The Oregon Trail: Won better!

I did some experiments to try to better understand how Oregon Trail works under the hood, and I didn't quite crack it, but I made two discoveries that allowed me to snap this game in half.

• People are unlikely to die from their illnesses unless your overall health drops down to "very poor."
• Your health suffers exponential decay; the unhealthier you already are, the longer it takes for it to get worse. Depending on how hard you drive, it will stop getting worse at some point. By extension, the unhealthier you are, the more beneficial rest is.
  

 

That first part is not a guarantee. In fact, during one test session, one wagon member just randomly died while the party was in good health with no prior illness! But I'm usually one to play the odds, provided I've got some idea what the odds are.

And so I took the return trip to Oregon (welcome aboard, Scribe!) with a new strategy. Abuse the party's health. Grueling pace from start to end. Barebones rations except when resting. No rest unless the party health drops to "very poor," and the rest ends once it reaches "poor." And by rest I mean hunting.

We leave in March like before, and I buy an extra pair of Oxen in case I lose one or two in the the relentless pace. I get half as much ammo - I never needed that much anyway - and have $40 to spare.

The month opens up into the tail end of winter, so we hang back and hunt until the weather starts to warm up a bit - this takes just over a week, and we leave with 743 pounds of food.

And boy do we make it last.

 

March 11 - 77 miles in. Health degrades to "fair."

March 12 - Caulk wagon across the Kansas River. I'm already a month ahead of schedule.

March 16 - 185 miles in. Big Blue River is 2.8 feet deep; we ford it.

March 18 - 224 miles in. Health degrades to "poor."

March 20 - 304 miles in. Fort Kearney.

March 27 - 554 miles in. Chimney Rock.

March 29 - 634 miles in. AlphaAnon gets lost and three days are lost.

April 2 - Fort Laramie and the Wyoming border. Travel slows down from here on.

April 4 - 688 miles in. Wagon wheel breaks - we spend the day repairing it.

April 11 - 830 miles in. Independence Rock. Warm weather.

April 12 - Ox injured.

April 15 - 926 miles in. Inadequate grass.

April 16 - South Pass. This time, we detour to Fort Bridger, rather than risk another victim at Green River.

April 22 - 1057 miles in. Fort Bridger.

April 24 - 1105 miles in. Bad water. Health degrades to "very poor."

April 25 - Hunt for two days - one bear is shot. 578 pounds of food remain, health is poor.

May 1 - 1219 miles in. Soda springs.

May 3 - 1267 miles in.

Shake it off, pussy.

May 4 - Fort Hall.

May 7 - 1331 miles in. Impassable trail costs us a day.

May 10 - 1384 miles in.

May 11 - 1403 miles in. Health degrades to "very poor."

May 12 - Hunt for three days - shot two deer. 605 pounds of food remain, health is poor.

May 16 - 1442 miles in. Health degrades to "very poor."

May 17 - Spend the day hunting and shoot one deer. 653 pounds of food remain, health is poor.

May 18 - 1458 miles in. Snake River Crossing.

A Shoshoni guide offers to help us cross the river in exchange for two sets of clothing, and I take this offer.

May 20th - 1477 miles in. Health degrades to "very poor."

May 21 - Spend the day hunting and shoot one bear. 723 pounds of food remain, health is "poor."

May 22 - 1499 miles in. Inadequate grass.

May 24 - 1542 miles in.

I think you two are doing this on purpose.

May 25 - Very little water.

May 26 - 1572 miles in. Fort Boise. Health degrades to "very poor." 

May 27 - Rest for two days - no hunting allowed at the forts. Health is "poor."

May 31 - 1630 miles in. Hot weather. Inadequate grass.

June 1 - Health degrades to "very poor."

June 2 - Spend the day hunting - total failure. 633 pounds of food remain, health is "poor."

June 4 - 1692 miles in. Very little water.

June 5 - Very little water. Health degrades to "very poor."

June 6 - Spend the day hunting and shoot one bear. 703 pounds of food remain, health is "poor."

June 7 - 1732 miles in. Blue Mountains. Trail forks here and we head to The Dalles.

June 8 - Health degrades to "very poor."

June 9 - Spend the day hunting - total failure. 688 pounds of food remain, health is "poor."

June 10 - Very little water. 

June 11 - 1797 miles in. Health degrades to "very poor."

June 12 - Spend two days hunting - shoot one bear. 748 pounds of food remain, health is "poor."

June 14 - Very little water. Health degrades to "very poor." 

June 15 - Spend the day hunting - total failure. 728 pounds of food remain, health is "poor."

June 16 - 1840 miles in. The Columbia River is in sight! For comparison, in the last trip, it took until October 29th to get this far.

We want to finish the game in good health for maximum points, but you also score points for coming to Oregon with surplus food, so I spend the next two weeks hunting - this is as long as it takes for our health to restore to "good."

June 30th - Arrived at The Dalles with 1175 pounds of food. Health degrades to "fair." We rest here for one day to restore it to "good."

July 1st - Float down the Columbia River and win the game.

Rocks spawn in a slightly tricky configuration.

But I slip through them like a pro.

And make my landing.

Victory by July!

Word has it that the lead designer R. Philip Bouchard wanted a climactic finale, but MECC insisted it be completed quickly or be scrapped altogether, hence the somewhat underwhelming end result.

Let's see how we did.

High score!

 

GAB rating: Above average. The Oregon Trail is by no means perfect, but it's a nostalgic classic for many, and its ubiquity in U.S. classrooms isn't entirely undeserved. As a history lesson, it just works - the mid-19th century setting is as well-realized as the technology allows, thanks in no small part to a great deal of polish and attention to detail, and students can immerse themselves in the role of rugged settlers (or foolhardy and pampered tourists out of their element) without being lectured to or condescended to like a typical children's edutainment title would. As a game, the ludonarrative is as strong as it gets for the time; everything you see and do is part of the story - your own personal story of making the 2,000 mile wilderness trip - and is justified by the setting. Bad things with serious consequences can happen that you have no way of preventing, and I'm okay with that.

But I can't quite promote it to the ivory deck simply because it's not substantial enough. CRPG Addict's breadth, depth, and immersion balance is perfect. But the space of gameplay possibilities - and therefore narrative possibilities - is pretty small. You either make it to Oregon or you don't, there are only so many things that can happen along the way, and even fewer things you can do to deal with them. Later versions - and later Trail games by MECC - add more depth, but I don't plan on covering them.

The Oregon Trail: Won!

May 24th - Warm weather, 190 miles to Independence Rock. The rugged Wyoming terrain slows things down quite a bit - we can only go 24 miles at a grueling pace, and still need to rest almost every other day.

 Aunt Sims kvetches some more as we rest here.

June 8th - Hot weather, 102 miles to South Pass.

 

Bad water is no joke - we spend FIVE days hunting and resting until we recover. And we drink bad water again a few days later. This leg takes 19 days, only five of them spent traveling.

We have a choice to make now.

Checking the map:

We hold a vote - one for crossing the river right away, four for the detour to Fort Bridger. So we cross the river.

Well, we're not fording that.

Dilligaf urges me to pay five bucks for the ferry, but I'm on Big Louie's side. We tip the wagon upside down, seal it up with pitch, and float across with our stuff on top.

Shee-yit.

 

July 13th - Hot weather, 144 miles to Soda Springs. We sample the Wyoming wells one last time - this leaves us retching for a week. No such trouble in Idaho, but the trip takes six days of travel, and thanks to the summer heat and scarce water, we rest two days for each one on the road. But things start to cool as we enter August.

August 4th - Warm weather, 57 miles to Fort Hall. It takes three days of travel and four days of rest - at this point I do not bother hunting.

 

The Green River capsizement cost us some clothes and all of our spare wheels and axles, not to mention Dilligaf's life, but if anything breaks and we can't replace it, we're in REAL trouble. So I check out the general store.

 

And wow - stuff  is expensive here. Everything costs double what it did in Missouri! I spend my last sawbucks on a wheel, an axle, and a set of clothes.

August 12th - Hot weather, 182 miles to Snake River. We travel 24 miles every other day, and rest on the days in between. The weather cools throughout the month. On August 20th, P-Tux suffers a broken leg and an ox dies, slowing our pace to 21 miles per day.

Historically, this was the most dangerous river crossing on the trail.

We caulk and float across - we're fine.

August 31st - Warm weather, 114 miles to Fort Boise and the Oregon border. We are able to get along at 21 miles every other day, resting on the days between, though water is still scarce, and toward the end of the trip it takes four days of rest to regain good health. The weather continues to cool into September.

But how will they carry my European grandfather clocks?

 

September 17th - Warm weather, 160 miles to the Blue Mountains. The pace picks up to 24 miles per alternating day of travel, but we lose about nine days to minor disasters, including an ox wandering off, bad water, and another ox injury. Food is also starting to run low - I hunt when we aren't traveling, but it's difficult; in thirteen sessions, all I manage to bag is two deer, one bear, and a small assortment of rodents. But it's enough.

 

The trail forks.

 

There is absolutely no reason to detour to Fort Walla Walla. We're nearly arrived!

Dangit, P-Tux.

October 13th - Unseasonably hot weather. 125 miles to the Dalles. We keep steady onward at 24 miles per sprint, resting for a day or two after each one. A wagon tongue breaks on the 22nd and must be replaced - we've still got one. Another ox dies just five miles from our destination, but we arrive.

We rest up to good health - this makes a big difference in your final score - and there's one more decision to make.

But this isn't much of a decision. We haven't even got money for the toll road, and if we did, the river's still the better option - unlike the other river crossings, this one's an arcade-style minigame, where no negative consequences can befall you as long as you perform well. And it's really easy. The alternative is a final hundred miles of rough terrain to take its toll on your health and supplies.

Sigh. I got the Trail Guide rating, which I've never done before, but if it weren't for that one incident, I'd be #1.

Good news, everyone. We're doing this again!

Game 412: The Oregon Trail

The 1985 edition's creepy box art - scan by Mobygames

I've played The Oregon Trail in various incarnations up until and including a 90's CD-ROM edition, and thanks to the magic of emulation I've revisited the original 1985 edition - a copy that famously includes a "peperony and chease" epitaph for a failed party's tombstone. But that was well over 15 years ago, and I haven't played since. The trip I described in my last post was actually "D" playing, with me watching / backseat driving.

One feat I never accomplished was to finish the game as a farmer, who has to keep his budget under $400 - not even enough for food. But survive and your score is tripled - and to get a good score, you've got to keep everyone alive and in good health.

And this is what I attempt to do in the video / AAR below, with no prior rehearsal runs. Just strategy formulated from prior experience and watching her play.

 

 

Four commenters accompany me:

Scribe and PVicente wait in Missouri for the next ride

My strategy will be:

• Spend the winter hunting, leave when the weather warms up
  
• Travel at the maximum speed
• Travel only when in good health
• Don't rest - hunt instead
• Pray
  

 

Supplies cost:

• $40 per oxen yoke
  
• $0.20 per pound of food
• $10 per set of clothes
• $2 per box of ammo
• $10 per spare wagon part
  

 

If we take Matt's advice, which is to take at least three oxen yoke, 1000 pounds of food, ten sets of clothes, and two of each spare wagon part, we'll spend $480, and that doesn't even cover bullets. 

I skimp on food and buy just 100 pounds, knowing I can hunt for what I need. But I add 20 boxes of bullets - 400 rounds total, which is probably overkill.

This leaves me $60 for later.

Let's take a look at the map.

Useless! Let's look at another one... now what do you suppose this "ee-gee-ay" mark could mean?

Before leaving, a fellow traveler offers some advice.

And we leave.

Of course, traveling a hundred miles on so little food during the tail end of winter is suicide, so we set up camp and go hunting all month. Food will be rationed as strictly as possible for now.

No whining - we're not even driving yet!

Hunting is a heavily chance-based minigame. Sometimes you easily bag your limit, which can be attained from two deer or one buffalo. Other times you get an impossibly cluttered hunting grounds or simply don't see any game. Squirrels, rabbits, and beavers aren't even worth the bullet - we ain't French fur traders. But it's worth remembering that animals spawn from the left and right sides of the screen, they tend to ricochet like pinballs off obstacles, and obstacles are always larger than they seem.

On March 3, I bag a buffalo.

That's the way you do it. Supper for months! Just gotta haul this thousand-pound carcass back to the wagon and we'll be eating like kings till June. A little help?

 Who me? Oh, no. I've got a belly ache.

Oh. Maybe you stand guard while I get help?

 Maybe. Can I borrow the gun?

NEVER.

April rolls around, and I've stockpiled just over 1,200 pounds of food - 80 days of all you can eat, and each successful hunt yields another 100lbs, minus the 15 we eat during it. Who needs banker money? Filling rations for everyone, from now on - it's time to roll.

DAMNIT.

April 10th rolls around, and the weather is good. It's time to roll.

 

With this climate and terrain, a grueling pace advances 40 miles in a day but also degrades our health to "fair." I can live with that - a day of hunting (and full rations) brings our health right back up to "good." Furthermore, bad stuff only happens to the wagon while traveling - not while resting. Seems better to sprint 40 miles and spend the next day hunting/resting than to walk the same distance over two days.

In three days, we reach the Kansas River.

We rest a day here to recover some health. A fellow offers pertinent advice.

Rivers are dangerous, and there are only a few ways to cross, none of them certain to work. Even ferries, which you pay money for, can capsize!

 

My personal experience is that caulking is the most reliable method. However, the river is pretty shallow, and I feel lucky enough to try fording.

This is not a horrible outcome.

Immediately on the other side,

 

Fantastic. Despite the injury, we make it to the next landmark - Big Blue River, in only two days.

Another day of rest, and more advice.

I ignore this.

This river is only two feet deep, so we ford it as well - once again, a day is lost stuck in the mud.

April 19th - We're not in Kansas any more, and it's 185 miles to Fort Kearney. The weather is alarmingly hot, and the well water tastes funny.

 

We travel 36 miles this day, but it takes over a week of rest hunting for P-Tux to recover. Rainy weather continues to slow us down a bit.

The main function of forts is to serve as places to buy stuff, but there's nothing you can't get at Independence, and the farther out west you go, the higher the prices. We have $60 of emergency money but there's nothing needed right now.

We rest for a day and get some historical background.

May 4th - Warm weather, 250 miles to Chimney Rock, 129 years until Star Wars day.

An axle breaks - thankfully it can be repaired.

The temperature rises, but we continue to Chimney Rock at a good pace of 40 miles every other day.

Standing 325 feet tall, one Lakota name for this monument means "Elk Penis."

Chimney Rock marks the Nebraska/Wyoming border and is the only interesting place in the former territory. Still is today. We rest here for a day and talk to the other wagons.

 

May 19th - Warm weather, 86 miles to Fort Laramie. The next few days are good - 40 miles every other day, good buffalo hunts, even some wild fruit. Our wagon is filled to capacity.

That's a lot of bull.

Halfway there (haha not really). Disk flip time!

To be continued. Or you could just watch the video and see how it ends.