I can't remember how to play NetHack and it's driving me c..

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

First off, NetHack is my very first PC game, ever. No kidding. When I was
like 13 or 14, there was this college group that rented a place across from
us, and my step-father was friends with one of them since his high school
days. One of the roommates owned an IBM. God only knows what it was,
probably an 8086. My first PC was a 386 but that was a few years later.
Anyway, he had this game called... NetHack! Which I ignorantly called
neth-ack instead of net-hack. Silly ignorant me. Anyway, I staid over there
while they were at work during the summer and played this game all day long
whilst constantly breathing in stale alcohol from mostly empty bottles.
Guess I should have cleaned up but I grew to like the smell. Ah well...
anyway, I got quite good at this game. I knew every command, and I knew how
to kick butt in NetHack. Now, umpteen years later, I download it and I am so
freaking clueless. I remember things, like being able to pray and get fried
by "pissed off deities", making wishes, stealing from shopkeepers, taming
creatures... I can't remember how to do ANY of this now!!! Can somebody fill
me in or direct me to a beginner's guide, something? Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

Simmie Simmerson wrote:
> First off, NetHack is my very first PC game, ever. No kidding.

I also had a similar experience, except instead of Nethack, my first PC
game was PC Rogue. Talk about cruel!

- John H.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

Simmie Simmerson wrote:
> First off, NetHack is my very first PC game, ever. No kidding. When I was
> like 13 or 14, there was this college group that rented a place across from
> us, and my step-father was friends with one of them since his high school
> days. One of the roommates owned an IBM. God only knows what it was,
> probably an 8086. My first PC was a 386 but that was a few years later.
> Anyway, he had this game called... NetHack! Which I ignorantly called
> neth-ack instead of net-hack. Silly ignorant me. Anyway, I staid over there
> while they were at work during the summer and played this game all day long
> whilst constantly breathing in stale alcohol from mostly empty bottles.
> Guess I should have cleaned up but I grew to like the smell. Ah well...
> anyway, I got quite good at this game. I knew every command, and I knew how
> to kick butt in NetHack. Now, umpteen years later, I download it and I am so
> freaking clueless. I remember things, like being able to pray and get fried
> by "pissed off deities", making wishes, stealing from shopkeepers, taming
> creatures... I can't remember how to do ANY of this now!!! Can somebody fill
> me in or direct me to a beginner's guide, something? Thanks.

Hrrmmm, to me, Nethack is like learning to ride a bicycle ... it may
take a few minutes to get caught back up to speed, but once you do,
it's smooth sailing. A few days ago I resumed a saved game from
sometime last winter (hence the burst of my new posts in this
newsgroup), and not only did I not die, it looks like I have an
Ascension-worthy character to boot. Admittedly six months isn't as
long as the years that you were away from Nethack.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

Simmie Simmerson wrote:
> First off, NetHack is my very first PC game, ever. No kidding. When I was
> like 13 or 14, there was this college group that rented a place across from
> us, and my step-father was friends with one of them since his high school
> days. One of the roommates owned an IBM. God only knows what it was,
> probably an 8086. My first PC was a 386 but that was a few years later.
> Anyway, he had this game called... NetHack! Which I ignorantly called
> neth-ack instead of net-hack. Silly ignorant me. Anyway, I staid over there
> while they were at work during the summer and played this game all day long
> whilst constantly breathing in stale alcohol from mostly empty bottles.
> Guess I should have cleaned up but I grew to like the smell. Ah well...
> anyway, I got quite good at this game. I knew every command, and I knew how
> to kick butt in NetHack. Now, umpteen years later, I download it and I am so
> freaking clueless. I remember things, like being able to pray and get fried
> by "pissed off deities", making wishes, stealing from shopkeepers, taming
> creatures... I can't remember how to do ANY of this now!!! Can somebody fill
> me in or direct me to a beginner's guide, something? Thanks.
>
>
In whatever directory you installed NetHack into, you will find a
document called the Guidebook. It has a list of what all the symbols
mean and what the keys and commands do, as well as playing tips.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

In news:<H2zue.11443$eM6.7758@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>, Simmie
Simmerson <radiohead3@earthlink.net> says...
> First off, NetHack is my very first PC game, ever. No kidding. When I was
> like 13 or 14, there was this college group that rented a place across from
> us, and my step-father was friends with one of them since his high school
> days. One of the roommates owned an IBM. God only knows what it was,
> probably an 8086. My first PC was a 386 but that was a few years later.
> Anyway, he had this game called... NetHack! Which I ignorantly called
> neth-ack instead of net-hack. Silly ignorant me. Anyway, I staid over there
> while they were at work during the summer and played this game all day long
> whilst constantly breathing in stale alcohol from mostly empty bottles.
> Guess I should have cleaned up but I grew to like the smell. Ah well...
> anyway, I got quite good at this game. I knew every command, and I knew how
> to kick butt in NetHack. Now, umpteen years later, I download it and I am so
> freaking clueless. I remember things, like being able to pray and get fried
> by "pissed off deities", making wishes, stealing from shopkeepers, taming
> creatures... I can't remember how to do ANY of this now!!! Can somebody fill
> me in or direct me to a beginner's guide, something? Thanks.

Great story! I experienced something similar when I rediscovered Nethack
after many years away.

The guidebook: http://nethack.org/v343/Guidebook.html

The Absolute Beginner's Guide:
http://www.melankolia.net/nethack/nethack.guide.html

Excellent collection of guides/spoilers/etc:
http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~eva/nethack/spoilerlist.html

The FAQ for this newsgroup:
http://www.spod-central.org/~psmith/nh/rgrn-FAQ.txt

Search this newsgroup's archives with Google:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.games.roguelike.nethack

Also try the #nethack channel on the Freenode IRC network.

If you want to play on a public server, try: http://alt.org/nethack/

Good luck, and remember to tell us about your rediscovering progress.

/Kristoffer

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