Game 410: Oregon

The Oregon Trail could well be the second most famous game of 1985, at least in the U.S., where it was once ubiquitous to elementary school computers. Students, when allowed their precious few minutes of computer time, would form a wagon train of their friends and enemies, and get them picked off one-by-one by disease, drowning, snakebites, and raider attacks, to name some of the many hazards of 19th century American wilderness, leaving behind a trail of dirty epitaphs. Or just spend the entire session hunting buffalo and squirrels. Either way, little history was learned or appreciated.

It's a pretty well known bit of trivia by now that the iconic 1985 Apple II game was adapted from a much earlier BASIC game, created in 1971 as a high school history lesson by Minneapolis teacher Don Rawitsch. In 1974, he joined MECC, then a state-operated organization, and in 1975, released an updated edition statewide, and then nationwide, quickly becoming MECC's most popular product. Less well known is that 1985 wasn't the first version on Apple II; MECC made and distributed microcomputer ports of their BASIC games as early as 1978, and Oregon was one of the first conversions.

That original 1971 version has been lost to the great bit bucket - deleted from the school computer by summer vacation, and the prospects that Rawitsch's sole paper printout backup survives today are dismal. The best we can do here is the 1975 version, which Digital Antiquarian curates along with a recreation of the "final" 1978 HP-BASIC version.

To play these, rather than emulate an HP-2100 system or have to telnet into a virtual one, I wound up using Tom Nelson's Iowa Basic interpreter. Please note that at the time of this writing, the stable release isn't quite compatible with either version of Oregon; the code used by the timed shooting minigame is unimplemented. I used a test version that includes it, which will become unavailable once the next stable release comes out.

If you want to play the 1975 version this way, you'll need a small code change. This line:

4515  ENTER #P,B2,B1,C$

becomes

4515  ENTER B2,B1,C$

 

THIS PROGRAM SIMULATES A TRIP OVER THE OREGON TRAIL FROM
INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI TO OREGON CITY, OREGON IN 1847.
YOUR FAMILY OF FIVE WILL COVER THE 2000 MILE OREGON TRAIL
IN 5-6 MONTHS --- IF YOU MAKE IT ALIVE.

Being already familiar with the 1985 Apple II version, this BASIC edition is a bit, well, basic. Despite what the description says, your family is mostly unaccounted for here - you don't name them (or yourself), they can't die or get sick, and apart from some mention in random events (e.g. "your son got lost - spend half the day looking for him"), for all intents and purposes you travel alone.

Your first decision is allocating a $700 budget on oxen, food, ammo, clothes, and miscellaneous supplies. 

My choices:

• $300 for oxen. This is the most you can spend, and more is better.
• $50 for food, just so you don't starve to death right at the start.
• $50 for ammo. More than you need.
• $150 for clothing.
• $150 for miscellaneous.

 

MONDAY MARCH 29 1847


TOTAL MILEAGE IS 0
FOOD           BULLETS        CLOTHING       MISC. SUPP.    CASH
 50             2500           150            150            0
DO YOU WANT TO (1) HUNT, OR (2) CONTINUE

Of course I want to hunt!

TYPE BANGbang

SORRY---NO LUCK TODAY
DO YOU WANT TO EAT (1) POORLY  (2) MODERATELY
OR (3) WELL?

 

Whoops - I forgot to turn on caps lock. Oh well - this is why you buy some food to start. I eat well anyway.

A random event occurs:

RIDERS AHEAD.  THEY LOOK HOSTILE
TACTICS
(1) RUN  (2) ATTACK  (3) CONTINUE  (4) CIRCLE WAGONS
IF YOU RUN YOU'LL GAIN TIME BUT WEAR DOWN YOUR OXEN
IF YOU CIRCLE YOU'LL LOSE TIME

 

I turn on caps lock and attack.

TYPE BANGBANG

NICE SHOOTING---YOU DROVE THEM OFF
RIDERS WERE HOSTILE--CHECK FOR LOSSES
WAGON BREAKS DOWN--LOSE TIME AND SUPPLIES FIXING IT

 

Shooting, whether it's for hunting or self defense, is a timed minigame where you type "BANG" as quickly as possible. Do it in less than a second and it's a guaranteed success - take longer than seven and it's a guaranteed failure. How much food you take home or how many supplies you lose is a function of how long it took with some randomness.

MONDAY APRIL 12 1847

TOTAL MILEAGE IS 157
FOOD           BULLETS        CLOTHING       MISC. SUPP.    CASH
 27             2380           150            142            0
DO YOU WANT TO (1) STOP AT THE NEXT FORT, (2) HUNT, OR (3) CONTINUE

 

I'd better hunt, and I'd better be successful.

TYPE BANGBANG

RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES---YOU GOT A BIG ONE!!!!
DO YOU WANT TO EAT (1) POORLY  (2) MODERATELY
OR (3) WELL?

 

And that's pretty much the whole extent of the game, which took less than two minutes to finish from this point on. Food was never a problem - I'd hunt every day, always taking home more than I could eat, and never came close to running out of bullets or supplies.

A condensed timeline of April 12th onward:

• April 12th - 157 miles. Bandits attack, wounding an ox.
• April 26th - 319 miles. Encountered friendly riders. Heavy rains slow progress and ruin some supplies.
• May 10th - 476 miles. Encountered friendly riders. Ruined some clothing and food fording a river (this is not a choice in this version).
• May 24th - 615 miles.
• June 7th - 785 miles. Cold weather in the mountains slows progress.
• June 21st - 950 miles. Ox injures its leg, slowing progress.
• July 5th - 1055 miles. Heavy fog slows progress.
• July 19th - 1212 miles. Fought off bandits. Son got lost, costing half a day.
• August 2nd - 1374 miles. Heavy fog and mountainous terrain slows progress.
• August 16th - 1455 miles. Killed a poisonous snake. Mountainous terrain slows progress.
• August 31st - 1535 miles.
• September 13th - 1705 miles. Ruined some food and clothing fording a river. Lost the trail and wasted a day.
• September 27th - 1784 miles. Heavy fog and mountainous terrain slows progress.
• October 11th - 1870 miles. Fought off wild animals. Mountainous terrain slows progress.
• October 25th - 1974 miles. Bandits attack, stealing an ox.
• October 30th - 2040 miles. Arrived at Oregon City!

 

PRESIDENT JAMES K. POLK SENDS YOU HIS
      HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS

           AND WISHES YOU A PROSPEROUS LIFE AHEAD

                      AT YOUR NEW HOME

 

I arrived with:

• 449 pounds of food (having started with 50)
• 1268/2500 bullets
• 102/150 clothing
• 125/150 miscellaneous
• $0/$700

 

So really, I came pretty overprepared. But maybe I could get there quicker with less hunting, and a bit more money spent on food?

I replayed and allocated my budget like this:

• $300 for oxen
• $240 on food
• $30 on bullets
• $90 on clothing
• $40 on misc

 

My trip:

• March 29 - 0 miles, 240 food. Hunted.
• April 12 - 165 miles, 269 food. Hunted. Encountered friendly riders, but got struck by mild illness.
• April 26th - 334 miles, 303 food. Hunted.
• May 10th - 509 miles, 324 food. No more hunting. Fought off some wild animals, but not before they got into the food and clothes.
• May 24th - 726 miles, 285 food.
• June 7th - 946 miles, 262 food. Blizzard in the mountains wastes time and supplies.
• June 21st - 1080 miles, 214 food. Hail damages supplies.
• July 5th - 1291 miles, 191 food. Wasted time looking for clean water. Mountainous terrain slows progress.
• July 19th - 1446 miles, 168 food. Wasted time looking for clean water.
• August 2nd - 1661 miles, 145 food. Heavy fog and mountainous terrain slows progress. Blizzard wastes more time and supplies.
• August 16th - 1724 miles, 97 food. Cold weather. Mountainous terrain slows progress.
• August 31st - 1895 miles, 74 food. Mountainous terrain slows progress.
• September 13th - 2021 miles, 51 food. Wasted time looking for clean water. Mountainous terrain slows progress.
• September 14th - 2040 miles. Arrived at Oregon City with:
  • 51 pounds of food
  • 516/1500 bullets
  • 82/90 clothes
  • 11/40 supplies
  • $0/$700
     

For comparison, let's check out the 1978 version.

The first addition is a shooting difficulty option:

HOW GOOD A SHOT ARE YOU WITH YOUR RIFLE?
  (1) ACE MARKSMAN,  (2) GOOD SHOT,  (3) FAIR TO MIDDLIN'
         (4) NEED MORE PRACTICE,  (5) SHAKY KNEES
ENTER ONE OF THE ABOVE . THE BETTER YOU CLAIM YOU ARE, THE
FASTER YOU'LL HAVE TO BE WITH YOUR GUN TO BE SUCCESSFUL.

 

Option #1 is more challenging than the 1975 version, but #2 is easier. In fact, so easy that when I tried it, I never got anything less than the most desirable outcome. So for this runthrough, we're going with #1.

Then you get to spend your $700. My budget:

• $300 for oxen.
• $100 for food.
• $50 for ammo.
• $100 for clothing.
• $50 for miscellaneous.

 

This saves $100 for emergency doctor fees, which, unlike in the 1975 version, might actually be needed.

 

MONDAY MARCH 29 1847

TOTAL MILEAGE IS 0
FOOD           BULLETS        CLOTHING       MISC. SUPP.    CASH
 100            2500           100            50             100
DO YOU WANT TO (1) HUNT, OR (2) CONTINUE
?1
TYPE BLAM
BLAM

NICE SHOT.RIGHT ON TARGET.GOOD EATIN' TONIGHT!!
DO YOU WANT TO EAT (1) POORLY  (2) MODERATELY
OR (3) WELL?

 

Another gameplay difference here is that shooting now picks a random word to type - "BANG," "WHAM," "POW," or "BLAM," making you stop and read the word instead of just relying on muscle memory to tap out "BANG" as quickly as possible. Failures are much more of a possibility if you're playing on the highest difficulty.

Nevertheless, I won again easily. I hunted almost every day for the first five months, and ate well every day. The hunts weren't always successful, but overall still yielded enough surplus food to sustain my gourmandish lifestyle.

• April 12th - 178 miles, 121 food. Hunting successful. Failed to drive off wild animals, which got at food and clothes.
  
• April 26th - 351 miles, 128 food. Hunting successful. Fought off raiders. Indians helped locate more food.
  
• May 10th - 524 miles, 163 food. Hunting failed. Daughter broke her arm, costing supplies to make a sling.
  
• May 24th - 692 miles, 140 food. Hunting successful. Heavy rains waste time and supplies.
  
• June 7th - 864 miles, 151 food. Hunting successful. Hail storm damages supplies. Made it through the south pass before snowfall.
• June 21st - 1034 miles, 172 food. Hunting successful. Fought off raiders. Son got lost and wasted time finding him. Mountainous terrain slows progress.
  
• July 5th - 1129 miles, 193 food. Hunting failed. Cold weather.
  
• July 19th - 1305 miles, 170 food. Hunting successful. Fought off wild animals.
  
• August 2nd - 1480 miles, 175 food. No more hunting. Mountainous terrain slows progress.
  
• August 16th - 1633 miles, 152 food. Wasted time looking for clean water. Blizzard in the mountains wastes time and supplies.
• August 31st - 1748 miles, 104 food. Went hunting, but failed. Bandits stole an ox and injured my leg, costing me $20 for a doctor. Slow progress in the mountains.
  
• September 13th - 1870 miles, 81 food. Fought off wild animals. Slow progress in the mountains.
  
• September 27th - 2016 miles, 42 food. Fought off wild animals. Slow progress in the mountains.
  
• September 29th - 2040 miles. Arrived at Oregon City, with:
  
• 22 pounds of food
• 932/1500 bullets
• 64/100 clothes
• 8/50 supplies
• $80/$700

 

GAB rating: Average. Maybe I'm just too far removed from the 1971 classroom environment to really appreciate this, or maybe decades of familiarity with a keyboard and computer programming knowledge (I have not examined the source code closely) trivialized the difficulty.

Digital Antiquarian wrote, long ago,

As a narrative experience, The Oregon Trail is more compelling than it perhaps has any right to be. Its communications are terse indeed, but one really does get the sense of embarking upon a long and dangerous journey. As I limped ever close to my destination of Oregon City, with one of my oxen injured, low on food and supplies, with winter fast closing in, I felt real tension and concern for my little family. [...] The game is relentlessly unforgiving; failing to stockpile enough food for the coming turn, or enough medicine or bullets, leads to instant death. [...] It was a hardscrabble existence indeed on the trail, and I’m sure plenty of real would-be settlers died for exactly these reasons. There’s actually a consonance between gameplay and narrative that’s rather rare to find even in modern storygames.

This wasn't my experience at all - I did not need to make difficult decisions even once, not even when I played the more challenging 1978 version. Hunting was reliable enough that I never had to worry about where my next meal would come from, and never had to stretch my rations out to last longer. I never had to decide whether to push through the rugged mountains with my ill family and tired oxen with the looming threat of a harsh winter or to rest up and risk getting stranded with the Donner Party. Nor did I ever have to stop at the forts and desperately barter for much-needed supplies at inflated prices - even in my most disaster-wracked playthroughs, I'd arrive at Oregon in style with a surplus of Missouri-bought goods.

But the framework for that narrative is there, and I imagine it wouldn't be all that hard to enforce that unforgiving nature with some BASIC tweaking. Using the 1978 version as a baseline, simply cutting your budget by $100-$200 would go a long ways.

But for now, we're moving on.