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

Světák Bob is a 1993 Czech adventure game developed by Bohewia and published by Petr Vochozka 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.[7]

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.[9][10] 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 ...".[10]

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.[11] Vochozka later said the game wasn't "worldly".[12] Amiga Review unfavourably compared it to Testament.[13] At the time Exaclibur didn't give Czech games a rating to avoid discouraging local developers.[8] Som Hráč argues the game was "quite a good success".[14] Mafia felt the game was a "great success " that opened the door for other Czech games.[15]

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.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Světák Bob | Visiongame.cz". visiongame.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Illusion Softworks: Pohádka s hořkým koncem". gamifique.eurozpravy.cz (in Czech). Archived from the original on 11 July 2017.
  3. ↑ "From pen and paper games to multi-million selling titles – the story of the Czech video game industry". www.czech.cz. 1 March 2019. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 "Vzestupy a pády české herní scény" (in Czech). 3 March 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  5. 1 2 Ticháček, Petr (30 July 2011). "Historie adventur #4: česká stopa". Games.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 "Fotogalerie: Světák Bob". iDNES.cz (in Czech).
  7. 1 2 "Is the iGaming Industry in Prague on the Verge of a Velvet Revolution?". Prague Post. 10 April 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 Čelár, Ľubomír (24 October 2016). "Zabudnutý klenot videoherného priemyslu – česko-slovenské point&click adventúry". Gamesite.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  9. ↑ Zach, Ondřej (24 August 1999). "České adventury - díl 1". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  10. 1 2 "Illusion Softworks - profil". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 12 August 2002. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  11. ↑ "Our hearts beat for games in #brnoregion". 17 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  12. ↑ Ticháček, Petr (23 June 2000). "Petr Vochozka popisuje své začátky". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  13. ↑ Zajpt, Tomáš. "Testament - AMIGA REVIEW.online". amigareview.amiga.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  14. ↑ Moravec, Jozef (21 April 2017). "Začiatky tvorby hier v ČSR". somhrac.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  15. ↑ Horák, Aleš 'Alien'. "Mafia, Mafia 2 & Mafia 3" (in Czech). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  16. ↑ "Lesk a bieda českých a slovenských komerčných PC hier". www.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
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