Editing Halo Wars Launch Site

{{Title|''Halo Wars Launch Site''}}
{{Era|RW}}
[[File:Halo wars site main 1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The Covenant side of the site]]
The '''Halo Wars Launch Site''' was a site used to market ''[[Halo Wars]]'' before the release of the game. It contained the viewpoints of the [[UNSC]] and [[Covenant]] about the [[Harvest campaign]]. This happens between the events of ''[[Halo Wars: Genesis]]'' and ''Halo Wars''.{{Ref/Site|Id=HWLS|URL=http://halo.xbox.com/halowars/index.html?fbid=0eK_L23l9WQ|SiteName=halo.xbox.com|PageName=Halo Wars Launch Site|Detail=(Defunct)}}

==Overview==
The interface was the planet Harvest rotating, and you were given a choice. This choice was if you wanted to view the UNSC side or the Covenant side. 
*UNSC side - You got a blue colored interface with [[Serina]] narrating the text in the interface. 
*Covenant side - You got a purple colored interface with the [[Prophet of Regret]] narrating the text in the interface.

Once you picked a side, you got to pick a location on the rotating Harvest. If you hovered over the location the relevant sides narrator will tell a bit of info about what was happening. This was key points where both sides was having operations in. In these areas there was an animation of what was happening in that location with some points you could click. These points were text boxes with story tidbits, some of these were even voiced by the relevant character in Halo Wars.

==Transcripts==
{{noticebox|'''Note''': ''The following is an exact transcript of the entire text from the Halo Wars Launch site. It is copied directly, and is not speculative.}}
<div class="tabcontainer">
<div class="tabbox">
<div class="tab">UNSC Side</div>
{{/UNSC}}
</div>
<div class="tabbox">
<div class="tab">Covenant Side</div>
{{/Covenant}}
</div>
</div>

==Related marketing==
There was a website "sidebar ad" created that linked to this website. It featured the tagline "Battles take soldiers but wars need leaders", with a small interactive section where the user can MAC blast a Scarab.{{Ref/Site
|Id=electricbulb|URL=http://electricbulb.com/projects/akqa/xbox/halowars/index.html|SiteName=electricbulb.com|PageName=Xbox360 - Halo Wars|D=29|M=10|Y=2020}}

==Behind the scenes==
The site was made by the team at AKQA. The site featured a rotating Harvest that utilized the Papervision3D of Adobe Flash to render interactive points of interest which rotated in sync with a rendered video of Harvest.{{Ref/Site
|Id=visualextract|URL=http://www.visualextract.com/projects/|SiteName=visualextract.com|PageName=Projects|Detail=Halo Wars, AKQA, 2009}}

The model for the planet Harvest used on the site was created in [[Wikipedia:Autodesk Maya|Maya]] by Matthew Law. He also created the transitions to the surface and ensured they seamlessly flowed into footage captured from the game itself.{{Ref/Site|Id=blogspotmlhw|URL=http://matthewlaw.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/halo-wars.html|SiteName=matthewlaw.blogspot.co.uk|PageName=Halo Wars|Detail=Monday, February 9, 2009}}

The surface terrain was made using locations from Campaign and Multiplayer maps from ''Halo Wars''. The levels from the campaign that were used was [[Relic Approach]], and [[Alpha Base (Halo Wars level)|Alpha Base]]. The maps from the multiplayer that were used was [[Chasms]], [[Terminal Moraine]], and [[Frozen Valley]]. Nate Riley also made the Halo Wars posters that were unlockable on the website.{{Ref/Site|Id=cargocollective|URL=http://cargocollective.com/nateriley/Halo-Wars-Dive-In|SiteName=cargocollective.com|PageName=Halo Wars Dive In}}

Antonio Gomez a creative developer worked on the site and its "sidebar ad".{{Ref/Reuse|electricbulb}} Adam Marrs a Computer Scientist also worked on the project.{{Ref/Reuse|visualextract}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:HWLS Microsite halowars.jpg|An image used on Halo Waypoint in 2009.
File:Halo Wars Launch Site Weird image.jpg|Image used on Halo Waypoint in 2010.
File:Halo Wars UNSC side.jpg|Image of the UNSC side of the site.
File:Halo wars site main 1.jpg|Image of the Covenant side of the site.
File:HWLS Harvest.png|A image of Harvest used on the site.
File:HWLS-Harvest2.jpg|Another image of Harvest used on the site.
File:HWLS Collage.jpg|Collage of all the locations used in the site.
File:HW wall 1024X768 CV.jpg|Covenant poster unlocked though the site.
File:HW wall 1024X768 HUM.jpg|UNSC poster unlocked though the site.
</gallery>

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

==See also==
*[http://halo.xbox.com/games/halowars.html Alternate Site Link] (defunct)

[[Category:Promotional Material]]