''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. After buying his own Atari 800 XL he began programming his own games that ended up in his desk drawer.
A year after the Velvet Revolution, Vochozka replaced his Atari with the Amiga, and created his first game intended for public release, Svetak Bob.
As he was younger than 18, distribution of the game was illegal as he did not have a trade license.
Petr Vochozka marketed ''Světák Bob'' as the first ever Czech commercial adventure for the Amiga. It was priced at 129 crowns and sold around 100
to 200
copies. This compares with Vochozka's follow-up ''
Tajemství Oslího ostrova
''Tajemství Oslího ostrova'' (often abbreviated as ''Too''), English: ''Donkey Island,'' is a 1994 Czech point-and-click adventure video game. Distributed by Petr Vochozka through his company Vochozka Trading in June 1994, it was the first nati ...
'' which sold 2,000 copies.
''Světák Bob'' was the first officially distributed Czech computer game for the Amiga, and arguably on any platform.
According to the reviewer ''Tomáš Smolík'' in Excalubur, the game was programmed in the ''Amos Professional Kit.''
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.
In the 21st century the game gained a considerable cult following.
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.
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 ...".
''
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,
the game offers similar gameplay to
text-based game
A text game or text-based game is an electronic game that uses a text-based user interface, that is, the user interface employs a set of encodable characters,
such as ASCII, instead of bitmap or vector graphics.
All text-based games have bee ...
s, 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.
BRNO Region asserts that the game was not a true global success. Vochozka later said the game wasn't "worldly". Amiga Review unfavourably compared it to Testament. At the time Exaclibur didn't give Czech games a rating to avoid discouraging local developers.
''Som Hráč'' argues the game was "quite a good success". Mafia felt the game was a "great success " that opened the door for other Czech games.
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.
References
External links
Czech review in Excalibur Issue 23, page 24(Lewis is a pseudonym of Petr Vochozka)
*{{cite web, first=Michaela, last=Raková, url=https://dspace.cuni.cz/bitstream/handle/20.500.11956/52702/DPTX_2010_2_11230_0_322985_0_111952.pdf?sequence=1, title=Historie a kontext produkce počítačových her žánru adventure v České republice, language=cs, year=2013
1993 video games
Adventure games
Amiga games
Amiga-only games
Video games developed in the Czech Republic
Single-player video games