Blindness
Blindness is a property that appears in NetHack that blocks the sight of a hero or monster.
The zen conduct consists of playing the entire game with a permanently blind hero.
Contents
Description
A hero or monster that is blind cannot see for the duration of the property - messages describing actions such as monster-versus-monster-combat that you cannot see are omitted or else significantly altered.
Intrinsic blindness, i.e. blindness that is not the result of a worn or wielded item or a lack of sight or eyes, is defined as "blinded" in youprop.h.[1] The game records the number of turns that a hero is blinded. The following circumstances and items can result in a hero being blinded:
- Quaffing a potion of blindness, being hit by a thrown potion of blindness or inhaling vapors from a broken potion of blindness
- Having a ray of lightning pass through their square
- Engraving with a wand of lightning
- Applying a wand of light
- Applying an expensive camera and selecting the hero via .
- Being hit by a blinding attack:
- The claw attack of a raven
- The explosion attack of a yellow light
- The gaze attack of an Archon
- Being hit by the blind or lightning monster spells[2][3]
- The monster-summoning effect of a magic trap
- The blinding effect of sitting on a throne
- Applying a cursed unicorn horn[4]
- The effect of eating rotten food, with a 3⁄16
- One of the failure effects of reading a difficult spellbook
- Being inside a poison cloud while not breathless, nonliving or invulnerable[5]
A hero that cannot currently see due to their form or a worn item is defined as "blind" in youprop.h.[6] This form of blindness is considered separate from the above, and is "permanent" in that it will persist until the source of the blindness is removed. Blindness of this type occurs from the following sources:
- Putting on a blindfold or towel
- Polymorphing into a monster with no eyes
Blindness resistance blocks light-based sources of blindness, and being blinded will prevent blinding from most other sources, with exceptions including the potion of blindness.
Creamed
Being "creamed" is a subset of blindness that results from a substance over the hero's eyes physically restricting their vision.[7]
Sources of creaming increment the number of turns that the hero is creamed and blinded by the same amount, so its duration is always less than or equal to the number of turns that the hero is blinded - this also means that the "creamed" status will always time out first, e.g. a hero that is blinded for 100 turns, and 50 turns later becomes creamed for a duration of 20 turns, will be blinded for a total of 70 more turns; during the first 20 of those turns, they are considered creamed. The game records the number of turns that a hero is creamed.
The following actions can result in a hero being creamed:
- Being hit by a thrown or wielded cream pie, or applying a cream pie
- Being hit by blinding venom
- Applying a cursed towel
A hero can use the #wipe extended command to attempt cleaning their face.
Blind from birth
Playing a zen hero via the blind option makes them "blind from birth". This blindness persists across any forms that the hero polymorphs into and cannot be cured, though wearing The Eyes of the Overworld suppresses its effects and breaks the conduct.
Blind monsters
Monster blindness is handled differently from a hero's blindness.
Monsters that have eyes can be blinded by most of the above means if they have eyes. A monster without eyes
A blind monster will move and attack erratically, and suffers a to-hit penalty. Blinded monsters do not respect Elbereth if they would have normally, and cannot use any gaze attacks they possess.
Blind movement
When the hero is moving normally while blind, or else using near look via : or picking up items via ,, the hero will automatically use their hands to feel for items on the ground. Touching the corpse of a cockatrice or chickatrice this way will petrify the hero unless they are wearing gloves.
A blind hero moving onto a seemingly empty square with a monster on it will show the monster as I, anger them if they were peaceful, and use up a move without attacking even while safe-moving via m.[8] Moving into a square with an I or warning symbol will cause the hero to automatically attack in that square's direction - safe-moving via m will function as normal if a monster is occupying the square, or move into the square normally if it is empty. A blind hero safe-moving with m into an unseen cockatrice without wielding anything or wearing gloves will turn to stone as well, unless their position is marked by the warning property.
It is still possible for a hero to sense their surroundings through other means while blind:
- Searching manually via s will use a move and attempt to reveal the location of adjacent, unseen monsters if there are any nearby - monsters detected this way have the square they occupied at the time of searching marked with a I. If searching this way does not detect a new unseen monster, it will reveal all squares adjacent to the hero, clearing any existing invisible monster markers on squares where none are present.
- A hero that has intrinsic or extrinsic telepathy can see all non-mindless monsters on the level while blind, and interactions with these monsters are handled normally, both for normal movement and safe-moving via m.
- Monster detection granted via a blessed potion of monster detection or casting the spell of detect monsters at Skilled lets the hero see all monsters on the level even while blind, and they are also handled normally for purposes of movement.
- Movement involving monsters highlighted via warning functions as normal, since it does not rely on the hero's sight.
- Astral vision does not prevent or cure blinding, but allows the hero to see while blind, allowing normal movement.
Blindness and items
While blind, most unidentified objects will show up only as their object class (e.g. "a potion", "a ring", "a long sword" etc.), including artifacts - only amulets and food are treated as "seen" while blind. A hero cannot class-name unidentified objects, and any individual names will not be displayed (but will affect stacking and artifact naming).
A blind hero will always know the appearance of eggs that they lay, and a hero that starts the game blind will know the appearance of their starting inventory, as well as that of their pet (which in practice only applies to zen Knights).[9][10][11]
Poisoning and erosion status of weapons are still shown if the hero becomes blind, and erode-proofing and charges are only shown if formally identified, even if it was erode-proofed while blind. Any dilution in potions is only displayed if the hero knows that potion's appearance.
Blind heroes can still hear monsters reading the label of a scroll or quaffing a potion, but will not auto-identify them since they cannot see the result. A blind hero that polymorphs any known object, or else fully dilutes known potions or performs alchemy with them, will render them unseen.
Curing blindness
Blindness that is not from the hero's current form, a worn item, being "creamed" or the hero being born blind can be curing by the following actions:
- Apply a non-cursed unicorn horn[12]
- Invoke the Staff of Aesculapius
- Eat a carrot
- Cast a spell of cure blindness or extra healing
- Drink a non-cursed potion of healing, any potion of extra healing, or any potion of full healing
- Pray successfully - this form of blindness is considered a minor trouble
"Creamed" blindness can be cured by using #wipe, applying a non-cursed towel or praying successfully.
If the hero is blind due to a worn towel or blindfold and it is not cursed, they can simply remove it - a cursed blindfold or towel will require uncursing in order to remove, and is considered a major trouble for prayer purposes. A hero that is polymorphed into an eyeless form and not blinded from any other source will regain sight upon changing into a form with eyes (including returning to normal form).
Strategy
Blindness can be fairly debilitating in the early stages of the game, making floating eyes a priority target for the telepathy their corpses grant - thankfully, a hero that can blind themselves at will can also handle floating eyes very easily. Unicorn horns are among the most accessible cures for blindness as well.
Resisting blindness
- For the property that blocks blindness from certain sources, see Blindness resistance.
In addition to curing blindness, there are also various methods to prevent some or all sources of blindness:
- Wielding Sunsword protects the wielder from light-based sources of blindness, including yellow lights, magic traps, and wands of lightning.[13]
- Wearing a blindfold or towel can protect from blinding gazes and some other sources, such as blinding attacks - it will not prevent blindness from quaffed or thrown potions, however.
- Astral vision granted from The Eyes of the Overworld does not cure or resist blindness, but allows you to see despite it.
Moving normally while blind requires significant care, lest you inadvertently kill your pet or anger a shopkeeper: Being blinded in Minetown or other similar areas may get you on the wrong side of the watch as well, and the bloodthirsty Stormbringer is made even more risky to wield than usual. Very special care should be taken on levels with cockatrices, since touching a corpse without gloves while feeling around for objects will immediately render the hero a statue.
Moving with m followed by a direction allows you to ignore items on the ground and avoid attacking monsters, though you will still angers any peacefuls you bump into if you could not see them. A stethoscope can be applied for free once per turn to determine if something is in your path and it is unsafe to move there. Allowing unseen hostile monsters to attack you first is risky, even if you attack the specific square you were hit from - some may be fast enough to move away after attacking, resulting in a wasted turn attacking the I where they previously were. Nearby peacefuls and pets add to the danger, since you cannot see if they stepped into any square previously occupied by a hostile (or worse, killed the hostile themselves in the pet's case). In rare cases, #chatting is useful to test for non-silent monsters since it does not use a turn if you get no answer.
Telepathy and warning are the best properties to have in case you are blinded, since warning complements telepathy by revealing the positions of most mindless monsters - while even these properties combined will not reveal all possible monsters, the few mindless monsters not revealed by warning are generally not a threat at most points where you have access to both. (Further corner cases stem from hiders, mimics, Stormbringer, F, and deactivating safe_pet.)
Discovering objects
You can make an object "seen" and gain knowledge of its appearance and type via formal identification, as well as through various other methods.
A blessed potion of object detection reveals the appearance of all objects on the current dungeon level, recursively including the contents of containers.[14] A wand of probing will grant non-recursive knowledge of any objects it is zapped at, including the contents of containers and the inventory of any monsters in its path; you can also zap it at yourself in order to see your inventory.[15][16][17]
You can dip items in holy/unholy water when blind, allowing you to learn their beatitude. Buying or selling something at a shop will have the shopkeeper identify its appearance for you, with the exception of items in containers, stolen merchandise, or items covered by your credit when you teleport out.[18]
Your quest leader will identify your own quest artifact and the real Amulet of Yendor for you.[19][20] Additionally, the crowning gift you would receive if neutral or chaotic is made "seen" if you are already holding it. The special attacks of the Tsurugi of Muramasa and Vorpal Blade will always reveal their appearance upon activating.[21][22][23][24].
Other methods of object identification include:
- Eating one of a stack of tins will make the remaining ones known.
- Astral vision allows you to see objects while blinded - but remember that this will break zen conduct.
History
Blindness as a status property exists in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and also appears in Hack 1.0.
Messages
- Pardon me, <foo>.
- You moved with m into a pet either displayed as I or properly seen.[25]
- You move right into [<foo>.
- You moved with m into a non-tame monster that was either either displayed as I or properly seen.[26]
- Wait! There's something there you can't see!
- You moved onto a seemingly empty square. This does not attack whatever was on that square, but does anger them if they were peaceful.
References
- ↑ include/youprop.h in NetHack 3.6.7, line 85
- ↑ src/mcastu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 576
- ↑ src/mcastu.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 663
- ↑ src/apply.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1929
- ↑ src/region.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 975
- ↑ include/youprop.h in NetHack 3.6.7, line 88
- ↑ include/you.h in NetHack 3.6.7, line 331
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 143
- ↑ src/sit.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 319
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1082
- ↑ src/dog.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 192
- ↑ src/apply.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2043
- ↑ src/mondata.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 146
- ↑ object_detect in detect.c in NetHack 3.6.0
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 434
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 1811
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 2369
- ↑ src/shk.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 2323
- ↑ src/quest.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 213
- ↑ src/quest.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 227
- ↑ src/artifact.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 1261
- ↑ src/artifact.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 1278
- ↑ src/artifact.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 1308
- ↑ src/artifact.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 1324
- ↑ src/hack.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 1409
- ↑ src/hack.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 1411
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It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.1. Information on this page may be out of date.
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