Having exhausted your own meager financial resources, as well as those of your parents, you find that you must end your formal education. Your lack of experience and skills leaves you facing a pretty grim future. You could look for some sort of menial job and hope to perform well enough to be noticed and perhaps rise in responsibilities until you were earning enough money to be comfortable. Or you could set out into the world and make your livelihood by prospecting, stealing, crusading, or just plain killing, for your gold. Over the objections of your local guildmaster, you opt to follow the adventuring route. After all, when adventurers came back this way they usually seemed better off than when they passed through the first time. And who was to say that all of those who did not return had not just kept going?
Asking around, you hear about a bauble, called the Amulet of Yendor by some, which, if you can find it, will bring you great wealth. One legend you were told even mentioned that the one who finds the amulet will be granted immortality by the gods. The amulet is rumored to be somewhere beyond the Valley of Gehennom, deep within the Mazes of Menace. You decide that even if the rumors of the amulet's powers are untrue, and even if it won't cure the common plague, you should at least be able to sell the tales of your adventures to the local minstrels for a tidy sum. You spend one last night fortifying yourself at the local inn, becoming more and more depressed as you watch the odds of your success being posted on the inn's walls getting lower and lower. In the morning you awake, gather together your belongings, and set off on your adventure ...
Your abilities and strengths for dealing with the hazards of adventure will vary with your background and training.
You set out for the dungeon and after several days of uneventful travel, you see the ancient ruins that mark the entrance to the Mazes of Menace. It is late at night, so you make camp at the entrance and spend the night sleeping under the open skies. In the morning, you gather your gear, eat what may be your last meal outside, and enter the dungeon.
You have just begun a game of SLASH'EM. Your goal is to grab as much treasure as you can, retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, and escape the Mazes of Menace alive. On the screen is kept a map of where you have been and what you have seen on the current dungeon level; as you explore more of the level, it appears on the screen in front of you.
When SLASH'EM 's ancestor rogue first appeared, its screen orientation was almost unique among computer fantasy games. Since then, screen orientation has become the norm rather than the exception; SLASH'EM continues this fine tradition. Unlike text adventure games that accept commands in pseudo-English sentences and explain the results in words, SLASH'EM commands are all one or two keystrokes and the results are displayed graphically on the screen. A minimum screen size of 24 lines by 80 columns is recommended; if the screen is larger, only a 21×80 section will be used for the map.
SLASH'EM generates a new dungeon every time you play it; even the authors still find it an entertaining and exciting game despite having won several times.
The bat bites!
------
|....| ----------
|.<..|####...@...$.|
|....-# |...B....+
|....| |.d......|
------ -------|--
Player the Rambler St:12 Dx:7 Co:18 In:11 Wi:9 Ch:15 Neutral
Dlvl:1 $:0 HP:9(12) Pw:3(3) AC:10 Exp:1/19 T:257 Weak
The bottom two lines of the screen contain several cryptic pieces of information describing your current status. If either status line becomes longer than the width of the screen, you might not see all of it. Here are explanations of what the various status items mean (though your configuration may not have all the status items listed below):
The top line of the screen is reserved for messages that describe things that are impossible to represent visually. If you see a ``-More-'' on the top line, this means that SLASH'EM has another message to display on the screen, but it wants to make certain that you've read the one that is there first. To read the next message, just press the space bar.
The rest of the screen is the map of the level as you have explored it so far. Each symbol on the screen represents something. You can set various graphics options to change some of the symbols the game uses; otherwise, the game will use default symbols. Here is a list of what the default symbols mean:
A corridor, or possibly a kitchen sink (if your dungeon has sinks) or drawbridge.
A way to the previous level.
A way to the next level.
A pile of gold.
A trap (once you detect it).
Something edible (not necessarily healthy).
A pool of water or moat or a pool of lava.
A fountain.
Commands are initiated by typing one or two characters. Some commands, like ``search'', do not require that any more information be collected by SLASH'EM . Other commands might require additional information, for example a direction, or an object to be used. For those commands that require additional information, SLASH'EM will present you with either a menu of choices, or with a command line prompt requesting information. Which you are presented with will depend chiefly on how you have set the `menustyle ' option.
For example, a common question in the form ``What do you want to use? [a-zA-Z ?*]'', asks you to choose an object you are carrying. Here, ``a-zA-Z'' are the inventory letters of your possible choices. Typing `?' gives you an inventory list of these items, so you can see what each letter refers to. In this example, there is also a `*' indicating that you may choose an object not on the list, if you wanted to use something unexpected. Typing a `*' lists your entire inventory, so you can see the inventory letters of every object you're carrying. Finally, if you change your mind and decide you don't want to do this command after all, you can press the `ESC' key to abort the command.
You can put a number before most commands to repeat them that many times; for example, ``10s'' will search ten times. If you have the number_pad option set, you must type `n' to prefix a count, so the example above would be typed ``n10s'' instead. Commands for which counts make no sense ignore them. In addition, movement commands can be prefixed for greater control (see below). To cancel a count or a prefix, press the `ESC' key.
The list of commands is rather long, but it can be read at any time during the game through the `?' command, which accesses a menu of helpful texts. As well, there is now a menusystem available through the ``' command for those who would rather page through menus than hunt and peck for keys. Here are the commands for your reference:
Tell what a command does.
Go up to the previous level (if you are on the staircase or ladder).
Go down to the next level (if you are on the staircase or ladder).
| y k u | 7 8 9 |
| \ | / | \ | / |
| h- . -l | 4- . -6 |
| / | \ | / | \ |
| b j n | 1 2 3 |
| (if number_pad set) |
Ask for the type of a trap you found earlier.
Count your gold pieces.
Perform an extended command. As you can see, the authors of SLASH'EM used up all the letters, so this is a way to introduce the less useful commands, or commands used under limited circumstances. You may obtain a list of them by entering `?'. What extended commands are available depends on what features the game was compiled with.
If your keyboard has a meta key (which, when pressed in combination with another key, modifies it by setting the `meta' [8th, or `high'] bit), you can invoke the extended commands by meta-ing the first letter of the command. In OS/2, PC and ST SLASH'EM, the `Alt' key can be used in this fashion; on the Amiga set the altmeta option to get this behavior.
If the number_pad option is on, some additional letter commands are available:
Rooms and corridors in the dungeon are either lit or dark. Any lit areas within your line of sight will be displayed; dark areas are only displayed if they are within one space of you. Walls and corridors remain on the map as you explore them.
Secret corridors are hidden. You can find them with the `s' (search) command.
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.
You can get through a locked door by using a tool to pick the lock with the `a' (apply) command, or by kicking it open with the `^D' (kick) command.
Open doors cannot be entered diagonally; you must approach them straight on, horizontally or vertically. Doorways without doors are not restricted in this fashion.
Doors can be useful for shutting out monsters. Most monsters cannot open doors, although a few don't need to (ex. ghosts can walk through doors).
Secret doors are hidden. You can find them with the `s' (search) command. Once found they are in all ways equivalent to normal doors.
There are traps throughout the dungeon to snare the unwary delver. For example, you may suddenly fall into a pit and be stuck for a few turns trying to climb out. Traps don't appear on your map until you see one triggered by moving onto it, see something fall into it, or you discover it with the `s' (search) command. Monsters can fall prey to traps, too, which can be a useful defensive strategy.
Monsters you cannot see are not displayed on the screen. Beware! You may suddenly come upon one in a dark place. Some magic items can help you locate them before they locate you (which some monsters can do very well).
If you see a monster and you wish to fight it, just attempt to walk into it. Many monsters you find will mind their own business unless you attack them. Some of them are very dangerous when angered. Remember: discretion is the better part of valor.
You start the game with a little dog (`d') or cat (`f'), which follows you about the dungeon and fights monsters with you. Like you, your pet needs food to survive. It usually feeds itself on fresh carrion and other meats. If you're worried about it or want to train it, you can feed it, too, by throwing it food. A properly trained pet can be very useful under certain circumstances.
Your pet also gains experience from killing monsters, and can grow over time, gaining hit points and doing more damage. Initially, your pet may even be better at killing things than you, which makes pets useful for low-level characters.
Your pet will follow you up and down staircases if it is next to you when you move. Otherwise your pet will be stranded and may become wild.
You may encounter the shades and corpses of other adventurers (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.
When you find something in the dungeon, it is common to want to pick it up. In SLASH'EM, this is accomplished automatically by walking over the object (unless you turn off the autopickup option (see below), or move with the `m' prefix (see above)), or manually by using the `,' command. If you're carrying too many things, SLASH'EM will tell you so and you won't be able to pick up anything more. Otherwise, it will add the object(s) to your pack and tell you what you just picked up.
When you pick up an object, it is assigned an inventory letter. Many commands that operate on objects must ask you to find out which object you want to use. When SLASH'EM asks you to choose a particular object you are carrying, you are usually presented with a list of inventory letters to choose from (see Commands, above).
Some objects, such as weapons, are easily differentiated. Others, like scrolls and potions, are given descriptions which vary according to type. During a game, any two objects with the same description are the same type. However, the descriptions will vary from game to game.
When you use one of these objects, if its effect is obvious, SLASH'EM will remember what it is for you. If its effect isn't extremely obvious, you will be asked what you want to call this 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.
Any object that you find may be cursed, even if the object is otherwise helpful. The most common effect of a curse is being stuck with (and to) the item. Cursed weapons weld themselves to your hand when wielded, so you cannot unwield them. Any cursed item you wear is not removable by ordinary means. In addition, cursed arms and armor usually, but not always, bear negative enchantments that make them less effective in combat. Other cursed objects may act poorly or detrimentally in other ways.
Objects can also be blessed. Blessed items usually work better or more beneficially than normal uncursed items. For example, a blessed weapon will do more damage against demons.
There are magical means of bestowing or removing curses upon objects, so even if you are stuck with one, you can still have the curse lifted and the item removed. Priests and Priestesses have an innate sensitivity to this property in any object, so they can more easily avoid cursed objects than other character classes.
An item with unknown status will be reported in your inventory with no prefix. An item which you know the state of will be distinguished in your inventory by the presence of the word ``cursed'', ``uncursed'' or ``blessed'' in the description of the item.
Given a chance, most monsters in the Mazes of Menace will gratuitously try to kill you. You need weapons for self-defense (killing them first). Without a weapon, you do only 1-2 hit points of damage (plus bonuses, if any).
There are wielded weapons, like maces and swords, and thrown weapons, like arrows and spears. To hit monsters with a weapon, you must wield it and attack them, or throw it at them. You can simply select to throw a spear.
To shoot an arrow, you should first wield a bow, then throw the arrow. The alternative method would be wield a bow and place the arrows in your Quiver, after witch you fire the ammunition. Crossbows shoot crossbow bolts. Slings hurl rocks and (other) stones (like gems).
You can wield only one weapon at a time, but you can change weapons unless you're wielding a cursed one. Exchanging hands allows you to ready both a primary and secondary weapon and swap between them at the touch of a key.
To switch to bare hands, wield `', or use the `A' command which allows you to unwield the current weapon in addition to taking off other worn items.
The ``#enhance'' command will be present if the ``weapon skills'' feature is enabled, and deals with your proficiency in various types of weapons (as well as spells). Skilled adventurers find themselves much more capable with their weapons.
Enchanted weapons have a ``plus'' (or ``to hit enhancement'' which can be either positive or negative) that adds or subtracts to/from your chance to hit and the damage you do to a monster. The only way to determine a weapon's enchantment is to have it magically identified somehow.
Most weapons are subject to some type of damage like rust. Such damage can be repaired.
Those of you in the audience who are AD&D players, be aware that each weapon which exists in AD&D does the same damage to monsters in SLASH'EM. Some of the more obscure weapons (such as the aklys, lucern hammer, and bec-de-corbin ) are defined in an appendix to Unearthed Arcana, an AD&D supplement.
The commands to use weapons are `w' (wield), `t' (throw), and 'Q' (quiver), 'f' (fire), 'x' (exchange) the ``#enhance'' extended command.
Lots of unfriendly things lurk about; you need armor to protect yourself from their blows. Some types of armor offer better protection than others. Your armor class is a measure of this protection. Armor class (AC) is measured as in AD&D, with 10 being the equivalent of no armor, and lower numbers meaning better armor. Each suit of armor which exists in AD&D gives the same protection in SLASH'EM. Here is an (incomplete) list of the armor classes provided by various suits of armor:
| dragon scale mail | 1 | chain mail | 5 | |
| crystal plate mail | 3 | plate mail | 3 | |
| scale mail | 6 | bronze plate mail | 4 | |
| ring mail | 7 | splint mail | 4 | |
| studded leather armor | 7 | banded mail | 4 | |
| leather armor | 8 | elven mithril-coat | 5 | |
| no armor | 10 |
If a piece of armor is enchanted, its armor protection will be better (or worse) than normal, and its ``plus'' (or minus) will subtract from your armor class. For example, a +1 chain mail would give you better protection than normal chain mail, 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 inhibit 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 other worn items.
Food is necessary to survive. If you go too long without eating you will faint, and eventually die of starvation. Some types of food will spoil, and become unhealthy to eat, if not protected. Food stored in ice boxes or tins (``cans'') will usually stay fresh, but ice boxes are heavy, and tins take a while to open.
When you kill monsters, they usually leave corpses which are also ``food.'' Many, but not all, of these are edible; some also give you special powers when you eat them. A good rule of thumb is ``you are what you eat.''
You can name one food item after something you like to eat with the fruit option, if your dungeon has it.
The command to eat food is `e'.
Scrolls are labeled with various titles, probably chosen by ancient wizards for their amusement value (ex. ``READ ME,'' or ``HOLY BIBLE'' backwards). Scrolls disappear after you read them (except for blank ones, without magic spells on them).
One of the most useful of these is the scroll of identify, which can be used to determine what another object is, whether it is cursed or blessed, and how many uses it has left. Some objects of subtle enchantment are difficult to identify without these.
A mail daemon may run up and deliver mail to you as a scroll of mail (on versions compiled with this feature). To use this feature on versions where SLASH'EM mail delivery is triggered by electronic mail appearing in your system mailbox, you must let SLASH'EM 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 SLASH'EM can shell to it when you read the scroll. On versions of SLASH'EM where mail is randomly generated internal to the game, these environment variables are ignored. You can disable the mail daemon by turning off the mail option.
The command to read a scroll is `r'.
Potions are distinguished by the color of the liquid inside the flask. They disappear after you quaff them.
Clear potions are potions of water. Sometimes these are blessed or cursed, resulting in holy or unholy water. Holy water is the bane of the undead, so potions of holy water are good things to throw (`t') at them. It is also sometimes very useful to dip (``#dip'') an object into a potion.
The command to drink a potion is `q' (quaff).
Magic wands usually have multiple magical charges. Some wands are directional-you must give a direction in which to zap them. You can also zap them at yourself (just give a `.' or `s' for the direction). Be warned, however, for this is often unwise. Other wands are nondirectional-they don't require a direction. The number of charges in a wand is random and decreases by one whenever you use it. When the number of charges left in a wand becomes zero, attempts to use the wand will usually result in nothing happening. Occasionally, however, it may be possible to squeeze the last few mana points from an otherwise spent wand. In a truly desperate situation, when your back is up against the wall, you might decide to go for broke and break your wand. This is not for the faint of heart. Doing so will almost certainly cause a catastrophic release of magical energies. The command to use a wand is `z' (zap). To break one, use the `a' (apply) command.
Rings are very useful items, since they are relatively permanent magic, unlike the usually fleeting effects of potions, scrolls, and wands.
Putting on a ring activates its magic. You can wear only two rings, one on each ring finger.
Most rings also cause you to grow hungry more rapidly, the rate varying with the type of ring.
The commands to use rings are `P' (put on) and `R' (remove).
Spell books are tomes of mighty magic. When studied with the `r' (read) command, they bestow the knowledge of a spell-unless the attempt backfires. Reading a cursed spell book or one with mystic runes beyond your ken can be harmful to your health!
A spell (even when learned) can also backfire when you cast it. If you attempt to cast a spell well above your experience level, or cast it at a time when your luck is particularly bad, you can end up wasting both the energy and the time required in casting.
Casting a spell calls forth magical energies and focuses them with your naked mind. Releasing the magical energy releases some of your memory of the spell with it. Each time you cast a spell, your familiarity with it will dwindle, until you eventually forget the details completely and must relearn it.
Casting a spell also requires flexible movement, and wearing various types of armor may interfere with that.
The ``#enhance'' command will be present if the ``weapon skills'' feature is enabled, and deals with your proficiency in various types of spells (as well as weapons). Skilled adventurers can command awesome spells at their fingertips.
The command to read a spell book is the same as for scrolls, `r' (read). The `+' command lists your current spells and the number of spell points they require. The `Z' (cast) command casts a spell.
Tools are miscellaneous objects with various purposes. Some tools, like wands, have a limited number of uses. For example, lamps burn out after a while. Other tools are containers, which objects can be placed into or taken out of.
The command to use tools is `a' (apply).
You may encounter chests or boxes in your travels. These can be opened with the ``#loot'' extended command when they are on the floor, or with the `a' (apply) command when you are carrying one. However, chests are often locked, and are in any case unwieldy objects. You must set one down before unlocking it by kicking it, using a key or lock-picking tool with the `a' (apply) command, or by using a weapon to force the lock with the ``#force'' extended command.
Some chests are trapped, causing nasty things to happen when you unlock or open them. You can check for and try to deactivate traps with the ``#untrap'' extended command.
Amulets are very similar to rings, and often more powerful. Like rings, amulets have various magical properties, some beneficial, some harmful, which are activated by putting them on.
Only one amulet may be worn at a time, around your neck.
The commands to use amulets are the same as for rings, `P' (put on) and `R' (remove).
Some gems are valuable, and can be sold for a lot of gold. They are also a far more efficient way of carrying your riches. Valuable gems increase your score if you bring them with you when you exit.
Other small rocks are also categorized as gems, but they are much less valuable. All rocks, however, can be used as projectile weapons (if you have a sling). In the most desperate of cases, you can still throw them by hand.
Very large humanoids (giants and their ilk) have been known to use boulders as weapons.
Gold adds to your score, and you can buy things in shops with it. Your version of SLASH'EM may display how much gold you have on the status line. If not, the `$' command will count it. There are a number of monsters in the dungeon that may be influenced by the amount of gold you are carrying (shopkeepers aside).
Due to variations in personal tastes and conceptions of how SLASH'EM should do things, there are options you can set to change how SLASH'EM behaves.
Options may be set in a number of ways. Within the game, the `O' command allows you to view all options and change most of them. You can also set options automatically by placing them in the ``NETHACKOPTIONS'' environment variable or in a configuration file. Some versions of SLASH'EM also have front-end programs that allow you to set options before starting the game.
The NETHACKOPTIONS variable is a comma-separated list of initial values for the various options. Some can only be turned on or off. You turn one of these on by adding the name of the option to the list, and turn it off by typing a `!' or ``no'' before the name. Others take a character string as a value. You can set string options by typing the option name, a colon, and then the value of the string. The value is terminated by the next comma or the end of string.
For example, to set up an environment variable so that female is on, autopickup is off, the name is set to ``Blue Meanie'', and the fruit is set to ``papaya'', you would enter the command
setenv NETHACKOPTIONS "female,\!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"
in csh (note the need to escape the ! since it's special to the shell), or
NETHACKOPTIONS="female,!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"
export NETHACKOPTIONS
in sh or ksh.
Any line in the configuration file starting with ``OPTIONS='' may be filled out with options in the same syntax as in NETHACKOPTIONS. Any line starting with ``DUNGEON='', ``EFFECTS='', ``MONSTERS='', ``OBJECTS='', or ``TRAPS='' is taken as defining the corresponding dungeon, effects, monsters, objects, or traps option in a different syntax, a sequence of decimal numbers giving the character position in the current font to be used in displaying each entry. Such a sequence can be continued to multiple lines by putting a `\' at the end of each line to be continued. Any line starting with `#' is treated as a comment.
The default name of the configuration file varies on different operating systems, but NETHACKOPTIONS can also be set to the full name of a file you want to use (possibly preceded by an `@').
Here are explanations of what the various options do. Character strings that are too long may be truncated. Some of the options listed may be inactive in your dungeon.
Note that this option string is escape-processed in conventional C fashion. This means that `\' is a prefix to take the following character literally, and not as a special prefix. The special escape form `\m' switches on the meta bit in the following character, and the `^' prefix causes the following character to be treated as a control character.
The order of the symbols is: solid rock, vertical wall, horizontal wall, upper left corner, upper right corner, lower left corner, lower right corner, cross wall, upward T wall, downward T wall, leftward T wall, rightward T wall, no door, vertical open door, horizontal open door, vertical closed door, horizontal closed door, floor of a room, dark corridor, lit corridor, stairs up, stairs down, ladder up, ladder down, altar, grave, throne, kitchen sink, toilet, fountain, pool or moat, ice, lava, vertical lowered drawbridge, horizontal lowered drawbridge, vertical raised drawbridge, horizontal raised drawbridge, air, cloud, under water.
You might want to use `+' for the corners and T walls for a more aesthetic, boxier display. Note that in the next release, new symbols may be added, or the present ones rearranged.
Cannot be set with the `O' command.
The order of the symbols is: vertical beam, horizontal beam, left slant, right slant, digging beam, camera flash beam, left boomerang, right boomerang, four glyphs giving the sequence for magic resistance displays; the eight surrounding glyphs for swallowed display; nine glyphs for explosions. An explosion consists of three rows (top, middle, and bottom) of three characters. The explosion is centered in the center of this 3 ×3 array.
Note that in the next release, new symbols may be added, or the present ones rearranged.
Cannot be set with the `O' command.
The order of the symbols is: arrow trap, dart trap, falling rock trap, squeaky board, bear trap, land mine, rolling boulder trap, sleeping gas trap, rust trap, fire trap, pit, spiked pit, hole, trap door, teleportation trap, level teleporter, magic portal, web, statue trap, magic trap, anti-magic field, polymorph trap.
Cannot be set with the `O' command.
Set the color palette for PC systems using NO_TERMS (default 4-2-6-1-5-3-15-12-10-14-9-13-11). The order 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.
SLASH'EM 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 can also be set up when SLASH'EM 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 list is, you can type
SLASH'EM -s all
on most versions.
SLASH'EM 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 ``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 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 intrepid reader to discover.
NetHack is the product of literally dozens 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, transforming Hack
into 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 versions (3.0, 3.2,
3.51, and 3.6).
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. 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, 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 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.
A scant one month before the next major version release of
Nethack , two
adventurous souls undertook their own modification to the sacred Nethack
formula. Tom Proudfoot and Yuval released Nethack++ ,
which was
rapidly renamed Nethack- , contained new monsters, items and
other miscellaneous modifications.
Headed by Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller and
Janet Walz, the 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.
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 Schelin, Stephen Spackman, Steve VanDevender,
and Paul Winner, ported NetHack 3.1 to the PC.
Jon Wätte 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 3.1 for the Macintosh, porting it for MPW.
Building on their development, Barton House added a Think C port.
Timo Hakulinen ported NetHack 3.1 to OS/2.
Eric Smith ported NetHack 3.1 to the Atari.
Pat Rankin , with help from Joshua Delahunty ,
is 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.
Time passed, and Nethack- was ported to 3.11 by Chris .
Stephen White then released his own modification known as
Nethack Plus , which contained new character classes. Unbeknownst
to the world at large, Tom Proudfoot took this source and
combined it with his Nethack- . Stephen White went on to add
weapon skills, which were eventually integrated into the next version
of Nethack , and other features.
In February 1996, Tom Proudfoot released SLASH V1 . Including
part of Stephen White 's Nethack Plus and his own Nethack- , leaving
unmentioned his own slew of further modifications, this is perhaps
the best known of the Nethack modifications. Six versions of this, ending
with SLASH V6 , are known to exist.
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 marks 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 remained on the team at the start of work on
the current 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. This release of the game is
dedicated to him by the development and porting teams.
Pat Rankin maintained 3.2 for VMS.
Michael Allison, Yitzhak Sapir, and Paul Winner, with
help from Steve Linhart, Kevin Smolkowski, Mike Stephenson
and Stephen White ported 3.2 for MSDOS. Keizo Yamamoto and
Ken Washikita ported 3.2 for the NEC 98xx machines popular in Japan.
Ken Lorber, Andy Church, and Gregg Wonderly, with help
from Richard Addison, ported 3.2 for the Amiga.
Dean Luick ported 3.2 to the Macintosh.
Eric Smith and Warwick Allison ported 3.2 for the Ataris.
Michael Allison ported 3.2 for the Microsoft Windows NT platform.
Timo Hakulinen remains responsible for the OS/2 port.
Larry Stewart-Zerba set along a different track - to enhance the
spellcasting abilities of the Wizard. Thus, in April 1996, he released
version 0.1 of the Wizard Patch. By July, he was joined by
Warwick Allison and version 0.4 of the Wizard Patch was released.
The final update came in September 1996, with the release of
Wizard Patch 0.7.
SLASH V6 was picked up by Enrico Horn managed to synchronize it with
the 3.2 source. The new SLASH 4.1.2 was released as far back as November
1996 went through at least 4 editlevels (E5, E6, E7)
with the latest version being 4.1.2E8, synchronized with Nethack 3.2.2 and
the Blackmarket option available, released in June 1997.
Nathan La began the arduous task of drawing tiles for the
SLASH monsters.
Kentaro Shirakata ported SLASH 4.1.2E8 to Unix.
Lief Clennon ported SLASH 4.1.2E8 to OS/2.
Romain Dolbeau proted SLASH 4.1.2E8 to Macintosh.
Warren Cheung combined SLASH 4.1.2 and Wizard Patch to create
SLASH'EM 0.1 in November 1997. Several revisions including new spells and other minor
additions have led to SLASH'EM 0.0.3.
Dirk Schoenberger has continued updating the SLASH'EM monster
tiles.
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:
| Andy Church | Helge Hafting | Mike Gallop |
| Andy Swanson | Izchak Miller | Mike Passaretti |
| Ari Huttunen | Janet Walz | Mike Stephenson |
| Barton House | Jean-Christophe Collet | Norm Meluch |
| Benson I. Margulies | Jochen Erwied | Olaf Seibert |
| Bill Dyer | John Kallen | Pat Rankin |
| Boudewijn Wayers | John Rupley | Paul Winner |
| Bruce Holloway | John S. Bien | Pierre Martineau |
| Bruce Mewborne | Johnny Lee | Ralf Brown |
| Carl Schelin | Jon Wätte | Richard Addison |
| David Cohrs | Jonathan Handler | Richard P. Hughey |
| David Gentzel | Joshua Delahunty | Rob Menke |
| David Hairston | Keizo Yamamoto | Roland McGrath |
| Dean Luick | Ken Arromdee | Ross Brown |
| Del Lamb | Ken Lorber | Scott R. Turner |
| Deron Meranda | Ken Washikita | Stephen Spackman |
| Eric Backus | Kevin Darcy | Stephen White |
| Eric Hendrickson | Kevin Sitze | Steve Creps |
| Eric R. Smith | Kevin Smolkowski | Steve Linhart |
| Eric S. Raymond | Kevin Sweet | Steve VanDevender |
| Frederick Roeber | Mark Gooderum | Tim Lennan |
| Gil Neiger | Matthew Day | Timo Hakulinen |
| Greg Laskin | Merlyn LeRoy | Tom Almy |
| Greg Olson | Michael Allison | Tom West |
| Gregg Wonderly | Michael Hamel | Warwick Allison |
| Hao-yang Wang | Michael Sokolov | Yitzhak Sapir |