The very structure of video gaming technology, software development lifecycles, compatibility analyses, and nuclear fission have been propelled to previously-unimaginable heights as a result of a single, pioneering video game: The Oregon Trail.
Damn it, Dot!
I can hear some of you fancy physicists complaining already -- "nuclear fission?!" -- yes, it's a thing, physicist, look it up. That said, Oregon Trail may very well be the root of modern technological innovation and, additionally, can be widely attributed to the lack of dysentery in today's world—have you had dysentery lately?—there's a reason why not.
Depressingly, though, our Senior Retro Games Correspondent does not expect to see a graphics-intensive remake of this otherwise mind-blowing game in the near future, for which you no-doubt built our $430 budget gaming system. There's a reason for the lack of sequel-ized spawns of the game: the competition is too high. That's right -- The Oregon Trail now faces fierce competition from a well-dressed, well-groomed division of Chicago's most sophisticated indie game developers (in fact, they have questionable connections with Lunar Giant, of whom we're very fond). The Men Who Wear Many Hats (who allegedly have no connection to these guys, but we're not convinced) have embarked on the journey to create the half-comedic, quarter-survivalist, quarter-tongue-in-cheek "Organ Trail" variation of the original.
The group has set forth a kickstarter project, where users pledge money toward the production of games or other media to provide developers a risk-reducing safety net, and originally aimed to obtain $3,000 toward their Organ Trail variation of the original masterpiece.
Click to enlarge...
Organ Trail sees itself as a "zombie-parody-remake" of the original Oregon Trail game, slated for Windows, Mac, and iDevices, and largely seeks to expand on an existing concept (with over 600,000 players) to make a full-parodied, survival-comedy amalgamation of a game. The story is simple: it's the end of the world, you're in a city with your crew, and you have to escape the zombie apocalypse... in a station wagon (hey, they had to reference the original wagons somehow). Pretty standard in terms of zombie games -- it's the music, art, and simple-yet-addictive gameplay mechanics that tie everything neatly together in a composite, tempting pass-time.
Core mechanics include:
- Conversation systems
- Community-designed tombstones for random encounters
- Supply scavenging
- The option to murder your beloved (and infected) companions
- Stockpiling
- Trading
- ...And other basic survival tasks (view the flash game linked above for more).
Having achieved the $3,000 goal, we can expect a "proper version" of their flash game some time in the first two quarters of next year (according to Kickstarter). The Men Who Wear Many Hats clearly have overspent their money on hair-toppings, though, for they're now asking for $5,000! If this new objective is reached, we've been promised an Android and iPad version of the game as well -- granted, the goal will likely continue to rise as the 2012 model hats hit the market.
Keep an eye on our front page for additional updates as they roll out!
Go pledge to the project here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hatsproductions/organ-trail-directors-cut
-Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke