as well as tracking and stealthy movement.
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
played.
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
ed. Typing a `*' lists your entire inventory, so you can see the
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
ing the menu entry for the given option (ie, by typing its
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
messages. The behavior can be varied via the msg_window op-
tion.
- q Quaff (drink) a potion.
+ q Quaff (drink) something (potion, water, etc).
Q Select an object for your quiver. You can then throw this
using the `f' command. (In versions prior to 3.3 this was
these slots is empty, the exchange still takes place.
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
(R)UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T.
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
#sit Sit down.
+ #tip Tip over a container to pour out its contents.
+
#turn
Turn undead.
M-m #monster
- M-n #name
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ M-n #name
+
M-o #offer
M-p #pray
Secret corridors are hidden. You can find them with the `s'
(search) command.
- 5.1. Doorways
- Doorways connect rooms and corridors. Some doorways have no
- doors; you can walk right through. Others have doors in them,
- which may be open, closed, or locked. To open a closed door, use
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+
+
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ 5.1. Doorways
+
+ Doorways connect rooms and corridors. Some doorways have no
+ doors; you can walk right through. Others have doors in them,
+ which may be open, closed, or locked. To open a closed door, use
the `o' (open) command; to close it again, use the `c' (close)
command.
choose to do so), you'll need to climb back up to the main dun-
geon.
- When you traverse a set of stairs, or trigger a trap which
- sends you to another level, the level you're leaving will be de-
- activated and stored in a file on disk. If you're moving to a
- previously visited level, it will be loaded from its file on disk
- and reactivated. If you're moving to a level which has not yet
- been visited, it will be created (from scratch for most random
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ When you traverse a set of stairs, or trigger a trap which
+ sends you to another level, the level you're leaving will be de-
+ activated and stored in a file on disk. If you're moving to a
+ previously visited level, it will be loaded from its file on disk
+ and reactivated. If you're moving to a level which has not yet
+ been visited, it will be created (from scratch for most random
levels, from a template for some ``special'' levels, or loaded
from the remains of an earlier game for a ``bones'' level as
briefly described below). Monsters are only active on the cur-
business unless you attack them. Some of them are very dangerous
when angered. Remember: discretion is the better part of valor.
- If you can't see a monster (if it is invisible, or if you
- are blinded), the symbol `I' will be shown when you learn of its
- presence. If you attempt to walk into it, you will try to fight
- it just like a monster that you can see; of course, if the mon-
- ster has moved, you will attack empty air. If you guess that the
- monster has moved and you don't wish to fight, you can use the
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ If you can't see a monster (if it is invisible, or if you
+ are blinded), the symbol `I' will be shown when you learn of its
+ presence. If you attempt to walk into it, you will try to fight
+ it just like a monster that you can see; of course, if the mon-
+ ster has moved, you will attack empty air. If you guess that the
+ monster has moved and you don't wish to fight, you can use the
`m' command to move without fighting; likewise, if you don't re-
member a monster but want to try fighting anyway, you can use the
`F' command.
You may encounter the shades and corpses of other adventur-
ers (or even former incarnations of yourself!) and their personal
effects. Ghosts are hard to kill, but easy to avoid, since
- they're slow and do little damage. You can plunder the deceased
- adventurer's possessions; however, they are likely to be cursed.
- Beware of whatever killed the former player; it is probably still
- lurking around, gloating over its last victory.
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack Guidebook 20
- NetHack Guidebook 20
+ they're slow and do little damage. You can plunder the deceased
+ adventurer's possessions; however, they are likely to be cursed.
+ Beware of whatever killed the former player; it is probably still
+ lurking around, gloating over its last victory.
7. Objects
type of object so you will recognize it later. You can also use
the ``#name'' command for the same purpose at any time, to name
all objects of a particular type or just an individual object.
- When you use ``#name'' on an object which has already been named,
- specifying a space as the value will remove the prior name in-
- stead of assigning a new one.
-
-
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ When you use ``#name'' on an object which has already been named,
+ specifying a space as the value will remove the prior name in-
+ stead of assigning a new one.
+
7.1. Curses and Blessings
Any object that you find may be cursed, even if the object
tified somehow. Most weapons are subject to some type of damage
like rust. Such ``erosion'' damage can be repaired.
- The chance that an attack will successfully hit a monster,
- and the amount of damage such a hit will do, depends upon many
- factors. Among them are: type of weapon, quality of weapon
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- (enchantment and/or erosion), experience level, strength, dexter-
- ity, encumbrance, and proficiency (see below). The monster's ar-
- mor class - a general defense rating, not necessarily due to
- wearing of armor - is a factor too; also, some monsters are par-
- ticularly vulnerable to certain types of weapons.
+ The chance that an attack will successfully hit a monster,
+ and the amount of damage such a hit will do, depends upon many
+ factors. Among them are: type of weapon, quality of weapon (en-
+ chantment and/or erosion), experience level, strength, dexterity,
+ encumbrance, and proficiency (see below). The monster's armor
+ class - a general defense rating, not necessarily due to wearing
+ of armor - is a factor too; also, some monsters are particularly
+ vulnerable to certain types of weapons.
Many weapons can be wielded in one hand; some require both
hands. When wielding a two-handed weapon, you can not wear a
command to select your preferred ``missile'', then using the `f'
command to throw it. You'll be prompted for a direction as
above, but you don't have to specify which item to throw each
- time you use `f'. There is also an option, autoquiver, which has
- NetHack choose another item to automatically fill your quiver
- when the inventory slot used for `Q' runs out.
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ time you use `f'. There is also an option, autoquiver, which has
+ NetHack choose another item to automatically fill your quiver
+ when the inventory slot used for `Q' runs out.
+
Some characters have the ability to fire a volley of multi-
ple items in a single turn. Knowing how to load several rounds
of ammunition at once -- or hold several missiles in your hand --
Use of a weapon in which you're restricted or unskilled will
incur a modest penalty in the chance to hit a monster and also in
- the amount of damage done when you do hit; at basic level, there
- is no penalty or bonus; at skilled level, you receive a modest
- bonus in the chance to hit and amount of damage done; at expert
- level, the bonus is higher. A successful hit has a chance to
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ the amount of damage done when you do hit; at basic level, there
+ is no penalty or bonus; at skilled level, you receive a modest
+ bonus in the chance to hit and amount of damage done; at expert
+ level, the bonus is higher. A successful hit has a chance to
boost your training towards the next skill level (unless you've
already reached the limit for this skill). Once such training
reaches the threshold for that next level, you'll be told that
lowering your armor class one unit further to 4. When you put on
a piece of armor, you immediately find out the armor class and
any ``plusses'' it provides. Cursed pieces of armor usually have
- negative enchantments (minuses) in addition to being unremovable.
-
- Many types of armor are subject to some kind of damage like
- rust. Such damage can be repaired. Some types of armor may
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- inhibit spell casting.
+ negative enchantments (minuses) in addition to being unremovable.
+
+ Many types of armor are subject to some kind of damage like
+ rust. Such damage can be repaired. Some types of armor may in-
+ hibit spell casting.
The commands to use armor are `W' (wear) and `T' (take off).
The `A' command can also be used to take off armor as well as
NetHack know where to look for new mail by setting the ``MAIL''
environment variable to the file name of your mailbox. You may
also want to set the ``MAILREADER'' environment variable to the
- file name of your favorite reader, so NetHack can shell to it
- when you read the scroll. On versions of NetHack where mail is
- randomly generated internal to the game, these environment vari-
- ables are ignored. You can disable the mail daemon by turning
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ file name of your favorite reader, so NetHack can shell to it
+ when you read the scroll. On versions of NetHack where mail is
+ randomly generated internal to the game, these environment vari-
+ ables are ignored. You can disable the mail daemon by turning
off the mail option.
The command to read a scroll is `r'.
The command to use a wand is `z' (zap). To break one, use
the `a' (apply) command.
- 7.8. Rings (`=')
- Rings are very useful items, since they are relatively per-
- manent magic, unlike the usually fleeting effects of potions,
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ 7.8. Rings (`=')
+
+ Rings are very useful items, since they are relatively per-
+ manent magic, unlike the usually fleeting effects of potions,
scrolls, and wands.
Putting on a ring activates its magic. You can wear only
Casting a spell also requires flexible movement, and wearing
various types of armor may interfere with that.
- The command to read a spellbook is the same as for scrolls,
- `r' (read). The `+' command lists your current spells, their
- levels, categories, and chances for failure. The `Z' (cast) com-
- mand casts a spell.
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ The command to read a spellbook is the same as for scrolls,
+ `r' (read). The `+' command lists your current spells, their
+ levels, categories, and chances for failure. The `Z' (cast) com-
+ mand casts a spell.
+
7.10. Tools (`(')
Tools are miscellaneous objects with various purposes. Some
tile weapons (if you have a sling). In the most desperate of
cases, you can still throw them by hand.
- 7.13. Large rocks (``')
-
- Statues and boulders are not particularly useful, and are
- generally heavy. It is rumored that some statues are not what
- they seem.
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ 7.13. Large rocks (``')
+
+ Statues and boulders are not particularly useful, and are
+ generally heavy. It is rumored that some statues are not what
+ they seem.
+
Very large humanoids (giants and their ilk) have been known
to use boulders as weapons.
lective about eating animal byproducts than vegans. In addition
to the vegan items listed above, they may eat any kind of pudding
(`P') other than the black puddings, eggs and food made from eggs
- (fortune cookies and pancakes), food made with milk (cream pies
- and candy bars), and lumps of royal jelly. Monks are expected to
- observe a vegetarian diet.
- Eating any kind of meat violates the vegetarian, vegan, and
- foodless conducts. This includes tripe rations, the corpses or
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ (fortune cookies and pancakes), food made with milk (cream pies
+ and candy bars), and lumps of royal jelly. Monks are expected to
+ observe a vegetarian diet.
+
+ Eating any kind of meat violates the vegetarian, vegan, and
+ foodless conducts. This includes tripe rations, the corpses or
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
writing a scroll; or making an engraving of anything other than a
single ``x'' (the traditional signature of an illiterate person).
Reading an engraving, or any item that is absolutely necessary to
- win the game, is not counted against this conduct. The identity
- of scrolls and spellbooks (and knowledge of spells) in your
- starting inventory is assumed to be learned from your teachers
- prior to the start of the game and isn't counted.
-
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ win the game, is not counted against this conduct. The identity
+ of scrolls and spellbooks (and knowledge of spells) in your
+ starting inventory is assumed to be learned from your teachers
+ prior to the start of the game and isn't counted.
+
There are several other challenges tracked by the game. It
is possible to eliminate one or more species of monsters by geno-
cide; playing without this feature is considered a challenge.
``Blue Meanie'', and the fruit is set to ``papaya'', you would
enter the command
- % setenv NETHACKOPTIONS "autoquiver,\!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"
- in csh (note the need to escape the ! since it's special to the
- shell), or
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack Guidebook 32
- NetHack Guidebook 32
+ % setenv NETHACKOPTIONS "autoquiver,\!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"
+ in csh (note the need to escape the ! since it's special to the
+ shell), or
$ NETHACKOPTIONS="autoquiver,!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"
$ export NETHACKOPTIONS
autoquiver
This option controls what happens when you attempt the `f'
- (fire) command with an empty quiver. When true, the comput-
- er will fill your quiver with some suitable weapon. Note
- that it will not take into account the blessed/cursed sta-
- tus, enchantment, damage, or quality of the weapon; you are
- free to manually fill your quiver with the `Q' command in-
- stead. If no weapon is found or the option is false, the
+ (fire) command with an empty quiver. When true, the
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ computer will fill your quiver with some suitable weapon.
+ Note that it will not take into account the blessed/cursed
+ status, enchantment, damage, or quality of the weapon; you
+ are free to manually fill your quiver with the `Q' command
+ instead. If no weapon is found or the option is false, the
`t' (throw) command is executed instead. (default false)
boulder
The possibilities are:
-
-
-
-
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
down, ladder up, ladder down, altar, grave, throne, kitchen
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
``fruit:mango'') (default ``slime mold''). Basically a
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
An obsolete synonym for ``gender:male''. Cannot be set with
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
Menu character accelerator to goto the previous menu page.
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
Send padding nulls to the terminal (default off).
number_pad
- Use the number keys to move instead of [yuhjklbn] (default
- off).
+ Use the number keys to move instead of [yuhjklbn] (default 0
+ or off). (number_pad:2 invokes the old DOS behaviour where
+ `5' means `g', meta-`5' means `G', and meta-`0' means `I'.)
objects
Set the characters used to display object classes (default
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
Where to align or place the message window (top, bottom,
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
Here are explanations of options that are used by specific
platforms or ports to customize and change the port behaviour.
+ altkeyhandler
+ Select an alternate keystroke handler dll to load (Win32 tty
+ NetHack only). The name of the handler is specified without
+ the .dll extension and without any path information. Cannot
+ be set with the `O' command.
+
altmeta
(default on, AMIGA NetHack only).
BIOS
- Use BIOS calls to update the screen display quickly and to
- read the keyboard (allowing the use of arrow keys to move)
+ Use BIOS calls to update the screen display quickly and to
+ read the keyboard (allowing the use of arrow keys to move)
on machines with an IBM PC compatible BIOS ROM (default off,
OS/2, PC, and ST NetHack only).
(default on, Mac NetHack only).
rawio
- Force raw (non-cbreak) mode for faster output and more bul-
- letproof input (MS-DOS sometimes treats `^P' as a printer
- toggle without it) (default off, OS/2, PC, and ST NetHack
+ Force raw (non-cbreak) mode for faster output and more bul-
+ letproof input (MS-DOS sometimes treats `^P' as a printer
+ toggle without it) (default off, OS/2, PC, and ST NetHack
only). Note: DEC Rainbows hang if this is turned on. Can-
not be set with the `O' command.
soundcard
- (default on, PC NetHack only). Cannot be set with the `O'
+ (default on, PC NetHack only). Cannot be set with the `O'
command.
- video
- Set the video mode used (PC NetHack only). Values are `au-
- todetect', `default', or `vga'. Setting `vga' (or `autode-
- tect' with vga hardware present) will cause the game to dis-
- play tiles. Cannot be set with the `O' command.
-
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+ subkeyval
+ (Win32 tty NetHackonly). May be used to alter the value of
+ keystrokes that the operating system returns to NetHack to
+ help compensate for international keyboard issues. OP-
+ TIONS=subkeyvalue:171/92 will return 92 to NetHack, if 171
+ was originally going to be returned. You can use multiple
+ subkeyvalue statements in the config file if needed. Cannot
+ be set with the `O' command.
+
+ video
+ Set the video mode used (PC NetHack only). Values are `au-
+ todetect', `default', or `vga'. Setting `vga' (or `autode-
+ tect' with vga hardware present) will cause the game to dis-
+ play tiles. Cannot be set with the `O' command.
+
videocolors
Set the color palette for PC systems using NO_TERMS (default
4-2-6-1-5-3-15-12-10-14-9-13-11, (PC NetHack only). The or-
- der of colors is red, green, brown, blue, magenta, cyan,
+ der of colors is red, green, brown, blue, magenta, cyan,
bright.white, bright.red, bright.green, yellow, bright.blue,
bright.magenta, and bright.cyan. Cannot be set with the `O'
command.
videoshades
- Set the intensity level of the three gray scales available
- (default dark normal light, PC NetHack only). If the game
+ Set the intensity level of the three gray scales available
+ (default dark normal light, PC NetHack only). If the game
display is difficult to read, try adjusting these scales; if
- this does not correct the problem, try !color. Cannot be
+ this does not correct the problem, try !color. Cannot be
set with the `O' command.
9.7. Configuring User Sounds
- Some platforms allow you to define sound files to be played
- when a message that matches a user-defined pattern is delivered
+ Some platforms allow you to define sound files to be played
+ when a message that matches a user-defined pattern is delivered
to the message window. At this time the Qt port and the win32tty
and win32gui ports support the use of user sounds.
- The following config file entries are relevant to mapping
+ The following config file entries are relevant to mapping
user sounds to messages:
SOUNDDIR
The directory that houses the sound files to be played.
SOUND
- An entry that maps a sound file to a user-specified message
+ An entry that maps a sound file to a user-specified message
pattern. Each SOUND entry is broken down into the following
parts:
sound file - the sound file to play.
volume - the volume to be set while playing the sound file.
- The exact format for the pattern depends on whether the
- platform is built to use ``regular expressions'' or NetHack's own
- internal pattern matching facility. The ``regular expressions''
- matching can be much more sophisticated than the internal NetHack
- pattern matching, but requires 3rd party libraries on some plat-
- forms. There are plenty of references available elsewhere for
- explaining ``regular expressions''. You can verify which pattern
- matching is used by your port with the #version command.
- NetHack's internal pattern matching routine uses the follow-
- ing special characters in its pattern matching:
- *--- matches 0 or more characters.
- ?--- matches any single character.
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack Guidebook 47
- NetHack Guidebook 47
+ The exact format for the pattern depends on whether the
+ platform is built to use ``regular expressions'' or NetHack's own
+ internal pattern matching facility. The ``regular expressions''
+ matching can be much more sophisticated than the internal NetHack
+ pattern matching, but requires 3rd party libraries on some plat-
+ forms. There are plenty of references available elsewhere for
+ explaining ``regular expressions''. You can verify which pattern
+ matching is used by your port with the #version command.
+ NetHack's internal pattern matching routine uses the follow-
+ ing special characters in its pattern matching:
+ *--- matches 0 or more characters.
+ ?--- matches any single character.
- Here's an example of a sound mapping using NetHack's inter-
+ Here's an example of a sound mapping using NetHack's inter-
nal pattern matching facility:
SOUND=MESG "*chime of a cash register*" "gong.wav" 50
- specifies that any message with "chime of a cash register" con-
- tained in it will trigger the playing of "gong.wav". You can
+ specifies that any message with "chime of a cash register" con-
+ tained in it will trigger the playing of "gong.wav". You can
have multiple SOUND entries in your config file.
9.8. 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
- 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
- Disable IBMgraphics by commenting out this option.
- menustyle:traditional
- This will assist in the interface to speech synthesizers.
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- number_pad
- A lot of speech access programs use the number-pad to review
- the screen. If this is the case, disable the number_pad op-
- tion 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 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack Guidebook 48
- NetHack Guidebook 48
+ IBMgraphics
+ Disable IBMgraphics by commenting out this option.
+ menustyle:traditional
+ This will assist in the interface to speech synthesizers.
+ number_pad
+ A lot of speech access programs use the number-pad to review
+ the screen. If this is the case, disable the number_pad op-
+ tion and use the traditional Rogue-like commands.
- 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
+ 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
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
- 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
+ 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 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
+ 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.
- 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
- Further Exploration of the Dungeons of Doom, by Ken Arromdee.
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack Guidebook 49
+ 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 49
+ 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
+ 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
- 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.
+ 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 3.0 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 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.
+ 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
- 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.
- 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.
- Ken Lorber, Gregg Wonderly and Greg Olson, with help from
- Richard Addison, Mike Passaretti, and Olaf Seibert, developed
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack Guidebook 50
- NetHack Guidebook 50
+ 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.
+ 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.
+ 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
+ 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
+ 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
+ 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-
- 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
- of these ideas in NetHack 3.3.
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+ NetHack Guidebook 51
- NetHack Guidebook 51
+ 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-
+ 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
+ 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
+ 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
+ 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-
+ 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 development team initially consisted of Michael Al-
- 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-
+ The 3.4 development team initially consisted of Michael Al-
+ 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 3.3, 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
+
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 52
+
+
+
+ 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 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
+ after he resurrected it for 3.3.1.
+
+ There is a NetHack web site maintained by Ken Lorber at
+ http://www.nethack.org/.
+
+ - - - - - - - - - -
+
+ From time to time, some depraved individual out there in
+ netland sends a particularly intriguing modification to help out
+ with the game. The Gods of the Dungeon sometimes make note of
+ the names of the worst of these miscreants in this, the list of
+ Dungeoneers:
+
+
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
- NetHack Guidebook 52
- Christian ``Marvin'' Bressler maintained 3.4 for the Atari
- after he resurrected it for 3.3.1.
- There is a NetHack web site maintained by Ken Lorber at
- http://www.nethack.org/.
- - - - - - - - - - -
- From time to time, some depraved individual out there in
- netland sends a particularly intriguing modification to help out
- with the game. The Gods of the Dungeon sometimes make note of
- the names of the worst of these miscreants in this, the list of
- Dungeoneers:
- 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 Pasi Kallinen
- Barton House Jochen Erwied Pat Rankin
- Benson I. Margulies John Kallen Paul Winner
- Bill Dyer John Rupley Pierre Martineau
- Boudewijn Waijers John S. Bien Ralf Brown
- Bruce Cox Johnny Lee Richard Addison
- Bruce Holloway Jon W{tte Richard Beigel
- Bruce Mewborne Jonathan Handler Richard P. Hughey
- Carl Schelin Joshua Delahunty Rob Menke
- Chris Russo Keizo Yamamoto Robin Johnson
- David Cohrs Ken Arnold Roderick Schertler
- David Damerell Ken Arromdee Roland McGrath
- David Gentzel Ken Lorber Ron Van Iwaarden
- David Hairston Ken Washikita Ronnen Miller
- Dean Luick Kevin Darcy Ross Brown
- Del Lamb Kevin Hugo Sascha Wostmann
- Deron Meranda Kevin Sitze Scott Bigham
- Dion Nicolaas Kevin Smolkowski Scott R. Turner
- Dylan O'Donnell Kevin Sweet Stephen Spackman
- Eric Backus Lars Huttar Stephen White
- Eric Hendrickson Malcolm Ryan Steve Creps
- Eric R. Smith Mark Gooderum Steve Linhart
- Eric S. Raymond Mark Modrall Steve VanDevender
- Erik Andersen Marvin Bressler Teemu Suikki
- Frederick Roeber Matthew Day Tim Lennan
- Gil Neiger Merlyn LeRoy Timo Hakulinen
- Greg Laskin Michael Allison Tom Almy
- Greg Olson Michael Feir Tom West
- Gregg Wonderly Michael Hamel Warren Cheung
- Hao-yang Wang Michael Sokolov Warwick Allison
- Helge Hafting Mike Engber Yitzhak Sapir
-
- Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks
+
+
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+
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+
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+
+
+
+
+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
+
+
+
+
+
+ NetHack Guidebook 53
+
+
+
+ Adam Aronow Izchak Miller Mike Stephenson
+ Alex Kompel J. Ali Harlow Norm Meluch
+ Andreas Dorn Janet Walz Olaf Seibert
+ Andy Church Janne Salmijarvi Pasi Kallinen
+ Andy Swanson Jean-Christophe Collet Pat Rankin
+ Ari Huttunen Jochen Erwied Paul Winner
+ Barton House John Kallen Pierre Martineau
+ Benson I. Margulies John Rupley Ralf Brown
+ Bill Dyer John S. Bien Ray Chason
+ Boudewijn Waijers Johnny Lee Richard Addison
+ Bruce Cox Jon W{tte Richard Beigel
+ Bruce Holloway Jonathan Handler Richard P. Hughey
+ Bruce Mewborne Joshua Delahunty Rob Menke
+ Carl Schelin Keizo Yamamoto Robin Johnson
+ Chris Russo Ken Arnold Roderick Schertler
+ David Cohrs Ken Arromdee Roland McGrath
+ David Damerell Ken Lorber Ron Van Iwaarden
+ David Gentzel Ken Washikita Ronnen Miller
+ David Hairston Kevin Darcy Ross Brown
+ Dean Luick Kevin Hugo Sascha Wostmann
+ Del Lamb Kevin Sitze Scott Bigham
+ Deron Meranda Kevin Smolkowski Scott R. Turner
+ Dion Nicolaas Kevin Sweet Stephen Spackman
+ Dylan O'Donnell Lars Huttar Stephen White
+ Eric Backus Malcolm Ryan Steve Creps
+ Eric Hendrickson Mark Gooderum Steve Linhart
+ Eric R. Smith Mark Modrall Steve VanDevender
+ Eric S. Raymond Marvin Bressler Teemu Suikki
+ Erik Andersen Matthew Day Tim Lennan
+ Frederick Roeber Merlyn LeRoy Timo Hakulinen
+ Gil Neiger Michael Allison Tom Almy
+ Greg Laskin Michael Feir Tom West
+ Greg Olson Michael Hamel Warren Cheung
+ Gregg Wonderly Michael Sokolov Warwick Allison
+ Hao-yang Wang Mike Engber Yitzhak Sapir
+ Helge Hafting Mike Gallop
+ Irina Rempt-Drijfhout Mike Passaretti
+
+ Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks
of their respective holders.
- NetHack 3.4 February 12, 2003
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+
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+ NetHack 3.4 June 5, 2003
projects / nethack / commitdiff