If anyone remembers me I haven't been on in a while because I moved countries

But I'm sure most of you have heard of Kickstarter, a great site where people can post projects that they want funding for, and if you so want you can pledge money towards it, receive rewards and in doing so help people begin marketing a product without the use of a publisher or investor who could easily turn down their project.

With this in mind I, for no reason in particular, want to turn your attention to the game, Pixel Sand, you may not like it, but I do, and with just a small donation you can help them achieve their goal of $9000 to fully produce their game (♥♥♥♥ yeah for sounding like a charity). Even just spreading the word elsewhere will help though.

Even if this game doesn't seem to be your thing, browse the site, look at other projects, indie game developers, movie makers, designers. There are hundreds of amazing projects on Kickstarter, and by donating not only will you be helping make the project, but you may also be receiving the final product. For example a donation of only $3 will give you a full copy of the Pixel Sand game.

Another notable Kickstarter to check out is Osombie, a movie about a zombie Osama. Kickstarter also helped Double Fine (makers of Brutal Legend, and some good games) raise over $400,000 in less than 24 hours to help them make a game without the need of game publishers, now I find that quite amazing.

But in the end I do hope that some of you donate just that $3 towards Pixel Sand, or really any indie developer on Kickstarter that you think could use some help in funding their development.

Thanks, WalkableBuffalo

I already helped a Kickstarter project quite recently. Star Drive to be precise. Why?

Because 4x seems to be a dying category of games, and I love 4x games. Even Master of Orion 3 and Space Empires 5.

I want more 4x games

Hiya WalkableBuffalo!

(Pixel Sand Developer Here!)

Thanks for the support! We've already received at least one donation from here, and I appreciate it. For anyone else out there, if you'd like to ask any questions about Pixel Sand, feel free!

Oh hi developer
Very cool to see you on the forums. I just saw your Kickstarter and wanted to help in any way I could, I really hope it gets fully funded, it definitely looks well on it's way!
What sort of stage is the game at right now? Ooh and I just noticed you added a $10 pledge reward, the Dark Knight sounds awesome

Looks really cool! But I have on question. How modable is the game? I am not sure if you checked out datarealm's game Cortex Command yourself, but it is awesomely easy to mod. Some of the other falling sand games have had similarly easily modable elements and it is something I can see would have a lot of potential for the more dedicated level makers you'd get for your game.

@WalkableBuffalo

I'm currently rewriting the game. You can download the old version of the game in its alpha form right on the Kickstarter front page. The game desperately needs a rewrite because of the horrible mess that all the code was in (lots of hacks, I mostly didn't care at the time until I decided to release it). Furthermore, the rewrite will help facilitate features like a scrolling map, undo/redo, element editor, modding/plugins, etc.

@p3lb0x

I didn't even make the connection between this fan forum and Cortex Command, but I love that game and all the crazy stuff people come up with. As for mod-ability in Pixel Sand, I plan on having a plugin system for game objects and pixel elements so that you can create your own in C#. The only concern is that I'm not sure how sharing that kind of content will work on platforms that aren't the PC (eg, Android / iOS may require signed code), but at least PC should be fine. There will also be an element editor (rather limited, but you can at least do interactions and colors), and that should be OK to share between platforms.

Sounds great! I am in. Can't wait.

How much will we pay for the full game. Will it be cross platform-one purchase? Ie: Mac and Windows in one purchase.

@trystanr

You can get it on all platforms by donating $3 now. However, when it's released it will be free on PC (I have yet to decide if that means free on Mac too). The platforms I plan on charging for are Android, iPhone, iPad, WP7, and Xbox (although, I may alternatively do ads just to keep it free). I have to do a bit of consulting to figure that stuff out. The reason PC is free is so that you can do any editing that you want when you have precision (e.g. a mouse) and upload your content online, then play in on your mobile.

I finally got round to pledging some money, it's a measly amount as I'm a bit strapped for cash right now, but I'm sure this topic counts for something
It really seems to be taking off now, it was doing about $1000 a day but it seems to have jumped a bit and now there's only about $500 to go with 4 days or so left.
I hope it earns enough to allow you to implement some of the features you want, I really look forward to an online multiplayer and a level browser