BMUG Revelations/BMUG Revelations.toast/Entertainment/Strategy/NetHack 3.1.3/Owner's Manual [nh313.doc]

Text File | 1993-07-27 | 8.3 KB | 175 lines | [TEXT/????]

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NetHack 3.1 for the Macintosh

Owner's Manual and Installation Guide
    for nh313.hqx - BinHex 4.0 encoded, self-extracting, game archive

=== License
    The following is an excerpt from the NetHack license which is
explicitly included in this distribution and is also available for
reading from within the game (using the command sequence ?i).  By
reading this material or by playing the game, you implicitly agree
to be bound the terms of that license.

----------------
Stated plainly:  You are prohibited by the terms of this License Agreement
from using NetHack for gainful purposes.  You are permitted to modify
NetHack, or otherwise use parts of NetHack, provided that you comply with
the conditions specified above; in particular, your modified NetHack or
program containing parts of NetHack must remain freely available as provided
in this License Agreement.  In other words, go ahead and share NetHack, but
don't try to stop anyone else from sharing it farther.
----------------


=== Installation
    Before installing the latest version of NetHack 3.1, you should
trash any previous NetHack files, with the exception of 'Record' from
a previous NetHack 3.1 dungeon.  System 7 users should also trash the
'NetHack Windows' file in their system 'Preferences' folder (this will
be especially useful to small screen users).  The latest distribution
contains all the files you need to play the game.  Furthermore, keeping
the older files will create problems with the new distribution.  You
may choose to substitute your old 'Record' file in place of the
distributed file, in order to retain your previous scoreboard
statistics.

    To install the game NetHack 3.1, you will need a hard drive with
a minimum of 3.5MB of free space.  You then need to decode the BinHex
encoded archive to get the application which can then be launched to
self-extract all the NetHack and dungeon-related files.  You can save
space by trashing the BinHex endoded archive after decoding the
self-extracting application a/o by trashing that application after
generating the Dungeon folder, which uses ~1.8M bytes of disk space.


=== The Dungeon Folder and related files
    Contained in the Dungeon folder are the files and file types:
NetHack          - application itself.
Recover          - crash recovery utility application.
NetHack Defaults - text file for editing option settings.
Record           - scoreboard file.
special levels   - *.lev files containing customized level data.
utility files    - various help and privately-used files.

    The files below are generated during or after playing a game:
logfile          - listing of all games played.
bones files      - the internally-used remains of deceased players.
level files      - game-in-progress files (i.e. 1Adriane.0, etc.).
save files       - saved game bundle (i.e. save/1Adriane).

    Window position preferences are stored in: NetHack Windows
which may be found in the Dungeon folder or, for System 7 users, the
system "Preferences" folder.  The windows will revert to default sizes
and locations if this file is trashed.

    When the logfile gets too large, you can trash it and a new one
will be created.  You can also trash old save files a/o bones files.
You should not trash any of the other files, however you may trash
level files _not_ belonging to a game in progress or you may process
those files with the Recover application (see below).

    Please read the Macintosh-specific help text from within the game
(command ?j), for more details about these files and other topics.


=== Starting a Game
    If you are running system software 6.0.2 or better on any Macintosh
then you can open (double-click) the application NetHack contained in
the Dungeon folder or double-click the "Open NetHack" file.  If you are
restarting a previously saved game then you can simply double-click
that file.  If you are prompted "Who are you?" then enter a suitable
character name and then, if necessary, determine a desired role for
your character.  After the game is underway you should read the help
info made available by using the ? command.  Initially, the help
sections related to commands, options and Macintosh-specific help will
be of most interest.  By default, the options are configured to get you
started easily, however you should, at some point, reconfigure the
settings to match your preferences.

    NetHack has a minimum partition of 1.0MB, however most users will
prefer a partition of around 1.5M bytes.  Also, ~1.5M bytes of disk
space should be reserved in order to complete a given game.


=== Explore and Debug Modes
    Normally you will play a game in the Regular mode.  However, some
players would like to learn more about the game.  Discover (or Explore)
mode has been provided to allow you to play a regular game but with
some advantages: you start the game with a wand of wishing, you can see
your intrinsic attributes (i.e. poison resistance, etc.) at any time
using the command ctl-X, and you are given an oppurtunity at death to
override your demise and continue playing.  The price you pay for
Discover mode advantages is that your score is not recorded on the high
scores list.  Playing in Discover mode can be rewarding.

    Wizard (or Debug) mode is only intended for NetHack developers who
need to be able to probe and analyze the game in order to, for example,
fix bugs or improve game features.  This mode is not intended for the
casual player and using this mode inappropriately will ruin your
enjoyment of the game.  If you are not a developer, DO NOT USE
WIZARD-MODE!


=== Option Editing and Preferences
    Eventually, you will want to adjust a few of the many options
available in the game.  Option help is accessed from within the game
by either of the command sequences ?f or ?g.  You can set default
preferences to be used by every game by editing the text file:
NetHack Defaults.  TeachText is a suitable editor application but
you can use any text editor that you like.  For your convenience,
you can enter options on one-line or over multiple lines, as in:
OPTIONS=time,!tombstone,female,showexp,showscore
OPTIONS=dogname:Rowf,catname:Meow
OPTIONS=name:Adriane


=== Recover
    In the event that NetHack crashes, you will need to run the utility
application, Recover, to restore a save file from the various level
files generated during play.  Leave the level files as they are and
simply open (double-click) Recover to start it up.  Select 'Open...'
from the 'File' menu and then select the (level 0) file corresponding
to the game that you want to recover.  If Recover was able to restore
a save file then you'll get an 'OK:' message else you'll get a 'Sorry:'
message with a brief error description.  A successful recovery will
restore your game back to the point of the last level change.  In order
to be able to recover a game, you need to have the 'checkpoint' option
(default TRUE) enabled during play.  If you need to abort a recovery
before it completes (thus making it impossible to restore the save file)
you can simply press the '.' key while holding down the command (apple)
key or simply Quit the Recover application altogether.  Doing this
will destroy any chance you have of recovering that game.

    You should not run Recover on level files that are still being
played while NetHack is running.  This could result in losing both the
save file and the current game as well!

    For the curious, Recover will display memory diagnostics if you
hold down the option key while selecting 'About Recover...' from the
apple menu.

=== Support
    Installation questions, comments, suggestions, and so on should
be e-mailed to the internet address:

To: [e-mail]
Subject: Macintosh NetHack 3.1

The members of the Macintosh NetHack Port Team hope you enjoy the
latest release of NetHack 3.1 for the Macintosh.