Jump to content

2001 Bionicle Website


Tahu3.0

Recommended Posts

Can anyone confirm that it really played the chant from MNOLG in the background in 2001? Or is that the archivist's personal touch?

 

Just my personal touch. It seemed fitting, to me. I can't remember exactly how that animation functioned back in 2001, so I decided to just make what I thought they would have / should have done. It's possible that some sort of audio played, but I doubt it. I've been trying to figure out more specific details of the animation or even find the original, but I haven't had much luck.

Edited by XONAR
  • Upvote 1
Bliss.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't remember an animation at all, tbh. Just the still image. Are you certain it was animated?

 

I'm actually not 100% certain on that. It's very possible it was just that still image. When I started with Wayback's archived version as my base for this, the area occupied by the animation was a flash file, so I figured it was probably some sort of animation originally. I was further convinced of that by the fact that certain images from the BIONICLE Web Kit all are sized perfectly for the animation, and seem to correspond with the text on the righthand side. My theory was that this Flash file must originally have been a slideshow with these images that provided a visual aid for the story synopsis text. But it was just theory, after all. :P I couldn't find many people who remembered exactly what this Flash file did, so I just decided to go with it. I'm hoping that by the final version I release of this archive I'll be able to either find the original Flash file or get as close to it as possible.

Bliss.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I don't remember an animation at all, tbh. Just the still image. Are you certain it was animated?

 

I'm actually not 100% certain on that. It's very possible it was just that still image. When I started with Wayback's archived version as my base for this, the area occupied by the animation was a flash file, so I figured it was probably some sort of animation originally. I was further convinced of that by the fact that certain images from the BIONICLE Web Kit all are sized perfectly for the animation, and seem to correspond with the text on the righthand side. My theory was that this Flash file must originally have been a slideshow with these images that provided a visual aid for the story synopsis text. But it was just theory, after all. :P I couldn't find many people who remembered exactly what this Flash file did, so I just decided to go with it. I'm hoping that by the final version I release of this archive I'll be able to either find the original Flash file or get as close to it as possible.

 

My memories of the 01 site are really vague, but reading your post seemed to jog my memory a little - I think I may remember the image being on rotation, so whenever you visited the page a different, randomized selection from the library of images would appear. I dunno if that's something they might've used flash to implement or not.

believe victims. its actually not that hard, and youd look kind of bad if you were to, say, side with an abuser because theyre your friend

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would've been too young to fully take use of the site back then, but thanks to Tahu3.0 and the link, I'm enjoying the time I'm spending on the site. It is interesting because of just how much has changed throughout the years and I'm very happy to experience what the older fans got 14 years ago.

 

Again, thank you.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would've been too young to fully take use of the site back then, but thanks to Tahu3.0 and the link, I'm enjoying the time I'm spending on the site. It is interesting because of just how much has changed throughout the years and I'm very happy to experience what the older fans got 14 years ago.

 

Again, thank you.

Thanks man and yea i enjoy seeing the 2001 website also.

I'm just a simple man, trying to make my way in the Matoran Universe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I would've been too young to fully take use of the site back then, but thanks to Tahu3.0 and the link, I'm enjoying the time I'm spending on the site. It is interesting because of just how much has changed throughout the years and I'm very happy to experience what the older fans got 14 years ago.

 

Again, thank you.

Thanks man and yea i enjoy seeing the 2001 website also.

 

Sure I might not be able to explore most other parts of the site, but the main page really shows the mysterious feeling that made Bionicle cool and even though the background MNOG music wasn't initially there, it enhances the cool experience. :)

Edited by Rooster Nui
  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whoa. Now that was a nostalgia rush. Shame it's only the front page, though. All that I need now are some pics of Legoland back in 2001 and I'll die of nostalgia overload.

 

The Kanohi and Mata Nui pages should work as well. All the rest are still a work in progress, but they'll be there in the final version. I'll upload a more recent snapshot of the 2001 site later today that includes my WIP recreation of BIONICLEmusic.com as well as the MNOLG login page.

  • Upvote 3
Bliss.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Whoa. Now that was a nostalgia rush. Shame it's only the front page, though. All that I need now are some pics of Legoland back in 2001 and I'll die of nostalgia overload.

 

The Kanohi and Mata Nui pages should work as well. All the rest are still a work in progress, but they'll be there in the final version. I'll upload a more recent snapshot of the 2001 site later today that includes my WIP recreation of BIONICLEmusic.com as well as the MNOLG login page.

 

Please show us bionicle music.

I'm just a simple man, trying to make my way in the Matoran Universe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh wow.

This brought back a lot of memories. Just starting at that web design... so nostalgic.

 

And it's not just nostalgia talking here, but I honestly think it's a better site than the one we currently have. It's more interactive and inviting.

 

-NotS

 

I couldn't agree more. I spent endless amounts of hours on the 2001-2003 sites because they had so much to offer and were just really visually appealing. None of that magic is anywhere to be found on the new site, and not to mention the fact that the new site is riddled with numerous errors. That never used to be acceptable on any LEGO site, let alone the BIONICLE site, and yet it's becoming the norm for LEGO as of late.

  • Upvote 4
Bliss.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I couldn't agree more. I spent endless amounts of hours on the 2001-2003 sites because they had so much to offer and were just really visually appealing. None of that magic is anywhere to be found on the new site, and not to mention the fact that the new site is riddled with numerous errors. That never used to be acceptable on any LEGO site, let alone the BIONICLE site, and yet it's becoming the norm for LEGO as of late.

 

Glad I'm not the only one disappointed with the quality of the 2015 site. It's just boring and doesn't contain enough content to make it worth spending time on. I loved the 2001-03 design a lot because as you said, it had a lot to offer. There were numerous links leading to drastically different parts of the site that gave really detailed information on aspects of the universe. Even the 04-05 site and 05-06 designs were really vivid in that respect. Then they started to simplify, and while I'm not the biggest fan of the design they went for in the last four years, this year just seems WAY too simple in comparison. 

 

Also the sites used to have promise of constant updates and new online games from the get-go. All we have for this iteration is online animations, which update pretty infrequently too.

 

-NotS

Edited by Nidhiki of the Shadows

tahubanner.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I couldn't agree more. I spent endless amounts of hours on the 2001-2003 sites because they had so much to offer and were just really visually appealing. None of that magic is anywhere to be found on the new site, and not to mention the fact that the new site is riddled with numerous errors. That never used to be acceptable on any LEGO site, let alone the BIONICLE site, and yet it's becoming the norm for LEGO as of late.

 

Glad I'm not the only one disappointed with the quality of the 2015 site. It's just boring and doesn't contain enough content to make it worth spending time on. I loved the 2001-03 design a lot because as you said, it had a lot to offer. There were numerous links leading to drastically different parts of the site that gave really detailed information on aspects of the universe. Even the 04-05 site and 05-06 designs were really vivid in that respect. Then they started to simplify, and while I'm not the biggest fan of the design they went for in the last four years, this year just seems WAY too simple in comparison. 

 

Also the sites used to have promise of constant updates and new online games from the get-go. All we have for this iteration is online animations, which update pretty infrequently too.

 

-NotS

 

 

Yeah, I can't understand why none of those critical elements are present in the new site. I can understand them not putting a HUGE amount of the budget towards the site, but it's almost as if they put NO budget towards the site and gave an intern a week to fully design the site. It's frustrating to look at the new site and compare it to the old ones, especially from the earlier years, and see how terrible it is in comparison when they've done a really good job with most other aspects of the new line. BIONICLE.com is one of the places where a lot of new fans will be getting their first taste of BIONICLE, and it should be as captivating, interesting, and fun as possible. It's one of the things they really should not skimp on, and yet they have in the worst way possible.

 

Anyway, here's a more recent in-development snapshot of the 2001 site(s): http://solismagna.com/2001v3/ It's still very much so a work in progress, so the errors, missing images, etc. you see on certain pages are temporary. Pages that are relatively complete are the homepage, the Kanohi page, the Mata Nui page, and BIONICLEmusic.com, although BIONICLEmusic.com does not have any of its original functions just yet. I'm also not entirely sure it will display correctly on any browser aside from Chrome, which is something else that is to be fixed.

Edited by XONAR
  • Upvote 2
Bliss.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For a second I thought, "Yay! I no longer have to use the buggy version on Archive.org!" But then I realized that most of the links don't work. That kind of took the wind out of my sails, as there's nothing especially impressive about the main index page. Whatever nostalgia I have for the 2001 BIONICLE website is specifically for its content, not its rudimentary interface.

 

Hopefully future updates will include the Toa, Turaga, and Tohunga character pages (like this one) and the Kanohi page. But in the meantime, most of that info was thankfully preserved in better detail on the archived version of the 2003 website.

 

And don't let my disappointment be seen as a criticism to the work that went into restoring these few pages. Getting the links, animations, and images back in working order can't have been an easy task!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Xonar - considering how scant any screenshots are of the 2001 page, I'm very impressed with how much you've done!

 

I think it did actually have music back in the day. The pictures may have rotated, but I don't remember for sure.

 

This is a long shot - but do you have any idea what music it could have been? Was it MNOLG music, or something entirely different? Or are you not even sure there was music in the first place? :P

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys!

 

 

For a second I thought, "Yay! I no longer have to use the buggy version on Archive.org!" But then I realized that most of the links don't work. That kind of took the wind out of my sails, as there's nothing especially impressive about the main index page. Whatever nostalgia I have for the 2001 BIONICLE website is specifically for its content, not its rudimentary interface.

Hopefully future updates will include the Toa, Turaga, and Tohunga character pages (like this one) and the Kanohi page. But in the meantime, most of that info was thankfully preserved in better detail on the archived version of the 2003 website.

And don't let my disappointment be seen as a criticism to the work that went into restoring these few pages. Getting the links, animations, and images back in working order can't have been an easy task!

 

My goal is indeed to make this a 100% complete replacement for Wayback's version. I'm working on archiving the sites for 2002-2010 as well, but focusing on 2001-2003 for now. The 2003 site is the most complete version of the early sites that Wayback preserved, and it has much of the information I'll need to complete a lot of the 2001 pages, especially the ones you mentioned. The images are a different story, but I have most of what I need for those as well. :P

  • Upvote 3
Bliss.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Huh, it definately has a familiar vibe to it, although while I did visit back in 2001, I really didn't start checking it regularly until 2002 when they had the Bohrok episodes and such.  I want to say that they did have a slide show... but again that may have been from 2002?  I don't remember the background music on the main site, but I do remember BionicleMusic.com, so it'll be fun to see when you revampt that!  But the MNOLG starter page... that brought back memories for sure.

 

Awesome job, thanks for sharing!

 

:music:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone! 

 

Huh, it definately has a familiar vibe to it, although while I did visit back in 2001, I really didn't start checking it regularly until 2002 when they had the Bohrok episodes and such.  I want to say that they did have a slide show... but again that may have been from 2002?  I don't remember the background music on the main site, but I do remember BionicleMusic.com, so it'll be fun to see when you revampt that!  But the MNOLG starter page... that brought back memories for sure.

 

Awesome job, thanks for sharing!

 

:music:

 

2002-2003 had static front pages aside from the little Mata Nui map. It seems like the general consensus is that there was a slideshow on the site, but whether or not there was music is unclear. I wish I remembered better myself. Either way, I might add a button to disable the music so people can do so if they'd like. BIONICLEmusic.com will be the most challenging of all the sites, and what I have now was completely recreated from scratch, using the best screenshot I could find for reference. I still haven't been able to locate the original sound files for the mixer, but I do at least know how it functioned. I think the sound files may be a lot cause because they were under Universal Studios copyright and were never released elsewhere. Hopefully someone archived them at some point.

 

By the way, if anyone has media, screenshots, or other assets from the old sites, I'd appreciate it greatly if you could send them to me! I recently discovered several hard drives from my old computers dating back to 1999 and up to 2008, and I know for a fact that I saved a ton of stuff from the old sites on them, so hopefully I'll find some good stuff on there! I'll post my findings when I get a chance to recover their data.

Edited by XONAR
  • Upvote 3
Bliss.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel like the sound files on the BIONICLE Music site may have been the same notes as those from this ad in the CD that came packaged with the Toa. Even if not, they may be a good substitute. :shrugs:

believe victims. its actually not that hard, and youd look kind of bad if you were to, say, side with an abuser because theyre your friend

Link to comment
Share on other sites

By the way, if anyone has media, screenshots, or other assets from the old sites, I'd appreciate it greatly if you could send them to me! I recently discovered several hard drives from my old computers dating back to 1999 and up to 2008, and I know for a fact that I saved a ton of stuff from the old sites on them, so hopefully I'll find some good stuff on there! I'll post my findings when I get a chance to recover their data.

 

Oh man, that's exciting. Hope you find some neat assets to the old sites.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So... No offense to you guys, but that site was ugly. Too much was going on at once and everything was just all over the place.

I get what you're saying, but keep in mind this is a site design from almost 15 years ago. Design standards and capabilities change - for 2001, this site feels pretty par for the course - maybe even a little ahead of its time with the sleek bar at the top alongside the BIONICLE logo.

  • Upvote 2

believe victims. its actually not that hard, and youd look kind of bad if you were to, say, side with an abuser because theyre your friend

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel like the sound files on the BIONICLE Music site may have been the same notes as those from this ad in the CD that came packaged with the Toa. Even if not, they may be a good substitute. :shrugs:

 

I hadn't thought about that before. It's actually very likely that some, if not all of the sound files I need are on there. And I agree, they would make a good substitute even if they aren't the originals. Thanks! :)

 

So... No offense to you guys, but that site was ugly. Too much was going on at once and everything was just all over the place.

 

If you don't like the 2001-2003 sites, you may find that 2005-2006 may be a bit more to your liking. They were my favorites aside from 2001-2003. I don't have a version of any site past 2003 online yet, but Wayback's version can give you a general idea of what it was like.

Edited by XONAR
Bliss.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...