Oregon Trail

[Trekker4747]

Recently thousands of old DOS games were released online for streaming on the Internet Archive.

Naturally, Oregon Trail was one of them, likely a game alot -if not all of us- played on old computers on elementary school. So I took to playing it last night, I've been having a lot if Java/Flash issues on my computer so it was touch of a chore but still fun to do and brought back a lot of memories.

Managed to get to Oregon in around six-months with the entire party intact Though we'd bern moving at an a grueling pace for a couple weeks. A dammit, just 10 miles or so outside of Oregon some thief took all of my oxen! Spent several days waiting for someone to come along who had some for trade.

 

[BigJake]

Pretty addictive. There's some other great old games on that site, too, although they're not all very functional, more's the pity.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I played Oregon Trail a lot in the Apple ][ days, but I was so bad at it that I could only do well at the easiest level of difficulty.

 

[Pondwater]

One of the first computer games I ever learned how to play. I used to choose being the Doctor over the Banker. It was hard to make the entire trip as the Farmer.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

This was the game I played in second grade on the Apple IIes the school's computer lab had at the time. At the time, I could win with the $2000 start.

I played once on the internet when I was older and I finally won the game starting with $400. My entire family died, but I made it damn it!

 

[Trekker4747]

I'm going to need to get my Flash/Java stuff figured out and play it again. It really is amazing how "fun" the game is but it seriously took me several hours to play it the other night. Crossing a river took several minutes for the animation to scroll from one shore to the other. I know the emulator tries to duplicate the speed and processing power of computers contemporary to the game but this was a bit absurd.

Like everyone here, I played it a lot in elementary school on an Apple ][ e computer and even a classic Macintoish. But I was *always* the banker. That was sort of the rule in our class, because you got more money to buy supplies and stuff with. And, of course, the "fun" was to come-up with humorous epitaphs on the tombstones when a party-member died. Well, humorous enough so as to not get in trouble from the teacher.

But it really is amazing how "fun" such a simple game can be, even to a 36-year-old man like myself.

 

[BigJake]

I missed out in elementary school when I was contenting myself with Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego; I never heard of Oregon Trail until, in point of fact, this very week. Amazing how the simplest games can hold up.

 

[SPCTRE]

Amazing how the simplest games can hold up.

Simplicity in design can be boon in terms of longevity, when it's done right, especially with gameplay.

 

[Taylirious]

I remember playing this game in school. What do kids play now in school, GTA?

 

[RoJoHen]

I remember playing this game in school. What do kids play now in school, GTA?

They probably don't play much of anything, as a computer class would be a bit redundant these days.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I'm going to need to get my Flash/Java stuff figured out and play it again. It really is amazing how "fun" the game is but it seriously took me several hours to play it the other night. Crossing a river took several minutes for the animation to scroll from one shore to the other. I know the emulator tries to duplicate the speed and processing power of computers contemporary to the game but this was a bit absurd.

Like everyone here, I played it a lot in elementary school on an Apple ][ e computer and even a classic Macintoish. But I was *always* the banker. That was sort of the rule in our class, because you got more money to buy supplies and stuff with. And, of course, the "fun" was to come-up with humorous epitaphs on the tombstones when a party-member died. Well, humorous enough so as to not get in trouble from the teacher.

But it really is amazing how "fun" such a simple game can be, even to a 36-year-old man like myself.

I had virtually the same experience, even though for a few glorious weeks after I mastered the hunting mini-game, I was able to win as the Farmer. Oh, yeah, I was the king of the computer class.

 

[RoJoHen]

The funny thing is, I don't think I've ever actually beaten Oregon Trail. Computer class was never long enough to play the whole game.

 

[Thestral]

I missed out in elementary school when I was contenting myself with Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego; I never heard of Oregon Trail until, in point of fact, this very week. Amazing how the simplest games can hold up.

(Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego was also amazing!)

Gonna have to give this a go later. Although I'll tell you the one I wish I could find was Oregon Trail II. I know I know, less the nostalgic simplicity but it was all the good of the first one with many more options and features.

They probably don't play much of anything, as a computer class would be a bit redundant these days.

The school I sub at provides every student with an iPad for educational purposes; unsurprisingly they get used a lot for games too. Madden's very popular, as are various shooters (I don't know enough/look closely enough to tell the difference).

 

[Kelthaz]

Amazing how the simplest games can hold up.

Simplicity in design can be boon in terms of longevity, when it's done right, especially with gameplay.

Agreed. Simple games are usually the ones that hold up the best over the years. It's the more complicated games that push boundaries that generally get dated and rendered obsolete very fast. WarCraft I was easily improved upon and is unplayable today, but Tetris will always be perfect as it is.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I remember Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego, but I was more a fan of the PBS game show than the computer game.

I learned so much from Carmen Sandiego. I will never forget what the 5th word of the 3rd paragraph of page 73 of the manual is!

 

[Taylirious]

I missed out in elementary school when I was contenting myself with Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego; I never heard of Oregon Trail until, in point of fact, this very week. Amazing how the simplest games can hold up.

(Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego was also amazing!)

Gonna have to give this a go later. Although I'll tell you the one I wish I could find was Oregon Trail II. I know I know, less the nostalgic simplicity but it was all the good of the first one with many more options and features.

They probably don't play much of anything, as a computer class would be a bit redundant these days.

The school I sub at provides every student with an iPad for educational purposes; unsurprisingly they get used a lot for games too. Madden's very popular, as are various shooters (I don't know enough/look closely enough to tell the difference).

Let's be honest...

Spoiler: What they are really doing...

They are looking at porn.

 

[RoJoHen]

Let's be honest...

Spoiler: What they are really doing...

They are looking at porn.

Any school that can afford to give its students iPads probably has filters on their internet to prevent that.

 

[Thestral]

Ayup. Definitely not doing that on campus. Now when they take them home? Who knows... plus whatever they send each other on Snapchat I suppose.

 

[Taylirious]

I just remember the story about what students were doing with their issued laptops a few years back.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I remember playing this game in school. What do kids play now in school, GTA?

I used to play Oregon Trail in homeroom (I usually died of dysentery or flipped my wagon on the river). But, funny you should mention it, my first experience with GTA was in a tech ed class junior year