You Have Died of Dysentery
The creation of The Oregon Trail - the iconic educational game of the 1980s
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The Oregon Trail is perhaps the most famous educational computer software game ever created. Even today, references to the game can be found throughout popular culture. Familiar memes – such as “You have died of dysentery” and the tiny image of an ox pulling a covered wagon – can be found all over the internet. The game has a long history dating back to 1971, but when people make nostalgic references to The Oregon Trail, they are usually thinking of the 1985 Apple II product, or to the nearly identical version created for the IBM PC. For the first time ever, this book tells the full story of how this famous game was created, from the perspective of the lead designer and team leader, R. Philip Bouchard. Using his collection of original design documents and early drafts of the game, he vividly describes the many surprising twists and turns of the design process. As the tale unfolds, he connects each of the issues that the team faced to the broader principles of good product design – and he draws many valuable lessons about how to create a winning product.
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“For whatever reason, it is only ‘dysentery' that has become an internet meme, even though the program gives it an equal probability to the other five afflictions.”
I didn't know what to expect when I picked this book up, but I have to say I was delighted with what I found. The author was the team leader for the team that built what we know today as The Oregon Trail, and he includes an astounding amount of development detail in this book. From start to finish, this is very much about the game, the home market environment it was developed for, and all the coding and math going on behind the scenes to make that wagon roll across the screen. Copious amounts of screenshots, pictures of handwritten notes, and other visual media are included as well to supplement the development process. Appendices are also included with closing thoughts the author had about what he might have done differently, and several bits of Oregon Trail meme-ology that made me giggle.
The detail was (to me) fascinating to read, but for someone less technically inclined it might be a bit slow going. There's lots of detailed sections on math, but just as many detailed sections on creative development ideas and how the author went from an idea to a reality (or a scrapped module in some cases). I loved the little factoids thrown in that I wouldn't have known otherwise, like for instance, originally you could choose between two different starting years, and experienced a few different period-specific events depending on which you selected. Interesting stuff.
You also learn the exact equation used to determine if your wagon will tip over when you caulk it and float it across a river. So, y'know, don't meet your heroes if you don't want the childhood magic of holding your breath during every river crossing ruined.
