Anyone have info on this terran unit, maybe even the sprites? There seems to be very little out there about it, all I can see from the beta shot is it has dual machineguns and doesn't seem to be an early vulture or tank.

If it's from SC1 Beta then it probably got scratched, but I can't be too sure..

imo it looks like a tank but ripping the game engine for hidden sprites usually doesn't help as they would likely remove something like this from the game unless it was prior to release.

This build of the beta is earlier than the one we have available to us. Sorry.

If I remember correctly, its wireframe is still in the game though.

Thx for the replies guys, I'm just thinking what role it could have had as a Factory unit, if the Vulture, Siege Tank and Goliath were already in, even though it might have replaced one of them in that build.

I'd say this looks more like alpha or pre-beta, especially if there are only few screenshots of it.

My guess on the tank theory...

-Outline is similar to tank and wireframe (2nd image dropship seems to be carrying the pre beta tank...



-The tank in this picture looks like a cross between the current tank and the tank in the picture (although it might just be pixelation...)


-It looks like the head swivels

-There is almost a splash damage radius like tanks (since its aiming at it general direction

-If you look at it the place where the colored (blue) is similar places to where the current tank is colored... (note the 2 swatches of the left and right (although the head is not colored

First I thought it was the super old siege tank as seen in the sc1 cinematic where arbiter + dragoons are attacking a terran camp. Here the video:


But that doesn't really seem to match.

edit:
Tikels convinced me to take a second look. Now I'm sure that's a version of the tank from the cinematic...

Looking at picture more carefully there is a tube extending outward from the head which from a topdown perspective makes it hard to see... however once you see this it makes it more likely that it could be the tank...

once you notice this it starts to look a whole lot similar, this is even noticed in the wire frame i provided... at first i thought the wireframe the tube looked like it was jutting out and was not attached to the head that swivels but in fact is actually because the middle part is thinner.

-Round cannon extending outward to the whole length of the tank (Picture)
-splash radius without need to go into seige mode (Both picture/video)
-Tread tires on the side (Both picture/video)
-square like figure (Both picture/video)

EDIT: the tube is hard to see becuase in the middle of the tube there is a chrome reflection that makes it see like it is detached... (picture)

I don't think it's the tank from the cinematic, but it really does seem like an old version of the siege tank now looking at that beta pic with the stats (good one), it just has two machineguns (autocannons) in tank mode and the old siege cannon ("mjolnir artillery cannon") in siege mode.

Btw in the action pic I doubt the tank is splashing anything, that explosion on the ultralisk is either a nuke (unlikely) or a grenade launched by the marine pointing its gun at it.

Looking at picture again it looks like the tank killed the overlord (i think) red thing

Quote from Tempz

Looking at picture again it looks like the tank killed the overlord (i think) red thing

Tanks were able to target air units.

I've been interested in the beta for a while now, so this is one of the things I've put research into. Unfortunately, I don't have any definite ideas as to what it was, however I have some ideas.

Quote from Tempz

The old Blizzard starcraft website has a more high quality image of that tank. http://web.archive.org/web/19980519123217/http://blizzard.com/star/t-armor.htm

Unfortunately, it still doesn't give a lot of information. It looks to me like it just had a different turret than it does nowadays.

As for our 'mystery unit', I think this is just the old Beta design of the tank. However, I heard somewhere that it was an 'upgraded' tank called the Centurion or something like that. You could bring certain units to the Factory and enhance them into a better unit for a price. I don't have a source for this, though, so I might be way off.

According to the SC Wiki, that thing in the cinematic is a "Mobile Artillery". It's described as being "propelled on twin caterpillar tracks, with a wheel jutting out from the front." Our mystery vehicle, from what I can tell, has two sets of caterpillar tracks on each side, and no wheel in the front, so I don't think it's the same model.

Quote from Ahli

Tikels convinced me to take a second look. Now I'm sure that's a version of the tank from the cinematic...

I am not tempz goddamnit.

Actually they could be it... the tank in the first post it looks like its tracks are split (twin capiller tracks)

I dunno. From looking at the tank in the first picture, it seems to have overall four caterpillar tracks. The one in the cinematic has overall two.
And, the one in the picture doesn't have the wheel in front. The weapon is completely different, too, it looks like.

There is literally no similarity between the mystery unit and the cinematic unit, other than the mode of transportation (caterpillar tracks). Even then, the number of tracks differs.