Hi there. It was not uncommon for SWG to recycle 3D assets for multiple purposes. They did this with various items, like food, drinks and weapons. In this case, they'd also reuse 3D models for NPCs. In the files, this particular 3D model was named "imperial_soldier" and it was most commonly used for NPCs referred to in the game as "Imperial troopers" (essentially, a shortened version of Imperial Army trooper). You are correct though, that this 3D model was also apparently used for other NPCs, including various ranked personnel of a so-called "civil patrol." Looking into the source files, this 3D model was used for the following named NPCs: an Imperial cadet, an Imperial cadet squadleader, a civil patrol captain, a civil patrol commander, a droid corps junior technician, an Imperial senior cadet, an Imperial trooper, an Imperial Private, and a Veteran Imperial Trooper. It's also worth noting that there were also NPCs named a civil patrol corporal, a civilian patrolman, and a civil patrol sergeant, but unlike the civil patrol captain and commander, these used different 3D models. All these named NPCs I mentioned were recognized as Imperial NPCs. Some archived examples of these civil patrol NPCs can be found in the following links:
http://wiki.swganh.org/index.php/A_civil_patrol_captain_NPC_(Example) http://wiki.swganh.org/index.php/A_civil_patrol_commander_NPC_(Example) http://wiki.swganh.org/index.php/A_civil_patrol_sergeant_NPC_(Example)
To be honest, I don't remember ever seeing these civil patrol NPCs when I played SWG, though they were certainly in the game at some point. They were likely only in the game early on before one of the game's major updates (pre-CU, or likely pre-NGE). They just seemed to be random, Imperial-aligned police or law enforcement personnel that would patrol different areas. The source files seem to indicate that they would spawn in various planets/cities, including Yavin 4 and Tatooine, where they'd accompany Imperial troopers and other Imperial NPCs. I'd consider them separate from Imperial Army troopers though. StarsiderSWG (talk) 15:15, 22 November 2022 (UTC)