by Wayne Studer
It’s now roughly a quarter-century since MECC set about expanding upon The Oregon Trail to create Oregon Trail II. The “core four” creative team (producer Craig Copley, lead programmer Steve Splinter, lead artist Charolyn Kapplinger, and I, Wayne Studer, as project director, lead designer, lead writer, and historian), supported by literally scores of our MECC colleagues, knew we had a daunting task ahead of us.
We really weren’t setting out to “improve upon” The Oregon Trail—for how can you truly improve upon what had already come to be acknowledged as one of the true classics of instructional computing?—so much as to expand upon it and take advantage of the most recent technologies available to us.
The key question was this: how could we best exploit the vastly larger amount of ROM (read-only memory) available to us on a CD-ROM disc as opposed to the much smaller floppy discs we’d been using for more than a decade to deliver MECC instructional software, not to mention the greatly improved capabilities of desktop computers themselves?
We found no shortage of ways to employ the new technologies available to us:
- Greatly improved graphics, making use of (among other things) not only photo-quality images but also the 3D-rendering technology that had recently taken the software development world by storm.
- Far greater use of audio, well beyond the “beeps” and other primitive sound-effects previously available to us, to include digitized voices and “orchestrated” music.
- Expanded underlying models in the programming, making the “trail experience” richer, more diverse, and more realistic than ever before, including more occupations, more detailed, geographically and historically accurate weather, and characters.
- Expanded underlying models in the programming, making the “trail experience” richer, more diverse, and more realistic than ever before, including more occupations, more detailed, geographically and historically accurate weather, and characters.
- Speaking of characters, greater diversity in overt representation, including women and members of minority groups, including Native Americans.
- Enhanced experiences in the ever-popular hunting and rafting sequences.
- An online trail guide composed of material drawn from historical documents.
- And, perhaps most significantly, a hugely expanded scope in content, with:
- Additional trails, jumping-off points, and destinations;
- Many more stops and landmarks along the trails, including more challenges in the form of additional hills and river crossings;
- A range of years to choose from for the journey—from 1840 to 1860—with corresponding historically accurate changes from one year to another.
- Additional trails, jumping-off points, and destinations;
- Many more stops and landmarks along the trails, including more challenges in the form of additional hills and river crossings;
- A range of years to choose from for the journey—from 1840 to 1860—with corresponding historically accurate changes from one year to another.
With this ambitious plan in mind, we knew right away that Oregon Trail II would prove to be the most expensive, most time-consuming program MECC had ever undertaken up to that point.
If I remember correctly, based on our calculations and projections, we were granted a generous 21-month schedule to develop the new program.
As it turned out, even that ultimately proved inadequate, and we weren’t able to deliver the final product until two or three months beyond the original timeline, resulting in two full years of development. Unfortunately, this prevented us from releasing Oregon Trail II until after the targeted holiday gift-giving season, which the company had counted on to boost sales and quickly recoup our significant investment. (OTII was MECC first and perhaps only million-dollar project.) We were all somewhat concerned about this.
Fortunately, our concerns proved, if not unfounded, at least unnecessary. Despite its post-holiday launch, Oregon Trail II immediately became a phenomenal success in the marketplace. It sold rapidly in such great numbers that, as I understand it, the company recovered its large monetary investment within six weeks, with all subsequent sales providing the proverbial gravy.
In fact, it sold so much and so quickly that (again as I understand it) there were brief concerns that production wouldn’t be able to keep up with demand. It would go on to become the best-selling educational software program of the year and to receive the Software Publishers’ Association Award as Best Adventure/Roleplaying Game of 1996.
Because so many MECC employees had a direct hand, to varying degrees, in the program’s creation—nearly a hundred of us, representing well over half of our staff at the time—we all shared great pride in this achievement. Oregon Trail II remains one of the true highlights in the story of MECC.
For me, personally, it serves as one of my two or three greatest sources of satisfaction in my professional career. I’m honored and still somewhat thrilled at having played a part in it.
