A Three Dozer Build refers to a building strategy used by players of the PC game Command & Conquer: Generals or Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour when playing as the USA or China factions. The term Three Dozer Build can also be used akin to Newbie, or as a real strategic manoeuvre, depending on the context and the way it is used. A newbie (written in 1337 as: n00b) is a newcomer to a particular field, the term being commonly used on the Internet, where it might refer to new, inexperienced, or ignorant users of a game, a newsgroup, an operating system or the Internet itself. ...

The Phrase

The tactic's name has in online play been shortened to 3dozer, doz3r, 3dozer(s|z) (with a few accompanying "!"s and "1"s to emphasise the point), this term is generally used by a clique of real-time strategy players to refer to another new player, or to refer to or call someone a newbie. Age of Empires (1997), Invasion of an enemy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a genre of computer games characterised by being a real-time wargame (strategic) in which one exerts direct control over individual units, and resource gathering, base building and technology development are integral gameplay aspects. ... A newbie (written in 1337 as: n00b) is a newcomer to a particular field, the term being commonly used on the Internet, where it might refer to new, inexperienced, or ignorant users of a game, a newsgroup, an operating system or the Internet itself. ...

A few uses can be:

• "That guy is a 3 dozer"
• "Pffrt, what a 3 dozer noob"
• "OMG LOOK AT THAT 3DOZER!1!!!111"
• "tridozer"

A newbie is a newcomer to a particular field, the term being commonly used on the Internet, where it might refer to new, inexperienced, or ignorant users of a game, a newsgroup, an operating system or the Internet itself. ...

The Strategy

At the start of a normal multiplayer game, the player begins (with the USA and China factions) with a construction dozer, a command center and 10,000 credits. The command center allows the building of more dozers, the dozers allow the building of more buildings. The "Three Dozer Build" involves beginning the game by building an additional two dozers, to bring the total up to three. The player then continues building his base.

The Strategy's Weakness

In the game, dozers cost 1000 credits, a considerable investment when one considers that to start a base, one must build a supply center (USA) or supply depot (China), which allow the gathering of more resources. These cost 2000 or 1500 credits respectively. In addition, they need power plants in order to build supply depots, which costs 500 and 1000 respectively. Thus the extra 1000 credits for a dozer can bite hard into one's initial cash. Furthermore, the boost in speed of building (being able to build three buildings instead of two) can be negated by the fact that the player can run out of money quickly if they do not capitalize on having three dozers quickly.

In addition, basic vehicles for the two sides (the Humvees/Raptors for the USA and the Battlemaster tank for China) cost 800/1000 and 800 credits each respectively. Thus each extra dozer built at the start may result not only in a slower base construction but also in the inability to buy extra offensive weaponry early in the game.

It is therefore argued that the Three Dozer Build is condemned not only to lose to a rush, because the player has no money to buy defenses or to adapt to the advance of enemy units into his or her base, but also to potentially lose in the longer term, because their initial growth may have been stunted. One of the major early game objectives is the capture of oil derricks. These supply a boost of 1000 credits, and then 200 credits at regular intervals for the rest of the game. The Three Dozer Build may fail to capture these vital outposts, as they can either run out of money or be unable to respond when the enemy sends in a small army to take the player's oil. By the time the player is in a monetarily stable position, the other players may be far advanced, and likely have three dozers themselves. The difference, however, is that they can build their base, expand and still have the money to buy an army. It has been suggested that Zerging be merged into this article or section. ...

The Strategy's Defenders

There are players, however, who advocate the Three Dozer Build, albeit not in all circumstances. Some may even use it as their standard build order in online play. Some times when it may be appropriate include:

• When the game begins with the initial credit limit is higher than 10,000
• When the game is played between two teams of players. Thus, in a 4 v 4 or 2 v 2 match, it may be worth one of the players sacrificing early attack capabilities (as mentioned above) to send dozers to far corners of the map and increase the amount of territory the team owns
• When the player wishes to "tech up" (climb the tech tree), it can sometimes be advantageous to have three dozers from the start. This is especially true of players who rely heavily on superweapons for an offensive arm, as superweapons are frequently the highest technological structures avaliable.
• On larger maps with more supplies to capture, sending dozers as early in the game as possible to secure them will be advantageous in the long run
• On maps with oil, securing the oil as soon as possible will also be advantageous in the long run (although, as mentioned above, this does not always work)

In strategy computer games, of both the turn-based and real-time varieties, a tech tree, short for technology tree, is an abstract hierarchical visual representation of the possible paths of research a player can take. ...

References

• The term has been popularised by Pure Pwnage, a show that takes a satirical look on a pro gamer's life. ^[1]
• The Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour manual contains information about all the units
• There is some discussion about when a Three Dozer Build may be effective in this thread on the popular internet forum gamereplays.org