Social studies teacher creates fun, adventure, death by cholera

We all remember traveling down the Oregon Trail, getting bitten by virtual rattlesnakes, getting sudden cases of cholera and drowning in the middle of rivers. We all loved being pioneers on the “Oregon Trail” computer game. But social studies teacher Derek Miyahara’s experience as a pioneer on the game was slightly different, as he helped to actually develop the game.

Miyahara was vice president for Research and Development during the final upgrade of the Oregon Trail program. The product he was working on, Oregon Trail IV, tried to incorporate a lot of video and was “hopelessly complex.”

“Oregon Trail IV was never a big seller,” Miyahara said. “There was a sense that we had gotten away from the things that had made Oregon Trail such a popular game. So our major change to the game was to go back to the version that was recognized as the best.”

Miyahara was not directly on the production team but played an executive role supporting the team of software developers who worked directly on the product.

“The design and development team were fantastic, an absolute joy to work with,” Miyahara said.

As the Vice President, Miyahara approved all the changes being made. The biggest frustration in producing the program was lacking enough time and money to make the product they wished they could make if they had enough resources.

According to Miyahara, Oregon Trail V ended up being a “stop gap” product as production for Oregon Trail VI began. However, the Fremont Development Site that was working on it got shut down, so the game never made it to the market.

However, Miyahara still feels positive about his opportunity to contribute to the program.

“I enjoyed developing educational software products for kids, and learned a lot about organizations and management in the process,” Miyahara said. “I was lucky to have been asked to lead the development efforts in Fremont because I think I just happened to have the skill sets and temperament that they needed at that point in the company’s history.”