The Hobbit (computer game)
| The hobbit | |
|---|---|
| Studio | Beam software |
| Publisher | Melbourne House |
| Senior Developer | Philip Mitchell, Veronika Megler |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1982 |
| platform | Commodore 64 , Apple 2 , MSX , IBM PC , Apple Macintosh , Dragon 32 , BBC Micro , Oric Atmos , Schneider CPC , ZX Spectrum |
| genre | Adventure |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | keyboard |
| medium | Cassette , floppy disk |
| language | English |
The Hobbit is an illustrated text adventure that first appeared in 1982 for the ZX Spectrum home computer and was later ported to many home computers popular at the time. Its plot is based on the novel The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien . The game was developed by the Australian software company Beam Software and published by Melbourne House . A copy of the book was included with every computer game.
action
The player takes on the role of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, whose task it is to find treasure in the game world "Wilderland" and to bring it back to his apartment.
Game principle and technology
At that time, most of the adventures that could run on home computers with a cassette drive used word-oriented parsers that only allowed simple commands ( verb plus object , for example: " Take lamp "). The Hobbit used an advanced parser that made it possible to enter more complex commands, such as: " Ask Gandalf about the strange map, then take the sword and kill the troll ". To help the player with the new system, Melbourne House published a game manual called " A guide to playing The Hobbit ".
The game is partly in real time. If the player reacts too slowly or incorrectly, the virtual character acts by itself. This makes the game look more realistic and the player feels more involved.
There are numerous non-player characters in the game . These figures move independently through the game without being able to influence them. Depending on the behavior of the characters, the game has a different ending.
Production notes
The game came with the printed novel The Hobbit to increase immersion . A sentence from the game that has gone down in popular culture : "Thorin sits down and starts singing about gold." (in German: Thorin sits down and begins to sing about gold.)
reception
The computer magazine World of Spectrum described The Hobbit as "one of the best adventure games on the market", but pointed to technical differences in quality between the individual conversions. Home Computing Weekly rated the 1985 version for the Schneider CPC as technically outdated and overpriced, but recognized the innovation factor of the game.
In the list of Top 50 Software Classics by the trade magazine Sinclair User , The Hobbit was ranked number 1 in 1985.
literature
- David Elkan: A Guide to Playing the Hobbit. Melbourne House, Tring, England 1984, ISBN 0-86161-161-6
Web links
- The Hobbit on the Internet Archive (with the option to play)
- The Hobbit at MobyGames (English)
- Emulator that visualizes the inner workings of the game
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c The Hobbit . In: Home Computing Weekly . No. 121, July 1985, p. 14.
- ↑ Hobbit Ringers . In: World of Spectrum . February 1984, p. 4.
- ↑ CarlyleSmith.Karoo.net: Sinclair User Top 50 Software Classics. Retrieved October 12, 2016 .
