For some time I've been formulating the Equestria Divided alternative universe in a RTS format as a passion project. I now find the document and spreadsheet to be reasonably presentable. There is obviously more work to be done, but I think enough has been completed for a public showing.

The two links below are the document of the formulation and the spreadsheet that is used to organize the numbers and details.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ie4dP8VBGQWZOUMq-ibBBS19SQzxczp1DzoRMKhvlVo/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1c2u588wWnVQnHbrPqb1H2bZJDNU_ZZQ4aXMsEOlAUFo/edit?usp=sharing

I must be honest and say that I'm quite nervous to post this.

Thank you so much for reading.

EDIT: If I make another step in completion, I will note it in the replies as a progress report.

Holy shit, there is so much thought put into all of this. Amazing work.
Do you have any plans to actually make a game or is this just ideas of how a ED themed RTS would work?

6807518
Hi Dr_D,

I do not have any plans to actually make this a game as I do not have the time nor the skillsets to make a game on my own. This document and spreadsheet are just ideas of how a ED themed RTS would work. I have tried to put as many details and thoughts as possible.

Thanks for taking a look!

These are great. I love the detail you added. though you forgot to add the normal Buffalo Warriors. Also what about The Changelings don't they count as a faction?

6807541
Hi,

First off, thanks for taking a look.

I did not add the normal Buffalo Warriors out of forgetfulness but out of intention. I have yet to figure out a way to implement them while differentiating them from the Buffalo Juggernauts and the normal Juggernauts. I do at least have a small idea of how they can function in Earthborn but I have to put more thought into it.

There are also other canon units I did not add as I did not think they would fit into the logistics or felt redundant in the context of an RTS unit (e.g. Stormwing Fallen, Cult of Laughter Harl-equines). It was even more unfortunate that the Buffalo Warrior was in the Earthborn faction, the faction with the most units. There was a need to cut back on the amount of units they had.

Changeling do count as a canon faction, if I recall. I did not implement them because PoorYorick did not have the canon sheet of units for me to work with nor do I have his interpretation of their faction functions for me to work it. I do not want to go about designing how the Changelings would function and work on it only to realize that they are a lot less than half baked due to the significantly lower amount of canon information.

I did have an idea that they can be an enemy in a campaign setting. Perhaps when you are playing as Earthborn, you are fighting off Everfree, but you have some Changelings on the side.

Again, thank you for reading the document. Have a great day.

So far I can certainly say that I am impressed both at the amount of work that you put into these sheets but also the detail that you have given.

Do you mind if I borrow this template in your doc for my own GDDs? One of my game projects is actually for a tabletop game heavily inspired by Equestria Divided.

6810374
Hi,

Sure thing. I'm flattered that you liked it enough to use as a template for your own projects. Looking forward to seeing your GDD in the future.

Thank you for taking a look.

6810374
What is the name of your project?

6807517

I noticed your issue with Everfree having no flyers. Giving a quick check over the list of canonical flyers that live in Everfree, I'm not surprised--there seem to be a lot of heavy-hitters, but not many light groups. But there might be possibilities if the scope is expanded slightly.

Parasprites make an obvious "light-melee swarm" kind of flyer. A unit that is so cheap, it doesn't even require supply and comes out in groups of six (arbitrary number). If they kill an enemy biological, they spawn X more parasprites (upgradable). Plus those bug-eyes make for perfect detectors. The downside is that they are ridiculously weak and strictly melee. A late-game upgrade can allow them to have a spawn function from mechanical units or do extra damage against structures.

Flutterswarms could serve as the Everfree "dropship", being swarms of butterflies. They can uniquely combine and break apart--the smallest Flutterswarm only has one slot, but it's also the fastest of them. Combining a swarm doubles its slots and its maximum health; if one swarm has 50/50 HP and another has 30/50 HP, the combined form will have 80/100 HP. Splitting swarms divides the current health evenly; the previous swarm can become two 40/50 HP swarms, for instance. Throw in some ability related to butterflies having hypnotic abilities, maybe as a late-game upgrade, and you're golden.

Vampire fruit bats are another flyer possibility. With their vampiric nature, they could be stealth flyers that drain magic from their enemies. Give them a seed-spitting upgrade, and they can be ranged attackers. Basically, harassers, flitting in to disrupt enemies and flying away when the going gets tough.

I'd assume the above would come from a 'Zap Apple Tree' sort of building, but they're not really built for lone aerial combat. That said, there are technically pegasus members of House Everfree. Heck it's led by a pegasus. The trick is to have the pegasi of Everfree be different from the other factions. Looking up, I'm thinking maybe... somebody who keeps enemy flyers from attacking Everfree Air. The Lotus Nymphs, or something--either they can render other flyers sluggish or they have a taunt ability. Maybe both? They'd be produced at the warrior hollow.

As for tougher flyers, there are a few options. Cockatrices could be flying casters of some sort, manticores do technically have wings, and then there's the dragon that resided in Everfree. Also, there's the bugbear, if you want to get crazy. These could all come from sort of beastmaster building, but require auxillary buildings for the tougher units. (On a side note, the current "beastmaster enclosure" seems to be a misnomer, since it primarily works with plant-based life forms; perhaps "grovekeeper's hovel" would better suit it?)

6807517

Cryyyyyyystaaaaaaaaaalssssssssssss....

Okay in all seriousness, I'm going to tackle the crystal-harvesting structures of each group now. I'll just copy-paste what you've got for Earthborn for a start.

Drill Rig
HP: 750
Cost: 100 Ore
Build Time: 25
Function: Allows workers to get Crystals from caverns. Workers stay 1 second and get 10 crystals.

Seems like a pretty standard structure. And, frankly, I don't think the Earthborn need an advantage here--they already get ten supply from their warehouses and have 21 possible units (all the other factions have between 12 and 16 at this writing). So, let's assume the Drill Rig as standard, perhaps slightly cheaper than other options, and talk about quirks other factions might have.

Moon and Star

The issue with Moon and Star is the whole 'slave region' thing. Perhaps their 'crystal mines' also generate slave-region space. And... hmm. It could also serve as a detector building, to prevent early base sabotage.

Cult of Laughter

With their philosophy of 'pack up quick and don't get caught', the Cult of Laughter isn't going to have much chance to hold onto a Crystal Cave. One possible option is to give them the ability to take crystals without needing a structure--perhaps using the Pinkie Spirits. Cause Pinkie grew up on a rock farm! Eh? Eh? Half the collection count (5 per trip instead of 10), and things might balance out.

Whitegold

Whitegold is all about mercantilism, right? Maybe their 'jewel generators' can increase output from 10 per trip to 15 per trip for a short time. That would be an economic boost they could tap into whenever they need it.

Stormwing

Stormwing is mobile like the cult, but more able to hold regions. Maybe their 'gem harvesters' can be put up quicker than most. Yeah, I... I don't really have anything special for them other than that.

Everfree

Looking over what crystals are spent on in the Everfree faction, they seem to be more common, but less expensive overall. Maybe their 'glimmervines' can just harvest the crystal directly after growth, not needing workers to take the resource to the primary building.

6859219
Thanks for taking a look and also giving a measured suggestion. I really appreciate input on this!

I will have to think about the Parasprites being a unit that costs no supply. I can it working similar to how I made the Laughing Dead work for the Cult, but I want to sit on it a little longer.

The Flutterswarm idea is great. If I decide not to add the Parasprites, I then the Flutterswarm can also have a Detector property as well as serving as their aerial transport. Your idea of them merging and dispersing along with the tradeoff between carry size, health, and speed is also fantastic. You can have a large Flutterswarm that can ferry large beasts across chasms or up cliffs or have a very small Flutterswarm serve as a fast spotter and scout. I like the hypnotic idea as well. Next is how it can be implemented into a mechanic.

Vampire Fruit bats serving as stealth fliers is a great idea, I think. Everfree is lacking units that require Detection to see. I was thinking of adding a camouflage ability to some of the basic troops but I'm still working that out. Their attacks can drain MP from enemies that have it and converts it to their own HP. They can also regenerate outside of combat faster. That being said, their attack will have to be considerably weak but that seems like a reasonable tradeoff.

I was thinking of having a Pegasus flyer unit that stands out as a unit of Everfree. I really wasn't getting any lightbulbs. Would you care to elaborate on what a Lotus Nymph is? A Pegasus unit that disrupts enemy air units sounds like something Everfree desperately needs.

I'll have to think about the heavy fliers more. I've been thinking of Cockatrices and Manticores, but I have established what their role is for Everfree in detail in my head yet...

Beastmaster Enclosure vs Grovekeeper Hovel... I love the name you have suggested. I called the Beastmaster Enclosure what it is as it's purpose was to provide upgrades for the more monster-like units that Everfree has. But as you said, most of the units that the structure oversees are plant based, I'm leaning more toward Grovekeeper Hovel.

6869454

I was thinking of having a Pegasus flyer unit that stands out as a unit of Everfree. I really wasn't getting any lightbulbs. Would you care to elaborate on what a Lotus Nymph is? A Pegasus unit that disrupts enemy air units sounds like something Everfree desperately needs.

The idea is that Lotus Nymphs allow themselves to be more herbalists and potioneers than 'plant-enhanced combatants'. They would be pretty standard air combat fighters, but excel in disruptive spell-casting by using floral components. Confusion bombs, hypnotic scents, maybe tangling vines, all meant to keep enemy aerial units from focusing enough to destroy the weak but powerful other flyers Everfree could use.

AND SUDDENLY TALKING ABOUT THE CULT OF LAUGHTER

I see they lack a dropship unit and... this is actually kind of interesting, because they're already pretty mobile, so that's a lot of the dropship's utility not needed. Actually, keeping in tone with their insanity, why not have a launching structure instead? The Party Platform could be just... a stage on a spring. Everybody loads up, and you can trigger a 'launch' that sends the units wherever you have vision. It would probably have a ten second recharge and it might even be the only Cult building that can't be moved.

6859697

Yeah. I didn't want to do anything too special with Earthborn. I wanted to make Earthborn mechanics the "standard" as they demonstrate the most conventional warfare.

Moon and Star should make a Slave region area, now that you mention it. It allows the Slaves to move around the structure a little more for whatever reason. The Star Fort should provide a large enough radius to cover the Crystal Cave as well, but an extra range for the Slave to roam around the resources without the supervision of an Overseer will be useful.

I was thinking of the Cult having the ability to simply harvest Crystals without a need for a structure but still wanted some sort of investment. As you stated, their need to continuously move around the map makes a conventional structure for a Crystal Cave difficult. A Pinkie Spirit deploying on a Cave with a short packing and unpacking time is an excellent idea. 5 should be a good enough number. Cult units and structures are meant to be cheap due to how their economy works.

Instead of a boost to the Whitegold Jewel Generator (love the name), perhaps an upgrade to an existing mine but this upgrade is only available after a certain point in the tech tree. Whitegold is a faction that is not going to be taking many bases. Perhaps outposts, but not fully established centers. Gathering Crystals at a faster rate is a good way to help the faction as the game carries on.

Stormwing's Crystal structure can be normal. Perhaps they can also float around and land on other Crystal Caves.

Everfree having its Glimmervine (love the name) not need any workers to harvest is fantastic. Only when the Kudzu is in contact with the Vine itself, as Seedlings can simply roam the map and take Crystal Cave in the middle of nowhere and still have a payoff. The Glimmervine doing all the work is good. Seedlings are going to be actively on the map, spreading Kudzu, replacing Root Crowns, and getting in position to quickly take another base.

6869563

Standard air fliers with disruptive abilities that at the very least discourage enemy fliers with floral components? Sounds fantastic to me!

I wanted to add a dropship unit for the Cult. In the Non-Canon Units thread, I remember someone coming up with a unit called the Deadnaught, a balloon that is composed of... let's say biological material of unfortunates. A late game aerial unit that serves as an aerial transport and a heavy flier. The Cult has plenty of raw mobility, but having a dropship unit at the end of the tech tree wraps up their movement toolkit in a nice bow.

A launch pad does sound in character too... And you can't pick it up means that the Cult player has to think carefully about the investment... I'll have to weight the two options...

Since you posted a Unit Quotes document, can I give suggestions?

I can't get too specific now since I'm turning in for tonight (I have a day job I need to wake up for), but I'll try to offer some suggestions when I can tomorrow.

As for general suggestions, I can suggest units having quotes when facing specific types of enemies - think Company of Heroes 2, where units have special dialogue when targeted by certain enemy types (Enemy machinegun! Enemy tank!, etc.), and also special dialogue when targeted by specific, often high-level enemy units ("Kill that Tiger... Somehow!", "Sweet JESUS!!! You want us to attack an ELEFANT?!"). For examples of this in action, look up Company Of Heroes 2 quotes on YouTube - they're prone to Cluster F-Bombs, so I'm not sure if it counts under the "SFW Content Only!" rule for external links, sorry for inconvenience there!

I say this because I think certain faction units would have certain reactions when facing an enemy that REALLY ticks them off. For example, any member of House Earthborn would probably go berserk at the site of a Unicorn (ESPECIALLY a House Moon And Star Unicorn), House Stormwing units would furious upon seeing members of "Lightning's Finest" (which, side-note, I feel would have the "black with green lightning bolts" color scheme from The Washouts, although using the "flight suit" designs from The Cutie Re-Mark's Sombra!Future), with the LF deciding the feeling is mutual with Stormwing, etc., etc.

Like I said, I'll give you more specific ideas when I can find the time tomorrow, so I hope you see this tonight, and can get back to me on this soon!

6870768

Yes! Suggestions are appreciated. Writing is not exactly my specialty.
I was going to use the RTS-like Quotes thread on these forums and then note who created it and I can painfully do the rest.

The unique reactions and quotes will give extra charm to it.

I haven't watched the show in ages and thus am not caught up with a lot of the episodes.

I'm looking forward to your suggestions!

6871397
I think it's ok not to reference episodes past when this was first drafted too much, seeing as quite a bit invalidates the very premise (the Alicorn spell is a lot easier and painless than the horrifically botched attempts of House Moon and Star, Starswirl The Bearded being kept alive in a space-time pocket dimension instead of coming back as a ghost, and - the last nail in the coffin - Celestia and Luna announcing their retirement, and nobody panicking like it's the end times. Perhaps it's only because they're retiring from politics and just sticking to the Sun/Moon cycle, but still.)

That said, I did have a few fan theories which WOULD incorporate these discrepancies as proof Equestria Divided was an alternate timeline LONG before the actual inciting incident of "Celestia and Luna gone to the Rapture" (not giving many details, but let's just say it involves the official EQD map not REMOTELY matching even the first few drafts of the canon map of Equestria, which is basically "America/Canada with horse pun names" as this somewhat screwy headcanon blog post shows)

EDIT: Forgot to give Unit Quote suggestions! I'll stick to Lightning's Finest for now:

I think they would have "cocky flyboy (or flygirl - or, er, "flycolt"/"flyfilly" as the case may be)" attitudes - think most fighter jet quotes from the Command And Conquer series, like the Raptor from Generals, the Apollo from Red Alert 3, the Harbinger Gunship from Red Alert 3: Uprising, etc.

I'd also imagine them taking shots at the Stormwings, alluding to what would have branded them as Fallen, or marked for death or "Fallen" under Order 313 or 314 - some are serious ("THIS is for trying to make me kill those civvies, b*stard!"), some are petty ("THAT'S what you get for always forcing me on KP duty!"), so feel free to make up some others.

6871622

I'll take a look at the blogpost when I have the time. It sounds like a fun and interesting read.

In the meantime, I will be updating the document when I have the time.

6871622

Lightning's Finest having quotes akin to fighter jet quotes in other RTS games is great. It fits them and the Earthborn quite well. Stormwing quotes would sound a little more old-fashioned despite a lot of their units having a similar property and personality to the LF.

I'll take a look at the jet fighter quotes and put those that fit or at least use them as a baseline.

Unit quotes that I want fall in the following categories:

Made
When the unit spawns or is created out of its respective method.

Selected
When the unit is selected.

Move
When the unit is ordered to move.

Attack
When the unit is ordered to attack.

Spell (Optional)
When the unit is ordered to use a special ability.

Annoyed
When the unit is repeatedly selected. These lines tend to be humorous and/or have longer quotes that further embellish the unit's personality.
"Side effects may include: dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, water retention, painful rectal itch, hallucination, dementia, psychosis, coma, death, and halitosis. Magic is not for everyone. Consult your doctor before use." - Priest (Warcraft 3)

For Lightning's Finest taking jabs at Stormwings, it could fall under Selected, Move, and Attack. That said, the ones you suggested do feel a tad long for that function but I haven't considered quotes that are exclusive to certain matchups (e.g. Moon and Star quotes that only appear when the match up is against Earthborn).

6872570
Admittedly, I think some of the "too long" quotes were based more on the Company of Heroes formula (which you should REALLY look up on YouTube when you have the chance), with some "joke" quotes not being just "Stop Poking Me!", but occasionally simply being selected (in COH2, selecting a Russian conscript during a "winter" map has him occasionally mutter "I think I have snow in my pants..."), getting selected while actively in combat (mostly to the effect of "I'M BUSY TRYING NOT TO DIE HERE!!!"), and I think a few of the times units tell "stories/banter" to each other, that aren't from "Stop Poking Me!"-style multiple clicks - several examples can be found with the Germans in COH2:

"He chewed me out for not saluting, but I had my hands full. I thought he was being a real prick..."
"The regimental doctor inspected the battalion and found that everyone had The Clap. Even Reinhardt, and I'm pretty sure he's a virgin."
"For two hours they shelled us with artillery, and not with the little sh*t either. No, I'm talking the big stuff, 152s and 203s. My balls still haven't came back down."
"We shot at that T-34 57 times with that little 37mm, 57 times, and they still couldn't find us! They finally surrendered; I guess they got a headache and gave up."

But I guess a follow-up question is if your unit quotes would allow COH-style Cluster F-Bombs (considering Equestria Divided is already Grimdark), or if they need to be either given the "Sound Effect Bleep" or "Hold Your Hippogriffs" (i.e. replacing real curse-words with in-series slang, i.e. "Ah, ponyfeathers..." for MLP, "Peck" for A Hat In Time, etc.) treatment. Because I think there's some COH quotes that can fit with both Lightning's Finest and much of House Earthborn, as well as a few other factions. However, a lot of the examples are REALLY foul-mouthed, as I'll illustrate with some examples of the Airborne Paratroopers (with these specific examples likely fitting under the "Annoyed" for Lightning's Finest, either from multiple clicks or being selected mid-combat)

"AIRBORNE! Wanna go blow up HQ!?"
"WHAT IS THIS, THE BRAILLE VERSION?!?!"
"You click me one more time and I will F*CKING smoke you."
"DOES YOUR MAMA KNOW YOU'RE A F*CKING IDIOT!?"
"In case you didn't notice, THERE'S A F*CKING WAR OUT THERE!!!"

So, sorry for being long-winded - I may try to copy the format you have for your EQD quotes page so I can organize quotes for all the rest of the units during my spare time.

6859219

-UPDATE-

Added the following units for Everfree. Added to the main document and all details are implemented in the spreadsheet:
Lotus Nymph
Vampire Fruit Bat
Flutterswarm

Added Perching Canopy to Everfree which provides upgrades to the flier.
(I don't like this name. It's rather bland...)

Thank you, Masterweaver!

6859697
-UPDATE-

Added Crystal collection structures for the factions that don't yet have them. Thank you for your suggestions.
Added supply structures for the factions that don't yet have them.
Implemented both categories of structures to the document and the spreadsheet.

Thank you, Masterweaver!

Honestly, this needs to become an actual fan-game.

6920039
Hi Midnight-Blue766,

Thank you for the encouraging comment!
This being an actual game is a pipe dream, haha. I am glad you like it enough to think that. At the most, it will be a below-amature game design document. But I am having a great time writing it, which is a purpose of this.

Again, thank you taking time out of your day to read it. Have a good one.

-UPDATE-

Default Hotkeys configured.
Graphical Style section added.

There are a total of 21 1v1 matchups. The next big step is to discuss these matchups.
Abbreviations
Earthborn (E)
Moon & Star (M)
Cult of Laughter (C)
Whitegold (W)
Stormwing (S)
Everfree (F)

EvE: INCOMPLETE
EvM: INCOMPLETE
EvC: INCOMPLETE
EvW: INCOMPLETE
EvS: INCOMPLETE
EvF: INCOMPLETE
MvC: INCOMPLETE
MvW: INCOMPLETE
MvS: INCOMPLETE
MvF: INCOMPLETE
MvM: INCOMPLETE
CvC: INCOMPLETE
CvW: INCOMPLETE
CvS: INCOMPLETE
CvF: INCOMPLETE
WvW: INCOMPLETE
WvS: INCOMPLETE
WvF: INCOMPLETE
SvS: INCOMPLETE
SvF: INCOMPLETE
FvF: INCOMPLETE