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Neuromancer Code Wheel
First, a short explanation of the evolution of code wheels. The code wheel is a form of protection against piracy of a particular game. They first appeared (to my knowledge) in the Electronic Arts game Amnesia in the form of a "street index". The next appearance was much later, in Legacy of the Ancients, also EA. The third (and most complicated one) was included in Bards Tale III. And, as you may have guessed, the latest use is in Neuromancer. The first two also included disk protection, but the companies seem to be relying on just the code wheel for their protection against piracy, as the last two have had no disk protection whatsoever. The protection comes when, at certain points in the game, you will be given a set of two, three or four (depending on the complexity of the wheel) words or locations or whatever, and, using the code wheel, you must provide the required answer, or you will not be able to proceed with that function. Without the wheel and without altering the programming of the disk, you are stuck.
What is a code wheel? It is two or three concentric paper circles, each one smaller than the one beneath it, so that only the outer ring of the larger one(s) shows. It is on the outer ring that one set of words are printed. On the outside edge of the smallest circle can be found the second set of words. One or several small windows are also cut out of the smallest circle (and in the case of three wheels, windows may also be cut out of the middle wheel at random points) so that the requested code numbers or words may be seen through them. If there is more than one window, each window will have its own name printed above or below it. In the most simple application, the use would be something like this: the player is given the conditions of A and B. He would rotate the code wheel until A on the outer circle lines up with B on the inner circle and observe the code through through the window. In the case of multiple windows, he would have been given A, B, and C, rotated as before to line up A and B and look through window C for the answer. Such is the case with Neuromancer.
The code wheel in Neuromancer is used to operate the PAX machine found at various locations throughout the game. You will be given three access codes and asked for a verification code. There are 16 possible A's, B's and C's. The codes are broken down into two tables. The first tables gives A (outer ring) and B (inner ring), to be cross referenced to each other to get a position number. This position number will be cross referenced with C (windows) to give the 3 to 6 digit verification code. The access codes you will be given are listed below with THREE LETTERS IN UPPER CASE (usually the first three, but not always, so I have tried to draw your attention to the ones that do not have the first three in caps). These will correspond to the abbreviations in the tables. Good luck!
A B C
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NIGht city news EMPeror norton ASAno computing
CHAtsubo CYBerjack SPAcedock
CYBerspace RATz SPace Colony <--
GEMeinschaft HOLografix FLAtline
CRAzy edo LARry moe ZIOn cluster
MICrosofts PAX MARcus garvey
CHEap hotel SKIll chips CRYptology
JULius deane SHIn's pawn AI (only two letters)
DONut world GENtleman loser BANk of berne
LAWbot MAAs biolabs BAnk of Zurich <--
DATabase JUStice booth CHIba city
SHIva CYberDeck <-- FUJi electric
FREeside COMlink HOLy joystick
SOFtwarez ICEbreaker COMpu-judge
MATrix ROM construct HITachi biotech
MAtt Shaw <-- COWboy ONO-sendai
Table 1
A
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| N | C | C | G | C | M | C | J | D | L | D | S | F | S | M | M |
| I | H | Y | E | R | I | H | U | O | A | A | H | R | O | A | A |
| G | A | B | M | A | C | E | L | N | W | T | I | E | F | T | S |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| EMP | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16|
| CYB | 16| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15|
| RAT | 15| 16| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13| 14|
| HOL | 14| 15| 16| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13|
| LAR | 13| 14| 15| 16| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12|
| PAX | 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11|
| SKI | 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10|
B| SHI | 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| GEN | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| MAA | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| JUS | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| CYD | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| COM | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| ICE | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 1 | 2 | 3 |
| ROM | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 1 | 2 |
| COW | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 1 |
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Table 2
C
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------
| ASA | SPA | SPC | FLA | ZIO | MAR | CRY | AI | BAN| BAZ| CHI| FUJ|HOL|COM|HIT|ONO|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------
| 1 |113667|162324|152777|056201|71312|43267|61255|34755|5517|4102|1337|4327|512 |533|236|473|
| 2 |060734|073611|040327|054127|44321|21400|07362|23671|7107|0170|4300|0703|700 |673|714|614|
| 3 |131265|061254|004713|114352|76631|65110|61645|71724|4102|5116|0072|6040|254 |333|024|672|
| 4 |063124|127170|051435|126443|61543|61723|36112|00206|0170|6160|4120|5150|017 |434|424|321|
| 5 |162324|067144|157223|030654|70012|51666|50127|22372|5116|5165|1316|6162|533 |300|473|072|
| 6 |073611|031776|056201|014527|34770|31270|74655|42074|6160|0017|3601|2174|673 |410|614|507|
P| 7 |061254|031770|054127|132077|43267|45771|67237|71226|5165|1053|3347|6124|333 |054|672|725|
O| 8 |127170|121777|114352|067123|21400|41317|34755|61627|0017|5423|1777|1337|434 |313|321|571|
S| 9 |067144|117372|126443|036160|65110|61456|23671|01326|1053|3173|2730|4300|300 |733|072|430|
| 10|031776|011772|030654|013026|61723|44312|71724|61255|5423|0423|4327|0072|4 10|616|507|775|
| 11|031770|115721|014527|152336|51666|71312|00206|07362|3173|5120|0703|4120|0 54|167|725|103|
| 12|121777|021655|132077|152777|31270|44321|22372|61645|0423|6116|6040|1316|3 13|213|571|045|
| 13|117372|113667|067123|040327|45771|76631|42074|36112|5120|3121|5150|3601|7 33|512|430|236|
| 14|011772|060734|036160|004713|41317|61543|71226|50127|6116|0177|6162|3347|6 16|700|775|714|
| 15|115721|131265|013026|051435|61456|70012|61627|74655|3121|5517|2174|1777|1 67|254|103|024|
| 16|021655|063124|152336|157223|44312|34770|01326|67237|0177|7107|6124|2730|2 13|017|045|424|