The Oregon Trail (computer game)

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The Oregon Trail
Developer(s)	MECC
Publisher(s)	Brøderbund / The Learning Company
Release date(s)	1971, 1985, 1992, 1996, 2001
Genre(s)	Edutainment
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer (Turn-based)
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone (6+)
Platform(s)	Windows, Apple II, Macintosh, DOS
Media	CD, Floppy disk
Input	Keyboard, Mouse (some versions)

The Oregon Trail is an educational computer game about American pioneer life that has a long history in North American school districts and homes. The game was inspired by the real-life Oregon Trail and was designed to teach school children about the realities of 19th century pioneer life on the trail. The player takes the role of a party of people, of a selected profession, traveling across the Oregon Trail in a Conestoga wagon. The success of the game has spawned numerous sequels.

Contents 1 Development history 2 Gameplay 2.1 Party setup and supply purchases 2.2 Random encounters and decision making 2.3 Scoring 3 Criticism 4 Legacy 4.1 Games in the series 5 Similar games 6 Trivia 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] Development history

The first version of the game, simply entitled "OREGON" was made in 1971 and was designed for the teletype machines operating on the TIES system at Carleton College. The original coder was Bill Heinemann. One of the original developers, Don Rawitsch, was a history teacher who later began working at the state-funded Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC) in 1974, where the game would be further developed. Oregon Trail was distributed through the consortium to educational institutions and the code (written in BASIC) was published in Creative Magazine allowing users of Commodore PET and other early home microcomputers to input it into their own machines to play. It became a very common program for Apple computers in public schools during the mid-1980s and 1990s. Later versions were distributed by Brøderbund after MECC was sold to The Learning Company. The original title was "Oregon Destination."

[edit] Gameplay

This section is applicable to the 1985 Apple II release of Oregon Trail.

[edit] Party setup and supply purchases

The game is initially set in Independence, Missouri in the year 1848, which is the start of the Oregon Trail. The player(s) is presented with a series of menus determining the profession, purchases, and names of party members. The player can choose to be a banker from Boston, a carpenter from Ohio, or a farmer from Illinois (the Mac version had several more profession options, and eliminated the location of origin). While future games in the Oregon Trail series featured a larger variety of character types with more variation in their strengths and weaknesses, there are only two variables that define these three types of character: amount of money at the beginning (banker has the most, farmer has the least, carpenter is between the two), and the multiplier applied to a player's final score (farmer has the highest, banker has the least, carpenter is in between). In the Mac version, the carpenter or blacksmith could often fix broken wagon parts instead of having to replace them. Characters with more money are generally considered easier to play, as there is a buffer against food shortages and wagon accidents should they occur. This can be considered historically unrealistic, as many professionals (like those in the Donner party) could not aptly adapt to the wilderness surroundings. Players then buy equipment, oxen, food, and ammunition for the journey. It is also recommended that players purchase spare parts, such as extra wagon axles and yokes.

[edit] Random encounters and decision making

Buying supplies

Main gameplay screen

The hunting mode

The Oregon Trail gives children plenty of opportunities to rationally think about the situation, giving many options and many possible consequences for each event, thus building problem solving skills. The initial choice players make, and can constantly change if wished, is the pace of the oxen. A faster pace will allow the party to reach Oregon sooner, granting time bonuses. Moreover, the trail becomes much more difficult to travel when encroaching upon the winter months. However, a faster pace will result in a higher probability of wagon parts breaking or oxen dying. A similar set of choice is given for the amount of food to be distributed among the family; a severely reduced diet will result in a higher chance of members succumbing to illness and/or dying. On the other hand, allowing the family to eat too much will result in the food supply running out quicker and can eventually lead to starvation without successful hunts.

Along the way, numerous random events can occur. Friendly or hostile Native Americans might be encountered, which could result in a gain or loss of supplies. Random events include: a sudden onslaught of disease (most infamously dysentery), a bounty of wild fruit, banditry of goods or supplies, sudden inclement weather, and spoiling of food supplies. Furthermore, at each river the player is given a choice to pay for a ferry (which costs money but by far the least risky), fording (which is dangerous, as the river wagon parts might break), or in some circumstances, waiting for low-tide (which reduces time available).

Periodically, the wagon train stops at outposts along the journey, where goods might be purchased at ever-increasing prices, and where players can learn historical facts about each location. Such stops include Chimney Rock and Fort Hall. At any point between the disparate outposts and landmarks, players can rest, trade with passing travellers and natives, or hunt; though excessive hunting in one area leads to a scarcity of wildlife. Over hunting was explicitly allowed in order to show children the excess and effects of such occurrences. In fact, the shooting of a buffalo yields more meat than is possible to carry back to the player's Conestoga wagon. At the Columbia River, the player is presented with a different set of choices to cross the river. It is not possible to ford the river; instead the player can opt to float downstream in a semi-arcade mode, which is uncharacteristic to the rest of the game. In this mini-game, the player must steer the wagon on a raft, while avoiding rocks. Or the player can simply choose to take the toll road instead, but this costs money and makes the trip a few miles longer.

[edit] Scoring

At the end of the journey, points are awarded according to a formula weighted by the profession chosen, the number and health of surviving family members, remaining possessions, and cash on hand.

[edit] Criticism

The true educational value of the game was rather limited and most students regarded it as a video game they got to play in class time with a focus on playing the hunting game and trying to make their party die in order to place a humorous epitaph on the tombstones that somebody else would see later.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Legacy

MECC has followed upon the success of The Oregon Trail with similar titles such as The Yukon Trail and The Amazon Trail. The original title has been re-released many times, for different platforms and on different media; it is currently up to the fifth edition.

An entire generation of schoolchildren grew up on the various incarnations of The Oregon Trail.[1] Thus, it has entered popular culture. Characters suddenly dying of a disease, such as cholera and dysentery, or drowning while trying to ford across a river are plot aspects that are fondly remembered. The hunting mode is also known as being the most violent game available to play within a K-6 school environment, until the mass proliferation of Internet access.

[edit] Games in the series

• The Oregon Trail — Apple II and Commodore 64, 1985
• The Oregon Trail — Apple Macintosh, 1991
• The Oregon Trail Deluxe — DOS PC, 1992
• The Oregon Trail — Apple Macintosh, 1993 (MECC)
• The Amazon Trail — PC and Mac Floppy disk and CD-ROM, 1993
• The Yukon Trail — PC and Mac Floppy disk and CD-ROM, 1994
• The Oregon Trail II — PC and Mac CD-ROM, 1996 (collectors edition included earlier versions)
• The Amazon Trail II - PC and Mac CD-ROM, 1997
• Africa Trail — PC and Mac CD-ROM, 1997
• The Oregon Trail, 3rd Edition — PC and Mac CD-ROM and DVD-ROM, 1997
• The Oregon Trail, 4th Edition — PC and Mac CD-ROM, 1999
• The Amazon Trail, 3rd Edition - PC and Mac CD-ROM, 2000
• The Oregon Trail, 5th Edition — PC and Mac CD-ROM, 2001

[edit] Similar games

A game written in BASIC for the Apple II and published in the summer of 1977, Atom 20, had a similar premise, except that the player had to wander through a post-nuclear war wilderness.[2]

[edit] Trivia

• For players short on time, it's possible to use a cheat code during game play. This code will speed up the rate of game play.

• The game was also the inspiration for a song by Columbia, South Carolina recording artist John Thorny called "Oregon Trail".^{[citation needed]}
• Later versions of the game allows the player to travel the Mormon Trail, though no reference is made to the religious or political reasons behind the migration.
• A multi-player version called Wagon Train 1848 was produced by MECC [3][4].

[edit] See also

• Gold Rush! (1988 game)

[edit] External links

• The Learning Company makers of The Oregon Trail series of games after MECC.
• Broderbund: The Oregon Trail, 5th Edition
• The Oregon Trail Survey
• The Oregon Trail series at MobyGames
• Gamespot: Oregon Trail
• Classic Dos Games: Oregon Trail
• ClassicGaming.com: Oregon Trail
• Gaming Our Way Through History: A thorough exploration of the game and its implications.
• Educational game feature at 1up.com
• Play Oregon Trail on VirtualApple (requires Windows and IE or Firefox)