rogue game. Large portions of this document 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 Guidebook 99
- NetHack is the product of literally scores of people's work.
- Main events in the course of the game development are described
- below:
- Jay Fenlason wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny
- Woodland, Mike Thome, and Jon Payne.
- Andries Brouwer did a major re-write while at Stichting
+ Andries Brouwer did a major re-write while at Stichting
Mathematisch Centrum (now Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica), trans-
- forming Hack into a very different game. He published the Hack
- source code for use on UNIX systems by posting that to Usenet
+ forming Hack into a very different game. He published the Hack
+ source code for use on UNIX systems by posting that to Usenet
newsgroup net.sources (later renamed comp.sources) releasing ver-
sion 1.0 in December of 1984, then versions 1.0.1, 1.0.2, and fi-
- nally 1.0.3 in July of 1985. Usenet newsgroup net.games.hack
- (later renamed rec.games.hack, eventually replaced by
+ nally 1.0.3 in July of 1985. Usenet newsgroup net.games.hack
+ (later renamed rec.games.hack, eventually replaced by
rec.games.roguelike.nethack) was created for discussing it.
- 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; note that these are old Hack ver-
sion numbers, not contemporary NetHack ones).
- 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
- version 1.4 in 1987. He then coordinated a cast of thousands in
+ incorporating many of the added features, and produced NetHack
+ version 1.4 in 1987. He then coordinated a cast of thousands in
enhancing and debugging NetHack 1.4 and released NetHack versions
- 2.2 and 2.3. Like Hack, they were released by posting their
- source code to Usenet where they remained available in various
- archives accessible via ftp and uucp after expiring from the
+ 2.2 and 2.3. Like Hack, they were released by posting their
+ source code to Usenet where they remained available in various
+ archives accessible via ftp and uucp after expiring from the
newsgroup.
- Later, Mike coordinated a major re-write of the game, head-
- ing a team which included Ken Arromdee, Jean-Christophe Collet,
- Steve Creps, Eric Hendrickson, Izchak Miller, Eric S. Raymond,
- John Rupley, Mike Threepoint, and Janet Walz, to produce NetHack
+ Later, Mike coordinated a major re-write of the game, head-
+ ing a team which included Ken Arromdee, Jean-Christophe Collet,
+ Steve Creps, Eric Hendrickson, Izchak Miller, Eric S. Raymond,
+ John Rupley, Mike Threepoint, and Janet Walz, to produce NetHack
3.0c.
- 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
+ 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 NetHack 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.
+
+ Version 3.0 went through ten relatively rapidly released
+ "patch-level" revisions. Versions at the time were known as 3.0
+ for the base release and variously as "3.0a" through "3.0j",
+ "3.0 patchlevel 1" through "3.0 patchlevel 10", or "3.0pl1"
+ through "3.0pl10" rather than 3.0.0 and 3.0.1 through 3.0.10; the
+ three component numbering scheme began to be used with 3.1.0.
+
+
NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
- 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.
-
- Version 3.0 went through ten relatively rapidly released
- "patch-level" revisions. Versions at the time were known as 3.0
- for the base release and variously as "3.0a" through "3.0j",
- "3.0 patchlevel 1" through "3.0 patchlevel 10", or "3.0pl1"
- through "3.0pl10" rather than 3.0.0 and 3.0.1 through 3.0.10; the
- three component numbering scheme began to be used with 3.1.0.
-
- Headed by Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller
- and Janet Walz, the NetHack Development Team which now included
- Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jean-Christophe Collet, Kevin Darcy,
- Matt Day, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin,
+ Headed by Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller
+ and Janet Walz, the NetHack Development Team which now included
+ Ken Arromdee, 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.
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
- features, and produced NetHack 3.1. Version 3.1.0 was released
+ 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. Version 3.1.0 was released
in January of 1993.
- 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, Bart 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
+ Dean Luick, with help from David Cohrs, developed NetHack
3.1 for X11. It drew the map as text rather than graphically but
- included nh10.bdf, an optionally used custom X11 font which has
- tiny images in place of letters and punctuation, a precursor of
- tiles. Those images don't extend to individual monster and ob-
- ject types, just replacements for monster and object classes (so
- one custom image for all "a" insects and another for all "[" ar-
+ included nh10.bdf, an optionally used custom X11 font which has
+ tiny images in place of letters and punctuation, a precursor of
+ tiles. Those images don't extend to individual monster and ob-
+ ject types, just replacements for monster and object classes (so
+ one custom image for all "a" insects and another for all "[" ar-
mor and so forth, not separate images for beetles and ants or for
cloaks and boots).
+ Warwick Allison wrote a graphically displayed version of
+ NetHack for the Atari where the tiny pictures were described as
+ "icons" and were distinct for specific types of monsters and ob-
+ jects rather than just their classes. He contributed them to the
+ NetHack Development Team which rechristened them "tiles", origi-
+ nal usage which has subsequently been picked up by various other
+ games. NetHack's tiles support was then implemented on other
+ platforms (initially MS-DOS but eventually Windows, Qt, and X11
+ too).
+
+ The 3.2 NetHack Development Team, comprised of Michael Alli-
+ son, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin
+ Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Er-
+ ic Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner, released
NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
- Warwick Allison wrote a graphically displayed version of
- NetHack for the Atari where the tiny pictures were described as
- "icons" and were distinct for specific types of monsters and ob-
- jects rather than just their classes. He contributed them to the
- NetHack Development Team which rechristened them "tiles", origi-
- nal usage which has subsequently been picked up by various other
- games. NetHack's tiles support was then implemented on other
- platforms (initially MS-DOS but eventually Windows, Qt, and X11
- too).
-
- The 3.2 NetHack Development Team, comprised of Michael Alli-
- son, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin
- Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Er-
- ic Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner, released
version 3.2.0 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 NetHack Development
- Team remained on the team at the start of work on that release.
- During the interval between the release of 3.1.3 and 3.2.0, one
- of the founding members of the NetHack 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
+ the development team. In a testament to their dedication to the
+ game, all thirteen members of the original NetHack Development
+ Team remained on the team at the start of work on that release.
+ During the interval between the release of 3.1.3 and 3.2.0, one
+ of the founding members of the NetHack 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.
Version 3.2 proved to be more stable than previous versions.
- Many bugs were fixed, abuses eliminated, and game features tuned
+ Many bugs were fixed, abuses eliminated, and game features tuned
for better game play.
During the lifespan of NetHack 3.1 and 3.2, several enthusi-
- asts of the game added their own modifications to the game and
+ 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-- when some people incorrectly assumed
- that it was a conversion of the C source code to C++. Working
- independently, Stephen White wrote NetHack Plus. Tom Proudfoot
+ Tom Proudfoot and Yuval Oren created NetHack++, which was
+ quickly renamed NetHack-- when some people incorrectly assumed
+ that it was a conversion of the C source code to C++. Working
+ independently, Stephen White wrote NetHack Plus. Tom Proudfoot
later merged NetHack Plus and his own NetHack-- to produce SLASH.
- Larry Stewart-Zerba and Warwick Allison improved the spell cast-
- ing system with the Wizard Patch. Warwick Allison also ported
+ Larry Stewart-Zerba and Warwick Allison improved the spell cast-
+ ing system with the Wizard Patch. Warwick Allison also ported
NetHack to use the Qt interface.
- 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 NetHack Development Team and in-
+ 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 NetHack Development Team and in-
corporated the best of these ideas into 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. Because of the newer version, 3.2.3 was
- released as a source code patch only, without any ready-to-play
+ was released simultaneously with 3.3.0 in December 1999 just in
+ time for the Year 2000. Because of the newer version, 3.2.3 was
+ released as a source code patch only, without any ready-to-play
distribution for systems that usually had such.
+ (To anyone considering resurrecting an old version: all
+ versions before 3.2.3 had a Y2K bug. The high scores file and
+ the log file contained dates which were formatted using a two-
+ digit year, and 1999's year 99 was followed by 2000's year 100.
+ That got written out successfully but it unintentionally intro-
+ duced an extra column in the file layout which prevented score
+ entries from being read back in correctly, interfering with in-
+ sertion of new high scores and with retrieval of old character
+ names to use for random ghost and statue names in the current
+ game.)
+
+ The 3.3 NetHack Development Team, consisting of Michael Al-
+ lison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps,
+ Kevin Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Kevin Hugo, Steve Linhart, Ken
NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
- (To anyone considering resurrecting an old version: all
- versions before 3.2.3 had a Y2K bug. The high scores file and
- the log file contained dates which were formatted using a two-
- digit year, and 1999's year 99 was followed by 2000's year 100.
- That got written out successfully but it unintentionally intro-
- duced an extra column in the file layout which prevented score
- entries from being read back in correctly, interfering with in-
- sertion of new high scores and with retrieval of old character
- names to use for random ghost and statue names in the current
- game.)
-
- The 3.3 NetHack Development Team, consisting 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, released 3.3.0 in December 1999 and 3.3.1
- in August of 2000.
+ 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-
+ 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, Samurai,
- 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
+ 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, Samurai,
+ 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 NetHack Development Team initially consisted of
- Michael Allison, 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 3.4 NetHack Development Team initially consisted of
+ Michael Allison, 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 release of NetHack 3.4.0 in March 2002.
- As with version 3.3, various people contributed to the game
+ As with version 3.3, 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, David Cohrs, Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas,
- and Yitzhak Sapir maintained and enhanced 3.4 for the Microsoft
+ 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. Alex Kompel also contributed a Win-
+ face for the Windows port. Alex Kompel also contributed a Win-
dows CE port for 3.4.1.
+ Ron Van Iwaarden was the sole maintainer of NetHack for OS/2
+ the past several releases. Unfortunately Ron's last OS/2 machine
+ stopped working in early 2006. A great many thanks to Ron for
+ keeping NetHack alive on OS/2 all these years.
- NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
+ 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 af-
+ ter he resurrected it for 3.3.1.
- NetHack Guidebook 103
+ NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
- Ron Van Iwaarden was the sole maintainer of NetHack for OS/2
- the past several releases. Unfortunately Ron's last OS/2 machine
- stopped working in early 2006. A great many thanks to Ron for
- keeping NetHack alive on OS/2 all these years.
- 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 af-
- ter he resurrected it for 3.3.1.
+ NetHack Guidebook 103
+
+
The release of NetHack 3.4.3 in December 2003 marked the be-
ginning of a long release hiatus. 3.4.3 proved to be a remarkably
stable version that provided continued enjoyment by the community
- for more than a decade. The NetHack Development Team slowly and
- quietly continued to work on the game behind the scenes during
- the tenure of 3.4.3. It was during that same period that several
+ for more than a decade. The NetHack Development Team slowly and
+ quietly continued to work on the game behind the scenes during
+ the tenure of 3.4.3. It was during that same period that several
new variants emerged within the NetHack community. Notably
sporkhack by Derek S. Ray, unnethack by Patric Mueller, nitrohack
- and its successors originally by Daniel Thaler and then by Alex
- Smith, and Dynahack by Tung Nguyen. Some of those variants con-
- tinue to be developed, maintained, and enjoyed by the community
+ and its successors originally by Daniel Thaler and then by Alex
+ Smith, and Dynahack by Tung Nguyen. Some of those variants con-
+ tinue to be developed, maintained, and enjoyed by the community
to this day.
In September 2014, an interim snapshot of the code under de-
- velopment was released publicly by other parties. Since that
- code was a work-in-progress and had not gone through the process
- of debugging it as a suitable release, it was decided that the
- version numbers present on that code snapshot would be retired
- and never used in an official NetHack release. An announcement
+ velopment was released publicly by other parties. Since that
+ code was a work-in-progress and had not gone through the process
+ of debugging it as a suitable release, it was decided that the
+ version numbers present on that code snapshot would be retired
+ and never used in an official NetHack release. An announcement
was posted on the NetHack Development Team's official nethack.org
- website to that effect, stating that there would never be a
+ website to that effect, stating that there would never be a
3.4.4, 3.5, or 3.5.0 official release version.
- In January 2015, preparation began for the release of
+ In January 2015, preparation began for the release of
NetHack 3.6.
- At the beginning of development for what would eventually
- get released as 3.6.0, the NetHack Development Team consisted of
- Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs,
- Jessie Collet, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephen-
- son, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner. In early 2015, ahead of the
+ At the beginning of development for what would eventually
+ get released as 3.6.0, the NetHack Development Team consisted of
+ Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs,
+ Jessie Collet, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephen-
+ son, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner. In early 2015, ahead of the
release of 3.6.0, new members Sean Hunt, Pasi Kallinen, and Derek
S. Ray joined the NetHack Development Team.
Near the end of the development of 3.6.0, one of the signif-
- icant inspirations for many of the humorous and fun features
- found in the game, author Terry Pratchett, passed away. NetHack
+ icant inspirations for many of the humorous and fun features
+ found in the game, author Terry Pratchett, passed away. NetHack
3.6.0 introduced a tribute to him.
3.6.0 was released in December 2015, and merged work done by
- the development team since the release of 3.4.3 with some of the
+ the development team since the release of 3.4.3 with some of the
beloved community patches. Many bugs were fixed and some code was
+ restructured.
+ The NetHack Development Team, as well as Steve VanDevender
+ and Kevin Smolkowski, ensured that NetHack 3.6 continued to oper-
+ ate on various UNIX flavors and maintained the X11 interface.
- NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
-
+ Ken Lorber, Haoyang Wang, Pat Rankin, and Dean Luick main-
+ tained the port of NetHack 3.6 for Mac OSX.
+ Michael Allison, David Cohrs, Bart House, Pasi Kallinen,
+ Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas, Derek S. Ray and Yitzhak Sapir main-
+ tained the port of NetHack 3.6 for Microsoft Windows.
+ NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
- NetHack Guidebook 104
- restructured.
- The NetHack Development Team, as well as Steve VanDevender
- and Kevin Smolkowski, ensured that NetHack 3.6 continued to oper-
- ate on various UNIX flavors and maintained the X11 interface.
+ NetHack Guidebook 104
- Ken Lorber, Haoyang Wang, Pat Rankin, and Dean Luick main-
- tained the port of NetHack 3.6 for Mac OSX.
- Michael Allison, David Cohrs, Bart House, Pasi Kallinen,
- Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas, Derek S. Ray and Yitzhak Sapir main-
- tained the port of NetHack 3.6 for Microsoft Windows.
- Pat Rankin attempted to keep the VMS port running for
+ Pat Rankin attempted to keep the VMS port running for
NetHack 3.6, hindered by limited access. Kevin Smolkowski has up-
- dated and tested it for the most recent version of OpenVMS (V8.4
+ dated and tested it for the most recent version of OpenVMS (V8.4
as of this writing) on Alpha and Integrity (aka Itanium aka IA64)
but not VAX.
- Ray Chason resurrected the MS-DOS port for 3.6 and contrib-
+ Ray Chason resurrected the MS-DOS port for 3.6 and contrib-
uted the necessary updates to the community at large.
- In late April 2018, several hundred bug fixes for 3.6.0 and
- some new features were assembled and released as NetHack 3.6.1.
+ In late April 2018, several hundred bug fixes for 3.6.0 and
+ some new features were assembled and released as NetHack 3.6.1.
The NetHack Development Team at the time of release of 3.6.1 con-
- sisted of Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David
- Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Pasi Kallinen, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick,
- Patric Mueller, Pat Rankin, Derek S. Ray, Alex Smith, Mike
+ sisted of Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David
+ Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Pasi Kallinen, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick,
+ Patric Mueller, Pat Rankin, Derek S. Ray, Alex Smith, Mike
Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner.
In early May 2019, another 320 bug fixes along with some en-
- hancements and the adopted curses window port, were released as
+ hancements and the adopted curses window port, were released as
3.6.2.
- Bart House, who had contributed to the game as a porting
+ Bart House, who had contributed to the game as a porting
team participant for decades, joined the NetHack Development Team
in late May 2019.
- NetHack 3.6.3 was released on December 5, 2019 containing
+ NetHack 3.6.3 was released on December 5, 2019 containing
over 190 bug fixes to NetHack 3.6.2.
NetHack 3.6.4 was released on December 18, 2019 containing a
security fix and a few bug fixes.
- NetHack 3.6.5 was released on January 27, 2020 containing
+ NetHack 3.6.5 was released on January 27, 2020 containing
some security fixes and a small number of bug fixes.
NetHack 3.6.6 was released on March 8, 2020 containing a se-
https://www.nethack.org/.
+ 12.1. Special Thanks
+ On behalf of the NetHack community, thank you very much once
+ again to M. Drew Streib and Pasi Kallinen for providing a public
+ NetHack server at nethack.alt.org. Thanks to Keith Simpson and
+ Andy Thomson for hardfought.org. Thanks to all those unnamed dun-
+ geoneers who invest their time and effort into annual NetHack
+ tournaments such as Junethack, The November NetHack Tournament,
+ and in days past, devnull.net (gone for now, but not forgotten).
- NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
- NetHack Guidebook 105
+ NetHack 3.7 February 6, 2022
- 12.1. Special Thanks
- On behalf of the NetHack community, thank you very much once
- again to M. Drew Streib and Pasi Kallinen for providing a public
- NetHack server at nethack.alt.org. Thanks to Keith Simpson and
- Andy Thomson for hardfought.org. Thanks to all those unnamed dun-
- geoneers who invest their time and effort into annual NetHack
- tournaments such as Junethack, The November NetHack Tournament,
- and in days past, devnull.net (gone for now, but not forgotten).
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 105
12.2. Dungeoneers
- From time to time, some depraved individual out there in
- netland sends a particularly intriguing modification to help out
+ From time to time, some depraved individual out there in
+ netland sends a particularly intriguing modification to help out
with the game. The NetHack Development Team sometimes makes note
- of the names of the worst of these miscreants in this, the list
+ of the names of the worst of these miscreants in this, the list
of Dungeoneers:
Adam Aronow J. Ali Harlow Mikko Juola
Eric S. Raymond Mark Modrall Steve Linhart
Erik Andersen Marvin Bressler Steve VanDevender
Fredrik Ljungdahl Matthew Day Teemu Suikki
+ Frederick Roeber Merlyn LeRoy Tim Lennan
+ Gil Neiger Michael Allison Timo Hakulinen
+ Greg Laskin Michael Feir Tom Almy
+ Greg Olson Michael Hamel Tom West
+ Gregg Wonderly Michael Sokolov Warren Cheung
+ Hao-yang Wang Mike Engber Warwick Allison
+ Helge Hafting Mike Gallop Yitzhak Sapir
+ Irina Rempt-Drijfhout Mike Passaretti
+ Izchak Miller Mike Stephenson
+
+
+
- Frederick Roeber Merlyn LeRoy Tim Lennan
- Gil Neiger Michael Allison Timo Hakulinen
- Greg Laskin Michael Feir Tom Almy
- Greg Olson Michael Hamel Tom West
- Gregg Wonderly Michael Sokolov Warren Cheung
- Hao-yang Wang Mike Engber Warwick Allison
- Helge Hafting Mike Gallop Yitzhak Sapir
- Irina Rempt-Drijfhout Mike Passaretti
- Izchak Miller Mike Stephenson
+ Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trade-
+ marks of their respective holders.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
- Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trade-
- marks of their respective holders.
projects / nethack / commitdiff