Oregon Trail II

Short description: 1995 video game

Oregon Trail II

CD cover art

Developer(s)| MECC
Publisher(s)| SoftKey Multimedia
Composer(s)| Eric Speier
Platform(s)| Windows, Mac OS
Release| February 8, 1995[1]
Genre(s)| Educational
Mode(s)| Single-player

Oregon Trail II is an educational video game released by MECC in 1995. It was published by SoftKey Multimedia. It is a revised version of the original The Oregon Trail video game. It was redesigned with the help of American Studies PhD Wayne Studer. In contrast to the original version, Oregon Trail II made an effort to include greater roles for women and racial minorities.

In addition to the regular edition, MECC released a 25th Anniversary Limited Edition Oregon Trail II Computer Game. The CD-ROM came with an official strategy guide and certificate of authenticity, all packaged in a commemorative wooden storage box.

Another release of the game on CD-ROM featured both Oregon Trail II, version 1.2 and Logic Quest 3D, version 1.0.

## Contents

* 1 Development
* 2 Gameplay
* 3 25th Anniversary Limited Edition
* 4 Remake
* 4.1 Gameplay
* 5 Marketing
* 6 References
* 7 External links
* 8 Features
* 9 History
* 10 See also
* 11 References
* 12 External links

## Development

Oregon Trail II gameplay

Oregon Trail II's graphics are considerably more detailed than those in the original. In addition, events such as diseases (including dysentery, measles, cholera, and others), obstacles on the path, accidents while traveling, and even interactions with other groups in one's wagon train involve being directed to choose a course of action from a set of multiple choices.

## Gameplay

When players start a new game, they can choose their name, occupation, level, date of travel, their starting point and destination, and type of wagon. Also, they may select how many others are with them in their wagon, as well as their names and ages. After choosing an occupation, the player can select various skills. The player picks skills with a 120-point limit; automatic skills are free. The more important the skill is, the more it costs. Each skill can make good events more likely to happen, and bad events less likely to happen. While some occupations have more money than others, the low-income occupations get a greater final bonus, which proves crucial in achieving a high score at the end of the game. However, if the player settles at a destination other than the original location they had selected at the beginning of the game, they will not receive a bonus, regardless of their chosen occupation.

Oregon Trail II includes far more detail than the original. For instance, rafting down the Columbia River is a much greater challenge than it was in the original game. Whenever an event (e.g. an accident or illness) happens, the game halts and the player must make a choice of action, so it is much more interactive than the previous version. Players are also able to talk with other settlers along the way and ask for their advice. At any point in the game, if the player dies, the game is over. This version also allows the player to choose any year from 1840 through 1860 rather than being fixed to 1848 as it was in the original. Travel is much easier in later years, as there are more towns and trading posts along the way for resupply.

Outfitting the supplies and choosing the parties equipment in their journey becomes a possible point of player control leading to increased scoring chances. Additional supplies though will mean adding weight to the player's wagon. When the wagon's weight limit is reached, it is not possible to continue along the trail, and some goods will have to be abandoned. The game offers players an immense selection of supplies available for purchase. During the start of the game, package deals are available up to six months of provisions, but numerous perils in the game will cause many provisions to be lost or used for trade. One has the option of taking a computer generated "package deal", ostensibly offered by the trailhead town's merchants. The player can also shop in the town and choose a custom strategy, quantities, tools and so forth or take the package and then shop or trade in addition to that. One problem with the package is finding someone to trade unwanted items for useful ones. Conversely, some assets are only available by the package (e.g. chains, anvils, plows) or by trading, though many of those can be purchased from merchants or blacksmiths further down the trails. If the player decides to purchase supplies without the package, they may buy chains or anvils from Westport, Fort Kearny, or Fort Laramie. All forts or towns with a blacksmith's shop will sell chains, nails (measured in pounds), and anvils.

## 25th Anniversary Limited Edition

Oregon Trail II 25th Anniversary Limited Edition

Developer(s)| MECC
Publisher(s)| SoftKey Multimedia
Platform(s)| Mac OS 7.1, Microsoft Windows 3.1, Microsoft Windows 95
Release| 1996
Genre(s)| Educational
Mode(s)| Single-player

This version includes Oregon Trail II 1.3, Oregon Trail for DOS 2.1, Oregon Trail Deluxe VGA 3.01, Oregon Trail for Windows 1.2, a series of five interview videos for Oregon Trail game history, a collector's wooden box package with branded artwork on the sides, The Oregon Trail Strategy Guide, $25.00 rebate coupons for MECC/SoftKey International products and a limited-edition stamped certificate of authenticity.

## Remake

Main article: Software:The Oregon Trail 5th Edition

The Oregon Trail 5th Edition: Adventures Along the Oregon Trail

Developer(s)| Broderbund (Riverdeep, Inc., LLC)
Publisher(s)| The Learning Company (Riverdeep, Inc., LLC)
Selectsoft (Selectsoft Publishing)
Platform(s)| Mac OS 8.6, Microsoft Windows 98
Release| 2001-04-01 (Riverdeep, Inc.)
2005? (Selectsoft)
Genre(s)| Educational
Mode(s)| Single-player

The Oregon Trail 5th Edition: Adventures Along the Oregon Trail is a 2001 video game, and the sequel to The Oregon Trail 4th Edition.

### Gameplay

The game design is based on Oregon Trail II but adds various new features to the game. The plant gathering feature was carried over from the 3rd and 4th editions. The "Wild Fruits and Vegetables" event from Oregon Trail II is removed. This feature involves identifying which plants are edible and which are poisonous. Incidentally, the option to "go look for edible plants" whenever someone is diagnosed with scurvy was kept. The player can also go fishing. Updated graphics have been provided for river crossings. There are also added cinematics which follow the fictional journey of the three Montgomery children: Parker, Cassie, and Jimmy, who leave Independence accompanied by an African American trailblazer named Captain Jed Freedman to search for the children's father in Oregon. Various points of the children's story are triggered when the player reaches a certain destination on the trail, which ranges from dangerous experiences (Jimmy is bitten by a snake) to campfire scenes where Captain Jed would tell a story that reflects other historically accurate incidents (e.g. the Donner Party, the California Gold Rush, and the Santa Fe Trail). The conversation pictures are no longer animated. The soundtrack of Oregon Trail II has also been removed, replaced with a single repeating audio loop.

## Marketing

As part of the 25th anniversary of Oregon Trail, an online version called Oregon Trail Online was produced.[2]

## References

1. ↑ "In brief". Star Tribune: pp. 37. February 8, 1995. https://www.newspapers.com/image/193150071. "Minnesota Educational Computing Corp said it released a CD-ROM version of the Oregon Trail II software."
2. ↑ "MECC Internet Programming: Oregon Trail Online". http://www.mecc.com/internet/oto/oto.html.

## External links

* MECC (TLC Properties Inc.) page: Oregon Trail II, Oregon Trail II 25 Anniversary Edition, Oregon Trail II support
* MECC (The Learning Company) page: The Oregon Trail II
* Broderbund page: Oregon Trail II - 25th Anniversary v1.3 support, Oregon Trail II v1.0 / v1.2 support, Oregon Trail II v1.31 (BE) supprort
* Broderbund (Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited) page: The Oregon Trail 5th Edition, Oregon Trail 5th Edition v 1.0 support, Oregon Trail 5 (RNV) support, Oregon Trail 5th Edition EEV (ATS) support, Oregon Trail 5th Edition EEV (School Edition) support
* Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited page: Oregon Trail II (School Edition) support
* MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

## Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

## History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

## See also

* IGDB - game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/.
2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/.
3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1.
4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521.
8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media.
9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned.
10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner.
11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames.
12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games.
13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/.
14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/.
15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/.
16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/.
17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames.

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* English in the Digital Age
* Official Strategy Guide

* v
* t
* e

The Oregon Trail video game series

The Oregon Trail|

* The Oregon Trail (1971)
* The Oregon Trail (1985)
* Oregon Trail II
* 3rd Edition
* 4th Edition
* 5th Edition
* The Oregon Trail (2009)
* American Settler
* The Oregon Trail (2011)

The Amazon Trail|

* The Amazon Trail
* Amazon Trail II
* 3rd Edition

Other titles|

* The Yukon Trail
* MayaQuest
* Africa Trail

Related|

* Oregon Trail
* The Trail to Oregon!
* Organ Trail
* card game

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