Světák Bob

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Světák Bob
Světák Bob title screen.png
Světák Bob title screen
Release1993
Genre(s)Adventure

Světák Bob is a 1993 Czech adventure game developed by Bohewia and published by for the Amiga system.

Production[]

The game was programmed for the Amiga by a pre-18 Petr Vochozka.[1] After buying his own Atari 800 XL he began programming his own games that ended up in his desk drawer.[2] A year after the Velvet Revolution, Vochozka replaced his Atari with the Amiga, and created his first game intended for public release, Svetak Bob.[2] As he was younger than 18, distribution of the game was illegal as he did not have a trade license.[2]

Petr Vochozka marketed Světák Bob as the first ever Czech commercial adventure for the Amiga.[3] It was priced at 129 crowns and sold around 100[4] to 200[5] copies. This compares with Vochozka's follow-up Tajemství Oslího ostrova which sold 2,000 copies.[4][5]

Světák Bob was the first officially distributed Czech computer game for the Amiga, and arguably on any platform.[4][6][7]

According to the reviewer Tomáš Smolík in Excalubur, the game was programmed in the Amos Professional Kit.[8]

Prague Post notes that this achievement was a part of a wave of post-Soviet Union advances that saw the Czech video gaming industry quickly became more professional.[9]

In the 21st century the game gained a considerable cult following.[6]

Bonusweb notes that in 1994 it was still possible for a developer to review their own game, noting that Vochozka did this for Svetak Bob in the magazine Excalibur.[10][11] In an interview with Vochozka, Bonusweb wrote: ""No, I definitely didn't write it myself, but I worked a little bit on it," he says with a smile. "Moreover, there was a different time at that time, it wasn't a big deal if the Světák sold eighty pieces instead of forty ...".[11]

Plot and gameplay[]

The main hero, Bob, collapses after a fierce storm and finds himself on a desert island. He has to get off the island and continue his adventure.

A hybrid between the text and classic point & click adventure,[8] the game offers similar gameplay to text-based games, but includes graphics and music. The game is mouse-controlled.

Critical reception[]

According to Bonusweb.cz, the game's graphics were just a little better than horrible.[6] BRNO Region asserts that the game was not a true global success.[12] Vochozka later said the game wasn't "worldly".[13] Amiga Review unfavourably compared it to Testament.[14] At the time Exaclibur didn't give Czech games a rating to avoid discouraging local developers.[8] Som Hrac argues the game was "quite a good success".[15] Mafia felt the game was a "great success " that opened the door for other Czech games.[16]

SME notes that this post-Iron Curtain era of gaming is marked by a national technological backwardness that had a flow-on effect to "scant technological and artistic abilities of potential game developers", adding that while good ideas were a dime a dozen, it was difficult to find top wuality graphics in local games.[17]

References[]

  1. ^ "Světák Bob | Visiongame.cz". visiongame.cz. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  2. ^ a b c Gamifique.cz; Gamifique.cz. "Illusion Softworks: Pohádka s hořkým koncem | Gamifique.cz". gamifique.eurozpravy.cz. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  3. ^ "From pen and paper games to multi-million selling titles – the story of the Czech video game industr". www.czech.cz. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  4. ^ a b c "Vzestupy a pády české herní scény".
  5. ^ a b Tiscali. "Historie adventur #4: česká stopa - Games.cz". Games.cz.
  6. ^ a b c "Fotogalerie: Světák Bob". iDNES.cz.
  7. ^ Desk, News (2017-04-10). "Is the iGaming Industry in Prague on the Verge of a Velvet Revolution?". Prague Post. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  8. ^ a b c Čelár, Ľubomír (2016-10-24). "Zabudnutý klenot videoherného priemyslu – česko-slovenské point&click adventúry". Gamesite.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  9. ^ "Is the iGaming Industry in Prague on the Verge of a Velvet Revolution? - Prague Post". 10 April 2017.
  10. ^ "České adventury - díl 1". iDNES.cz. 1999-08-24. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  11. ^ a b "Illusion Softworks - profil". iDNES.cz. 2002-08-12. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  12. ^ http://www.brnoregion.com/Live/Articles/Our-hearts-beat-for-games-in-brnoregion
  13. ^ "Petr Vochozka popisuje své začátky". iDNES.cz. 2000-06-23. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  14. ^ "Testament - AMIGA REVIEW.online". amigareview.amiga.sk. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  15. ^ Moravec, Jozef (2017-04-21). "Začiatky tvorby hier v ČSR". somhrac.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  16. ^ Horák, Aleš 'Alien'. "Mafia, Mafia 2 & Mafia 3" (in Czech). Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  17. ^ a.s, Petit Press. "Lesk a bieda českých a slovenských komerčných PC hier". www.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2019-08-19.

External links[]

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