

               Help file for GEM and TOS ports of NetHack                
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  INTRODUCTION

     The Atari port of NetHack supports GEM and TOS environments.
     In the GEM mode, full-colour graphics is displayed in scrolling
     GEM windows.  In the TOS mode, character graphics are displayed
     in full-screen text mode.  The mode may easily be selected by
     editing the "nethack.cnf" file.  Default is GEM.

     The GEM mode displays poorly unless at least 640x400 16-colour
     graphics is available.


  TOS MODE

     TOS mode requires 80x25 characters for best results.  On an ST
     or STe, use High or Medium resolution.  On a TT, Falcon, or
     other machine, higher resolutions may be used, however only
     80x25 characters will be used.  The game display is as per all
     other TTY-based ports.


  GEM MODE

     GEM mode requires higher resolution graphics (actually, it
     runs in lower resolutions, but gameplay is poor).

     The major difference is that graphics for items in the game
     appear in full-colour, with different icons for each of the
     creatures and items in the game (while in the TTY port, for
     example, all canines are represented by "d").  This adds
     greatly to the excitement of the game.

     The best way to play NetHack is via the keyboard.  However, to
     help the new player learn the huge range of commands, each is
     available from the Menu Bar, along with the keyboard shortcut.
     The closebox symbol is used to represent the ALT key in menu
     items, and the ^ symbol is used to represent the CONTROL key.

     Also for new players, you may click with the mouse to move
     around the screen.

     See the other help items for details of standard keyboard
     commands.  All keyboard commands described there are also
     available in GEM mode.

     The dialog boxes in the game are Flying dialog boxes.  That is,
     they can be dragged by clicking and dragging on the background
     areas of the dialog boxes (generally the blue area).

     The entire interface can be driven via the keyboard.  Arrow
     keys may be used to scroll the map window, and inventory and
     text windows.  Single-character choices in dialog boxes may be
     chosen by pressing the character shown.  Highlighted buttons
     may be chosen with RETURN.  All dialogs may be quit by using
     UNDO.  All dialogs except those requiring the input of a line
     of text may also be quit by using ESC.  The Home key re-centers
     the map window over the player character.  The F1 key toggles a
     cursor drawn over the player - useful when invisible.  The F2
     key toggles the opacity of dialog box flight - opaque boxes
     look good, but they do not allow a clear view under themselves,
     which is the point of Flying dialogs in NetHack.

     The current messages (messages that have appeared since you
     last did something) appear in large print in the top scrolling
     text window, while previous messages appear in small print.
     If too many messages appear to fit them all, a "More" button
     appears.  Click on it, or press return to continue to the next
     message, or press ESC and all the messages that need to be
     displayed will scroll quickly by.
