Editing 623: Oregon
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''The Oregon Trail'' was an educational computer game released in 1971, but the version referred to is likely the more popular 1985 version. In the game, players would play as a character taking a trek west along the {{w|Oregon Trail}} from Missouri to Oregon. The player's journey starts in 1848 and typically takes less than one year to complete. Along the way, the player must manage resources (food, spare parts, etc.) {{tvtropes|DoomedExpedition|and face risks and dangers (starvation, disease, etc.)}}. Most players at the time were grade-school students. The game was very popular, and thousands of players played it monthly. | ''The Oregon Trail'' was an educational computer game released in 1971, but the version referred to is likely the more popular 1985 version. In the game, players would play as a character taking a trek west along the {{w|Oregon Trail}} from Missouri to Oregon. The player's journey starts in 1848 and typically takes less than one year to complete. Along the way, the player must manage resources (food, spare parts, etc.) {{tvtropes|DoomedExpedition|and face risks and dangers (starvation, disease, etc.)}}. Most players at the time were grade-school students. The game was very popular, and thousands of players played it monthly. | ||
| − | The game made it very easy to hunt for food. Large animals (bison, bears, etc.) were very easy and rewarding targets, where spending a single bullet could be enough to collect enough food for multiple days. There were also smaller prey available (rabbits, squirrels, etc.) which were harder to catch and provided less food. Since bullets are much lighter and cheaper than food, it was a good strategy to bring the minimum amount of food and plan to hunt for meals. Extra food can even be traded for money or other supplies, so it wasn't necessary to start the journey with anything except bullets. | + | The game made it very easy to hunt for food. Large animals (bison, bears, etc.) were very easy and rewarding targets, where spending a single bullet could be enough to collect enough food for multiple days. There were also smaller prey available (rabbits, squirrels, etc.) which were harder to catch and provided less food. Since bullets are much lighter and cheaper than food, it was a good strategy to bring the minimum amount of food and plan to hunt for meals. Extra food can even be traded for money or other supplies, so it wasn't necessary to start the journey with anything except bullets. |
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The comic tries to document, as though in a historical fashion, what would have been the result if all the players had been real settlers who really had prepared for their journey on the Oregon Trail in that way. The parts before 1848 are historically accurate. Starting from 1848, however, players of the game would form an unbelievably large influx of people arriving nearly simultaneously, with very little food or supplies being brought along. Massive overhunting would soon strip the land bare, all large game slaughtered for meat, with hunger, starvation and disease soon to follow. {{w|Dysentery}} in particular was very common in the original game and perhaps the most infamous way to die, hence its listing as the most prominent epidemic. | The comic tries to document, as though in a historical fashion, what would have been the result if all the players had been real settlers who really had prepared for their journey on the Oregon Trail in that way. The parts before 1848 are historically accurate. Starting from 1848, however, players of the game would form an unbelievably large influx of people arriving nearly simultaneously, with very little food or supplies being brought along. Massive overhunting would soon strip the land bare, all large game slaughtered for meat, with hunger, starvation and disease soon to follow. {{w|Dysentery}} in particular was very common in the original game and perhaps the most infamous way to die, hence its listing as the most prominent epidemic. | ||
