Apple
An apple is a type of comestible that appears in NetHack. It is veggy and considered vegan.
Contents
Generation
Healers and Monks start each game with 5-10 apples.[1][2] Knights start each game with 10-20 apples.[3] Tourists may start with apples among their random food items.[4]
Apples make up 3⁄200 (1.5%) of all comestibles randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Delicatessens and health food stores can also stock apples.
Tree 'fruits' have a 1⁄5 chance of being apples, and generate in the following circumstances:[5][6]
- Kicking a tree has a one-time 14⁄15 chance of dropping (8−rnl(7)) apples.[7]
- Cutting down a tree has a 1⁄5 chance of producing an apple.[8]
- A tree that is tunneled through has a 1⁄3 chance of leaving behind apples.[9]
Applying a charged horn of plenty has a 1.4% chance of generating an apple or two.[10]
Description
Eating an apple grants 50 nutrition and takes 1 turn to consume it. A hero eating a cursed apple will fall asleep for 20-30 turns unless they have sleep resistance, and food appraisal will warn a hero with a prompt if they are about to eat one.[11][12]
Apples can be thrown used to tame domestic herbivorous monsters and pacify domestic carnivores—herbivorous pets will consider apples to be treats.
Strategy
Apples are best saved for taming or feeding pets, and Knights in particular will want to prioritize keeping their steed fed. However, Healers, Knights, and Monks may consider eating their starting apples if extra permafood proves especially scarce.
History
The apple first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial item list for Hack 1.0.
Origin
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree, which is a plant of the genus Malus and includes the domestic or orchard apple tree (Malus domestica). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in their genus; they originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor Malus sieversii is still found. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Eurasia and were introduced to North America by European colonists—they have religious, mythological and other significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek, and European Christian tradition, and some of the ones relevant to NetHack and its variants are listed below:
- The effect of a cursed apple when eaten is a reference to the fairy tale of Snow White and the poisoned apple.
- The Unix-specific messages appear to be derived from joke Unix documentation within a Usenet post that is not archived by Google Groups.
- Apple Inc. is a multinational technology brand that names their computers after the Macintosh apple, as noted in the section below; their primary operating system, Mac OS X, is similarly named and partially based on Unix.
- The presence of apples in a Healer's starting inventory is likely a reference to the proverb "an apple a day keeps the doctor away".
- The apple was considered sacred to Aphrodite in ancient Greek culture: Eris, the Greek goddess of discord, became disgruntled over being excluded from the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, and in retaliation tossed a golden apple inscribed Καλλίστη (Kalliste, sometimes transliterated Kallisti, "for the most beautiful one") into the wedding party. Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite claimed the apple, with Paris of Troy appointed to select the recipient. After Paris was unsuccessfully bribed by both Hera and Athena, Aphrodite tempted him with the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen of Sparta. Paris awarded the apple to Aphrodite, thus indirectly causing the Trojan War.
Messages
- This <apple> smells like it might have been poisoned.
- You attempted to eat a cursed apple, but were warned by food appraisal.[13]
- You hear sinister laughter as you fall asleep...
- You ate a cursed apple and fell asleep.
- You fall asleep.
- As above, while deaf.
- Heigh-ho, ho-hum, I think I'll skip work today.
- As above, but you are a dwarf and currently hallucinating.
Some YAFMs appear if you eat an apple or pear while playing NetHack on a Unix or classic Mac OS system:[14][15]
| Message | Effect |
|---|---|
| "Core dumped." (Unix (including modern macOS), not hallucinating) | No effect
When a Unix program performs an illegal operation, the kernel shuts down the program, and the program often dumps a core file for loading into debuggers; the pun is that apples are usually dumped once the core is the only thing left. |
| "Segmentation fault -- core dumped." (75⁄100 chance) "Bus error -- core dumped." (24⁄100 chance) |
No effect
As above, but these error messages are more 'realistic' - an actual "core dumped" error on Unix comes with the cause of the crash. |
| "Delicious! Must be a Macintosh!" (Classic Mac OS) | No effect
Apple Computers named their Macintosh computers after a real type of apple. |
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, Yeomen start each game with 10-20 apples similar to Knights and Healers, the latter of whom have their starting amount increased from NetHack.[16][17]
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, the "Pacman" random vault has a guaranteed apple at a random position.
The nymph level randomly places a stack of 11-14 apples around the cavern area during level creation, with another apple placed randomly in a spot across the entire level.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, several roles can start with apples, while some others will be given replacements:
- Binders that are not drow start with 2-4 apples.
- Kensei start with 5-10 apples.
- Nobles that are not dwarven, drow or half-dragons start each game with 10-20 apples.
- Troubadours start with 3-6 apples.
Some other roles are given replacements for apples:
- Knights that are drow or half-dragons will start with tripe rations for their steed instead of apples.
- Drow Nobles and half-dragon Nobles also start with tripe rations instead of apples.
Apples may appear among the food items generated in antholes during level creation, which have a higher chance of being populated with specific food item types compared to antholes in NetHack.
An apple is placed in the ice box within the warden's office on the Convict quest locate level during level creation.
Andromalius is a spirit whose binding ritual can use an apple as one of the two items placed in his seal, and using two non-apple items in the binding ritual may generate an apple as the third item the character receives if they successfully bind him.
Eve is a spirit that increases the amount of apples dropped from kicking trees by 50% while she is bound, but her taboo prevents the hero from consuming any apples.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, The Apple of Discord is an artifact golden apple that can be invoked for hungerless conflict, and boosts the effects of conflict while carried by a chaotic hero that is crowned.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, the defunct Dancer role starts with 1-2 apples among their food items.
An apple can be combined with a cream pie at a furnace to create an apple pie.
notdNetHack
In notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, in addition to dNetHack details, Eve and Jack are each generated with 1-2 apples when summoned by an Illithanachronounbinder.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, draugr Knights and Monks are given eggs in place of apples, and vampire Monks will not start with apples at all.
3 apples are generated within one of the crystal chests on the last level of the Ice Queen's Realm during level creation. A pair of chests containing 3 apples are placed in the barracks areas of the Wizard's Tower during level creation.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, Bards start with 3-6 apples as in dNetHack. Nobles start with 10-20 apples as in dNetHack. Warriors start with 7-14 apples.
Encyclopedia entry
NEWTONIAN, adj. Pertaining to a philosophy of the universe invented by Newton, who discovered that an apple will fall to the ground, but was unable to say why. His successors and disciples have advanced so far as to be able to say when.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 70: Healer starting inventory
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 93: Monk starting inventory
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 80: Knight starting inventory
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 144: Tourist starting inventory
- ↑ src/mkobj.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1474
- ↑ src/mkobj.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1481
- ↑ src/dokick.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1115
- ↑ src/dig.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 398
- ↑ src/dig.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1321
- ↑ src/mkobj.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2219: any comestible that can be randomly generated is eligible
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2253
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2375-L2380
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2377
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1851
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1859
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 88
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 261
