NetHack 3.4.3 for RISC OS release 3
-----------------------------------

This release should run fine on any machine with at least RISC OS 3.5, over 2 megs of free RAM, and 3 megs of disk space. It is 26/32bit neutral, so should run fine on RISC OS 5/Iyonix. However if something does go wrong, it might be worth checking out the !Run file for possible causes/fixes

Running it on a filing system with support for long file names would be a good idea, but it should be fine without them if you stick to a short player name (6 characters or less, I think)

The main nethack configuration file is !NetHack./nethackrc - modify this (according to the options listed in the guidebook) to change how nethack looks and plays.

The files 'nethack' and 'recover' are the original manual pages for the Unix version of NetHack, and are provided here for completeness; reading them is not required for getting started with the RISC OS version. The Guidebook, on the other hand, is compulsory reading if you are planning on getting anywhere in the game. You can also find copies of the nethack licence and options compiled into this version in the !NetHack.Playground directory.

Save games, log files, and bones files from previous releases should work with this one. If not, then tough :p


Game crashes and '!Recover'
---------------------------

Should something go wrong and the game crashes, you should be able to recover your current game by running the !Recover BASIC file which is present in this directory. This provides a simple front-end to the 'recover' command line utility supplied in !NetHack.


Suspending NetHack
------------------

The Unix version of NetHack has support for suspending the game by pressing ^Z. This allows you to go off and do something else, then return to the game later. The RISC OS version of NetHack now has some preliminary support for suspension; if the game was launched from the Wimp (i.e. you double-clicked on !NetHack), then pressing ^Z while playing should return you to the desktop. An icon for NetHack will have been added to the iconbar, and clicking this should return you to the game. However this feature hasn't had much testing, and may not work properly under all circumstances. In particular, the system variables changed by !Run will still be set on the values NetHack uses, and the IBM graphics characters will still be loaded. Also, answering 'no' to the 'Really quit?' prompt generated when you shutdown the computer will leave NetHack running and could cause your game to be lost.


Release history
---------------

Release 3, 8/1/04

* Replaced the usleep() timed delay function with my own version, since the UnixLib one seems to kill the computer every so often
* Improved the random number seeding a bit
* Changed riscosmain.c so that the -D option forces wizard mode, instead of trying to check your Unix login name
* Fixed bones files; NetHack will now generate and load them, unlike before
* Tweaked the !Run file to save & restore the UnixFS$/etc, TERM, and UnixEnv$TERM system variables, to (hopefully) remove any clashes with other UnixLib programs
* Upped the specs listed above to RISC OS 3.5, since I believe UnixLib doesn't work on anything below that
* Added a copy of recover to the release
* Removed the dependency on the HOME (or UnixEnv$HOME) system variables
* NetHack should no longer change the currently selected directory when run
* ^C now performs the same action as ^Q and #quit (and currently Escape), i.e. to quit the game. It won't (and probably never will) operate under all circumstances like on other platforms, since Escape is meant to do its job under RISC OS.
* Added some simple support for suspending NetHack by ^Z.

Release 2, 14/12/03

* Updated to the nethack 3.4.3 source
* Fixed riscosmain.c to seed the random number generator on startup

Release 1, 6/9/03

* Recompiled to be 32bit compatible
* Changed the configuration to use timed output, so animations such as throwing things works at the correct speed

Release 0, 5/3/03

* Added the configuration file (!NetHack./nethackrc)
* Added proper support for the IBM graphics option, via a BBC font file to redefine the system font

Release '-1'

* First release, using the nethack 3.4.1 source


Copyright stuff
---------------

The full nethack license is in the '!NetHack.Playground.license' file. In particular, this copy (as with all) comes with no warranty whatsoever. The icon sprites and part of the termcap file are taken from Stephen Watson's port of 3.3.1, available at www.kerofin.demon.co.uk/nethack His site also contains some more information about clashes with other UnixLib programs.

Source code for this port is available from my website (below)


Jeffrey Lee
me@phlamethrower.co.uk
http://www.quote-egnufeb-quote-greaterthan-colon-hash-comma-underscore-at.info/
