Seeing RPG Game Development From Oregon Trail

Although released in the 1990s, Oregon Trail is a game with a relatively mature system. I was surprised to find that it has the features and elements of most RPG games today, such as autonomy, uncertainty, storyline, background, and sound effects. These elements still exist today, indicating that they are enough and necessary to attract players. I can clearly feel its progress over the past decades. In addition to the elements listed above, I would like to highlight a few other factors.

First, the game character. It is the core of RPG Games to attract players and create a sense of substitution. Therefore, more personalized characters will give players a stronger sense of substitution. This is why many famous game companies are committed to developing more sophisticated, more diverse, and more attractive 3D character modeling and animation technology. In addition, the role of dubbing also plays a great role, which can make the player into the game faster. This also explains that many well-known games will go through redubbing when they are published in other countries, in order to give players a better understanding and greater resonance.

Second, fighting scene. This might not be the most accurate phrase, but all the RPG games I’ve played have it. In Oregon Trail, the fighting scene could be seen as the hunting scene, which is one of the most adrenaline mobilizing parts of the game. It’s a part that requires a high concentration of players and gives them the most enjoyable and addictive feeling. Today’s RPG game develops “enemy attack” on the basis of “prey dodge”, meaning that part of the initiative is not in players’ own hands, which enhances the uncertainty and challenge of the game. Once the challenge is conquered, players will get more pleasure and satisfaction, and become addicted to the game.

The third is the background of the story and its introduction. It is the complete story background and setting that makes the game complicated and refined. Good game making takes no less time than movies and animations. Oregon Trail cleverly uses the historical background to introduce games, which is a very common theme. I’m a fan of Koei, a Japanese game company, and most of its games are adapted from classic historical periods in East Asia. I also have to admit that playing those games really increased my interest in learning history. Compared with Oregon Trail’s full-text word-based background introduction, Koei’s game does a very good job in the way of introducing. It has narration and animation to introduce the historical background. There are also dialogues to keep players focused and get more sense of character substitution and selectivity.

To sum up, after 30 years of development, RPG game has gradually formed a mature system. In the future, VR and other technologies will certainly bring new surprises and challenges to the game industry. Designers should always study how to cater to the players’ psychology and ensure the playing experience.