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NetHack

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NetHack is one of the most well-known open-source roguelike games, as well as one of the longest-lasting (still getting official updates over 30 years later!).

Debug Mode#

To enter "wizard mode", the user must boot the game with the -D -u wizard command line parameters. Doing this will enable a host of changes to the game:

Gameplay Changes#

  • Wishing has far fewer limits, letting you wish for all traps (except for holes or trapdoors on levels with an undiggable floor), certain dungeon features like fountains or thrones, artefacts, unique items, items with an exact number of charges or +'s, altars with specific alignments...
  • If you enter a level that has bones files present, the game will ask if you want them to be loaded or not.
  • The #pray comment lets you "force the gods to be pleased". If you choose not to do so, the usual prayer timeout rules still apply.
  • Applying a scroll of genocide to "*" will remove every monster on the level without actually genociding any species. Be warned that this will also affect peaceful and tame monsters, like your dog or the Quest Leader.
  • Approaching your guild leader with a high enough experience level but an insufficient alignment record will give you the option to set your alignment level to 20.
  • Dying will pop up a "Die? (y/n)". Choosing no will, naturally result in you returning to life. Choosing to die on bones-eligible levels will pop up a "Save bones? (y/n)" prompt as well.

Additional Environment Variables#

Variable Name

Effect

WIZKIT

Set to a filename containing a list of item names (up to 128 lines) to wish these items into your inventory at the start of the game.

SHOPTYPE

Set to a letter code (see below) to force a specific special room to generate on every floor, even if doing so would break room creation rules.

SPLEVTYPE

Force the use of specific layouts for the Special Levels that use specific pre-made layouts. For example, bigrm-2,minetn-5 would force those specific variants of The Big Room and Minetown.

NH_HEAPLOG

If the MONITOR_HEAP compile-time option is enabled (it's not by default), setting this to a filename will cause Nethack to log all memory allocation and release information there.

SHOPTYPE values and their meanings

Letter

z or Z

m or M

b or B

t or T or \

s or S

a or A

c or C

l or L

_

}

g or G

Any object symbol

(Source: Nethack Wiki)

Additional Config Options#

Option Name

Effect

monpolycontrol

When set to true, whenever a monster changes shape you'll be prompted to specify their new form.

sanity_check

When set to true, runs more sanity checks on monsters, objects and the map prior to each turn.

travel_debug

When set to true, shows the pathfinding progression for the travel command.

wizweight

When set to true, object descriptions include their weight.

Additional Commands#

Keys

Action

Ctrl-E

Reveal Secret Doors and Traps.

Ctrl-F

Map the current area.

Ctrl-G

Create a monster within an area.

Ctrl-I

Show identities of items in pack.

Ctrl-O

Show notable dungeon features.

Ctrl-T

Teleport within the current area.

Ctrl-V

Teleport between areas.

Ctrl-W

Make a wish.

Ctrl-X

Show all attributes.

Extended Command

Action

#levelchange

Changes your experience level.

#lightsources

Show mobile light sources.

#panic

Prompts to test the "panic" mechanism. Replying in the affirmative will result in the game terminating with the message "Oops... Suddenly, the dungeon collapses."

#polyself

Polymorph yourself!

#seenv

Shows seen vectors.

#stats

Shows memory usage statistics.

#timeout

Look at the timeout queue.

#vanquished

View counts of killed monsters, sorted in a variety of ways.

#vision

Shows vision array.

#wizbury

Buries all adjacent objects.

#wizdetect

Search for hidden things within a modest radius. Same as CTRL+E.

#wizgenesis

Create a monster. Same as CTRL+G.

#wizidentify

Identify the items in your inventory. Same as CTRL+I.

#wizintrinsic

Give yourself any intrinsic for 30 turns.

#wizlevelport

Teleport to another level. Same as CTRL+V.

#wizmap

Map out the level. Same as CTRL+F.

#wizrumorcheck

Validates the first and last rumor for the true and false sets.

#wizsmell

Smell a monster.

#wizwhere

Show the locations of secret levels.

#wizwish

Wish something into existence. Same as CTRL+W.

#wmode

Show wall modes.

Unused Attributes#

The player is noted to have Intrinsic Night Vision in you.h, but this never seems to contribute to the game ultimately.

Unused Monsters#

There are shimmering dragons mentioned in the code. This would have left behind shimmering dragon scales, used to make shimmering dragon scale mail.

The beholders are also mentioned and have a few gaze attacks.

Vampire mages and vorpal jabberwocks are tougher variations of existing in-game monsters.

Unused Spells#

Two deferred spells are mentioned in the code: "flame sphere" and "freeze sphere".

Unused Symbols#

The symbols 6, 7, 8, and 9 aren't used to represent anything by default.

Monster Frequency#

In vanilla NetHack, monster frequency is rated on a scale of 0–5, where 0 isn't randomly generated and 5 is common. However, it could potentially go as high as 7.

Version Differences#

General#

  • A tiled graphic mode would be available starting with Version 3.2.0, along with the standard text-mode variation(s).
  • Barbarians were known as Fighters until v2.2a.
  • Ninjas were superseded by Rogues in v3.0.
  • Elfs were superseded by Rangers in v3.3.
    • Similarly, Earendil and Elwing were quest leaders for male and female elves respectively. They were replaced with Orion in v3.3.
    • Also, the Goblin King is replaced with Scorpius.

Symbols#

  • Medusas were represented with an 8, but later came to be represented with a green @.
  • Giants were represented with a 9, but later came to be represented with an H.
  • Trappers were represented with a , (comma), but later came to be represented with a t.

Bestiary#

  • Only in v2.3e can the player encounter the Three Stooges as enemies.
  • Osquips and Mad Scientists were in the game from Versions 3.0 to 3.0.6.
  • There were unarmored soldiers and watchmen introduced in Versions 3.0.0 and 3.1.0, but both were removed in v3.1.3.

Items#

  • v3.0.0 introduced the Thunderfist, an artifact lucern hammer. It was swiftly replaced with the Mjollnir.
  • Slices of pizza were items until Version 2.3e. They were later replaced with user-configurable "fruit" (with its own default value, "slime mold")
  • Version 2.3e is the only version to have a badge as an item.

Places#

  • Originally, the player had to go to Hell to finish the game. However, starting with v3.1.0, Hell would be replaced with Gehennom.

End-Game#

  • Version 3.2.0 included an obituary for then-recently deceased development team member Izchak Miller. This is still available in the code and can be enabled with the "NH320_DEDICATION" compile-time option.

Bugs#

  • In Versions 3.1.0 to 3.3.1, the Yeenoghu had the touch of death due to a bug, which was the result of adding the riders carelessly after the code that handles the confusion attack. This was fixed simply by adding a break when appropriate.
  • Version 3.4.3 treated any command as a waster of time if the player was walking on lava.