Classic Video Game Copy Protection ‘Code Wheels’ Digitised & Accessible Online

Classic Video Game Copy Protection ‘Code Wheels’ Digitised & Accessible Online
NEWS - RETRO

http://www.retrocollect.com/images/p...protection.jpg

While DRM today may been seen as overly aggressive and frustrating, copy protection methods of yesteryear actually brought along some charm whilst keeping the pirates at bay. One of the more notable examples of this was the code wheel - a collection of layered card held together by a split pin with windows revealing secret codes underneath. Although seeming to be something of a bygone era, several of these code wheels have now been recreated and digitised for future generations to come.
For many gamers their first introduction to this form of copy protection was through Lucasarts’ classic The Secret of Monkey Island. The vibrantly coloured Dial-A-Pirate insert very much seemed like an added extra to the floppy disk adventure, however, beneath each of the faces you could make lay a secret access code to boot up the game. Monkey Island 2 continued this trend with the Mix ‘N’ Mojo code wheel (one which had you lining up voodoo spell ingredients), whilst the likes of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis opted for a much duller approach littered with numbers and letters.
Abandonware website OldGames.sk recently made available their collection of seven different code wheels online, all of which spinning independently with a click. This collection includes the aforementioned Lucasarts quests, along with the likes of Another World, Pool of Radiance, and Waxworks too. Whilst the selection might not be expansive as of yet, we’re pretty sure many more will soon follow given how great these work digitally.

Link: Digitised Game Copy Protection Code Wheels at OldGames.sk

I remember this for Jet Set Willy
http://en.citizendium.org/images/b/b...lour_chart.gif

Took hours to copy it out.

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Originally Posted by ss30

I remember this for Jet Set Willy
http://en.citizendium.org/images/b/b...lour_chart.gif

Took hours to copy it out.

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That takes me back :)

Denuvo - the latest game copy protection seems to be doing a good job. A LOT of games with this protection still 'uncracked'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denuvo

Not if you read the full wiki

"In January 29 2017, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was cracked only 5 days after its release, making it the fastest game to be cracked with the latest Denuvo implementation. ^[16]*

Remember copying games with twin tape deck onto a C90? Those were the days.

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Originally Posted by Mickey

Not if you read the full wiki

"In January 29 2017, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was cracked only 5 days after its release, making it the fastest game to be cracked with the latest Denuvo implementation. ^[16]*

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It has been cracked for over 2 years but not completely, they have not fully cracked the DRM and are doing work arounds on some games but there are many games NOT cracked. It has a list in the wiki.

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Originally Posted by TJB

Remember copying games with twin tape deck onto a C90? Those were the days.

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Yes I remember getting one for my C64. The guy flogging it called it a 'motherboard' don't know why it was just pcb you plugged into the back of the C64 where you connected the tape drive which then let you connect 2 tape drives.
You had to play and record at the same time pmsl... took fookin ages.

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Originally Posted by piggzy

Yes I remember getting one for my C64. The guy flogging it called it a 'motherboard' don't know why it was just pcb you plugged into the back of the C64 where you connected the tape drive which then let you connect 2 tape drives.
You had to play and record at the same time pmsl... took fookin ages.

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The good old days :)

Remember when CD's became the norm and we all thought game copies where a thing of the past...

Then in my first job they bought a Plextor cd writer at work. I gasped in amazement before working overtime and copying every PC game I could get my grubby little hands on.
Oh yes I was the cool kid in town (till everyone got a writer) ;-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by piggzy

Yes I remember getting one for my C64. The guy flogging it called it a 'motherboard' don't know why it was just pcb you plugged into the back of the C64 where you connected the tape drive which then let you connect 2 tape drives.
You had to play and record at the same time pmsl... took fookin ages.

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I vaguely remember having a program for my Spectrum... You would run the program, play about 5 seconds of the tape then pause it, switch the cables from ear to mic, place a blank tape in the tape recorder and record that particular 5 second section onto the blank tape, switch the cables back and repeat until you had recorded the full game. Took literally all day.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by piggzy

It has been cracked for over 2 years but not completely, they have not fully cracked the DRM and are doing work arounds on some games but there are many games NOT cracked. It has a list in the wiki.

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IT was cracked in 5 days numbnutz

In early August 2016, it was reported that the Denuvo protection found in Doom had been bypassed by a cracker named Voksi.^[11] Bypasses for many other Denuvo protected games were released within the following days.^[12] Although the exploit used for these bypasses was patched 3 days after the first bypass was released, news followed that Rise of the Tomb Raider, Inside and Doom^[13] had been fully cracked by the scene group CONSPIR4CY (CPY),^[14] by successfully emulating the Denuvo protection and patching the remaining in game triggers.
Playdead later removed Denuvo from their game Inside in their later patches. ID Software also removed Denuvo from their 2016 release DOOM via a patch in December later that year. Crytek later removed Denuvo from their VR game The Climb.^[15]
In January 29 2017, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was cracked only 5 days after its release, making it the fastest game to be cracked with the latest Denuvo implementation. ^[16]

Had a multiface 2 on my amstrad 6128 to do the dirty for me

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

I use to be the person to goto to do C64 games, my dad had a Hi-Fi with a twin tape deck.

I also remember getting my first CD Writer, £150 for a Plextor SCSI drive with a SCSI card and then trying to do my first PS1 game with a cracked copy of CD-R WIN and using it in DOS to do the deed, wasted about 10 blank CD-r's which cost around £2.50 each back then before I got it to work, and then there was the PIC Chip programming and installing, happy days.

And now I cant even remember the last time I burnt a CD-R or DVD-R must be over a year!(never bought a BluRay writer either)

i remember when i got my first CD-Writer - SCSI 2x Writer - blanks were expensive but worth it providing you didnt ruin too many

i remember that old writers had problems with discs that had a non standard layout like below

Data Tracks > Audio Tracks > Data Tracks

so if we had a game that had audio tracks we would add a data track or 2 at the end of the cuesheet - it would burn but would not be able to be copied
if the game had no audio tracks we would add a couple and then add more data tracks at the end

this was all long before Nero, CloneCD etc. became the standard - it worked really well to stop the average person copying your stuff.

Some of the compilations discs that were available (Blobby etc.) had their own protections that did it a different way

Attachment 30698

My best friend for years.

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Originally Posted by CominAtcha

Attachment 30698.

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Yep used that to copy all manor of protected Amiga SW. Then with the hardware dongle that came out Xcopy was the only piece of kit you ever needed


this was like a dongle I got made up

Attachment 30699

My best friend for years Also