EvilHack is a NetHack variant that is designed to be a much more challenging experience that the original, drawing inspiration from and incorporating some of the best features from variants such as GruntHack and SporkHack, as well as other interesting bits of code from other variants (Slash'EM, Splicehack, UnNetHack, xNetHack). Wrap all that up along with some custom/unique content never seen before in any other variant, and you have EvilHack.
EvilHack was initially built off of the NetHack 3.6.2 codebase, and will be updated accordingly as NetHack 3.6.x progresses and evolves.
This variant is designed to be difficult, much like how GruntHack and SporkHack turned out to be (hence the name 'EvilHack'). It is not impossible to win by any means, but several aspects of the game that one might take for granted in the 'vanilla' version of NetHack can easily cost you your game in this variant. Various monsters are tougher, have more hit points, can fight more intelligently, and can use a variety of objects against you that previously only the player could use.
The EvilHack changelog is updated regularly and is an excellent resource to access for viewing current changes to existing releases, as well as up and coming changes for future versions - https://github.com/k21971/EvilHack/blob/master/doc/evilhack-changelog.md
More information regarding this variant can be accessed at the NetHackWiki - https://nethackwiki.com/wiki/EvilHack - or by visiting channels #evilhack or #hardfought on Libera IRC.
As stated before, the overall design goal for EvilHack is that it's a more difficult and challenging game than vanilla NetHack or other variants, without sacrificing game balance or (most importantly) the game's fun-factor.
In short:
- EvilHack is meant to be very difficult and challenging
- EvilHack is meant to be fun, even though it is difficult
- Any changes should be balanced
- Replayablilty/randomness is a priority design goal to ensure unpredictable
outcomes and to keep the experience fresh - Addressing bugs/balance issues will always be an ongoing process
- Player feedback/constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged
Each OS type found under the sys
folder has an installation guide for that
particular operating system. Pre-compiled binaries (linux and windows) can be
found here - https://github.com/k21971/EvilHack/releases
For Linux (TL;DR version):
-
Dependencies needed:
make
gcc
gdb
flex
bison
libncurses-dev
-
From the desired directory,
git clone https://github.com/k21971/EvilHack.git
-
Navigate to the
EvilHack/sys/unix
folder, then./setup.sh hints/linux
or./setup.sh hints/linux-debug
depending on what you intend to do-
Using the standard
linux
hints file assumes running as a normal user, and game folders and files will reside in/home/$USER
based on the account used. Invokingsudo
should not be necessary -
Using the
linux-debug
hints file assumes installing as root, and includes extra CFLAGS for debugging in a development scenario -
With either hints file, edit the install paths to your liking
-
-
Navigate back to the root EvilHack folder, and
make all && make install
-
Execute the
evilhack
binary -
In the home directory of the account used to install EvilHack, create your rc config file -
touch .evilhackrc
and then edit as necessary