Welcome to HACK! Hack is a Dungeons and Dragons like game where you (the adventurer) descend into the depths of the dungeon in search of the Amulet of Yendor (reputed to be hidden on the twentieth level). You are accompanied by a little dog that can help you in many ways and can be trained to do all sorts of things. On the way you will find useful (or useless) items, (quite possibly with magic properties) and assorted monsters. You attack a monster by trying to move into the space a monster is in (but often it is much wiser to leave it alone). Unlike most adventure games, which give you a verbal description of your location, hack gives you a visual image of the dungeon level you are on. Hack uses the following symbols: A to Z and a to z: monsters. You can find out what a letter represents by saying "/ (letter)", as in "/A", which will tell you that 'A' is a giant ant. - and | These form the walls of a room (or maze). . this is the floor of a room. # this is a corridor. > this is the staircase to the next level. < the staircase to the previous level. ` A large boulder. @ You (usually). ^ A trap. ) A weapon of some sort. ( Some other useful object (key, rope, dynamite, camera, ...) [ A suit of armor. % A piece of food (not necessarily healthy ...). / A wand. = A ring. ? A scroll. ! A magic potion. $ A pile or pot of gold. Commands: Hack knows the following commands: ? Help: print this list. / (followed by any symbol): tell what this symbol represents. \ what you've discovered about objects in the game. < up: go up the staircase (if you are standing on it). > down: go down (just like up). ^ ask for the type of a trap you found earlier. ) ask for current wielded weapon. [ ask for current armor. = ask for current rings. . rest, do nothing. , Pick up whatever you happen to be standing on. ^R redraw the screen. ^P repeat last message (subsequent ^P's repeat earlier messages). kjhlyubn - go one step in the direction indicated. k: north (i.e., to the top of the screen), j: south, h: west, l: east, y: ne, u: nw, b: se, n: sw. KJHLYUBN - Go in that direction until you hit a wall or run into something. a use, apply - Generic command for using a key to lock or unlock a door, using a camera, using a rope, etc. c call: name a certain object or class of objects. C Call: Name an individual monster. d drop something. d7a: drop seven items of object a. D Drop several things. In answer to the question "What kinds of things do you want to drop? [!%= au]" you should give zero or more object symbols possibly followed by 'a' and/or 'u'. 'a' means: drop all such objects, without asking for confirmation. 'u' means: drop only unpaid objects (when in a shop). e eat food. f (followed by one of kjhlyubn): move until something interesting is found. F (followed by one of KJHLYUBN): as previous, but forking of corridors is not considered interesting. i print your inventory. m (followed by one of kjhlyubn): move without picking up any objects. M (followed by one of KJHLYUBN): Move far, no pickup. o set options. (see below) p pay your shopping bill. P Put on a ring. q drink (quaff) a potion. Q Quit the game. r read a scroll. R Remove Ring. s search for secret doors and traps around you. t throw or shoot a weapon. T Takeoff armor. v print version number. w wield weapon. w- means: wield nothing, use bare hands. W Wear armor. z Zap with a wand. You can put a number before a command to repeat it that many times, as in "20s" or "40.". Options: To turn an option on, say 'ox', where x is the option letter. To turn it off, say 'o!x'. The following options currently exist. o oneline Give inventories one line at a time (at the top of your screen). time Display your elapsed time (# of moves) help Help with options Have Fun, and Good Hacking!