Path: news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: candycanearter07 Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action Subject: Re: Code Wheels Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2025 19:30:09 -0000 (UTC) Organization: the-candyden-of-code Lines: 60 Message-ID: References: Injection-Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2025 21:30:09 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="e35ed6b8dc9d5896dda7b0a70a84e4ab"; logging-data="1552520"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+/S/vViOdvc3fREwaV4fecR+xSXJmTFdktLqo/5uRHrQ==" User-Agent: slrn/1.0.3 (Linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:WKHY1NHDkL6juIS+Nal4YrPOH2A= X-Face: b{dPmN&%4|lEo,wUO\"KLEOu5N_br(N2Yuc5/qcR5i>9-!^e\.Tw9?/m0}/~:UOM:Zf]% b+ V4R8q|QiU/R8\|G\WpC`-s?=)\fbtNc&=/a3a)r7xbRI]Vl)r<%PTriJ3pGpl_/B6!8pe\btzx `~R! r3.0#lHRE+^Gro0[cjsban'vZ#j7,?I/tHk{s=TFJ:H?~=]`O*~3ZX`qik`b:.gVIc-[$t/e ZrQsWJ >|l^I_[pbsIqwoz.WGA] wrote at 19:20 this Sunday (GMT): > > Is it just me? Am I the only one who has a soft spot for code wheels? > > For those not REALLY REALLY OLD, code wheels were a form of offline > copy-protection where the game would ask you to input a code, which > you would acquire by fiddling with two cardboard disks, twisting and > aligning them until they gave you the correct data.* > > They were used by dozens (hundreds? I don't know if there's a > complete list anywhere) of games in the mid 80s to early 90s, > eventually superseded by documentation checks and later by CD-ROMs. At > the time of their release, photocopiers weren't too common (computer > scanners were almost non-existent) and the unusual format made it > difficult for anyone to hand-copy the answers. > > A lot of people disliked them because the wheels were fiddly to use, > easy to lose, and because some companies demanded you use them too > often. But I always sort of liked them; there was a hands-on > interactivity to them that made them more interesting than simply > answering "what's the third word in the second line of the ninth > paragraph of page 16" documentation checks. It was like _I_ was > actually helping in the quest by decoding some secret information. > When the code wheels fell out of favor, I missed them. Funny enough, I know of at least one modern game that uses a (virtual) code wheel as a puzzle mechanic, and it was pretty charming. > Code wheels weren't really any more effective than other forms of copy > protection, of course. They were as easily defeated as most copy > protection questions; most crackers just looked for the code that > queried the player and JMP'd over it like it never existed. They > weren't all that cheap to make either, and their bulk demanded larger > boxes. A lot of budget re-releases of games just stripped them out of > the game entirely. So their lifespan was limited. > > But I liked them. I'm not demanding they make a comeback of course... > but of all the forms of copy-protection, code-wheels were one of the > more playful and less annoying. > > > Anyone else have fond memories of this stupid thing, or is this a hill > on which I'm going to die alone? ;-) > > > > > > > > * there are a selection of 'interactive code wheels' here if you've no > idea what I'm talking about: > https://www.oldgames.sk/codewheel/ I agree that they seem cute (even if I never was around for it), and that it is hilariously easy to crack by just photocopying it, but I probably would've been the kinda person to lose all of mine. -- user is generated from /dev/urandom