Remember code wheels ?

[Skylover SC]

You can now try the "Fate of Atlantis" code wheel online here :
http://www.oldgames.sk/docs/codewheel/

A code wheel is a type of copy protection used on older computer games, often those published in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It evolved from the original "manual protection" system in which the program would require the user to enter a specific word from the manual before the game would start up or continue beyond a certain point.

(Wikipedia)

[Attila the Professor]

So that's why the website is called Mix 'n' Mojo.

Seems like Fate of Atlantis, of all games, considering the sun, moon, and world stones, could have had a more interesting code wheel than that.

Great find.

[Finn]

For what it's worth, that code wheel is for the obscure action version of the game.

The far better known one didn't have a physical code wheel. When you started it, you got this screen first:



Then you had to refer to the paper manual to work out the correct combination.

[Attila the Professor]

Originally Posted by Finn

For what it's worth, that code wheel is for the obscure action version of the game.

Ah, so the cheapness is to match the rest of the product.

Originally Posted by Finn

The far better known one didn't have a physical code wheel. When you started it, you got this screen first:



Then you had to refer to the paper manual to work out the correct combination.

See, I never encountered that either, in Italian or English. I guess that's a matter of only playing the CD-Rom version.

[Finn]

Originally Posted by Attila the Professor

See, I never encountered that either, in Italian or English. I guess that's a matter of only playing the CD-Rom version.

Well, the popularity of that particular type of copy protection faded pretty quickly in the mid-90s (when far more feasible, physical disc copy protections became available), so it was stripped from any subsequent releases.

Anybody who buys the game today obviously won't see it either because all GOG releases are completely DRM-free.