Archive-name: games/nethack-faq Last-modified: 26 Mar 1993 (03/26/93 - VMS site number change) (03/03/93 - NetHack 3.1.1) (02/03/93 - NetHack 3.1) (01/18/93 - info on NetHack-- added) ----------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: E-mail your FAQ suggestions and corrections to: yucao@cco.caltech.edu I am not a member of the development team, nor am I an expert. If you don't see an answer to your question here, please, post an article. "What is NetHack?" NetHack is a single-user, fantasy role-playing computer game, and a direct descendant of the games Hack and Rogue. The "Net" in NetHack refers to its development by a team of programmers here in the USENET community. "What is the latest version?" NetHack 3.1.1 "Where do I get it from (source code and executable files)?" FTP: linc.cis.upenn.edu pub/NH3.1/* {130.91.6.8} Official site for source and PC/AMIGA/ATARI/OS2/MAC binaries. (Source code was written for UNIX, everything else is a port.) FTP instructions are at the bottom of this article. UUCP: ftp.uu.net or other sites that keep comp.sources.games archives. VMS: NSI/DECnet(SPAN) from ACDURS::SYS$LCL:[SRC.NETHACK] {or 34210::} or anonymous ftp from uars.acd.ucar.edu in [.SRC.NETHACK]. COMPUSERVE: The GAMERS Forum library. "Who do I contact to report a bug or to get installation help?" nethack-bugs@linc.cis.upenn.edu "Where do I go for more information on playing the game?" o during play: "?" and "/" commands, fortune cookies and the Oracle. o The guidebook which accompanies the game. o Explore-mode: nethack -X {you start with a wand of wishing} "Where can I get spoilers from? o Articles posted on rec.games.hack. (The standard behavior is to insert a ctrl-L character before the spoiler so that those who wish avoid them can skip the article.) o The WCST NetHack Spoiler File. Available at sites that archive comp.sources.games, and in the Compuserve GAMERS Forumlibrary. The latest release is version 7.00 (for NetHack 3.0). You can find it at sites that archive comp.sources.games in directory: comp.sources.games/volume13/nh-spoilers3 Here is a list of some of the archive sites: (please download from within your continent) ftp.uu.net {137.39.1.9} wuarchive.wustl.edu {128.252.135.4} usc.edu {128.125.253.136} brolga.cc.uq.oz.au {130.102.128.5} ftp.waseda.ac.jp {133.9.1.32} nic.funet.fi {128.214.6.100} Spoiler File for NetHack 3.1 is not yet available. "What is Wizard mode, and how do I use it?" The game maintainer can use wizard-mode as a debugging aid. Try: "nethack -u wizard -D" or "nethack -uWizard -D" "I've undergone a Name Change and then saved the game. How do I restore the game?" In most implementations you have to tell the game your new name, as in: "nethack -u " "I've cleaned out the castle, where are the downstairs?" Part of the challenge of nethack is figuring out mysteries like this. Relax! This is intentional! There is a way... "The Dungeon collapsed. Can I recover this game?" For NetHack 3.1 the maintainer may recover the game by glueing up leftover level files into a save file. "When will the next version be released and what will be different?" No information is available at this time. Thank you for your patience. "What are NetHack++ and NetHack-- and where to find them?" They're different names for the same modified, unofficial version of NetHack 3.0j, which features more monster types and character classes. Source code and DOS executable are available from nic.funet.fi as /pub/msdos/games/programming/nhmm3src.zip (source code) /pub/msdos/games/adventure/nhmm30pc.zip (DOS executable) There is no other permanent site for them right now. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Basic FTP instructions If your machine is directly connected to internet, you can obtain the source code and official binary releases for some popular computers. Type in the command: ftp linc.cis.upenn.edu or ftp 130.91.6.8 You will be connected to upenn, and it will prompt for a username. Type in the username: anonymous Use your e-mail address for a password, such as: boris@moose.squirrel.whatsammata.edu Paying attention to upper and lower case, change directories to the NetHack base directory, by typing: cd pub/NH3.1 This directory contains the source and instructions for compiling and installing NetHack on a variety of machines. You might want to first obtain the READ_FIRST file that's in this directory. Try either one of these two commands: get READ_FIRST get READ_FIRST _____.____ {use any local file name you like} If you want to know what files are available in any directory, type: dir If you want a binary version of NetHack, type in one of the following commands: cd PC cd os2 cd mac cd amiga cd atari Each of these directories contain the binaries and instructions for installation. Use the DIR command, and get the README file first. Regardless what version you want, you'll need to know that there are two ways to transfer, in "ascii" or in "binary" mode. By default, you're already in ascii mode. If you wish to transfer binary files, type: binary To switch to binary mode. If you need to switch back, type: ascii As you've seen above, you get files by typing one of these commands: get get mget If your local system can handle Unix file structures, you can get all the source and instructions by typing: mget * To leave your FTP session, type: quit Files that end with either "...uu" or "...uue" are files in Unix "uuencode" format. These are binary files encoded into ascii format, and must be decoded by a Unix "uudecode" command. There are versions of uudecode for many platforms. Check with your system administrator, local BBS, etc. Also, the NetHack source files are all of the form: .tar.Z.uu Once uudecoded, require two additional Unix programs, "uncompress" (the 'Z' means compressed), and "tar". Like uudecode, there are versions of these programs for other platforms. -- Yu Cao yucao@cco.caltech.edu Caltech 103-33 Pasadena, CA 91125