Westward was a short weekend project. The goal was to create a simple and online-playable spiritual successor to “The Oregon Trail.” I grew up playing this game and honestly blame it for my early interest in computers. I was so very excited for the days in 5th and 6th grade when we got to go to the computer lab, and I could play Oregon Trail on an Apple IIe – if I was REALLY lucky, I could get one of the Apple IIe Color computers. I remember spending a short 30-minute period or so hoping my wagon could actually make it as far as Soda Springs without dying of dysentery.
Amazingly, the original code was made publicly available by Don Rawitsch and has been captured on GitHub by user LiquidFox1776. Since that is totally available freely and since the code is available (mostly mechanics like how difficult things are, how much things cost, etc.) and the locations are…well… geographic landmarks, there is nothing copyrighted about this version. So… enjoy “Westward” now available as an online demo:
http://westward.icanplaythere.com