Editing NetHack (section)

==Gameplay==
Before starting a game, players choose their character's [[Character race|race]], [[character class|role]], [[sex]], and [[alignment (role-playing games)|alignment]], or allow the game to assign the attributes randomly. There are traditional fantasy roles such as [[knight]], [[wizard (character class)|wizard]], [[rogue (character class)|rogue]], and [[Cleric (character class)|priest]]; but there are also unusual roles, including [[archaeologist]], [[tourist]], and [[caveman]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nethack.org/v360/Guidebook.html#_TOCentry_3 |title=NetHack 3.6.0: Guidebook for NetHack 3.6 |publisher=nethack.org |access-date=2016-04-23}}</ref> The [[player character]]'s role and alignment dictate which [[deity]] the character serves and is supported by in the game, "how other monsters react toward you", as well as character skills and attributes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nethack.org/v360/Guidebook.html#_TOCentry_5 |title=NetHack 3.6.0: Guidebook for NetHack 3.6 |publisher=nethack.org |access-date=2016-04-23}}</ref>

After the player character is created, the main objective is introduced. To win the game, the player must retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, found at the lowest level of the dungeon, and offer it to their deity. Successful completion of this task rewards the player with the gift of [[immortality]], and the player is said to "ascend", attaining the status of [[demigod]]. Along the path to the amulet, a number of sub-quests must be completed, including one class-specific quest.

There are three major antagonists in NetHack: the [[Lucifer]]esque god [[Moloch]], who stole the Amulet of Yendor from the [[creator god]] [[Marduk]]; the high priest (or priestess) of Moloch, who holds the Amulet of Yendor; and the most prominent antagonist, the Wizard of Yendor, who will stalk the player throughout the rest of the game after the first encounter by resurrecting and attacking them periodically. The game's [[Final boss (video games)|final bosses]] in the [[astral plane|Astral Plane]] are the Riders: three of the [[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]], Death, Famine and Pestilence. It is often proposed that the player character represents the fourth horseman, War.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

The player's character is, unless they opt not to be, accompanied by a pet animal, typically a [[kitten]] or [[dog|little dog]], although knights begin with a [[saddle]]d [[pony]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nethack.org/v343/Guidebook.html#_TOCentry_17 |title=NetHack 3.4.3: Guidebook for NetHack 3.4 |publisher=Nethack.org |access-date=2010-09-08}}</ref> Pets grow from fighting, and they can be changed by various means. Most of the other monsters may also be tamed using magic or food.

===Dungeon levels===
''NetHack'''s dungeon spans about fifty primary levels, most of which are [[procedural generation|procedurally generated]] when the player character enters them for the first time. A typical level contains a way "up" and "down" to other levels. These may be stairways, ladders, trapdoors, etc. Levels also contain several "rooms" joined by corridors. These rooms are randomly generated rectangles (as opposed to the linear corridors) and may contain features such as altars, shops, fountains, traps, thrones, pools of water, and sinks based on the randomly generated features of the room. Some specific levels follow one of many fixed designs or contain fixed elements. Later versions of the game added special branches of dungeon levels. These are optional routes that may feature more challenging monsters but can reward more desirable treasure to complete the main dungeon. Levels, once generated, persist throughout a single game, in contrast to the non-persistent levels in ''[[Moria (1983 video game)|Moria]]''-style games.<ref name="arstech roguelikes">{{cite web | url = https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/03/ascii-art-permadeath-the-history-of-roguelike-games/ | title= ASCII art + permadeath: The history of roguelike games | first= Richard C. | last = Moss |date = March 19, 2020 | access-date = June 26, 2020 | work = [[Ars Technica]]}}</ref>

===Items and tools===
[[File:Nethack-inventory.png|250px|thumb|A player's inventory]]
''NetHack'' features a variety of items: [[weapon]]s (melee or ranged), [[armor]] to protect the player, [[scroll]]s and spellbooks to read, [[potion]]s to [[wiktionary:quaff|quaff]], wands, rings, amulets, and an assortment of [[tool]]s, such as keys and lamps.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nethack.org/v343/Guidebook.html#_TOCentry_20 |title=NetHack 3.4.3: Guidebook for NetHack 3.4 |publisher=Nethack.org |access-date=2010-09-08}}</ref>

''NetHack''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s identification of items is almost identical to ''[[Rogue (computer game)|Rogue]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s. For example, a newly discovered potion may be referred to as a "pink potion" with no other clues as to its identity. Players can perform a variety of actions and tricks to deduce, or at least narrow down, the identity of the potion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nethack.org/v343/Guidebook.html#_TOCentry_51 |title=NetHack 3.4.3: Guidebook for NetHack 3.4 |publisher=Nethack.org |access-date=2010-09-08}}</ref> The most obvious is the somewhat risky tactic of simply drinking it. All items of a certain type will have the same description. For instance, all "scrolls of enchant weapon" may be labeled "TEMOV", and once one has been identified, all "scrolls of enchant weapon" found later will be labeled unambiguously as such. Starting a new game will scramble the items' descriptions again, so the "silver ring" that is a "ring of levitation" in one game might be a "ring of hunger" in another.

===Blessings and curses===
As in many other roguelike games, all items in ''NetHack'' are either "[[blessing|blessed]]", "uncursed", or "[[curse]]d".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nethack.org/v343/Guidebook.html#_TOCentry_21 |title=NetHack 3.4.3: Guidebook for NetHack 3.4 |publisher=Nethack.org |access-date=2010-09-08}}</ref> The majority of items are found uncursed, but the blessed or cursed status of an item is unknown until it is identified or detected through other means. Such statuses can be changed (blessed to uncursed, uncursed to cursed, and vice versa) depending on player interaction.

Generally, a blessed item will be more powerful than an uncursed item, and a cursed item will be less powerful, with the added disadvantage that once it has been equipped by the player, it cannot be easily unequipped. Where an object would bestow an effect upon the character, a curse will generally make the effect harmful, or increase the amount of harm done. However, there are very specific exceptions. For example, drinking a cursed "potion of gain level" will make the character literally rise through the ceiling to the level above, instead of gaining an [[experience level]].

===Character death===
As in other roguelike games, ''NetHack'' features [[permadeath]]: expired characters cannot be revived.

Although ''NetHack'' can be completed without any artificial limitations, experienced players can attempt "conducts" for an additional challenge.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nethack.org/v343/Guidebook.html#_TOCentry_38 |title=NetHack 3.4.3: Guidebook for NetHack 3.4 |publisher=Nethack.org |access-date=2010-09-08}}</ref> These are voluntary restrictions on actions taken, such as using no wishes, following a [[vegetarian]] or [[vegan]] diet, or even killing no monsters. While conducts are generally tracked by the game and are displayed at death or ascension, unofficial conducts are practiced within the community.

When a player dies, the cause of death and score is created and added to the list where the player's character is ranked against other previous characters.<ref>{{Cite web|title = GameSetWatch @ Play: Thou Art Early, But We'll Admit Thee|url = http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/10/_play_thou_art_early_but_well_1.php|website = www.gamesetwatch.com|access-date = 2015-11-09|archive-date = 6 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160306032222/http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/10/_play_thou_art_early_but_well_1.php|url-status = dead}}</ref> The prompt "Do you want your possessions identified?" is given by default at the end of any game, allowing the player to learn any unknown properties of the items in their inventory at death. The player's attributes (such as resistances, luck, and others), conduct (usually self-imposed challenges, such as playing as an atheist or a vegetarian), and a tally of creatures killed, may also be displayed.

The game sporadically saves a level on which a character has died and then integrates that level into a later game. This is done via "bones files", which are saved on the computer hosting the game. A player using a publicly hosted copy of the game can thus encounter the remains and possessions of many other players, although many of these possessions may have become cursed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hearse.krollmark.com/ |title=Hearse |access-date=2008-12-15}}</ref>

Because of the numerous ways that a player-character could die between a combination of their own actions as well as from reactions from the game's interacting systems, players frequently refer to untimely deaths as "Yet Another Stupid Death" (YASD). Such deaths are considered part of learning to play ''NetHack'' as to avoid conditions where the same death may happen again.<ref name="arstech roguelikes"/>

''NetHack'' does allow players to save the game so that one does not have to complete the game in one session, but on opening a new game, the previous save file is subsequently wiped as to enforce the permadeath option. One option some players use is to make a backup copy of the save game file before playing a game, and, should their character die, restoring from the copied version, a practice known as "save scumming". Additionally, players can also manipulate the "bones files" in a manner not intended by the developers. While these help the player to learn the game and get around limits of permadeath, both are considered forms of cheating the game.<ref>{{cite book | title = Role-Playing Game Studies | chapter = Single-Player Computer Role-Playing Games | first1 = Douglas | last1 =  Douglas | first2= Jon | last2= Peterson | first3 = Martin | last3= Picard | pages = 107–129 | publisher = Taylor & Francis | date = 2018 | editor-first1 = Sebastian | editor-last1 = Deterding | editor-first2 =  José | editor-last2= Zagal | isbn = 978-1317268314}}</ref>

===Culture around spoilers===
''NetHack'' is largely based on discovering secrets and tricks during gameplay. It can take years for one to become well-versed in them, and even experienced players routinely discover new ones.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sequoia.ict.pwr.wroc.pl/~witold/aiarr/2009_projekty/elitmod/|title=Reinforcement Learning for roguelike type games (eliteMod v0.9)}}</ref> A number of ''NetHack'' fan sites and discussion forums offer lists of game secrets known as "spoilers".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~eva/nethack/spoilerlist.html |title=List of Nethack Spoilers |publisher=Statslab.cam.ac.uk |access-date=2010-09-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010042024/http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~eva/nethack/spoilerlist.html |archive-date=10 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Interface===
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2025}} 
''NetHack'' was originally created with only a simple ASCII [[text-based user interface]], although the option to use something more elaborate was added later in its development. Interface elements such as the environment, entities, and objects are represented by arrangements of [[ASCII]] or [[Extended ASCII]] glyphs, "[[DEC Special Graphics|DECgraphics]]", or "[[Code page 437|IBMgraphics]]" mode. In addition to the environment, the interface also displays character and situational information.

A detailed example:
<pre>You see here a silver ring.
                                            ------------
                                          ##....._.....|
                                            |...........#          ------
                                           #...........|           |....|
                       ---------------   ###------------           |...(|
                       |..%...........|##########               ###-@...|
                       |...%...........###    #                 ## |....|
                       +.......<......|       ###              ### |..!.|
                       ---------------          #              #   ------
                                                ###          ###
                                                  #          #
                                               ---.-----   ###
                                               |.......|   #
                                               |........####
                                               |.......|
                                               |.......|
                                               ---------
  Hacker the Conjurer            St:11 Dx:13 Co:12 In:11 Wi:18 Ch:11  Neutral
  Dlvl:3  $:120 HP:39(41) Pw:36(36) AC:6  Exp:5 T:1073</pre>

The player (the '@' sign, a wizard in this case) has entered the level via the stairs (the '<' sign) and killed a few monsters, leaving their corpses (the '%' signs) behind. Exploring, the player has uncovered three rooms joined by corridors (the '#' signs): one with an altar (the '_' sign), another empty, and the final one (that the player is currently in) containing a potion (the '!' sign) and chest (the '(' sign). The player has just moved onto a square containing a silver ring. Parts of the level are still unexplored (probably accessible through the door to the west (the '+' sign)) and the player has yet to find the downstairs (a '>' sign) to the next level.

Apart from the original [[termcap]] interface shown above, there are other interfaces that replace standard screen representations with [[2D computer graphics|two-dimensional]] images, or [[Tile-based video game|tiles]], collectively known as "tiles mode". [[Graphical user interface|Graphic interfaces]] of this kind have been successfully implemented on the [[Amiga]], the [[X Window System]], the [[Microsoft Windows]] GUI, the [[Qt (toolkit)|Qt toolkit]], and the [[GNOME]] libraries.

Enhanced graphical options also exist, such as the [[Isometric video game graphics|isometric perspective]] of ''[[Falcon's Eye]]'' and ''Vulture's Eye'', or the [[3D computer graphics|three-dimensional]] rendering that noegnud offers. ''Vulture's Eye'' is a [[Fork (software development)|fork]] of the now defunct Falcon's Eye project. ''Vulture's Eye'' adds additional graphics, sounds, bug fixes and performance enhancements and is under active development in an open collaborative environment.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px" style="text-align:left">
File:NetHack for Windows Screenshot.png|''NetHack'' for Microsoft Windows in "tiles mode"
File:Vultures-2.1.0 screenshot.jpg|''Vulture's Eye'' offers an isometric perspective.
File:NeXTSTEP Nethack.png|''NetHack'' on [[OPENSTEP]]/[[NeXTSTEP]]
</gallery>