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NetHack

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NetHack is a single-player dungeon exploration game.

Installation

Install the nethack package.

Configuration

Create the file ~/.nethackrc.

Options can either be put one on each line, or on one line separated by commas. For a full list of available options, refer to the guidebook located at /usr/share/doc/nethack/Guidebook.txt or the NetHack Wiki.

Directional keys

By default, NetHack uses the yuhjklbn movement keys. You can change this to use a numerical pad by enabling it in the options. 

~/.nethackrc
OPTIONS=number_pad

A number_pad=-1 setting enables letter keys with compatibility for qwertz keyboards.

Graphics

NetHack uses broken dashes and pipes to draw the walls, but can be configured to use continuous lines which often looks better. 

~/.nethackrc
OPTIONS=symset:DECgraphics

Pickup types

By default, you will automatically pick up any item you walk over which can get annoying since too many items will weight you down. You can either disable auto pickup all together, or specify which items to always pick up and ignore the rest.

To never auto pickup anything, add the following. 

~/.nethackrc
OPTIONS=!autopickup

To only auto pickup gold but ignore anything else, add the following instead. 

~/.nethackrc
OPTIONS=pickup_types:$

Boulder visibility

By default boulders are hard to see since they use a grave ` symbol. The following option changes boulders to be easier to see by changing them to 0. 

~/.nethackrc
SYMBOLS=S_boulder:0

See also