** 1 page PD/Shareware / 805 words **

Nethack 3.1.1

** NETHACK.GIF here

Nethack started life as a Unix role playing game and ports exist for most computing platforms. Matt Burton takes a look at an Atari version featuring a colour GEM interface...

Although Nethack has been around for years it seems to have gone unnoticed despite its ability to run under MagiC and other modern Atari operating systems. It's also multitasking aware which means while I'm typing this I could be hacking a goblin's brains out in between paragraphs.

Development of this GEM version seems to have ceased after this one-off graphical conversion from a version where text characters represented objects instead of proper graphics.
  Your mission is to retrieve the Amulet of Yendor from the dungeon. It sounds simple but you're up against everything from ants to zombies. I'm sure the number of monsters run into hundreds. The most common encounters are with Kobolds, Jackals, Newts, Rats, Shopkeepers, Mimics (try eating a Mimic corpse!) Dwarfs, Goblins, Zombies of various types, guards and Golems.

As you descend further into the game you can encounter ghosts of your previous incarnations and although you can pick up items belonging to yourself many of these are cursed and whatever killed you is often lurking around.

There are plenty of things to keep you amused in the dungeon! 
There are 12 different human character types ranging from Archaeologists to Wizards. Each come with their own preset attributes and items. You can change your character's sex, for example there are certain advantages to being female, if you are a priestess you can tame unicorns and resist being seduced by mountain nymphs. I still haven't found any advantage to being a male character in the game - yet! Attempting to change sex halfway through the game brings up the message "That is not anatomically possible".

Most of the things which RPG their special appeal are here including spell-books, wands, scrolls, potions, weapons, armour, shops (and shoplifting!) - in fact there are so many elements there wouldn't be room to list them all here!

NetHack creates your dungeon by accessing an extensive library of map files (over 80 of them). This makes many dungeons original - although some levels appear in every dungeon. Also, when you die NetHack saves that level as "bone data" so later on that level it can be used as a ghost level.

Control can be by keyboard, mouse or both. Every game function has a shortcut and a menu entry which makes Nethack easy to use - you'll probably stop using the mouse after a while because the keyboard is so much faster.

Nethack comes with a guide book which gets you started but there's still lots left for you to work out for yourself - despite this the guide book is still huge! The game has a fairly extensive online help system which provides info about the commands and some of the monsters. It ain't ST-Guide but it's still useful.

The 16x16 colour pixel graphics are excellent - especially compared to its earlier counterparts. There are no sound effects but the absorbing and addictive gameplay makes up for this. I have probably discovered something new every day I've played this game - it has real longevity.

The only gripe I have with Nethack is that the system palette - although it does exit cleanly and restores the normal colours.

Best of all the licence states the game can be modified by anyone and the modified version distributed provided no money is charged for it. This leaves development open to anyone. For example, if you don't like the graphics in the game you can alter them by editing the Degas image files which are included. The resource file can also be altered to suit your needs.

In summary, Nethack is excellent in just about every conceivable way and it's there waiting to be improved by any programmer prepared to take up the challenge (hint hint).

** boxout **
Three NetHack ways to hippy heaven
** UL **
* Eating a purple or yellow mould corpse induces hallucination.
* Quaffing a potion of hallucination will do it
* Looking into a cursed crystal ball can sometimes make you hallucinate.
** /UL **
** /boxout **

** product boxout **
Nethack v3.1.1

Author
Various, GEM interface by Warwick Alisson

Where to get it
http://www.ataricomputing.com/
ftp://ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/atari/Games/nethack.3.1/nh311gem.zip
 ftp://ftp.uni-mainz.de/pub/atari/TU-Clausthal/games/dungeon/nh311gem.zip
ftp://ftp.tu-clausthal.de/pub/atari/games/dungeon/nh311gem.zip
Crawley Crypt Collection Volume 1

Status
Freeware

Requires
TT/Falcon or TOS compatible machine at 640x480x16 or higher, 2Mb memory minimum, hard drive recommended.

Pros
License terms allow user customisation, editable RSC and Degas files are included.

Cons
Changes the system palette, no sound, no longer developed.

85%
** /product boxout **

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