Oregon Trail(Apple) FAQ/walkthrough version 1.0.0 by Andrew Schultz schultza@earthlink.net This FAQ/Walkthrough is copyright 2000 Andrew Schultz. Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. However, a polite request to post this FAQ on a website, asking me by name, will more than likely be honored. ------------------------------------------ Outline: STARTING OFF HOW YOU SCORE POINTS ON THE ROAD--THE BASICS TRAVELING HUNTING RANDOM EVENTS WHAT'S FASTER, WHAT'S QUICKER, WHAT'S SAFER OLD MAN RIVER INFLATION AND SUCH HOW TO GET STUCK/KILLED MY PREFERRED STRATEGY TIPS, TRICKS AND QUIRKS THE VERY MAXIMUM ------------------------------------------ STARTING OFF Follow Matt's recommendations, but don't get too much more. The one exception I would make is food; you're going to have to learn to hunt, so why not force yourself to do so right away? If you are a beginner it is up to you to start as a banker, carpenter or farmer. However, when you get better you will surely want to take on the challenge of being a farmer. HOW YOU SCORE POINTS You must get to the Willammette valley in order to score any points. Once you do, you receive a multiplier based on your profession: three for farmers, two for carpenters, one for bankers. You get the majority of your points based on your party's health at the time you arrive in Oregon. The other items are listed below. A general rule of thumb is that you get one point for every $5 that the material would cost you at Matt's General Store, except in the case of the wagon. 500 points * number of survivors--if you are in good health 400 points * number of survivors--if you are in fair health 300 points * number of survivors--if you are in poor health 200 points * number of survivors--if you are in very poor health 50 points for the wagon 4 points for each ox 2 points for each spare wagon part 2 points for each pair of clothes 1 point for each multiple of 50 bullets 1 point for each 25-pound ration of food 1 point for each $5 you possess in cash ON THE ROAD--THE BASICS TRAVELING Rationing works as follows: filling uses up three pounds of food per person per day, meager two, bare bones one. The pace, grueling, strenuous, or steady, goes at a rate of 100%, 75%, or 50% of the maximum. This maximum is adjusted by the number of oxen that you have and where you are. On disk "A" (before Fort Laramie) you can go up to forty miles a day. Afterwards, on disk B, the maximum is 24. There are places where the road splits off as well. Usually the longer of the two paths is either safer or contains a fort. HUNTING Consider that a bullet costs 10 cents at Matt's Store. A pound of food costs 20 cents. Therefore, to get a good return on your investment, you'll need to shoot half a pound of meat with each bullet. Not too tough. But remember also that you are eating food for each day you are hunting--this has its advantages. You can rest while hunting, but it does take time, too. Below is a Field Guide to species on the Oregon Trail. Skunk: gives 1-3 meat. Long and thing. Not too quick, but shoot one and it will block your range for more valuable animals. Rabbit: gives 1-5 meat. Small and quick. Deer: gives 50-80 meat. Large and pretty quick. Bear: gives 100-250 meat. Large and pretty slow. Buffalo/bison: gives 800-1000 meat. Large and slow. Amazing how the things that give you more meat are easier to shoot. Note that you can only take 100 pounds of meat per day, and the maximum food you can have in your wagon at any time is 2000 pounds. Still, if you are trying for a top score or are very low on food, hunting is at least as good as resting. The background and animals that appear while you are hunting seem to be random, and animals will invariably pop out just before you are ready to shoot(the best strategy is to get to a place where you can shoot in many directions--there is some luck in the scenery you will get) or just before the day ends(if only you'd had ten more seconds!) but even a clumsy hunter will be able to bag 100 pounds at least a third of the time. As you can't eat more than 15 food a day, that is a positive net result. RANDOM EVENTS --find wild fruit --wagon gets stolen --wagon part gets broken --rain washes out path --bad track --thunderstorm --person develops cholera, exhaustion, broken arm, broken leg, measles, typhoid, dysentery WHAT'S FASTER, WHAT'S QUICKER, WHAT'S SAFER Below is a list of paths that you can take. Your path is arranged from top to bottom, and it branches where you have a choice. There are only three real breaks. Independence, MO | (102 miles) | Kansas River Crossing | (83 miles) | Big Blue River Crossing | (119 miles) | Fort Kearney | (250 miles) | Chimney Rock | (86 miles) | Fort Laramie(Switch to side 2) | (190 miles) | Independence Rock | (102 miles) | South Pass / \ (57 miles) (125 miles) | | Green River Fort Bridger | | (144 miles) (162 miles) \ / Soda Springs | (57 miles) | Fort Hall | (182 miles) | Snake River Crossing | (114 miles) | Fort Boise | (160 miles) | Blue Mountains / \ | | (55 miles) / | (125 miles) Fort Walla Walla / | / (120 miles) / \ / The Dalles / \ (100 miles) Columbia River Barlow Toll Road (0 miles, action sequence) OLD MAN RIVER INFLATION AND SUCH The forts along the way aren't as good to you as Matt's General Store. The farther you go, the higher the markup. Place |Mark|Oxen(2)| Parts/ |Bullets|Food| | up | |Clothes | (100) |1 lb| ---------------+----+-------+--------+-------+----+ Matt's | 0%| $20 | $10.00 | $2.00 |$.20| Ft. Kearney | 25%| $25 | $12.50 | $2.50 |$.25| Ft. Laramie | 50%| $30 | $15.00 | $3.00 |$.30| Ft. Bridger | 75%| $35 | $17.50 | $3.50 |$.35| Ft. Hall |100%| $40 | $20.00 | $4.00 |$.40| Ft. Boise |125%| $45 | $22.50 | $4.50 |$.45| Ft. Walla Walla|150%| $50 | $25.00 | $5.00 |$.50| ---------------+----+-------+--------+-------+----+ It's a pretty simple arithmetic progression--also note that you will in effect lose points at the end if you have to trade at a fort. HOW TO GET STUCK/KILLED Note that none of these signify the end of the game, but they will hasten your demise. Beware of them. --Your wagon breaks down without the specific spare part --You wade through a river >3 feet deep --Your wagon falls in the river --One of your people is sick, and you do not rest --Your food runs out --With bad water/inadequate grass, you push the oxen too fast MY PREFERRED STRATEGY My preferred strategy is as follows. Be a farmer for the maximum multiple at the end, and start in the month of March. Buy the following: three yoke oxen($120), fifty pounds food($10--just hunt right away), fourteen pairs of clothes($140), twenty boxes ammunition($40), and two spare wagon parts each, just in case($60-- perhaps one of each will do just as well). This will leave you with $30. Start at a grueling pace with bare bones rations. At the Kansas River crossing, caulk the wagon. This really should work. If you fall in, just start over if you want. Then just before you get to the Big Blue River crossing, do a bunch of hunting. Hunt until March 20 or so and then approach the river. It may be shallow enough to ford, and you can wait a few days to do so(<2.5 feet) but caulking the wagon usually works pretty well, too. Continue at a fast pace with little food, stopping only if a person or ox is sick. When you do so, hunt a bit, and put yourself at filling rations before so doing. That will help your health. This should be good enough to get you to South Pass. At South Pass you have your first choice. I prefer to avoid the Green River, since rivers and the risk of falling in will be your main problem in this game. An extra 86 miles, or four days(versus one day to cross by boat) is not a big deal. Continue with the quick strategy, stopping only for health reasons(if you feel you need to rest, or if there is any doubt, rest.) At the Snake River you will want the Indian to guide you across. It should almost always work, but caulking or even the ferry can be hazardous. The Snake seems to stay at 6 feet deep and 1000 wide, but it is the most treacherous river in the game. Go through to Fort Boise and the Blue Mountains. You probably don't need supplies, so go directly to the Dalles and save a day or two en route. But just before you get to The Dalles, rest your party on fulfilling rations, hunt a lot, and put the pace at steady. You'll get your health way up for the endgame. Once at the Dalles, the Columbia River is much safer than the Barlow Toll Road, and it doesn't cost any money, either. On the Columbia River, you will use the arrows to change the momentum of your craft(left = up/left, right = down/right) and avoid rocks. You will also want to avoid the shore until the third arrow appears on the lower right. There will be a pathway trailing off just after it, and if you miss it, you will lose supplies from your wagon. This "video game" part is even easier than the hunting and although it is the weakest part of the game it should ensure a successful finish. TIPS, TRICKS AND QUIRKS THE VERY MAXIMUM Due to his triple multiplier, the farmer beats the carpenter and banker if you are going for big stakes, hands down. My main question when I played this in junior high was, could you achieve eight thousand points? The answer seems to be yes. I haven't done it yet as a farmer, but the numbers seem to indicate it is possible. You really only need 2667 points before the multiple, and that is quite possible. Possible maximums(achievable with some luck, and assuming you don't lose anything) 5 survivors in good health = 2500 points 1950 food = 78 points (2000 maximum food, but you will use some up if you travel just after hunting) Wagon = 50 points Oxen = 4 points / ox * 6 points = 24 points Clothes = 2 points * 10 pairs = 20 points: buy 14 pairs, give <4 pairs on the Snake River Spare parts = 2 points * 6 = 12 points Cash = $30 = 6 points Total = 2690 points. It's do-able, with a margin of error(if 25 points or so doesn't seem like a margin of error you can afford to lose, think how hard it is to GAIN it!) ------------------------------------------ Versions 1.0.0 submitted to GameFAQs 11/23/2000 Credits: ftp.apple.asimov.net as usual for the disk image! Send comments to schultza@earthlink.net