diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 070d4d4..446b07a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 GOC=go build
 GOFLAGS=-a -ldflags '-s'
 CGOR=CGO_ENABLED=0
+OS_PERMS=sudo
 NETHACK_DIR=$(shell pwd)/savedata
 IMAGE_NAME=nethack_launch
 
@@ -22,19 +23,26 @@ reclist:
 dependencies:
 	go get github.com/gorilla/mux
 
-#build_docker:
-#	mkdir -p stage.tmp/
-#	cp -R deps/Dockerfile stage.tmp/
-#
-#run: savedata
-#  $(OS_PERMS) docker run \
-#  -d \
-#  -p 23:23 \
-#  -v $(NETHACK_DIR)/var:/opt/nethack/nethack.alt.org/nh343/var:rw \
-#  -v $(NETHACK_DIR)/dgldir:/opt/nethack/nethack.alt.org/dgldir:rw \
-#  --name=nethack \
-#  --restart always \
-#  $(IMAGE_NAME)
+build_docker:
+	mkdir -p stage.tmp/
+	cp deps/Dockerfile stage.tmp/
+	cp deps/server_config.gcfg stage.tmp/config.gcfg
+	cp bin/reclist stage.tmp/
+	cp bin/nethack-launcher stage.tmp/
+	cp deps/redis.conf stage.tmp/
+	cp deps/run.sh stage.tmp/
+	cd stage.tmp/ && \
+		$(OS_PERMS) docker build -t $(IMAGE_NAME) .
+
+run_docker:
+	$(OS_PERMS) docker run \
+  -d \
+  --name=nethack \
+  --restart always \
+  $(IMAGE_NAME)
+
+  #-v $(NETHACK_DIR)/var:/opt/nethack/nethack.alt.org/nh343/var:rw \
+  #-v $(NETHACK_DIR)/dgldir:/opt/nethack/nethack.alt.org/dgldir:rw \
 
 clean:
 	rm -rf bin/
diff --git a/config.gcfg b/config.gcfg
index 19ebb47..b554e4c 100644
--- a/config.gcfg
+++ b/config.gcfg
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
   nethackversion      = "3.6.0"
   inprogressdir       = "savedata/dgldir/inprogress-nh343"
   userdir             = "savedata/dgldir/userdata"
-  recordlocation      = "record"
+  hackdir             = "savedata/hack"
+  nhdatlocation       = "/usr/lib/games/nethack/nhdat"
+  recordfilelocation  = "record"
   reclistlocation     = "reclist"
   bootstrapdelay      = 1
 
diff --git a/deps/Dockerfile b/deps/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0fa378
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deps/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+FROM debian
+
+# install needed packages
+RUN apt-get update && \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y \
+      ttyrec \
+      nethack-console \
+      redis-server \
+      vim
+
+# make required dirs
+RUN mkdir -p /redisbackup/
+
+# update nethack bin location
+RUN mv /usr/games/nethack /bin/nethack
+
+# copy in files
+COPY config.gcfg /
+COPY nethack-launcher /
+COPY reclist /bin/
+COPY redis.conf /
+COPY run.sh /
+
+CMD ["/run.sh"]
diff --git a/deps/redis.conf b/deps/redis.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6554e91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deps/redis.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+daemonize yes
+dbfilename dump.rdb
+dir /redisbackup/
+save 30 1
diff --git a/deps/run.sh b/deps/run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..1166a6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deps/run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# start redis server
+redis-server /redis.conf | sed "s/^/[redis] /"
diff --git a/deps/server_config.gcfg b/deps/server_config.gcfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..45e50f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deps/server_config.gcfg
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+[nethacklauncher]
+  loglevel            = "debug"
+  serverdisplay       = "unixvoid.com underground nethack server"
+  nethackversion      = "3.6.0"
+  inprogressdir       = "savedata/dgldir/inprogress-nh343"
+  userdir             = "savedata/dgldir/userdata"
+  hackdir             = "/hack"
+  nhdatlocation       = "/usr/lib/games/nethack/nhdat"
+  recordfilelocation  = "/hack/record"
+  reclistlocation     = "/bin/reclist"
+  bootstrapdelay      = 1
+
+[redis]
+  host                = "localhost:6379"
+  password            = ""
diff --git a/nethack-launcher.go b/nethack-launcher.go
index bee8037..2c5bfeb 100644
--- a/nethack-launcher.go
+++ b/nethack-launcher.go
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@ type Config struct {
 		Loglevel           string
 		ServerDisplay      string
 		NethackVersion     string
-		InProgressDir      string
-		UserDir            string
+		InProgressDir      string // TODO: depricate this
+		UserDir            string // TODO: depricate this
+		HackDir            string
+		NhdatLocation      string
 		RecordFileLocation string
 		ReclistLocation    string
 		BootstrapDelay     time.Duration
@@ -59,6 +61,10 @@ func main() {
 		glogger.Debug.Println("connection to redis succeeded.")
 	}
 
+	// create initial files needed by nethack
+	createInitialFiles()
+
+	// start homescreen
 	screenFunction := printWelcomeScreen(redisClient)
 	fmt.Printf("screen %s recieved\n", screenFunction)
 }
@@ -153,6 +159,7 @@ func printWelcomeScreen(redisClient *redis.Client) string {
 			clearScreen()
 			printProgressScreen(redisClient)
 		case "q":
+			exec.Command("stty", "-F", "/dev/tty", "echo", "-cbreak").Run()
 			clearScreen()
 			os.Exit(0)
 		default:
@@ -192,10 +199,13 @@ func printUserScreen(redisClient *redis.Client, username string) string {
 			clearScreen()
 			printProgressScreen(redisClient)
 		case "p":
+			// TODO save to inprogress
 			// restart display
+			nhCommand := fmt.Sprintf("nethack -d %s -u %s\n", config.NethackLauncher.HackDir, username)
+			ttyrecPath := fmt.Sprintf("%s/user/%s/ttyrec/yeet.ttyrec", config.NethackLauncher.HackDir, username)
 			exec.Command("stty", "-F", "/dev/tty", "echo", "-cbreak").Run()
 			clearScreen()
-			nh := exec.Command("ttyrec", "yeto.ttyrec", "-e", "nethack", "-u", username)
+			nh := exec.Command("ttyrec", ttyrecPath, "-e", nhCommand)
 			nh.Stdout = os.Stdout
 			nh.Stdin = os.Stdin
 			nh.Stderr = os.Stderr
@@ -317,9 +327,23 @@ func printRegisterScreen(redisClient *redis.Client) {
 					fmt.Println("Lets try that again.")
 				}
 			}
+
+			// reset display
+			exec.Command("stty", "-F", "/dev/tty", "echo", "-cbreak").Run()
+
 			// set user in redis
 			secHash := sha3.Sum512([]byte(sec))
 			redisClient.Set(fmt.Sprintf("user:%s", username), fmt.Sprintf("%x", secHash), 0).Err()
+
+			// TODO create config file
+			// HackDir/user/username/<config>
+			// HackDir/user/username/ttyrec/
+
+			// create user directories
+			userPath := fmt.Sprintf("%s/user/%s/ttyrec/", config.NethackLauncher.HackDir, username)
+			exec.Command("mkdir", "-p", userPath).Run()
+
+			// back to main screen
 			printUserScreen(redisClient, username)
 		}
 	}
@@ -430,6 +454,30 @@ func printProgressScreen(redisClient *redis.Client) {
 	}
 }
 
+func createInitialFiles() {
+	// create necessary directories if they dont exist
+	if _, err := os.Stat(config.NethackLauncher.HackDir); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		os.Mkdir(config.NethackLauncher.HackDir, os.ModeDir)
+	}
+	if _, err := os.Stat(fmt.Sprintf("%s/dumps/", config.NethackLauncher.HackDir)); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		os.Mkdir(fmt.Sprintf("%s/dumps/", config.NethackLauncher.HackDir), os.ModeDir)
+	}
+	if _, err := os.Stat(fmt.Sprintf("%s/save/", config.NethackLauncher.HackDir)); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		os.Mkdir(fmt.Sprintf("%s/save/", config.NethackLauncher.HackDir), os.ModeDir)
+	}
+
+	// create necessary files if they dont exist
+	os.OpenFile(fmt.Sprintf("%s/logfile", config.NethackLauncher.HackDir), os.O_RDONLY|os.O_CREATE, 0666)
+	os.OpenFile(fmt.Sprintf("%s/perm", config.NethackLauncher.HackDir), os.O_RDONLY|os.O_CREATE, 0666)
+	os.OpenFile(fmt.Sprintf("%s/record", config.NethackLauncher.HackDir), os.O_RDONLY|os.O_CREATE, 0666)
+	os.OpenFile(fmt.Sprintf("%s/xlogfile", config.NethackLauncher.HackDir), os.O_RDONLY|os.O_CREATE, 0666)
+
+	// move in nhdat file if it does not exist
+	if _, err := os.Stat(fmt.Sprintf("%s/nhdat", config.NethackLauncher.HackDir)); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		exec.Command("cp", config.NethackLauncher.NhdatLocation, config.NethackLauncher.HackDir).Run()
+	}
+}
+
 func gethighscore(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	// run script
 	output, err := exec.Command(config.NethackLauncher.ReclistLocation,