The irony of the code wheel is that while it was designed to stop pirates, it mostly just punished the legitimate owners.
Knights of Xentar (known in Japan as Dragon Knight II ) represents a unique entry in PC gaming history. As one of the first hentai (adult) RPGs to be localized for the Western market, publisher Megatech Software faced the dual challenge of cultural adaptation and piracy prevention. During the early 1990s, software piracy was rampant due to the ease of copying 3.5-inch floppy disks. To mitigate this, publishers employed "feelies"—physical objects required to play the game. The most sophisticated of these was the code wheel, a decoder device that required the user to align specific symbols to generate valid passwords. knights of xentar code wheel
The code wheel served a single, simple purpose: to verify that the user had purchased an original copy of the game. At various points during gameplay—typically right after the title screen or before a critical save point—the game would halt and display a prompt. For example: "Enter the 4-digit code for Day 15, Symbol 'Sword'." The irony of the code wheel is that
: While standard for its era, modern players often find this a major hurdle, frequently searching for digital scans or "cracks" to bypass it when playing on DOSBox . Gameplay & Experience Review During the early 1990s, software piracy was rampant
The code wheel was used to bypass a security check, typically occurring after the game's introduction or when loading a save. The game would display a specific symbol or prompt, and the player had to physically align the layers of the cardboard wheel to find the corresponding matching code. How the Wheel Works
: After the intro credits, a prompt will appear.