Geonosians included with the Separatists?

[Admiral Vostok]

In an effort to transfer the Geonosian/Separatist argument out of the thread about my RTS design, I present this poll.

Should the Geonosians be a permanent part of the Separatist Faction in the next Star Wars RTS, or not? The Geonosians have some very nice units, but no nicer than the Royal Naboo or the Gungans. Geonosian Units include the Geonosian Warrior, Geonosian Picador, Geonosian Fighter and Geonosian Sonic Cannon.

Further clarification of the options follows:

Include the Geonosian Units with the Separatists
All or part of the Geonosian Units should be available to the Separatists to fight alongside their Battle Droids, Super Battle Droids and Droidekas. The Geonosian Units would be buildable just like any other Separatist Unit, and the Geonosians would be as much a part of the Separatist Military as the droids.

Have the Geonosians as a separate, minor civ
The same as I have them in my design. Click this link for more information on Minor Civs (http://vostok.150m.com/Overview.html#NeutralTowns), and this link for a description of the Geonosian Civ (http://vostok.150m.com/MinorFactions.html#Geonosians). Essentially the Geonosians appear as a "Minor Civ", which means they are playable like any one of the Major Civs, although not fully balanced with a wide range of units. There are different game modes which allow the Geonosians either as a separate player-controlled civ, or as an allied force to a Major Civ.

The Geonosians should not appear at all, or only as toybox units
Fairly self explanatory. The Geonosians play no part in any of the player-controlled civs, and any Geonosian units in the game are available only through the toybox in the scenario editor.

[FroZticles]

I've added a few geonosian units in the Separatists but I might have to remove some since I have too many compared to the other factions.

[Admiral Vostok]

That's one of the main reasons I decided not to include the Geonosians with the Separatists. The Separatists, since they are also comprised of the Trade Federation, already have the most units, and adding Geonosian units on top of that will just give them way too many units.

[Darth Windu]

Well, as you all may remember, at one point i had Geonosians in my template, because i had the Geonosian Warrior as a hovercraft unit rather than a flying unit.

Anyway, the reasons i removed them were that it did give the Confed's too many units, especially when you combine the Confed's and Federation, plus it seemed to me that when you have a galaxy-wide war, with huge armies and fleets, would we really see Geonosian Warriors all that much? I personally just cant image Geonosian Warriors being used, for example, to attack Alderaan or any of the worlds in the 'Clone Wars' game.

[DarthMuffin]

If you have minor civs, then the geo should be one.

If there's only major civs, then drop them from the game. They are not that important, and I don't think they really represent the separatists.

You could also have them as "hostile critters" on a potential geo map (like the sarlacc from SWGB or the creeps from WC).

[Nairb Notneb]

I vote for making them a minor civ. Now for the but (there is always a but). I am fond of the minor civ concept and having them being underpowered. I would love to see the game made with the basic civs covered and having them well balanced and keep this number few. That will make for a great game. Those civs being the four of Star Wars, the Rebels, Empire, Republic and Separatists. This has all been said. Then set up all sorts of minor civs that are small factions, not as powerful as the major civs but fun to play with at a disadvantage and the Geo's being one of them. You could also set up the Wookies, the Gun-Gun, Mon Calamari, Jawas, whatever.