I want you to play NetHack

Other games come and go. Year after year I find myself in the same scenario: I'm putting the last few nails in the coffin of some newfangled game and pondering my next dive into the Mazes of Menace. This year, I want you to come along! If you are unfamiliar with NetHack, the following page is a better pitch than I could come up with:

thegreatestgameyouwilleverplay.com

I've been playing this god game for well over a decade and I've gotten pretty darn good at it. It is tough to get into, but I will help you. I guarantee you with absolute certainty that it is worth the effort.

Recommended steps for getting started:

• Download putty.exe - This is a client that will allow you to connect to a NetHack server via telnet
• Run putty.exe and fill in as follows:
  
  • Host Name: nethack.alt.org
  • Port: 23
  • Connection Type: Telnet
  • Saved Sessions: NetHack
  [*]Click Save[*]Double click on your newly-saved NetHack session in the large pane (this is the only step on subsequent runs)

http://www.necronopticous.com/upload/nethackputty.gif

This will get you connected to the nethack.alt.org server, which is, in my opinion, the best place to play.

There is a website for the server @ http://nethack.alt.org where you can view games history, statistics, and all kinds of other cool stuff.

Here is my current player info: http://alt.org/nethack/plr.php?player=Necronopticous

Welcome to the Dungeons of Doom!

This is a great game, but I stopped playing because I am absolutely terrible at it. I think the furthest I ever got was like level 17, and that was a fluke. I haven't touched it in several years, and would likely have a pretty steep learning curve if I started again. Maybe I will pick it up again, though. I'm definitely bound to get hours more gameplay out of it than almost anything else I can think of, at least if I have the patience to get good enough to win.

Everyone is terrible at NetHack.

Getting as deep as level 17 is pretty phenomenal, actually. I tend to find that most players will hit a wall around Delphi/Minetown without help or deeply rethinking their approach. The interesting thing about NetHack is that you improve and get further because you learn more about what is possible in the game, and there are always new things to learn.

You should give it another shot. Play on nethack.alt.org to keep a full record of all of your games and post your account name in here. I have made lots of tweaks to my config file over the years that make the game a little friendlier to use. You can view it here:

http://alt.org/nethack/userdata/N/Ne...ticous.nh343rc

Feel free to rip any/all of it to your own config file if you like.

Go for it! There is really nothing quite like ascending your first champion in NetHack.

Cajoled.

http://vignettegrimoire.com/_lynx/nethackLIL.png

http://alt.org/nethack/plr.php?player=odinspherical

Look at that. Day 1 and already playing for conducts.

Pro tip: Don't go up the entry stairs until you have the real Amulet of Yendor!

Where are the rest of you chumps at? I know there is a healthy group of Dwarf Fortress players around here. Time to suit up!

I saw that you've been playing a little, Lynx. How's it going over there? Watch out for those bats, foxes, and, erm...cram rations! ;D

http://alt.org/nethack/player-all.ph...=odinspherical

I will play this at some point. Someone bump this thread in about 7 hours to remind me.

Here are a few basic tips to help you get started:

• Choose a good class. Wizards, Tourists, Healers, and Archeologists are fun to play, but are highly dependent on a deep knowledge of the game and a meticulous strategy. Knights and Monks are powerful and have some nice starting perks, but have many quirks and limitations that require constant attention and will likely hold a new player back. Samurai, Valkyries, and Barbarians are nice starting classes that are likely to give you the most bang for your buck if you are new to NetHack. They are powerful and resilient from the very beginning of the game, and only get better as you explore and progress. The first character I ever ascended was a Healer, following a strange combination of high risk metastrategies, which took me years of playing and planning. Much of that time could have probably been shaven off if I'd stuck with a more powerful, less situational character. If in doubt, choose Dwarven Valkyrie.
• Travel light. Don't allow yourself to become Burdened or worse. When you are weighed down, nearly every aspect of your character's output is penalized in some way. Don't bother with heavy objects that you don't need, and consider making a stash with things that aren't immediately useful for you. You can always come back for them later.
• Try everything and take notes. Eat every corpse you come upon. Read every scroll and quaff every potion that you find. Try on all of the strange gear and clothing that you stumble upon. Kick sinks. Quaff fountains. Kick a locked door down an #force a locked chest open. Wipe your face off. Switch to your alternate weapon slot and equip another weapon and type #twoweapon. #pray to your god. #rub that lamp you found. Drop all of your belongings on an altar. [a]pply all of those tools that you're lugging around. Try to #engrave messages on the floor with your wands. A lot of these things will likely get you killed, but you'll learn something almost every time, and knowledge is the most powerful tool you have in this game.
• nethackwiki.com

I want to play more Starcraft II. =<

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Necronopticous

I saw that you've been playing a little, Lynx. How's it going over there? Watch out for those bats, foxes, and, erm...cram rations! ;D

---

I was most pleased with the cram ration death. Kicking the stairs? Not so much.

Edit:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...34154030_n.jpg

I was so stoked when I saw the room from the hall, and then disappointment set in when the shopkeep clarified it was his store.

I don't think I'm hardcore enough for this game. There's something about moving an @ sign around a black space that doesn't feel fulfilling.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

I don't think I'm hardcore enough for this game. There's something about moving an @ sign around a black space that doesn't feel fulfilling.

---

Try the tiles version, the ASCII is replaced with graphics. Still simple, but not with images instead of symbols.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genius Lynx

I was so stoked when I saw the room from the hall, and then disappointment set in when the shopkeep clarified it was his store.

---

You should still be stoked! All of those potions will be yours eventually. Like everything else in NetHack, there are many, many ways to deal with/benefit from shops/shopkeepers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

I don't think I'm hardcore enough for this game. There's something about moving an @ sign around a black space that doesn't feel fulfilling.

---

That's an extremely common first reaction and I promise you will get over that feeling quickly but you basically just have to believe until that point. The thing about NetHack is that it has a steep learning curve and it slowly reveals its depth to you as you play which makes for a rather difficult entry. The more you play the more you will forget about the ASCII. Eventually you will be able to assess your situation at a glance, and you'll be comfortable navigating the menus. You'll have all of your commonly used items #adjusted to the same hotkeys as your previous games, and you'll be able to blow through things that took a lot of thought and painstaking key presses before. Don't think about it as being "hardcore." I think anyone can enjoy and excel in NetHack, it is just a matter of climbing that first hill. It is worth it. It will give you an experience that no other game can. It's kind of like learning to snowboard.

I kept falling on my ass when I learned to snowboard.

Yeah, exactly. Everybody has a horrible first day or two, but once you adjust to the basics without having to consciously think about it, it gets extremely fun.

I had found a wand which unleashed a wall-destroying blast, and I attempted to zap the shopkeep, but I missed and he did not.

Time to play some more.

How are you liking it so far, Lynx? Do you feel like you are getting into it? Anything consistently holding you back? Did my tips help you at all?

A couple more tips for all one of you playing:

• Take care of your pet. It can really help you out. Your starting pets start out very weak, but are able to level up and grow. Unlike you, they do not level up based on experience points, but get stronger with every kill they make, regardless of how petty. Since the monsters in the dungeons are spawned based on your level, one nice starting strategy for the first couple of levels is to let your pet do all of the work and stay at a low level until it is powerful. You will know it has gotten powerful when it starts being referred to as a "Large" cat or dog.
• Use your pet for more than just fighting. Did you ever notice that your pet will only reluctantly walk over a cursed item? You can use that to your advantage. Also, notice that shopkeepers don't really pay attention to your pet...

I am taking the game very slowly, Necronopticous; it is probably noted that I have only made it, what, three or four floors down. I have begun experimenting with using a crossbow. The highlight of its usage has been the shooting of my pet. I think if I #pray now, someone is going to kill me. I am slowly getting the hang of it, and find it entertaining. My biggest obstacle is how it is turn-based; this is great for planning, but if you are like me and spam 6 to walk right, you are going to be attacked unawares and pissed off for forgetting to take your time. I hate taking my time; I must amend.

I recently drank from a fountain which unleashed a crowd of water moccasins.

I'm really diggin' the enthusiasm right now, Necro. I had resigned myself to never even try attempting it when MILF practically shat himself with delight after revealing that you had finally beaten it, but your attitude right now, sir, has convinced me to give it a try!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genius Lynx

I am taking the game very slowly, Necronopticous; it is probably noted that I have only made it, what, three or four floors down. I have begun experimenting with using a crossbow. The highlight of its usage has been the shooting of my pet. I think if I #pray now, someone is going to kill me. I am slowly getting the hang of it, and find it entertaining. My biggest obstacle is how it is turn-based; this is great for planning, but if you are like me and spam 6 to walk right, you are going to be attacked unawares and pissed off for forgetting to take your time. I hate taking my time; I must amend.

I recently drank from a fountain which unleashed a crowd of water moccasins.

---

This kind of thing is why I keep losing (last death was to the snakes actually). Every time I die and figure out a particular problem, my next playthrough throws something completely different at me randomly. Like being a barbarian that kicks down doors that kicks down the shopkeeper's door.

It's a bad idea, don't do it.

It's like the game knows what tricks you've already learned, using your past experiences against you.

I love kicking in doors; there is no other way to open them now, in my mind.

Losing is already the foregone conclusion in my mind; exactly how is up for determination.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genius Lynx

My biggest obstacle is how it is turn-based; this is great for planning, but if you are like me and spam 6 to walk right, you are going to be attacked unawares and pissed off for forgetting to take your time. I hate taking my time; I must amend.

---

Spamming a movement key is almost never a good idea, but that doesn't mean you have to move slowly. Try using the 5 key on your numpad before pressing in a direction to fast travel in that direction (or traverse an entire hallway). Also, for travelling through locations you have already explored, use fast travel by pressing the _ key (and quickly jump your cursor to a dungeon feature like stairs by following it with the character associated with that dungeon feature). For example, in just three keystrokes: _>, you are fast travelling to the downstairs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genius Lynx

I recently drank from a fountain which unleashed a crowd of water moccasins.

---

Ah, yes. The old water moccasin death.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by G13

I'm really diggin' the enthusiasm right now, Necro. I had resigned myself to never even try attempting it when MILF practically shat himself with delight after revealing that you had finally beaten it, but your attitude right now, sir, has convinced me to give it a try!

---

Awesome! Post your nethack.alt.org name so we can keep track of you. Let me know if you feel like you've hit a wall and I'll try to help out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chionos

It's like the game knows what tricks you've already learned, using your past experiences against you.

---

NetHack wants to see you fail, but as long as you learn something each time, each death is just a small step toward ascension. There are tons of silly deaths at the beginning, and slightly less than tons later on. Keep on trucking.

G13

I feel like I'm a part of a team and that I may actually understand what the crap it is I'm doing. :shiny:

First order of business: Go get yourself killed a couple dozen times.

Player G13 has not played any games.

http://alt.org/nethack/player-all.php?player=G13

:(

I've had most luck as barbarian and samurai. Furthest I've gotten is 5 floors I think, which seems terrible to me. Terrible luck with the gnomish mines. Rogue has been horrible.

I'll look into this if I can tear myself away from everything else I'm playing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chionos

I've had most luck as barbarian and samurai. Furthest I've gotten is 5 floors I think, which seems terrible to me. Terrible luck with the gnomish mines. Rogue has been horrible.

---

Are you playing on nethack.alt.org? Link us to your profile! Barbarian is a good starting class, but Lawful Dwarven Valkyrie is even better. It's a good idea to skip the mines until you have a light source and some decent armor class. Sokoban is a much better first destination, especially if you are playing a Lawful Valkyrie since you pass right by Delphi and all of its wonderful fountains.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pike

I'll look into this if I can tear myself away from everything else I'm playing.

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This is better than everything else you're playing. This is what you need.

no, i haven't been playing at nethack.alt.org

Get in there!

I avoid this game because I know, with a high likelihood, that I will never play anything else ever again.

Embrace it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Necronopticous

Player G13 has not played any games.

http://alt.org/nethack/player-all.php?player=G13

:(

---

I gave it a try that night. I haven't made it out of the first room. My dog keeps picking up some gold and then dropping it. :confused:

I believe I found a hallway of some sort, but movement issues make it tough to maneuver through it. It's strange to play when I have no number pad.

Actually, it's strange to play period. :kakapo:

This game is all style, no substance, and not nearly text enough for my tastes. :colbert:

Yes. Not having a numpad is definitely a setback unless you are an avid Unix user. I actually bought a portable USB numpad so that I could play NetHack on my net book. Don't you have an old keyboard laying around somewhere?

I don't have a numpad. But I am going to see what all this everything is about.

EDIT: So far a rock fell on my head and I can't get out of this room. Also I have a kitten.

If you can't find any obvious exits, you may have to (S)earch multiple times around suspicious walls or ends of hallways to find hidden passages and doors.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Necronopticous

Yes. Not having a numpad is definitely a setback unless you are an avid Unix user. I actually bought a portable USB numpad so that I could play NetHack on my net book. Don't you have an old keyboard laying around somewhere?

---

Yeah. Somewhere. I think.

If not I'll just go pick one up.

Necro, you have convinced me to give this a try, though I might not be able to play very much until after New Year's. Also my laptop doesn't have a numpad, so I will first have to dig around to find a USB keyboard.

Get in there. I will help you guys out. Get back to me when you've got a few deaths under your belt.

Lynx: Why you no play?

http://oi41.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou...ou:/b7fb5g.jpg

http://oi42.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou...u:/30nkpix.jpg

Dude, experience and dungeon level 6. Not bad at all. You're getting very close to Sokoban which is really commendable considering you've played only ten games. Stay away from those fountains, and try a sturdier class!

I may or may not have had someone (*cough*Jeremy*cough*) nudging me toward playing this again, so here I am. I might pop in from time to time with laughable screenshots of smurfups. :P

Are you playing on nethack.alt.org?

Ranged weapons work pretty well until they do not. My gnome was fine until that fountain, and with my orc, I was ate whatever I crossed (or killed). In hindsight, yes, maybe I should avoid fountains and not eat corpses. It was all very entertaining regardless.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Necronopticous

Are you playing on nethack.alt.org?

---

Yep.

http://puu.sh/bWKA

I really should throw things at floating eyes. <,<

I was doing quite all right, too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genius Lynx

Ranged weapons work pretty well until they do not. My gnome was fine until that fountain, and with my orc, I was ate whatever I crossed (or killed). In hindsight, yes, maybe I should avoid fountains and not eat corpses. It was all very entertaining regardless.

---

You should always, always eat corpses that are not bad for you (provided you aren't already sated). Keeping your hunger under control is a big hurdle in the first third of the game. Also, many corpses can give you permanent intrinsics that will help you out for the rest of the game. A notable first corpse to go after for this reason is the Floating Eye corpse, which will grant you the ability to sense enemies throughout the entire floor when you are blinded (or when you blind yourself). Fountains have their uses too, but in the early game it is probably better to simply avoid them (unless you are dipping for Excalibur).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Momiji

I really should throw things at floating eyes. <,<

---

Yes. Never melee floating eyes without free action or blindness.

http://puu.sh/bXTq

So an incubus had his way with me on floor 1.

He enjoyed it more than I did.

EDIT: This one was pretty bad too. I had a randomly-found bag of holding and everything!

Overexertion is a pretty epic death, especially when you do it on the Astral with 2,147,483,647 points.

Looks like you're dying often to monsters smacking you around. Don't forget that running and praying are always a good options in a pinch. Try not to be too hasty in NetHack, there are usually many options that can save your life when you're on the verge, and unlike many other games you have as much time as you need to think about it between moves. Think of your moves in this situation like chess moves. Have you tried the E-word?

Anyway, you probably want to avoid porking demons until you're around experience level 10.

Oh yeah, I pray every time I get in a situation I can't run from.

Kind of like this! I blasted through 10 Uruk-hai, and right as I had killed the last one, a swarm of killer bees came to get me. Trapped, weak, and out of MP, I prayed to Thoth to aid me.

He did. Held the killer bees back and refilled my health! As you can see, I was about to dash out and make those bees line up in the hallway there so I could force bolt my way through all of them at once, but right as I was about to do that, one stung me and it killed me instantly. That isn't even YASD, that's just mean. :(

I had my second random bag of holding there, too. Lame. In hindsight, I should have tried Elbereth, but I was set on getting them lined up for a one-hit kill. :x

EDIT: smurfing unicorn.

How goes the hacking?

I am making progress!

http://alt.org/nethack/userdata/M/Ma...6699.nh343.txt

I finally made it to the end of Sokoban... but I was not prepared for the monster room at the end. There was a master mind flayer in there, and he destroyed my brain. In hindsight, I should have burned Elbereth into the ground with my wand of fire before he hit me the first time and made me start hallucinating, but... well, I'll keep that in mind for the next time. But this was my best run ever, and it even landed me near the middle of the top 2000 scoreboard.

You were so close to that sweet amulet of reflection. Mind Flayers are the worst--good genocide targets.

You're making amazing progress. Keep it up. After you complete Sokoban, head for Minetown.

After figuring out the basic controls, my first order of business, apperently,w as to misplace a kitten.

After stumbling around like a drunk, I find the command to kick and proceed to kick a door down. Bad ass I am.

I then fail to kick a second door in. :(

I traverse hallways, my kitten gets in my way, and a lichen touches me! The smurf is that?

Regardless, I'm starting to think, and I never selected a class or anything. Perhaps I hit something dumb?


I kicked open another door, learning you can just re kick them, and killed a newt! HUZZAH! I wonder how long I can keep kicking tit?

Though that whole side path had nothing, so my kicking ways seem to have been for naught. Going back to the other door, I kick a sewer rat to death.

And apperently there is an Open door option. Huh.

Oh, and since I have stats, here they are now that I realize this. :p

Neocracker the Plunderess ST:18/03 Dex: 15 Co: 18 In: 8 Wi:7 CH6 Chaotic S:24
Dlvl:1 HP: 15(15) Pw:2(2) AC:8 Xp:1/6 T383

I begin to wonder if I've frozen Nethack? Nope, just did the supsend save thing. All is right.

I figure out how to traverse stairs, and learn kicking boulders hurts. Good to note. I do have money now though.

And I eat a lichen corpse I picked up. It tastes terrible. But the hungry sign is gone, so I call success.

And after kicking a couple jackel's to death, I gain a level. HUZZAH!

Now gong down another floor, putting me at floor three. And now I eat a Jackyl corpes, feel sick, but no longer hungry.

Kill a Kobold Zombie, find more money, go down another floor.

And a dwarf broke a blue vial on my head, and I'm told it goes dark...

I see one move after, and proceed to kick teh dwarf for no damage. And it's worked well until now. ;_;

I just do normal direction towards him and it kills him though, so I think that's the normal attack. I am level 3!

And now the Dwarves Iron shoes are... my weapon in hand? Am I going to be beating people with shoes now?

Considering I am now 'Bashing a monster with your pair of iron shoes' yes I am. And I just murdered a hobit by 'smiting him' with my iron shoes. This is smurfing awesome.

And I got killed by a kitten....

Well, there is my first game of Net Hack. I ate rotting bodies, kicked tit to death, and beat a hobbit with a pair of shoes.

You were devoutly aligned.
You were poison resistant.
You had Infravision
You are dead.

Creatures vanquished

A dwarf
A hobbit
3 Jackyls
2 Foxes
3 sewer rats
A grid bug
3 lichens
A kobold Zombie
3 newts

18 in total.


----------
/ \
/ REST \
/ IN \
/ PEACE \
/ \
| Neocracker |
| 141 Au |
| killed by a |
| kitten |
| |
| |
| 2012 |
*| * * * | *
_________)/\\_//(\/(/\)/\//\/|_)_______


Goodbye Neocracker the Barbarian...

You died in The Gnomish Mines on dungeon level 4 with 537 points,
and 141 pieces of gold, after 1055 moves.
You were level 3 with a maximum of 32 hit points when you died.

Great first game. The first of many, I hope. I'd avoid the mines next time, if I were you!

I'll probably play more games of this off and on, it is pretty fun. :p

I've become quite fond of playing the Monk class today. It's surprisingly fun to kick enemies around. :)

http://alt.org/nethack/userdata/M/Ma...0617.nh343.txt

Well, damn. I used a scroll, and it summoned a smurfton of monsters around me. I had a wand of fire, so I engraved Elbereth into the ground. It helped, but watchmen don't care too much for that.

The kicker? I was trying to see if any of my scrolls were identify scrolls, so I could check out that lamp I was holding. Izchak offered 25 zorkmids for it, so I was suspecting that it was a magic lamp... and only when I died did I find out that it was. Ouch.

Also, I am underleveled for Minetown. I was in the first level of the mines, and hit a trap door that sent me three floors down, directly into a store in Minetown.

That said, I have grown very fond of this class.

Here are some more tips that could have helped you evade your doom in this scenario:

• Identify identify. The scroll of identify is the cheapest scroll in the game by a long shot. Its base price is 20z and the next cheapest scroll is 50z, which means you can easily identify it in a shop by trying to buy or sell it and noting the price. Any scrolls with a price tag in the 10-30 range are assuredly identify. Whatever you do, don't randomly read through your scrolls looking for a particular one!
• [C]all items that you have information on. A good example is using the call command on that scroll of identify once you price id it in a shop. The great thing about [C]all is that the next time you come across the same item, it will still be called whatever you called it. Absolutely essential in informal identification.
• That was a magic lamp! You didn't need to bother with formal identification. There are only two types of lamp in the game, oil and magic. Oil lamps have a base price of 10z while magic lamps have a base price of 50z. Price identification is all you need.
• Don't set off the watch in Minetown until you are absolutely sure you can deal with them. Better yet, get your pet to take care of them one by one so you don't have to worry about them anymore.
• Support your local church. Minetown has a guaranteed altar and priest. #chat him up and make donations of 400z x your experience level for points of permanent intrinsic protection. Get that AC down for good.

I am doing an interesting experiment.

I have just installed a NetHack app on my brother's Android tablet. I want to see if he can pick it up and learn to play, as well. Sure beats all the silly apps he has right now, after all.

So have you guys ascended yet?

I would have posted if I had. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to play today. :(

http://alt.org/nethack/userdata/N/Ne...5749.nh343.txt

Whoops! I guess I shouldn't have been playing at work.