LinguaFranKEYS - Dave Hughes


Unrelated Introduction


The Rosetta Stone is inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts, respectively, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. The decree has only minor differences across the three versions, making the Rosetta Stone key to deciphering the Egyptian scripts.

Now if you were going to make a spectrum basic game based on the Rosetta stone, just imagine how many user defined graphics you would need for the hieroglyphs. Loads!

Even modern languages can require a suite of UGD to represent all the letter types not found the the UK alphabet.






The actual game


So this limitation is perhaps why Dave Hughes decided to take a slightly simplified approach with his game LinguaFranKEYS, which has nothing to do with the Rosetta Stone. This is a game where you have to learn the words for up, down, left, right, pause and fire in a number of languages that are common among the ZX Spectrum fanbase.

I can see what Dave is doing here. By mastering this game you will be able to play any spectrum game in any language. Therefore this is both a game and a useful utility. This is not so crap then?

The game is also nicely laid out and uses every possible UDG the spectrum has to offer to lovingly recreate the custom fonts for the game. Languages included are:

English
Portuguese
Spanish
Czech
Slovak
Italian
Dutch
French
German
Polish
Ukrainian
Russian
Greek



Impressive list. You can browse them in a nice little menu, with some accompanying sound effects.

The game must be played in 48k mode otherwise some crapness creeps in, and instead of a nice UDG you get the word 'SPECTRUM'. At first I though this was intentional and I was learning the word for Spectrum in 12 languages. But no. I was being thick.

So the game is a nice type-in with educational value for any spectrum fans who want to play non native spectrum games - but is it a fun game?


(I see this and I think Etch-A-Sketch. I must have PTSD)




Well, that may depend on your memory skills and whether or not you are a linguaphile. I found this game very hard and scored 2% on my first go. Everything is just too quick for my slow brain and poor grasp of any language, including English. However, the option to scroll through the languages is a really nice touch and I can see that helping me in the future.








Warning - This will not help you play text adventures in a non-native tongue.

Final thoughts


A simple game that verges on fun, LinguaFranKEYS is also useful.

If, 2000 years from now, someone is digging in their back garden, and finds a tape cassette containing this game, they may consider it something of a Rosetta Stone of the ZX Spectrum (See there was a link after all). Perhaps it will allow scientists of the future to get a rudimentary understanding of European languages.

Ed's Edit


This was one of the gems I missed while AWOL. A well constructed, as well as, useful piece of software. 

Technical Ability - 70%

Yes it is basic, but it is well constructed and good use of the UDGs. Also runs on a 16K Speccy so plenty of room for expansion.

Achievement - 5%

I'm not fully convinced by this being a game any more than Mavis Beacon Teaching Typing. It would only really achieve being a crap game if you had found it as the only gift in your Xmas stocking back in the 80's.

Fun - 10%

Not really fun for the average Speccy gamester.

Crap Factor - 15%

Crap as a game, pretty good as a utility.

Remember I play these games so you don't have to. Should you play this game I bear no responsibility for your mental health afterwards. Should the warnings not be enough you can download and play it here.



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