man, i need to start playing that again

nethack is probably one of the greatest games ever. even though it could potentially make you hate life, or at least various letters of the alphabet. for those who haven't played it before, nethack is considered a roguelike game, where everything is represented by keyboard letters and symbols: your character (@) fights his way past grid bugs (x), orcs (o), dragons (D), and vampires (V), quaffing potions (!), reading scrolls (?) and spellbooks (+), and picking up gold ($) and gems (*), watching out for traps (^) on his way to the staircase to the next level (>). see the link above for a more complete description.

this post was inspired by something i found while cleaning out my email inbox, a "theme song" of sorts that a friend sent me a few years back:

Play Nethack
By Francisco Rangel


(To the tune of Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones)

I see a red D and I want to play nethack
Go down to Gehennom and bring the trinket back
I see the grid bugs bite, the Kop runs with a hose
I light my magic lamp and so the darkness goes

Drop stuff on altars but they're cursed so they glow black
I stash my scrolls and potions in an oilskin sack
I see corpses all around, I'll eat them right away
Hope I get intrinsics, hope my god will let me pray

Sit on a throne and get to genocide some L's
The Oracle will speak, and the shopkeeper sells
Get a prize from Sokoban and then on to clear the quest
Kill Medusa, find the castle, open up that chest

The Valley of the Dead, and David's Treasure Zoo
I'll visit Vlad and get the Candelabrum too
If I look hard enough for the vibrating square
I'll kill the wizard, get the Book, and I'll be there

I'll get the amulet and make a run for it
With demons on my tail, I hope I don't get hit
Go through the planes and reach the altars at the end
I'll sacrifice the amulet and I'll ascend

I wanna beat this game, it's so hard, cannot save, can't restart
I'll go to Gehennom, with my pet by my side
Don't eat the food that's tainted, tainted, tainted, or you'll die, yeah!

for something so simple, it gives a very accurate description of the gameplay... much like weird al's "the saga begins" did for star wars: episode I.

also while checking back on the main nethack page, i found another theme song, which not only has lyrics, but also some music to go along with it.

on which note, it's time for me to get back to greek. but i see the length of this post as a good thing; it means i still have some procrastination skills.