The Oregon Trail
I did make the drive up to Oregon once last year and it was nearly as brutal as the comic depicts. I knew I couldn’t survive driving back, so we flew and loved every minute of it. For the record, Ray lives 930 miles from me, so flying is the only sane option. Anyway, hope enough of you have played Oregon Trail at one point in your childhood/education. I always loved the hunting minigame the most, but also got lots of enjoyment out of seeing loved ones drown or die of diseases I couldn’t pronounce. How did that pass as acceptable in elementary school, I wonder?
After getting halfway into this one, I was worried it was the wrong comic to follow up Richard’s with, but I think this one turned out well. Apparently making really crappy-looking images is more difficult for me than my usual style. Wasn’t expecting that…
Haha, brilliant. This is definitely one of my favorite ones yet. Oh man, the memories. Too bad there wasn’t a bear-hunting scene. And I like how the calendar has Monday and Wednesday all filled up. Shows your dedication Tim.
Second day: Says February 5 instead of February 15.
Confused me a bit when I first saw it.
I loved playing that game in school, because it was just an excuse to play videogames in class without getting punished for it. (have you ever tried to play a Game Gear in class without getting it taken away, If you have I salute you) Most of my party died exept for me once, but that was because I only buy the gun and enough ammo to hunt it out instead of what my friend did, buy lots of food and run out and starved to death.
I can’t believe you didn’t put “pepperoni and cheese” on your tombstone š that would be so obvious
So, Now that you killed tim off, Can I replace his ‘2nd player’ spot? I can be called D2vin!
Oh man! This is worth the double post for pointing this out!
Tim said this:
and the comic said this:
Close but no cigar, Too bad he died just a mile away from Ray’s house, but there’s no sense crying over every mistake, you just keep on trying ’til you run out of
cakeDr. PepperRhenor, thanks we quickly fixed it.
D3vin, good catch! I wanted you to know how close I got! Also, the ‘ask attendant’ has to do with something specific about Oregon.
This is THE funniest 2P Start comic of the year. Oh, and last year too. Seriously, at the second panel I was thinking ‘Wait, is this Oregon Trail?’ (See, I played it on a monochrome Apple monitor when I was in school, so I didn’t recognize the colors.) I started cracking up at each panel and then just kept thinking ‘Please die of dysentery, please die of dysentery… YES!’ I had to go back and re-read it to notice all the details that the other commenters pointed out. Thanks for going old-school!
Love it! The dead Tim in panel 6 is awesome š
But Tim, if you don’t want to be called ‘bulbous’ again, may I recommend that you cut down on the Dr. Pepper a bit? š
Actually, I never played Oregon Trail. Until I started reading American gaming websites I’d never even heard of it. Must not be quite so famous in England. We should have had something called Newcastle Trail where you had to get your teenage daughter from London to Newcastle without her getting pregnant or so drunk that she wanders off into the distance.
I have never heard of this game before I read the blurb underneath. Oh well, it’s probably because I live in Australia, that and I’m still in school.
EDIT: actually this reminds me of a game called gold rush, although that was really, really easy once you knew how to get stupid amounts of gold. I think the aim in that game was to get stupidly rich, which was really easy.
Just… one… more… mi…ughhhh
NCG
oh, man i loved this game! this is hilarious,and i think the style fits well. lets go for another 100 comics!
BTW, eddie, dont you think thats a bit mean?
After getting only an hour of sleep, and waking up to find this uploaded already and then reading it. I know I’m going to have a good day.
Great comic! Great detail, but there is one thing missing. No hunting? I know that Tim mentioned it in his blurb, but I’m still a bit disappointed it didn’t get a panel. That’s the best part! Perhaps Tim could have gone hunting for the roaming Dr. Pepper out in the plains.
Great memories, great comic once again.
Ah, the Oregon Trail. I remember playing it a whole bunch in elementary school. I think the first time we won, I was the only survivor. Then, the next people who played found the graves of everyone else in my party. Creeped us out at first. Anyway, Great Comic Guys! This one is definitely one of my favorite 2P START! comics. š
Australia! Where in? I’m in Brisbane!
NCG, but:
Ray this is bugging me: On Pixel Vision, Essay Fighter, the opening little sound effect, is it from something in particular? I’ve seen a robot that uses it as a start up sound and I think I’m missing something…
But anyhoo, Pixel Vision is great! Loving it, especially Dropping Vectors, RAVE PARTAY!
~Noodle.
Hey guys. The obligatory ‘NGC’ is applicable here. I’ve been reading/listening for a good long while now and you guys are definitely one of the highlights of the internet.
Anyway, I finally took the plunge to actually sign up and comment this week because of something said on the podcast, Episode 61. I checked back through the comments and I’m pretty sure nobody else has brought it up. I apologise for forgetting exactly who said it but Tim/Ray mentioned it would be cool to have a whole cast of characters to play around with for the comic, not just Tim and Ray. Well, yeah. Sonic Team probably thought that too…
Think about it. š
NCG as always. I too played this game extensively in elementary school, and any nod to old-school gaming, I approve of.
My only problem, and not so much a problem as it is an irk, is that in the last panel, Tim’s name is spelled in lowercase. I don’t know if that’s modeled from the game itself, or if that’s Ray’s doing, but my OCD switch has turned on. If it’s the game development team’s fault, shame on them. If it’s Ray’s fault…well, I guess we can let it slide.
Just this once…
I barely remember this game at all, I just remember that the doctor got sick. XD Anyway, NCG. And weird, but when I first looked at the logo, I thought it was Missingno or something. XD
Wait, isn’t this conflicting with you guys always in the same panel?
How did Tim get the car out of the river?
After catching pneumonia, Tim proceeded to get out of his car, found steady footing in the ever-raging river, and started pushing it out of the water with his bare hands. Using the last bit of his strength, he managed to align the car perfectly with the white lines on the road. Noticing there was no oncoming traffic, he jumped in the back of the truck , reached for a can of Dr. Pepper, and realizing that there were no more cans left, said “Gee, I should take a quick nap before I hike to Ray’s house.” He then leaned his upper body out of the truck and napped, and a few hours later, he died of dysentery.
Sorry Tim š
After I saw the title for the comic, I had high hopes. The comic did not disappoint.
GCG (great comic guys)
I’ve played Oregon Trail, but not this version. The one I played was a newer version delivered on a CD (gasp!). I never got far in the game…
I’ll have to show my brother this comic because he’s obsessed with dysentery. I suppose if you learn about explosive diarrhea in school, you will think it’s the coolest thing in the world, because you can say it in class. š
Addendum: the reason you only see Tim’s upper body in the last panel is because his lower body has been ravaged by the explosions of dysentery…
The sound effect was used in the ’80s cartoons of Transformers (and beyond) when they transformed. Looking back, it doesn’t really belong in the album and I wish I wouldn’t have put it in, but it still sounds nice as a drum fill during the song.
What happened in Oregon?
That logo is trippy.
I call dibs on being the first person to play the 2P Start! game/calendar.
NCG.
In Oregon you aren’t allowed to pump your own gas and all the gas stations have attendants to do it for you.
ACG. Awesome comic guys. I love the dying Tim (even though i didn’t notice it until someone else commented on it.) But i love the live tim more. (even if the podcast isn’t live)
ON another note, I hated this game so much, i never did make it very far. i didn’t do any better on yukon trail, though i sometimes did okay on the amazon trail (but still never made it).
This comic is awesome! Original and brings back memories of playing Oregon Trail.
But come on Tim, driving 930 miles isn’t too bad. I drove about 1,500 miles back home this past Christmas (And the 1,500 miles back out to school). Well, I didn’t do all of the driving. I drove with my brother and 2 friends, so we had 4 drivers so it wasn’t that bad.
Very nice comic, Enjoyed the reminiscence of the good ol’ Oregon Trail. I wish they would make an updated version of it. It’s a shame however, that Tim had to die during the comic. (Maybe because my name is also Tim, so I feel a little remorse)
Well, I’ve read through the entire 2P Start archive, recently subscribed to the podcast, so here at comic #101, it’s time to comment. Not that I haven’t loved the first 100 comics, because I did, but this one is now one of my favorites. I always hated Oregon Trail (Or maybe the misspelling Oregon Trial is more accurate, hmm) because I always had random crap happen to me no matter what I did that resulted in everone dying. And I never had any patience to watch the wagon roll to the left for hours so I always made them go too fast which is probably what resulted in everyone’s deaths. Oh well. Great comic guys, keep it up for the next 100 and more after that.
I know people have been talking about a pixel vision based game but screw that noise this needs to be an official 2P Start game it could be called
“Tim’s Oregon fail”
So, did you just leave your car in Oregon then? I wouldn’t trust Ray with your car so much! š
Yes! I definitely agree. This comic should be renamed The Oregon Fail.
Awesome awesome comic! One of my favorites (no offense with the whole Tim dying thing). Oh the nostalgia.
Wow this brings back memories.
Why no offense that was the best part of the comic. Everybody knows that Ray is better than Tim
http://www.2pstart.com/2007/04/11/tims-take-artists-block-overcome.
Jk I think both of you are awful compared to D3vin.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Because if it is good, then Thanks!
Hm…. no one’s said it yet I think….
Hey Tim and Ray, Where can we get one of those 2009 2P-START! Calenders?! š
Nice comic! So, you decided to kill off Tim? Who does his swimming pool of money go to?
Anyways, I especially liked the fording the river part. I always did that. It would be like “Do you want to pay an Indian to help you across, pay for a ferry, or try to ford it?”, and I would always be cheap and go “We can make it! Ford the river!” Then everyone in my party and all my oxen would die… but, it was still an awesome game.
Sorry for the double post, but I just realized that Tim isn’t going to die for another 4 days!
So Tim, since you know you’re going to die in 4 days, do you think your wife will let you play guitar hero now? š
Aaah that explains why someone used it on their robot!
One thing I just thought of: Does Tim really need reminding that there is a podcast each Monday and a comic each Wednesday? XD
It was good. Never played the game before. Love the Dancing with the Stars calender idea. Make it in the 2P Start! shop?
“After getting halfway into this one, I was worried it was the wrong comic to follow up Richardās with, but I think this one turned out well. Apparently making really crappy-looking images is more difficult for me than my usual style. Wasnāt expecting thatā¦”
Wrong! This was the perfect comic to follow up with!
Only thing is, I kept wanting to hit ‘RETURN’ while reading it =]
[16-bit 5Mhz voice]Rise from your graaaave!
I’m also a new poster, and one of those insane people you sometimes reference in the podcast who listens to the archives constantly upon discovery. It’s not just 2P Start, though. I also read all 77 pages of this Sonic Retro thread where they discuss how Sonic should be redrawn for the HD remake.
Fantastic comic, fellas (FCF). I knew what was coming, but the rapidly dwindling supply of Dr. Pepper and the eventual visual aid of 8-bit Tim, slumped over his truck in defeat were even better than expected. I didn’t think I’d ever comment, honestly, but how could I not, after reading this comic and wanting to support you two.
Ray had inspired me to replay Sonic Rush, which is normally a good thing, except that I employ the “have one ring > get hit > recollect ring > attack” strategy of beating the final boss, and so therefore had to hear Tails’ “OH NO SONIC!” screech approximately 35,561,838 times. So… thanks.
Keep up the good work, happy 100th, and I’ll promise to keep reading/listening if you promise to keep writing/drawing/talking.
Not much to say except AWESOME! Oregon Trail is a classic, although like whoever mentioned above, I really only played a later CD version. It was still awesome, though, like most of those other learning games they had back then. Anybody else play Math Blaster or Logical Journey of the Zoombinis? Ahh, those were the days.
And as someone else mentioned: how did you get your car back if you flew home, Tim?
*REALLY BAD PUN ALERT*
So I guess Tim must have a Chevy truck, huh? Because he couldn’t FORD the river!
Oregon Trail jokes never grow old, and people always die of dysentery.
Can’t say I’ve heard of any of those, but that reminds me of Number Munchers. I think I played that more than Oregon Trail. Back in the olden days when I didn’t really know what the internet was, had no computer at home, and had to walk to school, uphill, both ways…
…whippersnappers…
…here, have some Werther’s…
CK,
I actually have a Ford Ranger! But I’m not surprised that it didn’t make it across the river, it DID just cost me $3k to replace the transmission…
When I drove up, I was helping someone move up there and was driving one of their cars. So we were going to rent a car on the way back, but flew instead.
Oh yeah, forgot about that one! I remember a couple others, too, like Word Munchers or something like that (eat the words that fit a category and not ones that didn’t).
I remember Number Munchers too! Good times. But I remember playing most at school “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” That and Megaman X, for some reason…don’t know how that got in there…
Two of our educational games in fourth grade were two Indiana Jones games. XD
Why is there only one capital letter in the last panel?
So … how do you get dysentery on a road trip?
Bad Dr. Pepper?
Or not washing your hands after using a gas station bathroom. Ewwww… (shudder)
He must have got it when he played “Shadow the Hedgehog.”
Goes to play Oregon Trail… ironically, it’s sitting on my computer desk… conspiracy much?
AND… I WANT THE CALENDAR!
Remember how MetaRidley made those 2pstart achievements a few comic ago? I just thought of a new one:
This achievement used to be good…: -20G: Post a comment that includes the words, “This comic used to be good”, with the word ‘used’ in either capital letters, bold, or italics.
I’m so glad the graphics in organ trail were so terrible, I don’t know what dieing of dysentery looks like, but I don’t need to see it in HD.
What is this? A gaming comic that touches on untapped material?
Blasphemy!
I know, how DARE they not make jokes about things that are popular with young people. This comic used to be good
Haha this was great! love the modern day Oregon Trail!
Me too! I love playing this game š
You know, this comic has reawakened my love for the Oregon Trail. I’m going to see if I can find it to download to my computer. More info as it arrives! Oh, and
Nice. š I think I’ll add that one to the list.
This joke is probably stale by now, but I have to say it, anyway.
So that explains why Tim was absent from that one podcast. Hmm . . .
What’s dysentery?
ummmm…this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysentery
How did tim even end up in the river??
he tried to ford it, duh. I haven’t even played the game and I know that.
I know, right?
Tim, Ray, if you guys don’t start making totally unoriginal jokes soon, I am so gonna quit reading.
Found your comic thru the Weekly Webcomic Wrapup over at Joystiq. Thought an Oregon Trail (or Oregon Trial to me) webcomic would be funny. It didn’t disappoint.
BJ
Heh, glad you liked it.
I acutally went back and looked at those other achievements that you made and copied the formatting.
*clap clap*
This comic stays great.
I played Oregon Trail about two months back and I loved it.
Especially hunting for food and people dieing was fun.
…
Am I a freak for enjoying death?
I recommend jokes about cakes being lies or how mario games make no sense or that there are a lot of pointless characters in sonic games
Well, we already covered one of those:
http://www.2pstart.com/2007/09/26/its-an-adventure-mate/ double post, sorry, link didnt work i think
Yes. Yes you are! 0_o
Btw, Tim and Ray, it seems that we can no longer edit our comments after we post them, while before we had a 5 minute time period to do so. What’s up with that?
Tim mentioned to me something about certain plug-ins causing… errors? site performance problems? I don’t remember… but the editing comments feature was one of the biggest culprits – so it was quickly axed.
Absolutely awesome! This would be my first post but I’ve read all your comics! š You guys are great!
It was a good thing…I think. (also I went Cliffy B on my name) Word.
[Tim is forcing me to type of a 2P START! Comment and threatens to remove Mario from gaming if I don’t]
*Comment #14*
Man, this comic sucks. What’s wrong with you guys? I didn’t wanna write a comment this week! I think 2P START! $|_|><0rZd’t and that’s final.
[Tim leaves, Ray enters]
“Hey Ray! Ray? Put the gun down. Stop, Ray! Put the gun down, come here, I didn’t mean to type it; honest! Ray. RAY! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!”
*bang*
“Umm… Ok.”
* * *
Hi all! Now that I’m in charge of the 2P START! art and podcast management, I’m gonna have to go through the things I’m going to change. I think this was Tim’s plan all along.
Firstly, the nubblebows need to go. Let’s replace them with highly realistic 1080p elbows and had some wrinkle action. To fill in the gap, we’ll make all comic-drawn characters have spherical bomberman hands.
Eventually, when the 2P START! artificial intelligence is completed, we’ll replace Tim so that all comics will be Jigglepuff beating up Solid Snake on the Oregon Trail. Sonic will play the part of the oxen. The storyline will take 2P START! to new heights and present the readers with an awe-entrancing storyline of wonder and amazement. We’re gonna make it so good you actually have to pay to read it.
Yes, by making an on-going storyline of the Oregon Trail you love, we will leave you to your own financial demise. This will fund the making of the new 2P START! game involving only me going around killing Sonic characters with the beam saber from No More Heroes. That’s gonna cost you the rest of your life savings, your right thumb–so the game is more difficult to play–and your soul.
Now most of you may be wondering, why would you want my soul? With the rising cost is fuel, we need your soul to help us power the new Black Doom Cannon fueled by none other than the 2P START! fanbase. After firing the cannon, the owners of the souls will perish from this world leaving only the 1P FINISH? comic head, me. The world will be mine! Muh ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. a a a a a a a a. *echoing*
Nice Kevin. That’s all there is to it. š
Being an Oregonian, I approve of this comic, ha ha.
The deep river, the drastic weather change, ha ha…Couple years back, a Friday, it was around 60 or 70 degrees out, and the following Sunday, we had a terrible ice storm with below freezing temperatures.
And the terrible thing with growing up in Oregon (and in Oregon City, for that matter), elementary schools required us playing the Oregon Trail for about 30 minutes a day for a few weeks, ha ha. How terrible is that? It was an “Interactive history of our own town! Wow!”, ha ha, dumb teachers.
Anyways, job well done!
haha!!! thats great. i remember back in elementary school, we would play Oregon Trail I & II and was one of the best games of the time. just reading this makes me want to play again. I’m not even from Oregon, as Casval is, but we stil played it. I’m actually from Michigan.
OMG this one was awesome! Loved the Oregon Trail games Lol
I think i still have some from my old computer O_O
Hahaha “Gas: Least of worries” Keep an eye on the Dr. Pepper….. X_X
One mile to go! … AAwwww thats too bad.. Lol
Ah, yes. The eternal question: to caulk or to ford?
Man, even after so long I still come back and laugh at this!
LOL. Great comic. I loved that game growing up… and why does everyone die from dysentery?