The Oregon Trail (1971 video game): Difference between revisions
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{{ Infobox VG |
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|title = The Oregon Trail |
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|image = [[File:The Oregon Trail cover.jpg]] |
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|caption = |
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|developer = [[Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium|MECC]] |
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|publisher = [[Brøderbund]] <br>[[The Learning Company]]<br>[[Gameloft]] |
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|platforms = [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[Apple II]], [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]], [[DOS]], [[J2ME]], [[iPhone OS]], [[BlackBerry]], [[Windows Mobile]], [[WiiWare]], [[DSiWare]] |
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|released = 1971, 1974, 1985, 1992, 1996, 2001, 2008, 2009 |
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|ratings = {{vgratings|ESRB=E10+}} |
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|genre = [[Edutainment]] |
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|media = [[CD-ROM|CD]], [[Floppy disk]] |
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|input = [[Keyboard (computing)|Keyboard]], [[Mouse (computing)|Mouse]] (some versions) |
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}} |
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[[Image:OregonTrailScreenshot.png|220px|thumb|right|Screenshot from the Apple II version]] |
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'''''The Oregon Trail''''' is a best-selling [[educational]] [[computer game]] developed by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger in 1971 and produced by [[Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium|MECC]] in 1974. The game was inspired by the real-life [[Oregon Trail]] and was designed to teach school children about the realities of 19th century [[Settler|pioneer]] life on the trail. The player assumes the role of a wagon leader guiding his party of settlers from [[Independence, Missouri]], to [[Oregon]]'s [[Willamette Valley]] by way of the Oregon Trail via a [[Conestoga wagon]] in 1848. The game was originally released in floppy disk format. |
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== Development == |
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The original version of ''The Oregon Trail''(K+T) was created in 1971 by three student teachers at [[Carleton College]] in [[Northfield, Minnesota]],<ref name="siliconuser">{{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070628002639/siliconuser.com/?q=node/12|title=Educational computing for the masses|accessdate=2007-06-12|last=Coventry|first=Joshua|publisher=[[SiliconUser]]}}</ref> using a [[mainframe computer]].<ref name="PocketGamer"/> One of these students, senior Don Rawitsch, had the idea to create a computer program for a history class he was teaching, and recruited two of his friends, Paul Dillenberger and [[Bill Heineman]], both of whom were students teaching math, to help him. In 1974 Rawitsch took a job at [[MECC|Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium]], or MECC, a state-funded organization that developed educational software for the classroom. He uploaded his game into the organization's network where it could be accessed by schools across Minnesota. |
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The first Apple II version of ''The Oregon Trail'' was an [[Integer BASIC]] adaptation of the version listed in [[Creative_Computing|Creative Computing]] magazine from May-June 1978. The program was adapted by John Cook and provided on [[A.P.P.L.E.|A.P.P.L.E.'s]] PDS Disk series #108. A further version called "Oregon Trail 2" was adapted in June, 1978 by J.P. O'Malley. The game was further released as part of MECC's ''Elementary'' series, on ''Elementary Volume 6'' in 1980. The game was titled simply ''Oregon'', and featured minimal graphics. It proved so popular that it was re-released as a standalone game, with substantially improved graphics, in 1985. |
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An updated version, ''Oregon Trail Deluxe'', was released for DOS in 1992,<ref>[http://www.abandon5000.com/download/educational-games/oregon-trail-deluxe.html]</ref> followed by ''[[Oregon Trail II]]'' in 1996, ''The Oregon Trail 3rd Edition'' in 1997,<ref>[http://www.mobygames.com/game/oregon-trail-3rd-edition]</ref> and 4th and 5th editions.<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/The-Learning-Company-OTF3744AE-Edition/dp/B00000JLNL 4th] [http://www.amazon.com/The-Oregon-Trail-5th-Edition/dp/B00005LBVS/ref=dp_cp_ob_sw_title_1 5th]</ref> |
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== Hunting == |
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An important aspect of the game was the ability to [[hunt]]. Using guns and bullets purchased over the course of the game, players select the ''hunt'' option and hunt wild animals to add to their food reserves. In the original version, there were no graphics and players were timed on how fast they could type "BANG," "WHAM," or "POW," with misspelled words resulting in a failed hunt. Later, players would control a little man who was capable of pointing a rifle in eight directions and firing single shots at animals. In later versions, players hunted with a crosshair controlled by the mouse. [[Bison]] were the slowest moving targets and yielded the most food, while [[rabbit]]s and [[squirrel]]s were fast and offered very small amounts of food. [[Deer]] (eastern section) and [[elk]] (western section) were in the middle in terms of speed, size, and food yield; [[bear]] were between bison and deer in all three properties. In some versions of the game, one can shoot bucks, which look like large deer. They provide as much meat as a bison. While the amount of wild game shot during a hunting excursion is limited by only the player's supply of bullets, the maximum amount that can be carried back to the wagon is 100 pounds in early versions of the game. In later versions, as long as there were at least two living members of the wagon party, 200 pounds could be carried back to the wagon. |
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== Death == |
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Throughout the course of the game, members of your party could fall ill and die from a variety of causes, such as [[measles]], [[snakebite]], [[dysentery]], [[typhoid]], [[cholera]], [[exhaustion]], and [[diarrhea]]. People could also die from drowning or a broken leg. Your [[ox|oxen]] were also subject to illness and death. When one of your party members dies, a [[funeral]] is briefly held, after which you continue down the trail. |
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== Scoring == |
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At the end of the journey, points are awarded according to a formula weighted by the profession chosen (points are doubled for a carpenter and tripled for a farmer), the number and health of surviving family members, remaining possessions, and cash on hand. |
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== Legacy == |
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[[Image:Oregontrail 03.gif|thumb|Map screen from the IBM version]] |
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The game was popular among North American elementary school students in the mid 1980s to early 1990s, but could occasionally be spotted into the 2000s. Many students in the United States and Canada had access to the game at school. MECC followed up on the success of ''The Oregon Trail'' with similar titles such as ''[[The Yukon Trail]]'' and ''[[The Amazon Trail]]''.<ref name="siliconuser" /> The original title has been re-released many times, for different platforms and on different media; it is currently up to the fifth edition. |
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The term "You have died of [[dysentery]]" has been popularized on T-shirts and internet [[swag]]. |
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[[File:Thuletrail.jpg|thumb|'''Thule Trail''' screenshot]] |
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In 2007, [[Thule corporation]] created [http://www.thuleroadtrip.com/ Thule Trail] as a promotional tool. It changed the starting location to [[Chicago, Illinois]], the destination the "Atlantis Music Festival" in [[Santa Barbara, California]], wildlife to snacks, and other modern adjustments. In 2008, the band [[Fall Out Boy]] released a similarly altered version of the game, "Fall Out Boy Trail," to promote the release of the [[Folie à Deux (album)]]. |
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The game resurfaced in 2008 when [[Gameloft]] created an updated version for cell phones.<ref name="PocketGamer">[http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Mobile/The+Oregon+Trail/review.asp?c=7058 Mobile Game Review: The Oregon Trail] PocketGamer. Retrieved October 10, 2008.</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:9mdXPUCKLoQJ:social-networking-tagging.suite101.com/article.cfm/facebook_oregon_trail_application+social-networking-tagging.suite101.com/article.cfm/facebook_oregon_trail_application&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us|title=Facebook Oregon Trail Application: Social Networking Website's Version of the Original Educational Game |author=Beidler, Aurae|publisher=Suite 101|date=2008-01-31|accessdate=2009-03-24}}</ref> The rights for this version were later bought up by SpeedDate.com, which replaced the game with an online dating application.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10074004-2.html?tag=mncol|title=Oregon Trail Facebook app to be replaced with dating service|last=Lowensohn|first= Josh|publisher=[[CNET News]]|date=2008-10-23|accessdate=2009-03-24}}</ref> A new release for the [[iPhone]] and [[iPod Touch]] is also available from [[Gameloft]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wireless.ign.com/articles/957/957259p1.html|title=Oregon Trail iPhone Hands-On|last=Buchanan|first=Levi|publisher=[[IGN]]|date=2009-02-25|accessdate=2009-02-27}}</ref> The game went live in the [[iTunes App Store]] on March 11, 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theportablegamer.com/2009/03/the-oregon-trail-out-now/|title=The Oregon Trail Out Now-On|last=Alaburda|first=Bob|publisher=ThePortableGamer|date=2009-03-11|accessdate=2009-03-11}}</ref> On January 7, 2009 the [[Palm WebOS]] version was released to the Palm App Catalog. |
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A [[DSiWare]] version of this game was released in North America on December 28, 2009. |
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==See also== |
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*[[Oregon Trail II]] |
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*[[Yukon Trail]] |
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== Notes == |
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{{refs}} |
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== References == |
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*[http://ldt.stanford.edu/ldt1999/Students/kemery/esc/otMainFrame.htm Educational Software Classics]: Interview with Don Rawitsch, the original designer of ''The Oregon Trail''. |
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*[http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/greatestgames/p-34.html GameSpot: ''The Oregon Trail''] |
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*[http://www.wm.edu/amst/370/2005F/sp1 Gaming Our Way Through History]: A thorough exploration of the game and its implications. |
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*[http://blog.nerdery.com/2009/10/blazing-the-oregon-trail-the-making-of-video-games-in-the-time-of-cholera/ The Making of The Oregon Trail Presentation]: Video presentation of ''Oregon Trail'' for Apple IIe with some of the original developers from MECC. |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oregon Trail 1, The}} |
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[[Category:1971 video games]] |
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[[Category:Apple II games]] |
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[[Category:DOS games]] |
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[[Category:DSiWare games]] |
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[[Category:Educational video games]] |
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[[Category:iPhone OS games]] |
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[[Category:Mac OS games]] |
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[[Category:Mainframe games]] |
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[[Category:Oregon Trail]] |
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[[Category:Video games set in the United States]] |
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[[Category:Western (genre) video games]] |
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[[Category:WiiWare games]] |
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[[Category:Windows games]] |
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[[Category:Wii games]] |
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[[Category:Survival video games]] |
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[[ru:The Oregon Trail]] |
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Revision as of 04:57, 29 January 2010
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