The was a physical copy-protection device required to play the original 1995 diskette version of the game. Before the era of digital activation, such "feelies" were common tools used by publishers like Megatech Software to prevent unauthorized piracy. How the Code Wheel Worked
: Players had to rotate the physical wheel to align these symbols. Once aligned, a small window on the wheel would reveal the required entry code.
Because these physical wheels are easily lost or damaged over decades, modern players using emulators like DOSBox often seek digital scans of the wheel or "cracked" executables that bypass the check entirely. Many "Abandonware" versions of the game have already been patched to remove this requirement for convenience.
Not every player encountered this obstacle. The of Knights of Xentar generally did not require the code wheel for verification. Because CD-ROMs were much harder to copy at home in the mid-90s compared to 3.5-inch floppies, the physical disc served as its own form of copy protection. The Game Behind the Wheel
: Unlike the first-person dungeon crawling of previous entries, Xentar features a top-down world map similar to early Final Fantasy games.
: The game would provide "challenge symbols" (such as a character's face or an elemental icon) and a specific letter or number.
: The game was famous (and controversial) for its "eroge" elements, where saving various maidens resulted in suggestive "reward" scenes. The Western release famously included an "NR-13" standard version and an optional "NR-18" patch to restore explicit content. Finding Codes Today
: If the correct code was not entered, the game would refuse to load or, in some versions, restrict the player to a "training session" only. CD-ROM vs. Diskette Versions
: Upon launching the diskette version of the game, players were met with a security screen asking for a specific code.