This has been an interesting week. Switching gears a little bit, I started muscling up on some groundwork for twinstick shooters- and things are working pretty well. Player speed and control is pretty well nailed down for both G3K and Berzerker (*both working titles and very different games), along with some enemy behaviors, and some clever game mechanics that you have to be a bit patient to hear more about! 

I think you're going to love this stuff. Now, it's too early to throw any release timeframes out there. There are a few games under production at the same time, after all! Still, I think our turnaround will be pretty fast, and I'm considering an early bite-sized standalone release of one of G3K's arcadey modes. This will give you something to play and tide you over for a bit.

Please look forward to it. This is gonna be crazy.

     The other day I had the pleasure of watching my good friend, uber-gamer, and fellow musician Mason Cramer decimate Super Mario Bros. 3. As in completely destroy the previous single life high score record. Now, he did this to support the kickstarter of the upcoming film (which looks hype!), Nintendo Quest. 

Of course, this got me to thinking. This is a really cool angle, especially to expand on for the kickstarter of a game- which itself was born from the thrill of highscore record chasing. I'm trying to work it all out, but if you want to participate in a record-breaking weekend(s?), please contact me. I myself had the flame somewhat reignited- so I'll be shooting again for the Super Castlevania IV marathon record (pushing 2M in practice!), and maybe something else. 

I'll post more about this as it all coagulates into something more concrete. Until then, I leave you the badassery of one of the best players in the world, beating the dogshit out of one of the greatest games to ever star a stout Italian plumber.

I'm Dave Vogt (LudicrousDa3ve in most places throughout the internet-verse), a father of four and lover of every aspect of the art of video games, who has incidentally become involved in the processes of creating them. The roots of that started in the mid-late 80's. After cutting my teeth on the Atari 2600 and Colecovision, I fully embraced the role of "Quintessential NES Kid". That led me to write little tip magazines, which led to a deeper interest in the design of the games. 
Fast forward a bit, and you could find me knee-deep in Doom and Wolfenstein mods, building levels like it was going out of style. Life saw a change of direction with music, and to make a long story short, games took the driver's seat once again by 2008, with competitive gaming and preliminary work on several projects, including the first version of The Bounty by early 2010.

     As "indie devs" go, I don't suppose I'm typical. It is a frighteningly apparent and common notion that in some circles that "Ideas are shit", the technical process is almighty, and design by committee to make the most proper, palatable product available is The Way™. 

Well, to be frank, I think that's a fucking load of bullshit! Here's how I see it. Games are art, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are some parameters, sure; like the game has to load and not crash; but beyond that? Your way is your way, mine is mine, and we should just respect these creations for what they are and what they say/do. 
Moving on.
     I'm officially/technically the Project Lead/Lead Game Designer/Sound & Music at The Ludicrous Ones. The thing is,  it isn't really much of a studio. It all operates a bit like a music act w/ guest musicians. Different folks lend their talents on different projects. The whole thing is a bit nebulous; and seeing as that is very much the creative "process" in a word, it sort of works.

So, this will be a sort of dual-purpose personal and game development blog/diary/thing. I've got a tendency to play my cards close to my chest, but when it comes to things that I can share with you, I'll try to shine a good deal of light on what could be described as an... unconventional approach.