New NetHack release for the PSP NetHackPSP-1.0c.zip

Hello Everyone,

I've taken up the task of continuing the Nethack homebrew for the PSP, released a while ago by the honorable VMU. :)

DCEmu.uk will be the first to get the files!

I've been working on this baby for quite a while now and I think its time to do a release.

The game is now playable up to a certain extend. You still cannot enter text required for Wishing, Engraving or naming stuff. Expect this to work in the next update though :D

You can change your name and other character settings by editing the .nethackrc file found in PSP/GAMES/NetHack/. But be careful because some settings may affect the game play and you may find yourself in a configuration I did not test yet and that you don't have any graphic interface to help you.

== NEW Button Configuration ==

-- default buttons
[UP] = North / Menu UP
[DOWN] = South / Menu Down
[LEFT] = West
[RIGHT] = East
[DOWN]+[LEFT] = South-West
[DOWN]+[RIGHT] = South-East
[UP]+[LEFT] = North-West
[UP]+[RIGHT] = North-East
[CIRCLE] = Same as the 'Enter' key (Confirm Menu selection)
[SQUARE] = List previous message
[CROSS] = Same as the 'Space' key (Select Menu item)
[TRIANGLE] = Same as the 'Escape' key (Cancel Menu selection)
[SELECT] = See the Inventory
[START] = Special Context Menu which enables these actions:
'a' = Apply
'b' = Eat
'c' = Kick
'd' = Pickup
'e' = Wear
'f' = Wield
'g' = Put On
'h' = Drop
'i' = Drop All
'j' = Remove
'k' = Take off
'l' = Read
'm' = Pay Bill
'n' = Quaff (drink)
'A' = (Extended Command) Chat
'B' = (Extended Command) Dip
'C' = (Extended Command) Enhance
'D' = (Extended Command) Force
'E' = (Extended Command) Invoke
'F' = (Extended Command) Loot
'G' = (Extended Command) Offer
'H' = (Extended Command) Pray
'I' = (Extended Command) Rub
'J' = (Extended Command) Sit
'K' = (Extended Command) Turn Undead
'L' = (Extended Command) Untrap
'M' = (Extended Command) Wipe

-- alternate button set when TOP LEFT button pressed.

[TOP LEFT]+[UP] = Fast North
[TOP LEFT]+[DOWN] = Fast South
[TOP LEFT]+[LEFT] = Fast West
[TOP LEFT]+[RIGHT] = Fast East
[TOP LEFT]+[DOWN]+[LEFT] = Fast South-West
[TOP LEFT]+[DOWN]+[RIGHT] = Fast South-East
[TOP LEFT]+[UP]+[LEFT] = Fast North-West
[TOP LEFT]+[UP]+[RIGHT] = Fast North-East

[TOP LEFT]+[CROSS] = Open
[TOP LEFT]+[SQUARE] = Search
[TOP LEFT]+[TRIANGLE] = Close
[TOP LEFT]+[CIRCLE] = Pick Up
[TOP LEFT]+[SELECT] = Display useful information
[TOP LEFT]+[START] = Save your game & Quit

-- alternate button set when TOP RIGHT button pressed.

[TOP RIGHT]+[UP] = Go Up the stairs
[TOP RIGHT]+[DOWN] = Go Down the stairs

[TOP RIGHT]+[CROSS] = Throw
[TOP RIGHT]+[SQUARE] = Zap wand
[TOP RIGHT]+[TRIANGLE] = Cast Spell from Spell book
[TOP RIGHT]+[CIRCLE] = Fire ammo placed in the Quiver
[TOP RIGHT]+[SELECT] = Select Quivered Item
[TOP RIGHT]+[START] = Exchange weapon with alternate

-- alternate button set when TOP LEFT and TOP RIGHT button pressed.

[TOP LEFT]+[TOP RIGHT]+[CROSS] = Teleport
[TOP LEFT]+[TOP RIGHT]+[SQUARE] = List Known spells
[TOP LEFT]+[TOP RIGHT]+[TRIANGLE] = Show what type of thing a visible symbol corresponds to.
[TOP LEFT]+[TOP RIGHT]+[CIRCLE] = Known discoveries
[TOP LEFT]+[TOP RIGHT]+[SELECT] = Toggle ASCII / Graphic mode
[TOP LEFT]+[TOP RIGHT]+[START] = Switch to explorer mode

Still to do :
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- A contextual menu for the 'Inventory' screen
- Display the damage made by the player
- Disable calling the context menu more than once.
- Fix Diagonal movements, they are still difficult to achieve
- Split the contextual menu in two columns
- Keyboard interface for text prompts (Wishing, naming items, etc.)
- Re-enable mouse for scrolling or find a way to display menu that are too long
- Re-enable the top-ten listing when dying or quitting
- Remove the perm_lock feature, as it can cause problems on the PSP when crashing
- Enable scrolling when in ASCII mode

- Any other suggestions?

So as you can see, there was a lot done, but there is still much to do for a fully functional Nethack. But still, with this version, I managed to get to the bottom of the mines and back.

Expect more frequent updates. :rolleyes:

Pawa

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments

thanks for the release :)

heh sry but wat exactly does this do?

Can we see a screen shot on this game perhaps :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pkmaximum

Can we see a screen shot on this game perhaps :)

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http://www.nethack.org/common/info.html#Basic

I'm sorry I'm not finding a screen shot on this link you just sent me, it could be I'm not searching hard enough. But Umm.... could you send me a direct link to a screen shot perhaps. That always makes things easier. :)

there is something called READ whats in the link and imagine it in your head..(somebody doesnt read books here)

lol just kidding guy

That's probably one of the best releases I've ever seen. NetHack ist so awesome, but the previous version was a bit unplayable. Please keep up that great work!

screenshot #1 : http://glhack.sourceforge.net/shots/valk-1.png
screenshot #2 : http://home.swipnet.se/~w-73296/Nethack-Aboutpic.jpg

I can get more if you like

Pawa

wow. probably the best release of nethack so far. thanks.

Thanks guys for your warm welcome to my first release.

For those of you who don't know what NetHack is, there is a Wikkipedia article on it :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetHack

"NetHack is a roguelike [RPG] computer game originally released in 1987. It is an evolution of an earlier game called Hack (1985) which was itself an evolution of Rogue (1980). The name NetHack references the fact that its development has been coordinated through the Internet, though it is not a multiplayer game, nor is it in any way connected with computer-security related usages of the word hacking. The "hack" element refers to a genre of role playing games known as hack and slash for their violent focus.

NetHack is one of the oldest computer games still being actively developed, with new features and bug fixes regularly being added by a loose group of volunteer developers, commonly called the DevTeam.

The player takes the part of a dungeon-delving hero in search of the Amulet of Yendor. The quest spans more than 50 levels, most of which are randomly created. Each level contains monsters, weaponry, magical items, hidden doors and much more.

NetHack is traditionally played using text mode graphics where the dungeon's features, its inhabitants as well as items are represented by single characters. There are also several graphical user interfaces available for the game."

Could you release a source for us hungry coders [some of which would like to learn from your source]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shaunhoare

Could you release a source for us hungry coders [some of which would like to learn from your source]

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Off course, the latest released sources can be downloaded through SVN at http://virtuamunstaz.de/svn/nethack/.

This is VMU's website. Even tho it doesn't have the latest binaries, the source code is what was used to build it.

Pawa

I think I found a bug. When garfield picks something up and moves it, I can no longer pick it up.

Also, I hit harder with my tourist hands than with my wand wielding tourist hands. That can't be right. Even if I can't use magic, anyone can hit things harder with a stick than without one. Thanks! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Psyberjock

I think I found a bug. When garfield picks something up and moves it, I can no longer pick it up.

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Well pets can pick object up (this means by the way, that they are not cursed). Usually tho, they drop it a short time after and you can then pick them up using the [TOP_LEFT]+[CIRCLE]. Unless its a corpse, then it is possible that they eat it before you do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Psyberjock

Also, I hit harder with my tourist hands than with my wand wielding tourist hands. That can't be right. Even if I can't use magic, anyone can hit things harder with a stick than without one. Thanks! :D

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Well with a wand, you're not supposed to hit things with it. You are supposed to ZAP them (by pressing the [TOP RIGHT]+[SQUARE] buttons) and then tell the game in which direction to fire the curse. Be carefull tho, if the wand is not identify by something else than its shape or color, because you will not know beforehand what you may cause by zapping it.

Note also that hitting a monster with a weapon or your hand doesn't always do the same amount of damage; Its random. And the maximum damage is calculated according to an awfull lot of things. If you want to get better at this game, I suggest you read the guidebook.txt provided in the .ZIP file. Or download the one attached to this reply.

I hope you will have fun with this game, and don't forget that the main objective is to survive, not to destroy everything you see. :cool:

See ya

Pawa

Still to do :
-------------
- A contextual menu for the 'Inventory' screen
- Display the damage made by the player
- Disable calling the context menu more than once.
- Fix Diagonal movements, they are still difficult to achieve
- Split the contextual menu in two columns
- Keyboard interface for text prompts (Wishing, naming items, etc.)
- Re-enable mouse for scrolling or find a way to display menu that are too long
- Re-enable the top-ten listing when dying or quitting
- Remove the perm_lock feature, as it can cause problems on the PSP when crashing
- Enable scrolling when in ASCII mode

- Any other suggestions?

Yep! I have some suggestions!

- Full Keyboard emulation. Change one of the buttons to bring up a keyboard. tHis ould amke it much easier to use wishes, extended commands, and just commands in general.
- Full mouse Emulation. Again, It doesn't have to be all the time. Maybe a key to enable or disable it. It would just make it a little bit easier to scroll or pick objects.
- As for the diagonal movements, Maybe you could use the analog?
- As for displaying the damage the player deals...that wouldn't be very nethack at all. There has never been a build of nethack that does that. So if you do include that, maybe default it to off for us?
- More tile support, Of the other, larger tile sets that are out there.
- User defined controls. Hey, we all like different classes, and some of us don't need the same commands as others.
- A text editor so we can edit our config files and what not. Or some other form of editor.
- Maybe a custom tile set for the psp version. Nethack hasn't seen new tiles in a loooooooong time. It would make it feel new again. But If you're like me, Coding's your thing, not graphic design. :D
- internet high score server and bones servers maybe?
- Maybe a mp3 player built in. It gets pretty quiet when playing nethack for hours on end.
- oh, and maybe a more friendly intro interface once you get keybaord and mouse in? It's fine the way it is, But it could be a little nicer. :D

Other Random ideas
- Slash 'em Support? Maybe after you finish Nethack, you could move slash em over to psp too.

- Vulture's eye, and vulters claw support? I'm not a big fan of them, But I would guess someone is.

Well, In Any case, Amazing work. This is why my psp is staying at 2.6 :D

----------------------Bugs i've seen------------------------
-The long menu bug, but you already know about that.
-The enhance menu bug. you bring up #enhance, but it's impossible to enhance a skill, because you can't select it, even if it is ready to be advanced.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I hope some of that helps!

I think it's awesome that someone took it upon themself to keep the PSP Nethack port alive. I'm wondering though, can we play it without the graphical interface? Like with the original letters and @ sign's?:D

Yup!
Hold L and R and hit select I bleieve. It will toggle between tiles and ascii interfaces.

this game is pretty cool. But, a little in depth. Can you save?

Thank you very very much! :) Nethack rulz!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ddblue

I think it's awesome that someone took it upon themself to keep the PSP Nethack port alive. I'm wondering though, can we play it without the graphical interface? Like with the original letters and @ sign's?:D

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Like Genki said, you can switch between graphical mode and text mode by pressing :

[TOP LEFT]+[TOP RIGHT]+[SELECT] = Toggle ASCII / Graphic mode

But note that there is still a bug there. When you move your player, the prison doesn't seem to be updated (prison is the spaces displayed on the screen that is supposed to surround the player when he is moving).

This is on my #todo list :p

Thanks for playing!

Pawa

Quote:

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Originally Posted by megalodon

Thank you very very much! :) Nethack rulz!

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You are most welcomed!

I mostly did this for myself, because Virtuamunstaz did a very good job porting it to the PSP but it laked playability. I'm not letting this go as long as i'm not fully happy.

Pawa :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by grin.ch

this game is pretty cool. But, a little in depth. Can you save?

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Sure you can! Just hold

[TOP LEFT]+[START] = Save your game & Quit.

When you come back, it should automatically load your last saved game.

Pawa

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

Yep! I have some suggestions!

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Now that's the kind of post I was waiting for! I like getting thank you notes, but I love discussion about this game. Now lets get to it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

- Full Keyboard emulation. Change one of the buttons to bring up a keyboard. tHis ould amke it much easier to use wishes, extended commands, and just commands in general.

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Yeah its coming pretty good already. I have a working keyboard emulation that comes up automatically whenever you have to type something. I just need to ajust it a bit and make it so you can also type any extended commands you like, even tho most of them are now mapped in the contextual menu.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

- Full mouse Emulation. Again, It doesn't have to be all the time. Maybe a key to enable or disable it. It would just make it a little bit easier to scroll or pick objects.

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The only problem I have now for the mouse emulation, is to find a button that can be used the the left click. In the mean time, I've added the '_' command which lets you travel wherever you want real fast.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

- As for the diagonal movements, Maybe you could use the analog?

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Well the analog stick is used for the mouse (when it will be reenabled).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

- As for displaying the damage the player deals...that wouldn't be very nethack at all. There has never been a build of nethack that does that. So if you do include that, maybe default it to off for us?

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Sure, I'll make it a option with the default as off... but anyway, i'm not even sure it feasable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

- More tile support, Of the other, larger tile sets that are out there.

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I think its already in there. I didn't test it myself, but VMU did. You can go check it out at http://virtuamunstaz.de/nh/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

- User defined controls. Hey, we all like different classes, and some of us don't need the same commands as others.

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Yeah, somebody else asked me that too. I think I'll have to do it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

- A text editor so we can edit our config files and what not. Or some other form of editor.

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I'm not sure I understand this... I can reenable the in-game options, but not all of them will be available. I don't think I will work on a text editor / file manager as there is already some pretty good ones out there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

- Maybe a custom tile set for the psp version. Nethack hasn't seen new tiles in a loooooooong time. It would make it feel new again. But If you're like me, Coding's your thing, not graphic design. :D

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You guessed right. I'm not a graphic type of guy. If someone gets me one which is original tho, i'll gladly give him the proper credits.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

- internet high score server and bones servers maybe?

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Sweet idea, maybe when everything else is working...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

- Maybe a mp3 player built in. It gets pretty quiet when playing nethack for hours on end.

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Yeah, you're right. I know that there is also some sounds implemented in nethack. I might get them to work too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

- oh, and maybe a more friendly intro interface once you get keybaord and mouse in? It's fine the way it is, But it could be a little nicer. :D

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Do you have something in mind? Send me a screenshot or a sketch...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

Other Random ideas
- Slash 'em Support? Maybe after you finish Nethack, you could move slash em over to psp too.

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:rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

- Vulture's eye, and vulters claw support? I'm not a big fan of them, But I would guess someone is.

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I'd like to implement this someday, for the PSP. Go check it out :

http://www.darkarts.co.za/projects/noegnud/screenshots/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

Well, In Any case, Amazing work. This is why my psp is staying at 2.6 :D

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Yeah, me too. I ain't playing GTA, Burnout or my baseball game anymore. Only Nethack.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genki

I hope some of that helps!

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It did! Thanks!

Pawa

ah a fine example of how your ideas are appreciated by coders.. :)

First off a little bug:

In 2.6 Fanjita eloader 095 GTA mode I can't save. Whether that's because I'm stupid or a bug I really can't tell. Worth checking out maybe.

Navigation idea
When performing jumps or farlooking in the original you get a cursor. Could you use that with a timer to perform moves/attacks as well? Diagonal moves are impossible now, but if you could make the move with the cursor instead of the character, it would be really easy. Say, you got half a second (could be configurable) to perform a move. You want to go across up to the right. Well then press the up and right buttons within the time limit, and you're done. Your character follows the cursor when the time is up. This could be turned off in Sokoban.

Menu redesign
I'm terribly sorry to say, but the navigation as it is now is too clumsy and tedious. The main advantage of NetHack compared to a lot of its more modern cousins is the magnitude of commands it features. These commands need to be accessible. They're not that now. Hence my idea stolen from 3d applications like Alias and Rhinoceros

Figure a 3x3 square. Inside each of these 9 squares are 4 symbols, triangle, circle, cross and square. This makes 9x4=36 slots. Each of these slots holds a command. One 3x3 square is linked to one top button. Having two of these buttons and the possibility to press both at the same time gives us three constellations or 3x36=108 slots. This should be sufficient to efficiently sort out all commands in logical groups within a maximum of five presses of buttons for any command. Instead of giving alphanumeric codes to commands they would look like L_left_up_triangle or L_R_up_circle.

Pressing the top buttons invokes a pop up menu that lists all commands in their squares. You then navigate to the square your command resides and select it by its symbol.

I made a quick mock up to illustrate and put it here:
http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=4/11911500978.jpg&s=x402
Some work has to be done to consider which commands go where, like placing the ones most used closer to the middle, grouping similar commands etc. Well. That's what I had to say anyway. I'm really hoping this project is followed up until playable.

Oh. And quaff is misspelled (quafe) in the beta.

I thought of one more thing. When accessing items in the inventory, it would be nice to have the possibility to do stuff with them directly. Especially useful to items within a bag of holding within an oilskin sack. Or similar.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gnazzah

First off a little bug:
In 2.6 Fanjita eloader 095 GTA mode I can't save. Whether that's because I'm stupid or a bug I really can't tell. Worth checking out maybe.

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Yes it is. I didn't try it with the GTA Exploit yet, I have a 2.0 and I don't need to use it. But since I have GTA, I'll give it a look.

ANYONE ELSE GOT THIS PROBLEM with the GTA:LC eLoader?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gnazzah

Navigation idea
When performing jumps or farlooking in the original you get a cursor. Could you use that with a timer to perform moves/attacks as well? Diagonal moves are impossible now, but if you could make the move with the cursor instead of the character, it would be really easy.

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I see what you mean. Let me try to fix the diags first, as I'm pretty sure they were working great with the first release VMU did a while ago. I must have messed something up. In the mean time, I've implemented a 'Travel To' option in the context menu... this could help when you really want to move in diag, but its unacceptable as a long term solution.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gnazzah

Menu redesign
I'm terribly sorry to say, but the navigation as it is now is too clumsy and tedious.

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I find it not that bad once you get used to it. The functions used the most are mapped on the buttons and the ones that aren't are in the context menu. This menu as been splitted in two columns now, its much easier to navigate. I have also added a small function that when you are at the top of the menu, pressing the up button will bring you to the last menu entry. It didn't have that in the previous release.

I really don't like having to remember the right button sequence for 108 possible combinations.

I might split up the context menu into sub-menus... Or maybe this won't be necessary when I do a sub-action menu right out of the inventory screen. I'm not sure yet.

But still, I keep your idea in mind and will give it more thoughts.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gnazzah

Oh. And quaff is misspelled (quafe) in the beta.

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Thanks, it will be corrected in the next release.

In the mean time, let me post my 1.0d-BETA with the semi-functionnal soft keyboard and splitted context menu. Give it a try please, and let me know if its better.

Pawa

NOTE TO ADMIN: Don't put this beta on frontpage display yet; Even tho it contains nice new features, I haven't tested it fully yet and it might contain more bugs than solutions :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gnazzah

I thought of one more thing. When accessing items in the inventory, it would be nice to have the possibility to do stuff with them directly. Especially useful to items within a bag of holding within an oilskin sack. Or similar.

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Yes, I had that in mind already. That's what I meant with the '- A contextual menu for the 'Inventory' screen' entry in my ever growing TO DO list.

:D

Pawa

I really don't like having to remember the right button sequence for 108 possible combinations.

Me neither! That's my point, actually. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gnazzah

I really don't like having to remember the right button sequence for 108 possible combinations.

Me neither! That's my point, actually. ;)

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OooOooohhh :eek: I see it more clearly now! So this would be like a pop-up menu with 9 possible selection, highlighted wheter you press Nothing / North / South / East / West or a combination of two (NE-NW-SE-SW).

Me Like It. Me Like It A Lot. :rolleyes:

You would have to press, lets say... the TOP_LEFT button, plus a direction (meaning two buttons at the same time for corner items) plus one of four possible action. Ain't that a bit too much to press at the same time? Those direction button on the PSP are so lame. I hate the way they have done it.

But still, its a very nice idea.

Pawa.

I'm loving this port of nethack. Only a couple of things are bugging me...its pretty hard to aim spells diagonally and also, how do i aim them at myself? This should be the . key i believe? but none of the stuff maps to .

Need the #enhance command too!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by steve-b

I'm loving this port of nethack. Only a couple of things are bugging me...its pretty hard to aim spells diagonally and also, how do i aim them at myself? This should be the . key i believe? but none of the stuff maps to .

Need the #enhance command too!

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Yes, you are correct... you can't do anything to yourself... yet ;)

The #enhance commands have been fixed, you should download the BETA1 on page #3 of this thread. It is in there.

Here's what has been fixed so far in the BETA:

- Keyboard interface for text prompts (Wishing, naming items, etc.)
- Fixed the bug of headers that would interfeer in the item selection dialog
- Added a way to go back up a menu when you've highlighted the last item (and vice versa)
- Correctly fixed to always select first item in a menu if no default is found (was buggy in some cases)
- Splitted the context menu in two columns
- Enable #enhancing your skills

Pawa

oops, just reported your new beta. hopefully no one will put it up... sorry :/

OK, first you re-create this FINE edition of Nethack, and then you DARE improving it even further in a matter of days, while taking suggestions?! What kind of coder are you?! You're supposed to be a lazy, apathetic bastar&! Shame on you! :P

Sorry that I don't have any suggestions to add, since everybody already suggested all those great ideas (I would really like a built-in MP3 player myself, but maybe that's asking too much), but I want to thank you again for making my PSP come alive again, because all those jumpers, shooters and racers drove me nuts already. Nothing beats the good old Nethack! I just sat at the doctor's office yesterday, and <FWOOSH!>, an hour just flew by me as my valkyrie went to level 8 and died a painful, painful death. And afterwards my wizard panicked and accidently zapped himself to death at level 5, while he was under attack by fierce rabid dogs. I'm re-living the early 90's all over again! :)

Oh, man, I can't thank you enough! :) You're my hero! :)

One more thing...
Need a way to turn autopickup on or off for when you go into the shops etc.

This is really shaping up into a sweet port. As far as the menu system goes, i really like it. The controls are really fast once you remember the key combo's :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by steve-b

One more thing...
Need a way to turn autopickup on or off for when you go into the shops etc.

This is really shaping up into a sweet port. As far as the menu system goes, i really like it. The controls are really fast once you remember the key combo's :)

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totally agree with the autopickup suggestion.

very minor point here, but the 'quafe' in the menu should be 'quaff'

Quote:

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Originally Posted by steve-b

One more thing...
Need a way to turn autopickup on or off for when you go into the shops etc.

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Thats strange. Autopickup is setted to be only for coins. :confused:

Would you check in your NetHackPSP Directory in the file .nethackrc if these two lines are there :

OPTIONS=autopickup
OPTIONS=pickup_types:$

Because this should do it. I didn't change anything regarding autopickup.

Thanks,
Pawa