From: jim@bilpin.co.uk (JimG)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games
Subject: Re: Anyone heard of REX NEBULAR?
Date: 21 Nov 92 11:48:04 GMT
Organization: SRL Data


    IN ARTICLE <1e9clmINNdvu@morrow.stanford.edu>,
		news@morrow.stanford.edu WRITES:

>        Has anyone heard of the game "Rex Nebular"?
> I'm thinking of buying it but I don't know if it's worth it.
> Can anybody give me some opinions on it?

Some extracts from a review by Gordon Houghton in PC Review (comments in [] are my own). The game was rated at 8/10.

REX NEBULAR AND THE COSMIC GENDER BENDER
(published by Microprose)

  [...] The company famous for its planes, trains and automobiles has finally
dipped its toes in the adventure game market. The result is an 'adult' mixture
of sex [no more than the occasional innuendo and risque picture], violence and
detective work all taking place on the remote, women-only planet of Androgyne
at the far end of the Universe. [...]
  [... The] main aim is to recover a rare green vase for a client, but there
are plenty of distractions along the way, including multiple liaisons with the
indigenous inhabitants of Androgyne. If you think this sounds like an excuse
for some cheap thrills, you're mistaken. For one thing, the game has a whopping
great price tag [#45 (= $70) in the UK, although buying it mail order you can
get it for about 30% less than that], and for another, the sex is pretty
harmless. [...]
  [... MPS Labs] claims to have created many ground-breaking techniques, and
the superficial results are certainly impressive, if not entirely original. For
example, sprite scaling is used widely to show a character 'disappearing' into
the distance, and good use is made of special effects, such as increasing
volume when you approach an object which is making a lot of noise. Generally,
MADS takes on board many of the excellent ideas developed by Lucasfilm and
Sierra [sic - I'm not a fan of Sierra games - in fact in general I find them
intensely irritating and unsatisfying to play] over the years, and then gives
them an extra twist. For example, you have a collection of standard single word
commands at your disposal [...] and by combining them with objects in your
inventory you can create sentences [...]. In addition, however, each object has
a small, unique list of special commands [...] which add to the scope of your
abilities and increase the game's depth.
  Mouse [...] and/or keys are available for interacting with your environment.
A combination of both works best. [...] As you move the mouse around the cursor
passes over 'hot spots', and the most obvious action you can perform is
revealed in a message at the foot of the screen [...]. If you want to use one
of the other commands, just roll the mouse over to the command box and click on
the verb of your choice. [...]
  Rex Nebular's puzzles are neatly structured. Because of the three difficulty
levels (novice, advanced and expert), you can tailor the game to match your
skills. [...] The action is similar whatever level you're playing, but the
quality of the puzzles really does change.
  [...] Your reward for completing a puzzle successfully can be anything from
access to a new location [...], a new object which comes in useful later on, or
a further revelation of the plot. MPS Labs has gone to a lot of effort,
particularly over the text messages, creating a dry sense of humour to match
anything that Monkey Island has to offer.
  As soon as you start making significant progress in the game the natives make
their appearance. This doesn't happen early enough; you spend a good deal of
time at the beginning trying to avoid getting killed by fairly innocuous traps,
or wandering around looking for objects. However, once you do find someone to
talk to there's a chance to practice your chat-up lines. Here again the humour
is fairly consistent, partly because of the wide variety of characters. Once
you've decided to talk a list of potential questions and answers is open to
you, chosen with the mouse. Unfortunately, if you don't select the right
speeches straight off, you're forced to repeat yourself until you get the
desired result - this can be tiresome.
  Technically, Rex is well up to scratch. The graphics are excellent almost
without exception, with particularly smooth character animation - though some
of the cut-scenes can be a little rough. There's also plenty of on-screen
background animation and, if you have the memory, you can access special
effects such as a slick fade between locations, spinning items in your
inventory, or animation in the text window. [...]
  The sound effects and music are well suited to the bizarre plot, but if you
disagree you can always turn them off. If you have the right kit, you can also
enjoy digitised speech.  The graphics are less cartoon-ish than the Lucasfilm
and Sierra games, and more akin to a 1950s comic book, Coupled with the unusual
sound and music, it creates a compelling atmosphere. This is reinforced by the
manual. While it's minimal with the game instructions [...] it's well endowed
with technical advice and a logbook. [...] The excellent logbook, written by
Steve Meretzky of Leather Goddesses of Phobos fame, introduces Rex in far
greater detail than the game can hope to manage, and is particularly well
written.
  [...] There are still a few faults to be ironed out, both with the MADS
interface and the balance of the design. More key commands would have made the
controls even more helpful, and there are too many annoying ways of dying or
being delayed and not quite as much interaction with characters as I would have
liked. [...] Rex Nebular is an excellent first effort with accomplished
graphics and sound and plenty of neat little technical touches. [...]

[Above extracts from a review by Gordon Houghton in PC Review issue 14]

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

Supplied on HD floppy
Must be installed onto hard disk, and requires 13mb free space
VGA graphics only
Ad Lib, Roland, Sound Blaster supported
Keyboard or mouse control
Optimum speed 20mhz, minimum 16mhz
Minimum memory 640k; minimum free RAM 575k
625k free RAM required for spinning inventory and animated text window
-- 
    Another Fine Product from <jim@bilpin.co.uk> {JimG : Hatfield, England}
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games