Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender
Encyclopedia
Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender is a "point-and-click" style graphic animated adventure
developed and published by Microprose
in November of 1992
.
The game is the first graphical adventure game developed by Microprose. It was developed using the Microprose Adventure Development system, and made use of 256-colour graphics
.
that holds some sentimental value. Stone agrees to pay Rex 75,000 galactars for the return of the vase. Rex agrees and sets out for the last known location of the vase.
He discovers that the planet
where the vase was last known to reside has vanished, but his ship's sensors still detect a planetary mass and gravitational field, although none can be seen with the naked eye. Before he is given a chance to investigate further, a large warship decloaks
behind him, and fires. His ship is badly damaged and careens towards the planetary mass. He crash-lands on a strange planet, seemingly inhabited by women only. He sets off in search of the vase and a way to get off the planet.
Decades ago, a vicious war between the sexes erupted on the planet. The males
focused on developing mechanical and electronic weaponry, while the females
focused on biological warfare
. In the end, the females unleashed a biological weapon that eliminated the male population. Due to side effects caused by the biological weapon, the females were no longer able to give birth to males, so they had no way of continuing their species. So they invented a machine that would allow them to alter their sex for short periods of time. This machine became known as the Cosmic Gender Bender, or the Gender Bender for short.
The populace of the planet is divided into two classes, Keepers and (breeding) Stock. The Keepers are technologically advanced and reside underground, where they monitor the Stock. The Stock reside above ground and have a primitive culture. Their only purpose is to be impregnated
by a gender-bent Keeper in order to repopulate the planet.
#194 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
developed and published by Microprose
MicroProse
MicroProse was a video game publisher and developer, founded by Wild Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982 as Microprose Software. In 1993, the company became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte and has remained a subsidiary or brand name under several other corporations since...
in November of 1992
1992 in video gaming
-Events:-Notable releases:* Gremlin Graphics releases Zool, Amiga's answer to Mario and Sonic. It goes on to become the best selling Commodore Amiga game, boosting the already popular computer to be the leading gaming machine in Europe....
.
The game is the first graphical adventure game developed by Microprose. It was developed using the Microprose Adventure Development system, and made use of 256-colour graphics
Graphics
Graphics are visual presentations on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain. Examples are photographs, drawings, Line Art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings,or...
.
Storyline
The bumbling bachelor, Rex Nebular, has been hired by Colonel Stone to retrieve a vaseVase
The vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. It can be made from a number of materials including ceramics and glass. The vase is often decorated and thus used to extend the beauty of its contents....
that holds some sentimental value. Stone agrees to pay Rex 75,000 galactars for the return of the vase. Rex agrees and sets out for the last known location of the vase.
He discovers that the planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
where the vase was last known to reside has vanished, but his ship's sensors still detect a planetary mass and gravitational field, although none can be seen with the naked eye. Before he is given a chance to investigate further, a large warship decloaks
Cloaking device
Cloaking devices are advanced stealth technologies still in development that will cause objects, such as spaceships or individuals, to be partially or wholly invisible to parts of the electromagnetic spectrum...
behind him, and fires. His ship is badly damaged and careens towards the planetary mass. He crash-lands on a strange planet, seemingly inhabited by women only. He sets off in search of the vase and a way to get off the planet.
Decades ago, a vicious war between the sexes erupted on the planet. The males
Man
The term man is used for an adult human male . However, man is sometimes used to refer to humanity as a whole...
focused on developing mechanical and electronic weaponry, while the females
Woman
A woman , pl: women is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...
focused on biological warfare
Biological warfare
Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...
. In the end, the females unleashed a biological weapon that eliminated the male population. Due to side effects caused by the biological weapon, the females were no longer able to give birth to males, so they had no way of continuing their species. So they invented a machine that would allow them to alter their sex for short periods of time. This machine became known as the Cosmic Gender Bender, or the Gender Bender for short.
The populace of the planet is divided into two classes, Keepers and (breeding) Stock. The Keepers are technologically advanced and reside underground, where they monitor the Stock. The Stock reside above ground and have a primitive culture. Their only purpose is to be impregnated
Fertilisation
Fertilisation is the fusion of gametes to produce a new organism. In animals, the process involves the fusion of an ovum with a sperm, which eventually leads to the development of an embryo...
by a gender-bent Keeper in order to repopulate the planet.
Characters
- Rex Nebular: Believes he is God's gift to women. Pilot and Captain of his space vessel, the Slippery Pig.
- Colonel Stone: The exact reasoning behind his desire for the vase is never fully explained, but Rex does not care about that. He is only interested in the 75,000 galactar reward.
- Bud: A large, alien male who crash landed on the planet and was held captive by the female inhabitants.
- Herman Spiltmelk: The last known, surviving, indigenous male on the planet.
- Major Karg: Captain of the large warship orbiting the planet.
- Rox: Rex's female alter-ego. Rex becomes Rox after stepping into the Gender Bender device and has his gender temporarily reversed.
- Dr. Slache: The maniacal doctor who examines Rex after his capture and imprisonment in the Keeper's underground base.
Gameplay
The game is divided into three difficulty levels. Higher difficulties have more puzzles and more death encounters. In this game, the left mouse button is used for selecting options and performing actions and the right mouse button is used to look at things (an alternative to selecting the 'look' option and selecting where). Some actions like sitting on a chair are automatically performed with just a left click. There are 10 different options, 2 of which are used to interact with people and 7 of which are used to interact with objects. Items that are picked up have their own sub-options, most of which Rex won't actually do (such as disassembling his binoculars). To get from one room to another the mouse pointer changes to a 'GO' icon where travel is possible. To get from one place to another, Rex will need to make use of teleporters correctly entering the code. The player must also take care to prevent Rex getting killed which can happen in many places. Although Rex can die, the game has unlimited chances and the Rex's last safe position will be restored after death.Reception
The game was reviewed in 1993 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#194 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
External links
- Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender at MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
- Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender at AbandoniaAbandoniaAbandonia is an abandonware website, focusing mainly on showcasing computer games and distributing games made for the MS-DOS system.Abandonia also features a music section and an Abandonware List, a continuously expanded database of over 4600 games including information about their publishers,...