NetHack 5.0.0 released [LWN.net]

Version 5.0.0 of the NetHack dungeon-exploration game, a distant relative of Rogue and Hack, has been released. NetHack's code is now compliant with the C99 standard, and the release includes more than 3,100 bug fixes and changes, detailed in doc/fixes5-0-0.txt (may contain game spoilers). Saved games from previous versions will not work with NetHack 5.0.0.

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DYWYPI?

Posted May 4, 2026 20:44 UTC (Mon) by tux3 (subscriber, #101245) [Link]

Despite the game becoming a little harder over the years, it's still relatively gentle compared to the crazy variants that are out there. I'm sure I'll ascend eventually, one of these day.

But not today. Despite the best efforts of my large pet cat, I had the bright idea to bump into a charming pair of wood nymphs. And then ask for a second date. Sure, a few things disappeared, but that could have been an accident. How could such sweet creatures have any ulterior motives?
... having chased shadows for a thousand turns in the darkness of the mines, lost all earthly possessions, and now fainting from hunger, I turned to the gods. In her last moments, this Valkyrie was miraculously cured of Deafness so that she could hear Tyr's displeasure loud and clear. In a last act of defiance she anesthetized herself with a floating eye and went to sleep on her own terms, very far from Valhalla. Better luck next time!

changelog

Posted May 4, 2026 21:06 UTC (Mon) by ballombe (subscriber, #9523) [Link]

If one read a scroll of Linux kernel changelog while hallucinating, one get the NetHack changelog

For example:
- net/sched: taprio: fix NULL pointer dereference in class dump
- don't dereference NULL u.ustuck in dobuzz() when hero has been swallowed

Compare
https://lwn.net/Articles/1070979/
with
https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/blob/NetHack-5.0/doc/f...

The funniest one is probably:
- it's possible to wish for tins of the Riders in wizard mode; eating one is
fatal but if you're life-saved or decline to die, the game crashed

Optimist vs. pessimist

Posted May 5, 2026 14:30 UTC (Tue) by gus3 (guest, #61103) [Link]

Optimist: "The $DEVICE is finally fixed and running properly."

Pessimist: "Only until we find new ways of screwing it up."

At least with NetHack, having a sense of humor helps, both playing it and crashing it.

Finally some good news

Posted May 6, 2026 6:29 UTC (Wed) by jemarch (subscriber, #116773) [Link]

Get a rusty iron and farm some pudding.