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It is an evolution of an earlier game called Hack which was itself an evolution of the much more famous Rogue. The name NetHack stems from the fact that its development was originally coordinated through the Internet; it is not a network/multiplayer game. NetHack is traditionally played using text-only graphics (in a manner similar to ASCII art). You take the part of a dungeon-delving hero in search of the Amulet of Yendor. The quest is played through at least 40 randomly created levels, each containing many monsters, items, magical artifacts, and much, much more. The current version of NetHack is 3.4.3, released on December 8, 2003.
Before playing the game, you are invited to select a race, class, and alignment for your character, or allow the game to create a random character for you. There are traditional character roles such as knights, wizards, rogues, and rangers, but there are also unusual ones, including tourists and cavemen. Your character's class and alignment dictate what god you serve in the game; if you keep your god happy you can receive aid and gifts.
After constructing your character, your task is introduced:
Your character is initially accompanied by a pet kitten / little dog, or if you are playing a Knight, a pony. You can name your pet, and you can tame more pets along the way - domestic animals can be tamed by feeding them, and other monsters can sometimes be tamed by magic. Pets are very useful, not only for assisting you in combat, but also for detecting cursed items and stealing from shops.
This game is unparalleled in scope: hundreds of unique items, situations, monsters, and personages provide opportunities for interaction with the gameworld. Some interactions (and bugs) are rare and occasionally amusing. For example:
"You fall into a pit! You land on a set of sharp iron spikes!--more-- The spikes were poisoned! The poison was deadly...--more--(This would be referred to as YAAD or Yet Another Annoying Death.)
It is often said that "the DevTeam thinks of everything" - whatever you can think of for your character to do, they will probably have thought of a plausible response.
For example, attempting to dip a potion into itself would produce:
That is a potion bottle, not a Klein bottleIn mathematics, the Klein bottle is a certain non- orientable surface, i. a surface (a two-dimensional topological space), for which there is no distinction between the "inside" and the "outside" of the surface. The Klein bottle was first described in 188!Or, being burdened while going down the stairs would produce:
You fall down the stairs.Bugs, funny messages, stories, experiences, and ideas for the next version are discussed on the UsenetUsenet or Unix User Network is a communications medium in which users read and post textual messages (called "articles") to a number of distributed newsgroups (incorrectly called bulletin boards because of their similarity for the unaware observer). The m newsgroupA newsgroup is a repository, usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users at different locations. The term is somewhat confusing, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally, news:rec.games.roguelike.nethack.
Part of what marks the game is its constant improvement and growth, with new versions released whenever the DevTeam, a group of unpaid programmers, feels like it.
To win the game, a player would ascend and become a demigodA demigod a "half-god," is a person whose one parent was a god and whose other parent was a human. The heroes of Greek mythology were often demigods. Zeus became the father of many demigods as a result of his dalliances. Demigods were usually mortal, but or a demigodA demigod a "half-god," is a person whose one parent was a god and whose other parent was a human. The heroes of Greek mythology were often demigods. Zeus became the father of many demigods as a result of his dalliances. Demigods were usually mortal, butdess. This is achieved by sacrificing the Amulet of Yendor to a player's deity after playing some of the hardest levels in the game.