Cookie cutter

[Marky]

i keep hearing that, and ive NEVER heard it before

explain please?

[Blashy]

It is a tactic that Terif came up with that basically became the standard tactic for the Axis in SC.

Basically you can take every minor country on the map, except Turkey by the time you declar war on Russia.

Which means that in SC you had a severe imbalance in MPPs where as the Axis was making hundreds more per turn = Axis win everytime. This resulted in a bidding system to give thousands of extra MPPs to USSR/USA when they enter the war to help counter balance.

Or you can simply increase USA/USSR activation to 80/75% and this works as well, limiting how many countries the Axis can take.

This bidding system all came about because the SC editor was limited in what it could do to help balance out the game.

This will not be the case in SC2.

[Marky]

ahh

ive done that myself

but now u cant conquer the whole of europe

[anoldman]

As an aside. Seems like your question was answered but just in case...

"Cookie Cutter" is not really a 'tactic' persay, it is just a general term that is used used.

Adj. 1. cookie-cutter - having the same appearance (as if mass-produced) or closely similar or comparable in kind or quality or quantity or degree; "a suburb of cookie-cutter houses"

In gaming it generally means a well known strategy or tactic that defines a particular set of steps taken at the start of a particular game, and which usually results in a certain outcome regardless of the actions of the opposing player or players.

At least that's my tin horn attempt at defining it...

--AOM

[Kuniworth]

Originally posted by GenMarky:

i keep hearing that, and ive NEVER heard it before

explain please?

For all questions like this, there is a dictionary over at SC Buntaland. Just go there and register to check it out, link can be found in the bottom of my post.

[Marky]

ty kuni

[Wodin]

I always take it to mean you have a wargame engine that can be used for many different eras/battles as it is very generic. Meaning dont expect loads of detial and historical number crunching.

Maybe Im wrong

[santabear]

No, the SC "cookie cutter" is the technique that was developed and mentioned above.

No doubt the "new cookie-cutter" will emerge in time. After all, this is just a computer program, and clever minds will find ways to exploit its weaknesses.

[Blashy]

Originally posted by santabear:

No, the SC "cookie cutter" is the technique that was developed and mentioned above.

No doubt the "new cookie-cutter" will emerge in time. After all, this is just a computer program, and clever minds will find ways to exploit its weaknesses.

99.99999% Sure it will not happen in SC2. Meaning that if ONE tactic is discovered because it is flawed (as in SC), the editor and scripting will always be able to fix it to balance the game.

[santabear]

Blashy,

I agree, just as bids could be used to "fix" the cookie cutter problem. SC2 is more complex, therefore more variations, therefore it's more difficult to find the pathway through the maze.

But one is there, unless the game randomly regenerates itself every time it's played (which it can't).

[pzgndr]

But one is there, unless the game randomly regenerates itself every time it's played (which it can't).

Oh but it can. Every political event script, every diplomatic and research investment, and every other random factor will play its role in each game and create differences.

An important unknown in this game is how quickly the USA and USSR can mobilize their economies and reach the higher IT tech levels. Lend Lease between the two will help balance things, and may result in a target rich environment for U-boats or maybe not. Who gets the tech advances on the ground and in the air and on the seas, and when, and whether players choose to pay for unit upgrades or not will also create differences in each game.