|=================================================| | | | "LORD OF THE RINGS" | | Desktop Theme For Microsoft Windows 95 Plus! | | | | Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's Fantasy Trilogy | | With Sounds from the Film by Ralph Bakshi | | | | By Carter Hansen | | Released June 18, 1996 | | | |=================================================| * NOTE: You need Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 and WinZip 95 in order to properly install this theme. You must use WinZip 95 to unzip the archive to preserve the long filenames, then you need Plus! in order to automatically install all the components of the theme. If you don't have Plus!, you can manually assign all the components except for the special icons for My Computer, Network Neighborhood, and Recycle Bin. To try to reconstruct the way I have assigned the elements in the theme, use Notepad to open the .theme file, which lists all the components of the theme and identifies the system element or event to which each component is assigned. INSTALLATION To install the theme, follow these steps: 1) When you have unzipped the archive, copy all the files except wtrspt16.zip into your Themes folder. 2) Unzip wtrspt16.zip (the screen saver) into a temporary folder. 3) Copy all the files from the wtrspt16.zip archive into the WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder. 4) Open the Control Panel (Start Menu->Settings->Control Panel) and open the Desktop Themes control. 5) In the themes list, select the appropriate theme for your display resolution and select OK to apply the theme. I have included two versions of the .theme file. The only difference between them is the resolution of the wallpaper .jpg image. If you are running at 640x480 or 800x600, use the "Tolkien (640x480)" theme. If you are running at 1024x768 or 1280x1024, use the "Tolkien (1024x768)" theme. If you don't know what resolution you are running, try the 640x480 theme first, then compare the appearance of the wallpaper to the quality of the wallpaper image after selecting the 1024x768 theme. Use the one that looks best. In either case, I recommend that you enable the option to "Stretch desktop wallpaper to fit the screen" in the Plus! tab of your display properties. CONTENT NOTES The following points indicate what the components of the theme represent and where they came from. I captured all the sounds from Bakshi's "Lord of the Rings" movie. Except where noted, I designed all the visual elements. * Busy Cursor: Spinning rendition of the One Ring * Working (App Start) Cursor: Bilbo's magic sword Sting; glows when enemies are near * Select, Help & No Cursors: variations on the Sting cursor * Other Cursors: shipped with Win 95, I believe * My Computer Icon: Gandalf, of course * Network Neighborhood Icon: One of the 7 towers of Minas Tirith * Recycle Bin Icon: quiver of arrows with full and empty states * Wallpaper: the center is a scan from the cover of the videotape of the movie; the borders started as Corel Clipart, to which I applied a series of effects using Photoshop and KPT 3.0 to create a more organic-looking image * Asterisk Sound: Smeagle/Gollum pleading for mercy from Frodo * Close Program Sound: Gandalf's magic staff shattering the bridge in Moria in the battle with the Balrog * Critical Stop Sound: Smeagle/Gollum trying to gain Frodo's confidence * Default Sound: the horse of Eomer, son of Theoden and leader of the Riders of Rohan * Empty Recycle Bin Sound: the last arrow the orcs shot into Boromir as he valiantly defended Merry and Pippin * Exclamation Sound: Samwise Gamgee in the marshes, just before he and Frodo are joined by Smeagle/Gollum * Exit Windows Sound: one of the Ring Wraiths calling to Frodo at Rivendell's ford * Maximize Sound: the Balrog in Moria, growling and snapping his whip * Menu Command Sound: Smeagle/Gollum's infamous "My Precious" interjection * Menu Popup Sound: clanging of Aragorn's "Sword That Was Broken" as he fights in defense of Helm's Deep * Minimize Sound: Boromir pleading with Frodo to come back after he attempted to seize the ring * Open Program Sound: Boromir's horn, sounded during his defense of Merry & Pippin * Program Error Sound: Aragorn shouting for retreat after Saruman breeched the walls of Helm's Deep with the Fires of Isengard * Question Sound: Theoden, King of Rohan, asking Gandalf for advice immediately following the expulsion of Grimer Wormtongue * Restore Down Sound: a Ring Wraith screeching in the magical flood at Rivendell's ford * Restore Up Sound: Saruman's Orcs chanting and rallying in preparation for the attack on Helm's Deep * Start Windows Sound: Gandalf reciting a stanza from the poem about the rings * System Default Sound: Gandalf advising Frodo to run from the Ring Wraiths at Rivendell's ford Originally, I created the spinning ring cursor using a gold color scheme. I didn't like the incongruity presented by this one gold cursor in a set that uses only gray values in all the other cursors, however. So, I changed the ring to gray. Nonetheless, I have included the Gold Ring animated cursor in the .zip file, so you can use it if you prefer. CLOSING NOTES I would like to hear from you if you use this theme. For one thing, I am curious whether there are people actually using this theme. I would also like to hear any feedback, since I plan to maintain and enhance this theme, as well as develop new ones. If you reply, please indicate where you live and where you found the theme. I like to keep track of where in the world this theme ends up, and I am always curious as to where and how people discovered it. Carter Hansen mediaman@novia.net carterch@aol.com Omaha, Nebraska USA