
               ===================================================
               |                                                 |
               |               "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     |
               |   And Images from Prominent Tolkien Artists     |
               |                                                 |
               |                   Version 3.0                   |
               |        By Carter Hansen & Phillipe Lesire       |
               |            Released September 23, 1997          |
               |                                                 |
               ===================================================


* NOTES: 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, and you need Plus! in order
         to automatically install all the components of the theme. If you don't
         have Plus!, I recommend that you give a shareware program called 
	 Desktop Themes a try. For your convenience, you can download it at
 	 ftp://ftp.novia.net/customers/macc/desktopt.zip. The file is about
	 100Kb, so it won't take long ot download. You can find WinZip through
	 their web site at http://www.winzip.com.

         For the best represntation of the visual beauty of this theme, you
         need a display that supports 16-bit (65,000) color or better.  You can
         use the theme on a 256-color display, but you will notice dithering in 
         the wallpaper, slides, and icons.  Depending on your graphics hardware,
         you may be able to increase your color depth using the Settings tab of
         the Display control in your Windows Control Panel.


INSTALLATION

To install the theme, follow these steps:

1) Unzip all the files in the archive directly into your themes folder.

   If you are using Microsoft Plus! this folder is usually located in
   C:\PROGRAM FILES\PLUS!\THEMES.

   Make sure that you restore the directory structure when you unzip the
   archive.  When you are done unzipping, you should have two .theme files
   in your themes directory.  All the other files used in this theme should
   appear in a subdirectory under your themes directory called "Tolkien3."

2) Move the screen saver files (SlideSave.scr and SlideSave.txt) into your 
   Windows folder.

3) Install the Windows startup and shutdown screens, if desired.

   Before you install these screens, you should make backup copies of the
   original Windows startup and shutdown screens, so you can restore them
   later.  To install the Tolkien3 startup and shutdown screens, copy the
   logo.sys file from the Tolkien3 folder in your themes directory to the
   root directory of your hard drive (C:\).  Then copy the logos.sys and
   logow.sys files from the Tolkien3 folder to your Windows folder
   (C:\WINDOWS).

3) Open the Control Panel (Start Menu->Settings->Control Panel) and open the
   Desktop Themes control.

   If you do not have Microsoft Plus! installed, you will not have a Desktop
   Themes control in your Control Panel.  See the note at the top of this 
   readme file for information on downloading a shareware application that
   will allow you to use this theme.

   If you are using the shareware Desktop Themes application, you can find 
   the control in your Start menu.

5) In the themes list, select the Tolkien3 theme and select OK to apply the 
   theme.

   There are two versions of the theme. The VGA version is intended for displays
   set at 640x480 or 800x600 resolution. The XGA version is intended for displays
   set at 1024x768 or 1280x1024 resolution. You can see what resolution you are
   running under by checking the Settings tab of your Display control in your
   Control Panel.

   If you are running at 800x600 or 1280x1024+ resolution, you should enable the
   option to Stretch Desktop Wallpaper in the Plus! tab of your Display control or
   the shareware Desktop Themes control.

6) Go to the Display control in your Control Panel, and select the SlideSave 
   screen saver on the Screen Saver tab of the control.

   Click on the Settings button for the SlideSave screen saver, and set the 
   Picture Folder to the path to the Tolkien3 Folder in your Themes directory.
   Make sure that the Display Associated Text File option is checked, so that
   the descriptions of the slideshow images are displayed with the slides.

   

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: variations of standard cursors in a color scheme matching the 
  animated cursors.
* My Computer Icon: Gandalf, of course
* Network Neighborhood Icon: The Tower of Cirith Ungol
* Recycle Bin Icon: views of Bag End at night with lights on (full) and day (emty)
* Wallpaper: a nice watercolor of Gandalf I found somewhere on the 'net.
* Asterisk Sound: Samwise Gamgee in the marshes, just before he and Frodo are
  joined by Smeagle/Gollum
* 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: Boromir pleading with Frodo to come back after he attempted to
  seize the ring
* Exclamation Sound: Smeagle/Gollum pleading for mercy from Frodo
* 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: the last arrow the orcs shot into Boromir as he valiantly
  defended Merry and Pippin
* Menu Popup Sound: clanging of Aragorn's "Sword That Was Broken" as he fights in
  defense of Helm's Deep
* Minimize Sound: Smeagle/Gollum's infamous "My Precious" interjection
* 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


FEEDBACK PLEASE!

We would like to hear from you if you use this theme. For one thing, we are
curious whether there are people actually using this theme. We would also like
to hear any feedback, since we plan to maintain and enhance this theme. If you 
reply, please indicate where you live and where you found the theme. We like to 
keep track of where in the world this theme ends up, and we are always curious 
as to where and how people discovered it.

         Phillipe Lesire                        Carter Hansen
         phl@star.be                            mediaman@novia.net
         Liege, Belgium                         Omaha, Nebraska USA


PICTURE CREDITS

The Desktop Wallpaper used in this theme, and the images used in the slideshow
Screen Saver were all acquired via the following sites.  Each of these sites
has an impressive collection of Tolkien-inspired art, and only a small fraction
of the collections is represented in the images selected for use in this theme.

Carlos David
EAFIT
http://delta.efait.edu.co/~ecco019

The Lidless Eye
http://demon.unh.edu/pages/tolkien/temp.html

Rolozo Tolkien
http://godzilla.eecs.berkeley.edu/rolozo


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I created the first two versions of the theme, over the course of the last two
years.  Of the original content, only the sound files remain, and they are assigned
now to different events.  The original concept has been preserved and has been
greatly enhanced through the contributions of Phillippe Lesire of Liege, Belgium. 
He wrote the screen saver and provided the improved cursors and desktop icons that 
drove the release of this verison of the theme.

I would like to thank Jonathan Potter and Left Side Software for providing a fully
functional shareware application for people to tryout themes and see what the fuss
is all about.  If you use this application, I strongly urge you to register your
copy and reward Jonathan for his hard work.  Of course, Tolkien deserves
more recognition than I can possibly give, and Bakshi should be honored for
his faithful representation of Tolkien's vision.

						- Carter Hansen
