Planetary Annihilation: Kickstarter Blows Up Planets, The Game

Every would-be world conqueror gets their start playing tactical video games; some classic examples are Civilization, Age of Empires, and StarCraft.  A new contender is being added to the list of great strategy games, Planetary Annihilation.  This latest real-time strategy vision pioneers a new trail; rather than just a single map being the battle field whole solar systems are up for grabs.

Space, the final frontier … of warfare

The loose premise for Planetary Annihilation is robot armies are fighting each other for galactic control.  Fun, right? The real focus of the game is in revolutionary global combat.   Most games have square maps which cut off suddenly to prevent flanking armies from falling into the void.  In Planetary Annihilation the battlefields are spherical planets.  Troops march and fly around the world, doing combat in all three hundred and sixty degrees.

More complex maps add a solar system of battlefields.  Moons can be mined.  Asteroid can be turned into continental sized missiles.  Gas giants fill up the screen as multiple lunar battles take place across space.  It is hinted that whole planets can be thrown at unsuspecting opponents.

Already Uber Entertainment, the producers of this strategic and hilarious game, has surpassed their initial goal for Planetary Annihilation.  With a whopping $900,000 in pledged funds production has already.  Yet as more funds were pledged new ideas were birthed for each new threshold.

Upon passing the $1.1 million dollar barrier water worlds, complete with a whole new variety of aquatic robots, were added to Planetary Annihilation.  Two hundred thousand dollars later orbital units were added and gas giants entered the warzone.  The next threshold of $1.5 million will add strange new worlds coated with lava and cloaked in metal.  The $1.8 million dollar threshold seems to be the most interesting to me; it activates the galactic campaign.  By doubling their initial goal battlefields Uber Entertainment will make the whole galaxy open for combat.

The rewards for aiding Planetary Annihilation are both novel and far-flung.  $20 will garner you a copy of the game, alongside over 12,000 backers.  For $50 you will get a unique commander exclusively to fundraisers, but for $1000 you can get a unique commander made exclusively for you.  My favorite option allows you name planets within the game; I think naming a planet after myself might just be worth $150.

I support intergalactic warfare; click here to support Planetary Annihilation!

Kickstart(er) Solar: Small Panels, Big Dreams

I believe that passionate and invested inventors are the best innovators. Now it is time to add Alex Hornstein and Shawn Frayne to the ranks of the Wright Brothers and Alexander Fleming.  Our two new revolutionaries are pushing the boundaries of solar energy.  They are not pushing them upwards for large panels, instead they invested in small hyper efficient solar panels which can power every small object in any home.

Micro Solar Panels, A Plethora of Opportunities

Small solar plates are increasingly becoming an integral part of the world’s solar supply.  In the past, only devices like throwaway calculators and a few outdoorsy tools were powered by small solar panels.  Today, there are already niche solar markets arising; everything from cell phone chargers to glow in the dark bricks are powered by the sun.

Most small solar panels are produced in a slow and inefficient manner.  There are whole factories dedicated to outdated and time-consuming.  Panels are hand glued together; as many as one in five are discarded due to workmanship faults.  The annual output of one factory is around a 300,000 units.     These  panels will last approximately two years, under the best conditions.

Currently, our two new inventors are gathering funds to finalize their invention, the Solar Pocket Factory.  Just one of these table-top factories can produce a whopping 2,103,793 panels in a year; a panel can be produced every fifteen seconds.  These durable have a ten-year guarantee.  The factory can fit in a pickup and run anywhere in the world or even on the go.

This project is currently a favorite on Kickstarter.  This grass-roots site connects inventors, innovators, and artists with people who want to support their causes (and get nifty prizes).  For instance if you give our lauded innovators a scant $35 they will ship you everything you need to build a few small solar devices with their patented plates.  Big spenders can select the $10,000 option; with this prize our inventors bring their micro factory to your hometown and crank out hundreds, if not thousands, of plates and products.  A whole town could be powered by one little trip.  The future looks sunny.

Wanna help the cause?  Their Kickstarter Project continues until September 14, 2012.  Click here to green up your home!