*Okay, I have much groundwork to lay here, so stay with me. I’ll get to gameplay eventually.
*So, the book lists this game as the very first and has a brief essay that talks about all the different iterations of the game. Most of us came to the game early in our school years, so we’re talking mid to late eighties for me.
*But the whole idea here is to play through them as they originally were, so I set out to find out about this 1971 version and thereon hangs the tail. Or something.
*1971. Don Rawitsch is teaching an eighth-grade history class and decides to try something a little different. He recruits a couple of friends, Paul Dillenberger and Bill Heinemann, to help him. They invent a game, a game in which the student plays a traveler on the Oregon Trail.
*Now, it should be noted that this first iteration of the game was, in a twist I find absolutely wonderful, not a VIDEO game. Ah, you say, but I thought it existed first as a computer game. Ah, yes, it did. I said it wasn’t a VIDEO game; but it was a COMPUTER game.
*You see, the game was played on a minicomputer that had a keyboard, but NO MONITOR. The computer would print out its prompts on one of those spools of computer paper; the student would read the prompt from the paper and input their response; the computer would then print out the student’s response and the game’s new response to that. It was a game played using a keyboard and a printer, rather than a keyboard and a monitor.
*Given the cost of printer ink, it was probably about as expensive as modern computer games.
*Anyway, the students love it; it’s a wonderful educational tool; the semester ends; Rawitsch deletes the program.
*Wait WHAT
*Yeah, Rawitsch just deletes the game. And so video games never exist. Well, this was a fun little project. See you guys later!
*No, it turns out there’s a twist. Before he deletes the game, Rawitsch prints out the source code on one of those long computer paper scrolls and throws it in a closet.
*Fast-forward a few years. It’s 1974 and Rawitsch is working for the MECC, the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium. They’re working on creating a very rudimentary version of an intranet, a computer server that schools all across the state will be able to access from their own locations. And the technology is there, but, somewhat hilariously, the content isn’t.
*I suppose in some way this is the history of technology, isn’t it? The server is there, the schools can access it, but . . . well, there’s nothing on it. What can they put on it? There’s no real digital curriculum available. And then Rawitsch brings up that fun little game he invented three years ago. Sure, his bosses say, bring it in and we’ll put it out there.
*So, Rawitsch goes home and over a long Thanksgiving weekend, he re-enters the program into a computer, using the scroll of the original code.
*This just feels really mythic to me. I can just see him, sipping his hot apple cider, hunched over his computer, the snow falling down outside.
*So, the MECC releases the game in 1975 and from there it’s a slow climb to the stratosphere. The first computer game is born and begins to spread. It keeps getting updated and, in the eighties, it starts getting bundled in with computers. And eventually, just about every kid in America dies of dysentery.
*So, this game released in 1975 isn’t the exact game as it was originally created (and played by a few very lucky students, on the forefront of gaming history without even realizing it) in 1971. Rawitsch says that he made a few tweaks as he was re-programming the game over that long weekend, just to correct a few things and make a few things better. In the intervening years, that scroll with the 1971 version’s source code has been lost. So, long story short, barring someone finding the roll in their attic or something, the original version of The Oregon Trail is gone forever.
*But before I get to the version I actually played, let’s get some more history.
*So, let’s jump to that 1975 version. Well, it was also lost; it was saved on a few computer tapes (anybody remember those?!) but over the years, as new versions of the game came out, those old tapes were just thrown away or thrown in closets to deteriorate.
*The 1978 version was yet another re-write and this code was published in computing magazines so people with the right computers could create it themselves. Then came the Apple II computer; a fellow named John Cook adapted the game for the Apple II under the MECC’s auspices and the game was off and running. While he was at it, Cook wrote a sequel the same year, The Oregon Trail 2.
*To this point, it’s been merely a text game, but in 1980, the game gets revamped under the name Oregon and it’s released as a bundle with other educational games called Elementary and this version has graphics, albeit extremely rudimentary ones. In 1985, the game gets revamped again, released as a stand-alone, with vastly improved graphics. This is the one, most likely, that I encountered as an educational game as a child.
*It was then redone in 1995 for Windows and then steadily updated for both Windows and Mac for several years and, at this point, has seen versions released for the Wii, the 3DS, Android and the iPhone.
*Anyway, somewhere along the line, it stopped being just a game and became a legitimate cultural icon. I have no idea really of the degree to which remakes of it continued to proliferate in schools for other generations, but it feels like a generational touchstone for my generation at least. If you’re from later generations and feel the same way, give a shout.
*It spawned imitators: The Yukon Trail & The Amazon Trail. It’s been heavily spoofed in pirated updates: The Organ Trail follows a band of survivors fleeing bloodthirsty zombies. It is not, as I at first assumed, the porn version. Because how awesome would that be. “You have died of syphilis.”
*So, which version did I end up playing? Well, funny story about that 1975 version, what we would call 2.0, the version closest to the original 1971 version. Well, like I said, it got tossed in the trash bin of history. Until.
*Until 2011. When a researcher found an ancient computer tape from a school in York County, Pennsylvania. The list of programs on that tape? Contained, hidden among the other line items, a line item consisting of one word.
*Porn.
*Oh, no, I’m sorry. I was looking at a list here on my desk. That line item was, of course, Oregon.
*Is this not the best ******* mystery story ever? I seriously think we need a movie here. Someone call Mark Ruffalo.
*And, yes, anyway, that was, seen for the first time in decades, The Oregon Trail, ver. 2.0.
*And, thanks to the magic of the internet, you, dear reader, can actually go and play this game FOR FREE online. The 1975 version of The Oregon Trail, the version as near as we’ll ever get to the 1971 original version. FOR FREE. ON YOUR COMPUTER.
*I’m going to link to the blog post where you’ll find instructions on how to do this. A lot of the above information comes from that blog, which I want to give fair credit to. It’s called On the Trail of The Oregon Trail. It’s a blog done by a site called The Digital Antiquarian, which will probably be of interest to anyone who’s actually read this far in this post. It’s dedicated to old computer stuff, of course.
*Anyway, all praise to Jimmy Maher who made a series of really informative posts on The Oregon Trail that enabled me to start this whole project off right. The Oregon Trail section of the site hasn’t had a new post for a while, but Maher’s still around. I had to make a post myself over there in order to clarify some information and Maher responded quite quickly and fixed the issue immediately. Seriously, I mean, this entire post is due to the research of Maher and his buddies, particularly a guy named Bob Brown; he’s the one currently hosting the 1975 version of The Oregon Trail and making it available as a free to play.
*Anyway, you’ll find instructions at the blog on how to get to the game. I can’t link straight to the game because, get this, you’ll have to TELNET to one of Brown’s computers in order to access it. HOW AWESOME IS THAT? I mean, TELNET.
*The 1978 version is also available via that telnet, just FYI.
*Okay, with that, I think we’re ready to start playing. First time I tried to get in to play, it didn’t work, so, as I mentioned above, I posted on the site and discovered that there had been a fire at Bob Brown’s house, so the system was down. It was back up almost immediately, especially given that, you know, FIRE and all.
*So, once that was fixed, I telnetted like a ************ and got into it.
*So, my first playthrough. You start out with a wagon and seven-hundred dollars to spend on food, oxen, clothing, medical supplies, etc.
*My poor math skills already handicapping me. I made a very careful breakdown and put all the money in and found that I had spent far more than seven hundred dollars. I’m a college graduate, you know.
*So, I decided to stop and go hunting every time the game gave me the option. And I wasn’t paying attention and I burned through all my bullets. Because you fire your weapon by typing “Bang” when the game tells you to do so; depending on speed and accuracy, your shot goes wild or hits the target. So I figured every time I stopped to hunt I was burning up one bullet. And I had purchased like a thousand bullets. But apparently that is not how it worked because all of a sudden I stopped to go hunting and the game was like “Sorry, pardner, gotta have bullets for that.”
*I was like WHAT THE ****
*And I should say that I didn’t kill a single ******* animal on my hunting trips. Not a single one. And I’m a good typist. I stand by that. And I wasted like a thousand bullets and never killed anything. Jesus.
*So, first time through I didn’t even make it but like seven hundred miles. Well, we’ll call that the tutorial.
*Second time through, I was more careful. Spent more on food since that had really screwed me last time, not so much on extra supplies, not so much on clothing. And I resolved not to go hunting quite so much since I had essentially wasted all those bullets.
*So, this trip was much more eventful. I started right out the gate and suddenly the game was like “BANDITS ATTACK TYPE BANG” and I was like oh **** seriously son.
*So, before we’d even been gone for a week, bandits attacked, stole one of our oxen and shot me in the leg. Jesus.
*So, that meant a doctor bill, which depleted my carefully saved cash reserves by almost half. Then came heavy rains and my one remaining ox injured his GODDAMNED LEG SERIOUSLY WHAT THE **** GOOD ARE YOU IF YOU CANT EVEN WALK OVER THE MOUNTAINS
*I have to say it’s immersive. I mean, I’m really feeling some strong emotions right now.
*Then I went hunting, just for fun and it was like “Right between the eyes, pardner! Nice one!” And I was like, okay? So I went hunting like four more times and every damn time I brought home some food. I’m starting to think this is all down to some pesky algorithm or something and does not actually depend on your speed at typing.
*Wild animals attacked, but I drove them away by shooting at them and they didn’t get anything. Then someone got “serious illness” (again, not dysentery) and more doctor bills.
*Then we saw riders. Now in the first game, we saw riders and it said they didn’t seem hostile and gave me four choices: run (which will tire or perhaps injure your oxen), attack (which could make enemies out of otherwise friendly natives or travelers), circle wagons (which will lose you precious time) or simply continue. On my first playthrough I gambled and just continued and all was fine.
*But this time the game said they seemed hostile. And I was really in a quandary. I really did just kind of sit back and have to think a minute. I’m down to one ox and he’s injured already, so I felt running was just out of the question; if my one remaining ox dies, I’m ******. So I ended up circling the wagons and then I had to shoot to drive them off. Outlaws, you know.
*Damned hail storm. At this point I’m just like pressing through pressing through just keep moving come on just keep moving. And then pneumonia. I’m dead. **** you, pneumonia. And I was feeling good about this one because I was over 1200 miles. Like almost double my first trip.
*So I’m feeling hopeful about this third trip.
*Dammit. Hostile riders in the first week. Drove them off.
*Wild animals attack. Heavy fog. Blizzard in mountain pass. WHAT IS WITH THIS ******* NATURE?
*And I’m dead. Pneumonia again. **** ME 950 MILES. I didn’t leave myself any spare cash this time. I think I should have done that. Because, you know, doctors. Just leave me to die. This is why we needed HEALTHCARE REFORM. So people like me wouldn’t have to DIE OF PNEUMONIA IN A BLIZZARD IN A MOUNTAIN PASS WITH A DOCTOR STANDING RIGHT THERE WATCHING ME
*Okay, trip four. I can’t believe this is taking multiple play throughs.
*Good Lord, the weather is practically balmy. I’ve gone like five hundred miles without any ******* apocalyptic hailstorms yet.
*Oh, look “Helpful Indians show you where to find more food.” Way to go, game. Busting stereotypes.
*Food: 194 / Food 195.
*Oh, yes, thanks so much, my red brothers, for your great genero – WHAT THE **** ONE DOLLAR? YOU FOUND ME ONE DOLLAR’S WORTH OF FOOD? OH THANK YOU FOR SHOWING ME WHERE THAT ONE KERNEL OF CORN WAS. OH, YES, THAT’S MARVELOUS. TRULY WE SHALL FORGE AN EVERLASTING KINSHIP BETWEEN THE SETTLERS AND THE NATIVE AMERICANS. JUST KEEP SHOWING PEOPLE WHERE TO FIND ONE CRUST OF BREAD AS THEY COME THROUGH AND I’M SURE YOU CAN KEEP YOUR LAND.
*I just . . . I’m just so tired.
*”OX WANDERS OFF—SPEND TIME LOOKING FOR IT”
*Are you ****** kidding me? We’re trying to get through the mountain pass and one of our oxen is just like “dum de dum de dum whats over here?” I guess someone forgot that they’re part of a TEAM of oxen.
*So, when your mileage tops 1500 you just get this wild gleam in your eye. Just this “I’m gonna make it” feeling. And you just keep hitting continue every time it comes up because you’re just like if I just keep moving, I can make it, I’m so close.
*And I did make it! Oh my God, I made it! 2,040 miles and six months.
*“PRESIDENT JAMES K. POLK SENDS YOU HIS HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS!”
*He better.
*Well, you know what? That was fun. I mean, no joke. That was FUN. That was a cool little thing to do.
*I made like all four of those runs in less than half an hour. It’s not a timesuck or anything.
*Oh, huh, I never stopped at a single fort. I should probably do that just to see what happens.
*Okay, well, it just gives you the chance to buy more stuff.
*I decided to try to run from the hostile riders this time around since I was basically just taking an extra trip to fool around a little bit. Nothing really happened.
*Wow, so I died on this trip having gone over 2,021 miles. So I died of pneumonia less than 20 miles away from the city. I mean, that’s bleak. That’s like Walking Dead level bleak.
*Well, anyway, final thoughts. I mean, it’s not going to dazzle you with its gameplay or anything, but I enjoyed it. Just for the purely historical value of it, I would highly recommend you go play it. And it is just pretty fun. There is a real sense of frustration when you die and it’s so easy to just hit continue and start right back up again that you’re basically gonna play until you win once you start. It’s fun.
*Controversy: I’m going to court it. Actually not that educational. I mean you’ll remember that Polk was President after you play it probably, but, honestly, the game really just lets you in on the secrets that weather used to suck and people died a lot back then. And doctors were jerks. But that one’s still kinda true. As time went along it got more educational, I suppose, but originally, not that much really.
*Anyway, good fun; hope you liked it. Next time, it’s . . . well, you can probably guess. It’s arcade gaming! It’s the introduction of the home console! It’s multiplayer! Well, biplayer, I guess. Grab your paddle controller and join me next time as I boot up my Atari console (no, really!) for a little Pong.