NetHack 3D

Play in browser: https://jamesiv4.github.io/nethack-3d/

Windows and Android App

Download the latest release

iOS App

On iPhone/iPad, open the play link in Safari, tap the Share button, then tap Add to Home Screen. Launch it from your Home Screen for a web app fullscreen experience.

NetHack 3D lets you play classic NetHack in a fully interactive 3D dungeon, in your browser, phone or desktop PC.

Steam Deck (SteamOS) / Linux AppImage

1. Download the latest Linux release from the Releases page.
2. Copy NetHack 3D <version>.AppImage from release/ to your Linux machine.
3. Add the AppImage directly to Steam using "Add Non-Steam Game to My Library".
4. Keep Steam compatibility/proton disabled for this native Linux launch path.
5. Linux launch option notes:
   • --windowed: launch in a normal framed window instead of fullscreen.
   • --borderless: launch in a frameless non-fullscreen window that covers the display without using native fullscreen mode.
6. Recommended Steam Input profile tweak: Set left trackpad to Left Joystick, and trackpad click to the A button. Movement and common actions are very simple this way!

Gameplay video link:

Screenshots

Combat in the Gnomish Mines	Shatter monsters into pieces!
Multiple tile sets	Beautiful UI

Current Features

• Play NetHack 3.6.7 in a 3D dungeon view while keeping core game rules and depth.
• Mix and match gameplay modes: classic top-down or first-person (FPS) modes with ASCII, tiles, or Vulture graphics.
• Combat feedback effects: Monsters dynamically shatter into bloody pieces, different every time.
• Full sound support. Monsters die with a satisfying crunch.
• Customize sound to your liking and create your own sound packs directly in-game.
• Play on the couch with full controller support. Radial wheel for actions, move confirmation for careful roguelike navigation.
• Scalable minimap for level awareness, with viewport box and drag-to-center camera navigation.
• Optional floating damage/heal numbers, status changes, XP, blood mist combat particles.
• Camera panning and rotation.
• Crisp ASCII monsters and items are supported in addition to tiles.
• Built-in graphical tilesets: Vulture tiles, Absurdly Evil, DawnHack, NetHack Modern, Nevanda, RZTiles, and Vanilla NetHack Tiles.
• Upload and manage your own custom tilesets directly in-game.
• Tileset background removal tools built-in.
• Dynamic lighting around the player.
• Full HUD with level, health, power, stats, armor, gold, hunger, experience, time, and dungeon branch and depth.
• Vulture tiles mode simulates the isometric Vulture graphics style but in full 3D, including FPS support.
• Live message log plus on-screen message popups.
• Full mobile touch support (or even in desktop if you want).
• Beautiful menus: item category headers, keyboard tips, multi-pickup selection, and menu paging.
• Fast character start: random hero or create a character (name, role, race, gender, alignment), saved for your next run too.
• Customize your NetHack initialization options: explore mode, autopickup, pet names and other advanced settings.
• Save and load your game. Perfect for long runs.
• Autofill on extended commands with # so advanced playstyles are easy to manage, plus all commands available via buttons on mobile.
• Desktop-friendly controls: keyboard-first with mouse support for map interaction and camera control.
• Mobile-friendly controls: tap/swipe movement, quick actions, extended command sheet, mobile log view, and FPS touch-look/touch-run gestures.
• Inventory context actions for common item interactions without typing command sequences.
• Options to tweaks just about everything to your liking.

Run Locally

1. npm i
2. npm run dev
3. Open http://localhost:5173/

Scripts

• npm run dev - Start Vite dev server.
• npm run build - Build production bundles.
• npm run build:electron - Build bundles with Electron-safe relative asset paths.
• npm run preview - Preview production build locally.
• npm run electron:dev - Run Electron against the Vite dev server.
• npm run electron:dist:win - Build and package a Windows NSIS .exe installer (x64) to release/.
• npm run electron:dist:win:portable - Build and package a portable Windows .exe (x64) to release/.
• npm run electron:dist:linux:appimage - Build and package a Linux AppImage (x64) to release/ (uses WSL automatically on Windows, stages Linux runtime deps, and includes Linux icon assets).
• npm run electron:dist:all - Build Electron assets once, then package Windows setup + portable and Linux AppImage back to back.
• npm run electron:dist:all:parallel - Same as above, but packages Windows and Linux at the same time after the shared Electron build.
• npm run android:add - Create the native Android project with Capacitor (run once).
• npm run android:sync - Build web assets and sync them into the Android project.
• npm run android:open - Open the Android project in Android Studio.
• npm run android:run - Build web assets and run on a connected Android device/emulator.
• npm run updates:package - Create build/client-updates/manifest.json + build payload from dist/ for in-app client updates.
• npm run update - Build + package the latest client-update payload in one command.
• npm run glyphs:generate - Regenerate glyph catalog from runtime artifacts.
• npm run glyphs:check - Verify checked-in glyph catalog is up to date.

Client Update Pipeline

• Startup update checks are enabled for packaged Electron and Capacitor Android clients.
• The app reads build/client-updates/manifest.json (or VITE_NH3D_UPDATE_MANIFEST_URL when set), prompts users when updates are available, and can download/apply the latest packaged web build.
• Update payloads are generated by scripts/updates/prepare-client-update.mjs, which copies dist/ into build/client-updates/latest/ (rolling state) and writes SHA-verified file metadata.
• Update channel switches live in scripts/updates/channel-config.json:
  • Set requireClientUpgrade to true to force a full native client upgrade warning while still allowing web build download.
  • Use clientUpgradeMessage for custom upgrade guidance text shown in the startup update dialog.
• Update packaging is intentional/manual:
  • Run npm run update when you want to prepare and publish a new online update from current source.

Architecture

• Main app bootstrap/debug helpers: src/app.ts
• React entry: src/main.tsx
• React UI shell: src/ui/App.tsx
• 3D engine and client-side interaction: src/game/Nethack3DEngine.ts
• Glyph catalog + behavior rules: src/game/glyphs/*
• Runtime worker bridge: src/runtime/WorkerRuntimeBridge.ts
• Worker runtime host: src/runtime/runtime-worker.ts
• NetHack callback adapter/state machine: src/runtime/LocalNetHackRuntime.ts

GitHub Pages Deploy

1. Push this repo to GitHub.
2. In repository settings, go to Settings > Pages.
3. Set Source to GitHub Actions.
4. Ensure your deploy branch matches .github/workflows/deploy-gh-pages.yml (main by default).
5. Push to main (or run the workflow manually).

The workflow builds with Vite and deploys the dist/ folder.