Re: Code Wheels

On Fri, 27 Jun 2025 08:27:56 -0700, Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> w

I thought PoR had the "what word is on page 26, 3rd paragraph, 7th word
of the manual" kind of thing?  Admittedly it's been a very long time,
and last time I played it there was some sheet that came with it that
just had the words so I didn't use a code wheel or the manual.

Often different versions of the game made for different platforms had
different forms of copy protection. However, at least for the Apple
and IBM versions, the Gold Box "Pool of Radiance"* used

    a) a two-disc code wheel using Dethek and Espruar runes
       to 'decrypt' English words used at game boot-up (and,
       IIRC, at least once for an in-game puzzle)

    b) a manual look-up in the form of "journal entries" where
       you were directed to read what it said in the manual at
       various points throughout the game. Often these entries
       contained vital information without which certain puzzles
       could not be completed.

The former was easily defeated by cracks, but the latter made it much
harder to distribute the game via bulletin boards (at least until
somebody laboriously re-typed all the manual into a text file... and
even then that file would probably weigh in as much as the game
itself. And even the dreaded photocopier wasn't an easy option for
most, since most people didn't have easy access to the machines. And
at the 20cents per page it cost at most libraries or stationary
stores, the 60 pages in the two manuals (plus the code wheel) were
usually more money and effort people wanted to spend on a pirated
game.








* to differentiate it from the 2001 sequel