GameStar Special 2004 August/GSSH0804.iso/Rollenspiele/Nethack/nethack-343-win.exe/README

Text File | 2003-10-15 | 15.4 KB | 354 lines

NetHack is Copyright (C) Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam
and M. Stephenson. NetHack may be freely redistributed.
See license for details.

                NetHack for Windows
                  =================================
         (last revision: $Date: 2003/10/15 11:00:01 $)

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Hello ..., Welcome to NetHack 3.4.3!
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NetHack for Windows platforms is available in source code
distribution from http://www.nethack.org/ or in a ready-to-run
binary format.

The NetHack 3.4.3 official binary distribution of NetHack for
Windows 3.4.3 contains two separate executables inside it.

There is the "NetHack for Windows - tty interface" which
will run on any platform offering the win32 Console I/O
support. This is the executable that was included in
NetHack releases prior to 3.4.0.

NetHack 3.4 also includes the
 "NetHack for Windows - Graphical Interface"
which should run on any of the platforms listed below,
with the following restrictions noted via the
asterisk:

    Windows 95*
    Windows 98
    Windows Me (untested)
    Windows NT 4.0*
    Windows 2000
    Windows XP

(* indicates that it requires updated common control libraries. The
   minimal common control library versions required is 4.71. You can
   get that version or greater by downloading the common control
   library from Microsoft at this URL (valid at time of production of
   this document:
     http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6f94d31a-d1e0-4658-a566-93af0d8d4a1e&DisplayLang=en
   As well, please refer to the notes for this binary at:
     http://www.nethack.org/)


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Release notes about NetHack for Windows 3.4.3
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Save and bones files created with version 3.4.0, 3.4.1, or 3.4.2 should
work with 3.4.3. Save and bones files created with versions earlier than
3.4.0 definitely won't work.

As with earlier 3.4.x versions, 3.4.3 has a whole bunch of defaults.nh
options for controlling layout and fonts used in the
"NetHack for Windows - Graphical Inteface."  The best source of information
about those at the present time is the Windows specific help from within
the game.

recover.exe is no longer bundled into the binary distribution because
recover functionality has been included in NetHack itself for Windows
platforms.

Check the Guidebook, news file, and defaults.nh for information
on working with international keyboards, and the "altkeyhandler"
and "subkeyvalue" config file options.

perm_invent support did not make it into either win32 interface
in time for the 3.4 release.

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How to set up the game:
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In order to install this particular version of NetHack, you will need a PC
running one of the versions of Windows listed earlier.  Let it be known
that we, on the development and win32 porting teams, have not actually tried
to use the binary on a Windows Me platform.  We are not aware of any reason
that it won't work, but let us know if it doesn't.

The most straightforward method of setting up the game is to unzip all of
the NetHack files into a single directory - C:\GAMES\NETHACK would be
a typical choice, but certainly not a required one.

To invoke "NetHack for Windows - Tty Interface" run the
nethack.exe executable.

To invoke "NetHack for Windows - Graphical Interface" run the
nethackw.exe executable.

Save files and bones files should be completely
compatible between the graphical and tty versions.

Next, you quite likely want to poke around in the file "defaults.nh"
with a text editor to set up pragmatic things (like where to
store saved games or bones files), aesthetic things (like whether to
use traditional ASCII characters or graphical tiles, which font etc.),
and Fun Stuff (like the name of your character and your pet).

    With luck the comments in "defaults.nh" should be adequate to
at least get your started figuring out how things work. Oh, and by
the way, read the Guidebook and the in-game Windows help.  It's
The Guidebook is stored in the binary distribution as Guidebook.txt.


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Contacts:
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If you discover a bug and wish to report it, or if you have comments
or suggestions we recommend using our "Contact Us" web page at:
    http://www.nethack.org/common/contact.html

If you don't have access to the web, or you want to send us a patch
to the NetHack source code feel free to drop us a line c/o:
    DevTeam (at) nethack.org

Happy NetHacking!

Please mention which of the 'official' nh3.4.3 binaries you are using,
assuming that you are.  If you aren't, please be sure to mention that
fact. When you do, also mention exactly what you changed and what
steps you followed between the time you downloaded the source, and you
contacted us.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frequently asked questions:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

You asked:

    I try to start up "NetHack for Windows - Graphical Interface",
    but it keeps starting as the tty version. How do I get the
    graphics?

Our RTFM expert replies:

There are two executable programs included in the binary distribution.
You have to run the one called "nethackw.exe" to get the graphical
version.  If you ran "nethack.exe", you'll get the tty version. Do it
over, and do it right this time.


You asked:

    Ok the game works.  Where do I begin to learn how to play?

A passing strange person replies:

Of course it works.  What do you think I am, a radio?
    Once you've got into the game, some good commands to try (and
they don't even count as moves!) are ? and /.  At risk of sounding
like a marketing blurb, the HELP key (which on your terminal will be
marked with a question mark - and be warned that you may have to
depress the shift key to activate this function!) gives you instant
access to our online help facility.  It's kind of a menu with lovely
options like "c" (where you get to see MY NAME in the history of
NetHack!), "i" (which gives you all the important legal blurb which
tells you about your rights and responsibilities as a NetHack
licensee), and the more boring items "a" and "b" which merely explain
all the commands and the display symbols and uninteresting stuff like
that.  What the hell.  It's there, you can use it.
    The / key is pretty good, too.  If there's something on the
screen that you don't know what it is, well, it's probably a letter or
a symbol or something.  That's wisdom, see?  But to get onto the
Eternal Verities, suppose you want to know what it MEANS?  Aha!  Hit
/, say "y", I want to specify it by cursor (cursors are blinking
underscores, and if you're British like me you can curse them with
your numeric bloody keypad, too -- Americans needn't understand this
joke), whatever it is, and then you can point out the object of your
confusion and have it explicated in frabjous detail.  Helps you avoid
getting your face et, sometimes, that.  Always nice, not having your
face et.
    Oh, right, I almost forgot.  There's the Guidebook, too, for
the quiche-eaters in our midst....  You may have got one with your
game in the form of a file called Guidebook.txt.


You asked:

    Are ASCII characters my only choice for representing things
on the display?

A worker tiling our floor responds:

I've been in this business for twenty years.  All the people
today want to change things!  There's a lot to be said for the
traditional way of doing things.  On the other hand I can
provide you with a set of NetHack tiles, that will give
your display a completely different look.
If you want to try tiles on the NetHack display, place an
    OPTION=map_mode:tiles
line into the "defaults.nh" file and run nethackw.exe. If you
have a custom set of tiles, such as a 32x32 tile set called chozo32b.bmp,
then you should also add the following line to your "defaults.nh":
      OPTION=OPTIONS=tile_file:chozo32b.bmp, tile_width:32, tile_height:32


You asked:

    I like the graphical version, because I get to use
my mouse for more than just a paper-weight.  But I *like*
ASCII characters. I've been using ASCII characters for
NetHack since I was in high school.  Can't I have my cake
and eat it too?

The baker dropping off our daily doughnut supply says:

Did somebody mention cake?  Have I got a recipe for you!
Take (1) defaults.nh
Add  (1) lines of OPTION=map_mode:ascii8x12
Save it, and stir. Presto - an ASCII display on the
graphical screen...or is that a graphical display on the
ASCII screen...I can't remember - try it yourself.


You asked:

    Eeewwww. I hate the font the graphical version
    is using on the message window.  I like the
    PrestoWizBang font that I got last week. Can
    you change it for the next version, please?

Our staff Salesperson replies:

Why wait?  You can have it now!  Don't delay, add
an OPTIONS=font_message:PrestoWizBang, font_size_message:10
PrestoWiz corporation assumes no responsibility for the
use of their font on NetHack, and all such use is without
warranty and at your own risk.  If you act now, I can
throw in a couple of Ginsu knives at no extra cost.


You asked:

    Wow this is a really neat game.  Is there any way to explore it
    without dying so much?

Our staff schizophrenic replies:

Gentle Reader, I fear this is a most delicate question.  It is a
frequent theme in fantasy literature that it is far easier to be
granted a wish than it is to decide upon a good wish to make.  But I
am no djinn, and I am willing to advise you on this point as well.
And so I shall make the observation that, no matter what transpires,
you will always die the same amount, viz: once.  (Unless of course
some sort of magic intervenes.)  Perhaps what you want is a way to
avoid dying so soon?
    As it happens, this latter can be accomplished.  Death, as it
transpires, is characterisable as _finitely avoidable_ in NetHack, for
there is a Mystic Prompt known to those who have read the Man Page of
Doom, the words of which, it is sometimes whispered, are as follows:
        Die? [yn]
The benefit of being asked this question at the, shall we say,
appropriate, crucial moments is available -- for a price.
Classically, an acceptable consideration would be the player's soul;
but since according to the hallowed doctrines of most major religions,
@-signs don't have souls to sell, we will be contented with your
score....  For lo!  The game contains an X command, and by the
strangely inexplicable power of the elder gods this X standeth for the
word Discover (or EXplore, in the ancient tongue), and the typing of
this Mystic Device shall effect the deal as described above,
paragraphs 2 and 3.
    Furthermore, and alternately, IF YOU ORDER IMMEDIATELY at the
outset of a game, AS AN ADDED FREE BONUS YOU WILL RECEIVE A GENUINE
HAND-CRAFTED WAND OF THREE WISHES!  Just type NETHACK -X (or
NETHACKW -X if you are more graphically inclined) on the
command line and, since NetHack is freely distributable, SEND NO MONEY
NOW.  As a variation on this theme, the -D flag will put the game into
its debugging mode, IF you are a wizard... "Speak, wizard, and enter",
to paraphrase the Old Master.


You asked:

    I was playing along with my 400 hitpoint level 8 Barbarian
    named Gorp and my dog Gumby, having a wonderful evening bashing
    heads, eating eye corpses, and generally running amok in the dungeon
    and all of a sudden the (1) the lights go out, (2) I hit the power
    cord with my sword, (3) lightning struck, or (4) the game actually
    crashed.  Now what do I do?

Our resident disaster recovery expert replies:

WHAT? Damn, hmmm, lets see now. Where is the plan, you know what I
mean, the PLAN! Wait, now calm down, let me think. Hmm. Hmm. Oh
yea! You have INSURANCE don't you. I mean you compiled the game
with INSURANCE didn't you. Well then you are in safe hands, so to
speak. Included at no extra charge to you is a recovery feature.
Its sole purpose in life is to save your behind in cases like this.
Don't go getting the idea that you can cheat by turning off your
machine just when you are about to die and using it to resurrect
your Wizard. The recovery mechanism can tell you are cheating and will
delete your high score list and give you bad luck for twenty games.

    To engage the recovery feature after a crash just start your game
with the same player name as you used with the one that crashed.
Forgotton what player name you used? Go to your NETHACK directory
and check to see if you have a bunch of files ending in a number.
Like so: ELVIS-PRESLEY.0 ELVIS-PRESLEY.1 ELVIS-PRESLEY.2 and so on.
Your player name is the part after the '-', and before the '.'.

Example you say:

nethack -uPRESLEY

NetHack should detect the earlier failed game and ask you if you
want to recover. Answer yes. Works.

    Good enough?


------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCLAIMERS:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Throughout this document, the word "NetHack" refers to a rather jolly
game involving a small @-sign getting its face et by dragons, and is
in no way to be construed as relating to the theory or practise of
gaining unauthorised use of or access to data or data processing
equipment (except maybe if a few of us play the game at work,
something which I want to go on record as saying is very, very naughty
indeed and not the sort of thing you want to get involved with at
all), and if any security-establishment types are reading this,
remember it's YOU folks who do the cloak-and-dagger stuff, we're
responsible professionals with real jobs and self respect and stuff
like that.

Secondly, all references to animal sacrifice, Donny Osmond (who?),
dynamic linking, Microsoft Corporation, okapi, claviprondrophony and
so forth are made purely for the entertainment of the reader and if
you think we meant something by it, that's your problem.  Research has
shown that what people say and what they mean have so little to do with
each other that you can actually get PAID to figure out why people say,
"can you reach the salt?" when as a matter of fact they don't give a
pair of dingo's kidneys what the answer to the question is, so long as
someone provides them with some small white crystals in the near
future and look! you came up with *that* interpretation all by
yourself now didn't you.
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Special thanks to stephen p spackman who wrote the original version
of this text and who will live forever in our memories.  (Nope, he
isn't dead, just moved on to a higher calling).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This document is Copyright (C) 1991 Stephen P Spackman and Kevin D
Smolkowski (1993).  It constitutes part of the documentation of the PC
and Windows versions of the NetHack game, and may be distributed freely
subject to the same terms set forth in the NetHack license.  Thank you
for having a very nice day indeed.  Hack On!