|
| By Daniel Wishart |
| LucasTones actually started out as a joke by one of my friends. I had shown him the LeChuck theme on MIDI, and later that evening he had sent me a ring-tone of it. He thought I was strange, because I set it as my default ring-tone, but it really was good. (In fact, it's maybe the best on the site.) So, I asked him to do some more for me. The swine refused, so I was stuck with one tone, and a head full of ideas. I had wanted to make a LucasArts web page for a while, and this seemed like the perfect excuse - ring-tones were an untapped resource. I knew that sooner or later people would start to come up with ring-tones and submit them to individual sites - DOTT tones to DOTT sites, etc. I put myself in the position of the person who wants the ring-tone, and knew that if I had to go backwards and forwards across mixnmojo all day I'd be pretty steamed. What I'd want is a site devoted to ring tones, not just a small corner of a huge site...
So, LucasTones was born. With another, more sympathetic, friend, and Anvil Studio, I made the first batch of about six ring-tones. Then I knocked up a shabby site and stuck it on geocities, where it probably still resides. (geocities.com/lucastones) I was never really happy with it, and when the emails started to arrive saying that half the links were broken, I knew it was time for a change of scenery. So, then came LucasTones V.2.
There were a number of new features on the new site. The most exciting of which were the addition of operator logos. These are 14x72 pixel sized images which reside on the main screen of your Nokia phone. Many sites allow you to send operator logos free of charge, but you will need to sign up for an account. Other sites allow you to remain anonymous, but charge you by making you phone a premium rate number first. LucasTones did neither of these. However, LucasTones did one thing none of these other sites have done so far - broke. The operator logo service lasted an amazing two months. Wow. Well, it isn't completely dead. I can still send them free to UK residents, and I'm working on a way to make it work internationally as well.
Most recently, then...
Zaarin (hereby known as the saviour of LucasTones) contacted me with a little design he had done in his spare time. It was the main page of the current site, V.3. Hopefully, V.3. is the last version, so I can just keep updating it and updating it without worrying about having downtime etc. Time, as they say, will tell.
So, that's LucasTones in one healthy page. It's shorter than a book, and more interesting than Star Wars. Actually, its not, because in Star Wars there are spaceships, and princesses.
|
|
|
