As with Halo 2, the Halo 3 Public Beta allows you to customize your armor and emblem colors and appearance. In the shipping game, we’ll give you a lot more control over your appearance, but for now, we have implemented a simpler and easier to use color and emblem selection screen.

Customizing Armor

The armor customization screen gives you a simple and easily navigable way to adjust and customize your armor. Results are displayed immediately in a secondary window, so you can try out schemes to see if they're too your liking, or abandon them if they're too garish. Players should think about how visible their scheme makes them, and remember that in Team games, the Team color overrides your custom choice.

Colors are now easier to choose and you’ll see results instantly.

To choose a new hue for your Spartan (No Elite models in the Beta) simply press Start and go to the settings tab. From here, select “Appearance” and decide between “Emblem” and “Colors.” You can now play around with mixing and matching colors and emblems to get a combination you’re happy with. NOTE: You can’t change your color or appearance in-game. This must be done before you begin playing. It can however be done in the game’s various lobbies.

The emblem editor is just one of the ways you’ll customize your Spartan in Halo 3.

UNSC Service Tags

A new way to recognize team members in game, and more importantly, to recognize strangers who happen to be on your team, is the UNSC Service Tag. This is a simple three digit code that the player chooses to identify him or herself. An example would be “M15” so that you can yell instructions quickly, to someone who isn’t ordinarily on your team. “Hey, M15, go get the Spartan Laser!” These are simple to read and remember, and they always appear above the heads or locations of friendly players.

As you get closer to a friendly player, the Service Tag will resolve into a stack of two identifiers, with the more traditional Gamertag appearing too. Enemy combatants will appear (when targeted correctly) with a red Gamertag identifier above their heads. You will not see their Service Tag at all.

It’s important to pick a tag you’re going to remember. The example here, of MI5 is exactly what you might want to avoid, since about 20% of British kids who like spy fiction will choose it by default. There are plenty of possibilities, so choose one you like, one you think isn’t going to be too common and one that your team mates can quickly identify. Remember, you need to know what your Service Tag is so that you recognize yourself when called upon.

Choose a Service Tag that’s easy to identify and easy to remember.