The Oregon Trail (computer game)
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| The Oregon Trail | |
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| Developer(s) | MECC |
| Publisher(s) | Brøderbund The Learning Company |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Apple II, Macintosh, DOS |
| Release date | 1971, 1974, 1985, 1992, 1996, 2001 |
| Genre(s) | Edutainment |
| Media | CD, Floppy disk |
| Input methods | Keyboard, Mouse (some versions) |
The Oregon Trail is an educational computer game developed by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann and Paul Dillenberger in 1971 and produced by 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 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.
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[edit] Development
The original version of The Oregon Trail was created in 1971 by three student teachers at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.[1] 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 Heinemann, both of whom were students teaching math, to help him. In 1974 Rawitch took a job at 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, and it proved so popular that it was released and sold on floppy disk in 1985, when the format had become popular. Several updated versions were released between 1991 and 2001.[1]
[edit] Hunting
Arguably one of the more popular aspects of the game was the ability to go hunting. 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, players would control a little man onscreen 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. Buffalo were the slowest moving targets and yielded the most food, while rabbits and squirrels were fast and offered very small amounts of food.
[edit] Scoring
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.
[edit] Legacy
MECC has followed upon the success of The Oregon Trail with similar titles such as The Yukon Trail and The Amazon Trail.[1] The original title has been re-released many times, for different platforms and on different media; it is currently up to the fifth edition.
The game was popular among American elementary school students in the mid 1980s to early 1990s. Many students in the United States had access to the game at school.
The game has become culturally iconic and there remains an aspect of nostalgia for those who grew up playing the game. [2][3]
[edit] See also
- Gold Rush! (1988 game)
- The Yukon Trail
- The Amazon Trail
- Oregon Trail II
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Educational Software Classics: Interview with Don Rawitsch, the original designer of The Oregon Trail.
- Gamespot: The Oregon Trail
- Gaming Our Way Through History: A thorough exploration of the game and its implications.
