NEW TOYS

						rob.ellwood@shaw.ca
						Version:  Oct 28, 2002

	This is a collection of levels for Nethack.  Some are new, 
others are improved.  Two bugs in existing levels are fixed.  Levels
that can have the fatal "trap on portal" crash have been fixed.

	These levels are fine for beginning players.  The loot 
roughly matches the old levels.  

	For expert players, they add variety, but not challenge.

	There are 20 new levels, and 20-30 old ones were changed a bit.


HOW TO INSTALL:

   o  If you're playing Nethack, save.

   o  Name your original nhdat file to "nhdat.old", in case you
      want to go back.

   o  Download and unzip the new nhdat file.

	Half-complete games are OK.  Save and bones files are com-
patible.  Hearse is fine.



DETAILS:   (you can stop reading)

New:

   o  Two Medusa levels (Pasi Kellinen).

   o  Five minetowns (two from Kelly Bailey; Legotown from Rebecca,
      Naomi, and Menna Rempt; two from me).

   o  One minend (Kelly Bailey).

   o  One Valley of the Dead (Tina Hall).

   o  One Oracle level (me).

   o  One Bigroom level (Kevin Wayne / me)

   o  Nine levels designed to look different; you'll often get 
      one near level 4 (me).

Changed:  

   o  The Castle originally always had the same mix of monsters.
      The monster distribution is now skewed:  you might get
      many xorns, or none.

   o  The Dev Team changed one of Kelly Bailey's minetowns when
      they added it to 3.4.0.  I changed it back.

   o  I gave Sokoban a rationale:  training & testing area.

   o  I'm adding stuff to the quest levels.  The changes do not
      affect the gameplay.  Completed home levels:  CRa.  
      Completed final quest levels:  C.

   o  Randomly located traps on top of portals crash the game (or,
      in the Valley of the Dead, remove the stairs up).  Fixed.

   o  One of the minetowns could have the stairs down walled up,
      or have walled-up spaces that you could fall into.  Fixed.

   o  Leashed pets could be trapped in an unreachable area on the
      Ranger home level.  Fixed.

   o  A lot of fountains were fiddled with, to avoid a minor bug
      in 3.4.0.


PROBLEMS I'VE SEEN:

	[Skip this section unless you've hit a problem.]

   o  "Configuration incompatability for file "dungeon"."
      "Program initialization has failed."
      "Dungeon description not valid."

	Cause:  the version of NewToys you got doesn't match the 
version of Nethack you're running.  Fix:  

	*  Does your PC use Windows?  And are you using a pre-
	compiled version of 3.4.0 from nethack.org?  If so, get 
	the other version of NewToys.  [The *second* program in-
	cluded with the Windows version is not the DOS version.
	It is the Windows version in disguise.]

	*  Have you compiled Nethack yourself?  If so, get the 
	source code for NewToys and compile again.

	* Otherwise, e-mail me and/or RGRN with details on what 
	version of Nethack you've got, and we'll try to get you 
	a working version of NewToys.


   o  "Program initialization has failed."
      "Cannot open dungeon description -"dungeon" from
          "C:/nethack/nhdat" file!"

	Cause:  you renamed the original "nhdat" file to 
"nhdat.old":  good.  But you didn't put the "nhdat" file from 
NewToys.zip into your nethack folder.  Fix:  double-click on the 
.zip file with NewToys in it.

	*  If a list with two files shows up, click-and-drag the
	"nhdat" file to your nethack folder.

	*  If Windows asks "which program do I use with files
	of this type?", then go here:
http://www.winzip.com/
	Download the evaluation copy of WinZip, install it, reboot, 
	and double-click again.


   o  If you're compiling NewToys in a non-Microsoft operating 
system, you may have to convert the files from MSDOS ascii mode to 
your native ascii mode.  For example, the CRLF at the end of each 
line in DOS becomes CR + EOF in Linux.  Fix in Linux:  your unzip
utility probably has an option to do this for you.  Failing that,
use dos2unix.


   o  On a level from 3 to 6, you found a room with no doors
out.

	Cause:  you're using an earlier version of NewToys.  
Fix:  download the current version from:
http://members.shaw.ca/rob.ellwood/

	Alternative cause:  I screwed up.  Fix:  tell me.


   o  Nethack locks up when you try to enter the special level.

	Cause:  Nethack bug; the trigger is unknown.  (It may be 
from the stairs to Sokoban being on the special level.  If so, 
it has been fixed.)  Fix:  crash Nethack and use "recover".


	For any other problems, just tell me.  



TEDIOUS DETAILS:   [stop reading]

Changes to Kelly Bailey's grotto town:

	Changed a closet back to a washroom.  Replaced the medicine 
cabinet, the icebox, and the banana cream pie.  Moved one object 
back to the medicine cabinet.


Levels not included:

	Pasi's new Sokoban levels.  Reason:  for people who don't 
like puzzles, they are challenge levels.  

	Kelly Bailey's "Gnome King's Apiary" mine end.  Reason:  it 
is too lethal for unsuspecting players.


Issues: 

	[Good god, stop reading!  I'm now going into technical
details.  When I read them aloud, the lab rats went into convul-
sions!]

	There are 9 "rnd1" special levels.  They show up at levels 
3-5.  (Was:  3-6, until I saw the "lockup" bug.)

	I wanted the rnd1 bones files to be compatible with normal 
Nethack, so the bones letter is "5".  Bones levels ending in "5" 
are loaded for both this special level and for the normal level 5.  
Result:  they load more often if you have "New Toys".  No big deal.

	People making other collections:  name your minetowns 
m_twn-# and your mine end levels m_end-#.  That lets people swap
levels between collections.

	Different collections of levels are almost always incompat-
ible.  PatchHack for 3.3.1 added levels indirectly, by changing 
the code.  That would be incompatible, too.  There's a way to
allow mix-and-match levels, but it's a pain to set up, so I'll
only do it if it's needed.