05 February 2019
Nethack Simplified Commands
I wanted to review the nethack commands to find related groups of commands and stuff that should be removed. Gathered these from here.
I’ve reorganized the nethack command list. I’ve tried to identify commands that can be removed through a better GUI for inventory/equipment management as well as commands that only exist because of poor graphical design that obscures information like the equipment on a tile. I was hoping to get it down to 4 top-level categories, but many of these defy an easy category. Even Interact feels overly large, but this a decent starting point.
- [magic]
- [cast] Cast a spell
- [teleport] Teleport around the level
- [read] Read a scroll, spellbook, or something else (also available in inventory but kept here for quick access)
- [turn] Turn undead
- [zap] Zap a wand
- [interact current square]
- [engrave] Engrave writing on the floor
- [force] Force a locked chest
- [loot] Loot a box on the floor
- [pickup] Pick up things at current location
- [search] Search for unseen things near you
- [interact adjacent square]
- [kick] Kick something
- [open/close] Open/Close a door
- [pray] Pray to the gods for help
- [ride] Ride (or stop riding) a monster
- [sit] Sit down
- [tip] Tip over a container
- [untrap] Untrap something
- [wipe] Wipe off your face
- [attack]
- [hit] Hit with your weapon
- [fire] Fire ammunition from quiver
- [kick] Kick something
- [jump] Jump to a location
- [chat] Talk to someone
- disabled when not possible
- [items]
- [apply] Apply (use) a tool
- [dip] dip item
- [invoke] Invoke an object’s powers
- [offer] Offer a sacrifice to the gods
- [throw] Throw something
- [rub] Rub a lamp or a stone
- [inventory] Show your inventory
- [wait] Rest one move while doing nothing
- [item subscreen]
- [drop] Drop an item
- [eat] Eat something
Reorganized Commands
Combined
| Nethack Command | Notes |
|---|---|
| close | [close a door] |
| dip | [**dip an object into |
| something**] Have a combine option in inventory or a submenu option when interacting. Disable dipping into non-dippable things | |
| down/up | [**Go down/up a |
| staircase**] Triggered automatically when on the tile. Prompt asks you to confirm (using a different confirm button like a shoulder trigger) | |
| engrave | [**Engrave writing on the |
| floor**] Seems to mostly be there for writing “Elbereth” onto the ground. This falls under spells/casting in my books. It’s also really gimmicky/meta | |
| fire | [Fire ammunition from quiver] blongs with attack |
| force | [**Force a |
| lock**] done by interaction submen kind of hacky. penalties seem adhoc, especially weapon breakage. See the necessity when random | |
| jump | [**Jump to a |
| location**] Seems pretty hacky. the escape mechanics could be useful to keep, but it’s pretty low on the list. Probably best to remove | |
| kick | [Kick something] part of interaction |
| monster | [**Use a monster’s special |
| ability**] only applies if polymorphing is a thin better to group under attack command | |
| offer | [Offer a sacrifice to the gods] part of interaction menu |
| open | [Open a door] part of interaction menu |
| pay | [Pay your shopping bill] Bad UI. Pay for things by interacting with NPCs |
| pickup | [**Pick up things at current |
| location**] most things should auto pickup. otherwise, its part of hte interaction menu or maybe visible from the inventory screen | |
| read | [Read a scroll, spellbook, or something else] magic move |
| ride | [Ride (or stop riding) a monster] non-essential gameplay |
| rub | [Rub a lamp or a stone] really meta. too specific a use |
| seetrap | [Show the type of an adjacent trap] handled through the interact menu |
| sit | [Sit down] part of interact |
| teleport | [Teleport around the level] part of magic/casting |
| throw | [Throw something] part of attack or maybe a more neutral command |
| tip | [Tip over a container] part of interact. Could remove. Really specific |
| turn | [Turn undead] part of casting/magic |
| untrap | [Untrap something] part of interact |
| zap | [Zap a wand] handled under item use |
| wipe | [Wipe off your face] shows up in interact if needed |
Moved to Game Menu
| Nethack Command | Notes |
|---|---|
| annotate | [**Leave a note about the |
| level**] Leaving user transcribed notes isn’t too bad an idea. But very keyboard centric. People can just use pen+paper | |
| autopickup | [**Toggle autopickup |
| on/off**] Better to setup a bunch of defaults. always pickup perishablesUse learning | |
| call | [**Name a monster or object, or add an |
annotation**] Too keyboard centric. Get why it would can be fun (killed by kicking a wall), but complicates the interface too much| |conduct| [List which challenges you have adhered to] Belongs in a subscreen| |help| [Show the help menu] Access from the game menu| |overview| [** Display an overview of the dungeon**] Not useful | |options| [Show and change settings] Access from menu GUI | |quit| [Exit without saving current game] Access from menu GUI | |save| [Save the game and exit] Access from menu GUI| |version| [List compile time options for this version of NetHack] Belongs in a game menu. Buried deep or near the end. Fucking hell. Who would make this a shortcut| |versionshort| [Show version string] Belongs in a menu. Buried deep or near the end. Fucking hell. Who would make this a shortcut| |?| [Get this list of commands]. Same as the help command|
Moved to Inventory Screen
| Nethack Command | Notes |
|---|---|
| drop | [Drop an item] under inventory menu |
| droptype | [**Drop specific item |
| types**] under inventory menu. Seems like a UI issue that would be solvable through a more manipulable inventory | |
| eat | [**Eat |
| something**] only needed with a food clock. Should eat automatically based on inventory sort order | |
| enhance | [Advance or check weapons skills] Belongs on inventory/skill subscreen |
| puton | [Put on an accessory] Do through inventory screen |
| quaff | [Drink something] Doe through inventory screen |
| seegold | [Count your gold] See the inventory screen |
Moved to Equipment Screen
| Nethack Command | Notes |
|---|---|
| attributes | [Show your attributes] Can be displayed on a screen like the equipment screen |
| quiver | [Select ammunition for quiver] Do through equip screen |
| remove | [Remove an accessory] Do through equip screen |
| seeall | [Show all equipment in use] See the equip screen |
| seeamulet | [Show currently worn amulet] See the equip screen |
| seearmor | [Show currently worn armor] See the equip screen |
| seerings | [Show currently worn ring(s)] See the equip screen |
| seespells | [List and reorder known spells] See the equip screen |
| seetools | [Show tools currently in use] See the equip screen |
| seeweapon | [Show currently wielded weapons] See the equip screen |
| takeoff | [**Take off one piece of |
| armor**] Is this a necessary UI optimization or can it be handled through an equip screen | |
| takeoffall | [**Remove all |
| armor**] Is this a necessary UI optimization or can it be handled through an equip screen | |
| wear | [Wear a piece of armor] See the equip screen |
| wield | [Wield a weapon] See the equip screen |
Recommended For Removal
| Nethack Command | Notes |
|---|---|
| adjust | [**Adjust inventory |
| letters**] Used to create consistency letter mapping. Good to keep in mind, but more of a UI problem or a configuration issue | |
| glance | [**Show what a map symbol |
| means**] This is what a GUI is for. Need distinct monster shapes/sprites. | |
| inventtype | [**Inventory specific item |
| types**] More of a UI problem. Probably good to keep in mind the item types, but it’s not clear if this is needed | |
| known | [**Show discovered |
| objects**] Not seeing much of an advantaged to view a list of identified items | |
| knownclass | [Show discovered objects of one type] Limited use |
| look | [Look at what is under you] Not needed with a GUI |
| loot | [Loot a box on the floor] Should be an automatic action upon interacting with the box |
| name | [Name an item or type of object] Too keyboard-centric. non-essential |
| whatis | [**Show what type of a thing a symbol corresponds |
| to**]. Only needed because of a failure of the GUI | |
| prevmsg | [Show previously displayed game messages] Not really attached to the action log |
| redraw | [Redraw the screen] Command-line cruft |
| shell | [Do a shell escape. (Disabled on most NetHack servers.)] Command-line cruft |
| suspend | [Suspend the game] Command-line cruft |
| swap | [**Swap wielded and secondary |
| weapons**] Is this a necessary UI optimization or can it be handled through an equip screen | |
| terrain | [**Show the map without monsters, objects, or |
| traps**] Only needed because of the terrible GUI can’t display more than one character on a tile | |
| twoweapon | [**Toggle two-weapon |
| combat**] No reason to turn on/off. Just equip the two weapons and show the bonus visually | |
| travel | [**Travel to a specific location on the |
| map**] Only needed because people don’t like backtracking and in game movement is dull. Work on fixing those issues instead | |
| whatdoes | [Tell what a key does] |