Like the Recon Patrol Vehicle, the Pig Cop Tank is a vehicle driven by a Pig Cop. When destroyed, there is a 50% chance that its driver will escape unharmed. The tank fires a rapid hitscan attack using its dual-mounted side guns, and it launches grenades, similar to the Battlelord's. At long-range, it may also fire lasers that use the same projectiles as the Assault Trooper.
On the backside of the tank is a self-destruct button. Pressing this button will cause an alarm to ring, and the vehicle will self-destruct after a few moments. If the vehicle self-destructs, it yields an explosion that uses the same sprite as other explosions, but it deals more damage and has a wider blast radius than its sprite suggests.
Combat analysis[]
The Pig Cop Tank can deal large amounts of damage very quickly and has more health than most enemies in the game. However, it is slow-moving and even slower to rotate. In general, the self-destruct button on its backside is an easy and reliable method for destroying the Pig Cop Tank, provided that the Pig Cop Tank is not at a long-range distance and that it is possible to escape before the tank explodes.
Being mechanical in nature, the Pig Cop Tank is immune to the Shrinker. Most other weapons are similarly ineffective or impractical to use against the Pig Cop Tank. If the self-destruct button on the Pig Cop Tank's backside is not a viable option, then the best choice of weaponry is either the RPG (3 rockets) or the Shotgun (6 shots).
In the art files of Duke Nukem 3D, there is an unused set of sprites, including what appears to be an alternate Pig Cop Tank. This alternate version has been unofficially dubbed the Scorpion Tank due to its resemblance to a scorpion. It may be either a prototype of the Pig Cop Tank or an additional enemy that was abandoned during development.
In Duke Xtreme, the Pig Cop Tank's side gun attack will emit the same sound as the silenced Pistol whenever the player's Pistol is silenced. Internally, this is because both use the same link for the audio file.
