''Odell Lake'' is a 1986

educational Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

life simulation game Life simulation games form a subgenre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual characters (human or otherwise). Such a game can revolve around "individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation ...

produced by

MECC The Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (later Corporation), most commonly known as MECC, was an organization founded in 1971 best known for developing the edutainment video game series ''The Oregon Trail (series), The Oregon Trail'' and i ...

for the Apple II and Commodore 64. The player is a fish living in Odell Lake, a real-world lake in

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. It is based on a 1980 BASIC program of the same name. It was followed-up by ''

Odell Down Under ''Odell Down Under'' is a 1995 game for Microsoft Windows and Classic Mac OS that takes place in the Great Barrier Reef. It is the sequel to '' Odell Lake''. Gameplay The player takes on the role of a fish who in turn must eat, stay clean and avo ...

''.

Gameplay

As a fish, the player could "go exploring" or "play for points". The object was to decide which fish to eat, while trying to survive and avoid other enemies; such as otters, ospreys, and bait from fishermen. When simply exploring, the player could select from six different species of fish, such as Mackinaw Trout, Whitefish, or Rainbow Trout; however, when playing for points, the computer randomly assigned the type of fish that the player will play as. In addition, the titles for each of the types of fish and other creatures are removed when playing for points, forcing the player to rely on memory; also the game was timed. After every five moves, the player played as a different type of fish. When playing for points, the best decision netted the player the most points, with less intelligent decisions earning the player fewer or no points, or in the case of the fish eating something disagreeable, actually taking them away. If no decision was made when time ran out, it counted as "Ignore". If at any time the player's fish was attacked by an enemy, or the player got caught by an angler, the game ended immediately. In Israel the game was published in Hebrew in 1987 for Apple II.

Main fish

The

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of fish found in Odell Lake included the following: * Rainbow trout *

Dolly Varden trout The Dolly Varden trout (''Salvelinus malma'') is a species of salmonid fish native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. It belongs to the genus '' Salvelinus'', or true chars, which includes 51 recognized ...

Mackinaw trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can als ...

, the largest fish in the game * Blueback salmon * Whitefish * Chub, the smallest fish in the game The game is heavily random; the same situation played in the same way can have different outcomes. For the most points, players must play the game safely, choosing the action that has the greatest chance of leading to a positive outcome. It's helpful to remember the typical locations of food and predators (shallow or deep), and not every situation will have the same outcome.

Other species

In addition to the other species of fish, the player's fish could come across the following in or above the lake: * Otters, who would eat any fish not making a deep escape (except the Mackinaw Trout, because it can only swim in deep water) *

Osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

s, who would grab any fish not making a deep escape (except the Mackinaw Trout, because it can only swim in deep water) * Algae (only a good food to the Chub; any other fish would find it disgusting if eaten) *

Plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...

Fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

, whose presence would not be known unless the player ate a baited Chub or a fisherman's fly concealed as

Insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s and

Larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

* Bottom organisms *

s and

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

Actions

The actions a fish could take when he approached (or was approached by) another fish, animal, or object included: *Attempting to eat the item *Attempting to chase away the item *Ignoring the item (by default when the player ran out of time in "Play for points") *Making a "shallow escape" (heading for high water) *Making a "deep escape" (heading for low water)

References

External links

*{{IAg, id=a2_Odell_Lake_v1.2_1986_MECC_US, platform=Apple II
''Odell Lake''
at Gamebase 64 Life simulation games Biological simulation video games Apple II games Commodore 64 games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in Oregon Single-player video games The Learning Company games 1986 video games Video games with underwater settings