View source for NetHack

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''NetHack''}}
{{wikipedia|NetHack}}
[[File:NetHack-Logo.svg|thumb|250px|Official NetHack logo]]
{{otheruses|the culture, development, and historic aspects of NetHack|information on how to play the game and a start to the game mechanics|Guidebook}}

'''''NetHack''''' is a [[roguelike]] computer game, and the most famous and popular of its kind. The latest version is 3.6.7, released on February 16, 2023. ''NetHack'' can be downloaded at the [https://www.nethack.org/v367/downloads.html official ''NetHack'' download page]. It is also available in [[NetHack in other languages|other languages]].  Many [[variant]]s and [[NetHack Patch Database|patches]] are also available.

The phrase "vanilla ''NetHack''" refers to the latest version as it was released by the [[DevTeam]], without any additional [[patch]]es.

==Screenshots==
<gallery>
File:Nh343-vt-normal.png|Text-mode
File:Nh343-vt-ibmgraphics.png|Text-mode, with special characters
File:Win32screenshot.PNG|Tile-mode on Windows
</gallery>

{{random ttymap}}

==Why do people like ''NetHack''?==
{{stub|I think this page should be a kind of FAQ, as it may be the first place strangers will visit upon seeing the Main Page.}}

''NetHack'' enjoys popularity in niches. Mathematicians, programmers, physicists, engineers, linguists and writers all feel a strong pull, though anyone with an eye for detail, a sense of completeness, a respect for complexity, and a head for numbers will be at home.

On the surface, the game is a hack'n'slash [[Dungeons and Dragons]] clone, but its subtle sense of humor and intellectual rigor elevate it from the faintly nerdy to the sharply geeky.

Just as a mathematician seeks elegant expressions over fuzzy generalities, ''NetHack'' eschews graphics in favor of perfectly crafted, well-defined [[ASCII]] characters. While other games are dated by their interfaces, ''NetHack'' is preserved in ascetic purity.

The programmer is drawn to ''NetHack'' as an extension of the operating system. Its culture is deeply intertwined with that of the Unix systems, and indeed is a staple fixture on any good [[Unix]] system - a known quantity, ageless, familiar, and soothing; whatever hairy command-line tasks are required, ''nethack(6)'' is always there.

''NetHack'' is hard: while other games can be completed in an afternoon, you may go years without finishing ''NetHack''.

''NetHack'' is unforgiving: if you die, you stay dead. There is no save-and-reload crutch here. Put simply, ''NetHack'' is a harsh mistress, whose respect you must earn. In time, you learn to respect it back.

''NetHack'' is deep: in your first game, you will die quickly, and come back worrying about how to survive. You will learn, eventually, and move onto higher concerns. You will stop worrying about your score, and start considering questions of optimality, efficiency, and elegance. You will consult tables and guides in search of an edge because everyone knows the best way to have fun in a game is to take 20 until you beat an impossible DC, rather than try to actually succeed at something hard yet possible. You may dive into the very [[source code]], looking to explain that one-in-a-thousand shot you just pulled off. You will probably learn some C, and possibly get into heated debates about the merits of pseudorandom number generators, expected returns, inconsistencies between competing mythologies, and the ethics of exploiting bugs.

''NetHack'' is history: Descending from ''[[Rogue (game)|Rogue]]'', ''NetHack'' has {{#expr:({{CURRENTYEAR}}) - 1985}} years of development behind it. It is one of the few computer games widely played by people who are younger than it. From this history arises a kind of authority.

==Graphical user interfaces==
{{main|Graphical user interface}}

As well as the standard [[ASCII]] interface, many official and unofficial [[graphical user interface]]s are available. Using a graphical interface allows the game to be played with [[tiles]] instead of ASCII graphics. The best known are probably the officially supported ports for Windows, Mac and Linux:
* [[Microsoft Windows]] (the standard NetHackW.exe available from nethack.org, or available on the Windows Store)
* [[Qt]] for Linux and Mac
* [[X11]] for Linux (and Mac if developer tools are installed)

Notable unofficial graphical interfaces are:
* Web terminals, allowing the player to play on a public server with either ASCII graphics or tiles in their browser without downloading anything. Available on [[NAO]] and [[Hardfought]].
* [[Graphical user interface#NetHack Android|NetHack for Android]]
* [[iNetHack]] for iOS
* [[Falcon's Eye]] and [[Vulture]], offering a 3D isometric view of the map. Note that neither of these is supported anymore.

==Title==
The title is properly spelled "NetHack", with two capital letters. "nethack" is also correct when used to refer to the name of the game binary. "Nethack" is a common misspelling, even having been used by members of the [[DevTeam]] in comments in the [[source code]].

==Popular culture==
{{stub|Gads this begs to be longer.}}

In its legacy, ''NetHack'' has directly and indirectly been referenced in many sources.

* [http://bash.org/?search=nethack&sort=0&show=25 ''NetHack'' quotes], on the Bash Quote Database.
* The game ''Deus Ex'' has [http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=108920764 a reference to beating a future version of ''NetHack''] in the distant future.
* [[Dudley's Dungeon]], a webcomic set in ''NetHack''.
* [http://www.dungeonsofdredmor.com ''Dungeons of Dredmor''] is a newer, sprite animated dungeon crawler with a more in-your-face sense of humor that nonetheless feels almost like a GUI rewrite of ''NetHack'', and features direct quotes from ''NetHack'' like "You hear the sounds of a cash register."
* In the game [http://www.freedroid.org/ ''FreedroidRPG''], you can play an ultra-simplified version of ''NetHack'' as a game-within-a-game (much easier to beat than actual ''NetHack'').
* The [http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=screen.git;a=blob;f=src/attacher.c#l609 Screen terminal emulator] has idiosyncratic messages from ''NetHack'', such as "Suddenly, the dungeon collapses." when the program crashes.
* The game [http://spelunkyworld.com/ ''Spelunky''], which has some similarities to ''NetHack'' and is inspired by classic roguelikes, dungeon crawlers, and adventure games including ''NetHack'', has ''NetHack'' references such as Vlad, his tower, and the camera.

==History==
{{main|Game history}}

''NetHack'''s first version, [[NetHack 1.3d|1.3d]], was released in July 1987, descending directly from [[Jay Fenlason's Hack|Jay Fenlason]] and [[Hack 1.0|Andries Brouwer]]'s Hack. Subsequent early versions of ''NetHack'', namely [[NetHack 1.4f|1.4f]], [[NetHack 2.2a|2.2a]] and [[NetHack 2.3e|2.3e]] were released through 1987 and 1988.

In 1989, the first release of ''NetHack'''s current incarnation, [[NetHack 3.0.0|3.0.0]], was posted to Usenet. It featured a massive expansion over the previous versions.

[[NetHack 3.1.0|''NetHack'' 3.1.0]] was released in 1993, bringing several big changes, such as the introduction of [[Gehennom]] in place of [[Hell]], and the introduction of the [[invocation ritual]].

Three years later, [[NetHack 3.2.0|''NetHack'' 3.2.0]] was released, dedicated to the memory of [[Izchak Miller]].

Several forks of ''NetHack'' were produced through the lifespan of both 3.1 and 3.2. The current version is [[NetHack 3.6.6|3.6.6]], but [[NetHack 3.4.3|3.4.3]] continues to be popular considering that it was the only version available for a long time.

In addition, many [[variant]]s that are much more open about their development, such as [[UnNetHack]] or [[NetHack 4]], are popular.

==Download==
{{for|downloading the wiki itself|NetHackWiki:Download}}

===Official version===
* [https://www.nethack.org/common/index.html Official ''NetHack'' download page] (Tiles and text interfaces are available for Windows, Linux, Mac, and other systems)

===Server platforms===
* Terminal telnet and SSH servers, such as:
** [[NAO|nethack.alt.org]]
** [[Hardfought|hardfought.org]]
** [https://em.slashem.me/ em.slashem.me]
** Any of the other servers listed in the [[public server]] article
* [http://www.big-ape.net/nethax/ NetHax, an internet browser version of ''NetHack'' created in Ajax]
* [https://github.com/kaladron/nethack-nacl nethack-nacl, ''NetHack'' 3.4.3 for Google Native Client (NaCl)]

===Desktop platforms===
* [http://bilious.alt.org/ ''NetHack'' Patch Database]
* [http://rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=nethack ''NetHack'' RPMs for Linux]
* [http://www.cs.tu-berlin.de/~gaston/nethack Atari Binaries]
* [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/packages/pkgsrc/games/README.html NetBSD packages]
* [http://www.phlamethrower.co.uk/riscos/nethack.php ''NetHack'' for RISC OS]
* [ftp://ftp.linux.org.uk/pub/linux/alan/Packages/S390-games/ ''NetHack'' 3.4.1 packages for RedHat on S/390]
* [http://vpsland.superglobalmegacorp.com/install/WindowsNT4.0-MIPS/games/nethack-3.1.2-MIPS.zip ''NetHack'' 3.1.2 for Windows NT 4.0 MIPS]
* [ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/games/nethack/Msdos/NH_older Old to ancient versions of ''Hack'' and ''NetHack'' for MS-DOS]

===Handset platforms===
* [[iNetHack|''iNetHack'' for iOS]] on App Store
* [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tbd.NetHack ''NetHack'' for Android] by gurr
* [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nethackff ''NetHack'' for Android] by Fredrik Franstrom
* [https://github.com/fancypantalons/NetHack/releases ''NetHackDS'' for Nintendo DS]
* [http://www.feelthepawa.com/PSP/Nethack/ ''NetHack'' for PSP]
* [http://www.delorie.com/agenda/nethack/download.html ''NetHack'' 3.3.1 for Agenda VR3]
* [http://www.suttoncourtenay.org.uk/duncan/Downloads ''NetHack'' for Psion 5/5MX]
* [http://vpsland.superglobalmegacorp.com/install/WindowsCE/nethack/nethack3.4.3-WinCE-2.11-x86.zip ''NetHack'' 3.4.3 for Windows CE 2.11 x86]

===Other interfaces===
{{main|Graphical user interface}}

* [http://www.darkarts.co.za/vulture-for-nethack Vulture, a 3D display for ''NetHack'' 3.4.3] (see also [[Vulture]])
* [http://www.darkarts.co.za/noegnud noegnud, alternate UI system for ''NetHack''] (see also [[noegnud]])
* [http://gtk2hack.sourceforge.net/download.html ''NetHack'' for gtk2] the window system
* [http://glhack.sourceforge.net/download.php glHack] (see also [[glHack]])
* [http://www.sbrain.org/nethack3d/ ''NetHack'' 3D]

===Other languages===
{{main|NetHack in other languages}}

* [http://jnethack.sourceforge.jp/ ''NetHack'' in Japanese, based on ''NetHack'' 3.4.3]
* [http://nethack-users.sourceforge.jp/ Other variants, Japanese translation]
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/nethack-de/files/ NetHack-De, ''NetHack'' in German] (work in progress)
* [http://www.netzhack.de/download/neuste/ NetzHack, ''NetHack'' in German]
* [http://spanish-nethack.sourceforge.net/ ''NetHack'' 3.4.3 in Spanish]

==External links==
* [https://www.nethack.org/ Official ''NetHack'' site]
{{nethack-362}}
[[Category:Roguelikes]]