Chattanooga is known for many things, including its durable economy, its tourist appeal and its passionate community activism. The city is also a breeding ground for innovation and progressive thought, and provides a healthy ecosystem for artists and environmentalists.
One thing that’s been missing from the local technology scene, however, is video game development. Until now. As the mobile game industry exploded with the introduction of the iPhone, iPad and the Apple App Store, a local self-taught programmer aspired to introduce the city he calls home to the rest of the world through a game. One year later, Adam McElhaney has put Chattanooga on the digital map by bringing World War III to its doorstep.
Although Chattanooga’s leaders envision a bright future for the Scenic City, McElhaney serves up an apocalyptic alternative in “Heartland: Chattanooga,” an arcade shooter for iPhone. In McElhaney’s version of the future, the world’s oil supplies are dwindling, and China and Russia have joined forces to snatch up what remains. Their global crime spree brings them to Chattanooga, where they plan to seize control of the railroads and begin shipping troops and supplies across the U.S.
In the grand video game tradition of a single hero standing between the enemy and utter annihilation, the player assumes control of an advanced fighter jet and takes to the skies over Chattanooga to repel the threat. During the opening scene, the player soars over the Tennessee Aquarium, the once popular tourist draw belching smoke as it burns to the ground. McElhaney loads the game on his iPad 2 and demonstrates how to play it. As he uses his finger to move his jet around the screen and take down enemy planes, he laughs and says he hopes people don’t think he actually wants to see Chattanooga in ruins. “I like war games like ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘Halo,’ but there was nothing set in Chattanooga. So, I thought about what I could bring here in a game, and it turned out to be World War III,” he says.
Chattanoogans can relax, as McElhaney seems harmless. He’s young, well-spoken and smiles a lot. He’s also impressively industrious. He developed “Heartland” while working full time in the IT department at Blue Cross Blue Shield and completing his bachelor’s degree in engineering at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. As a result, it took McElhaney nearly all of 2011 to program and design his game. “I did the coding and other stuff in the background. I’d watch TV, do a little coding, watch TV, do a little more coding. Being in IT, I’ve learned how to multitask,” he says.
Juggling three balls at once didn’t leave McElhaney with much free time, but he was able to get together with friends and do things outdoors. “I’m always in front of a computer, whether I’m at Blue Cross or at home working on a game, so whenever I can, I go outside and get some natural light,” he says. McElhaney has become part of a phenomenon that has its roots in the ’70s and ’80s, when a single developer could code a computer game in his garage, release it through shareware channels, and make a small pile of money. As computers and the games made for them increased in complexity, and as home game consoles made by Sony and Nintendo caught on, the lone programmer faded into the background.
The widespread use of advanced mobile phone technology has allowed solo developers to mount a comeback. Anyone with the requisite skills can develop a simple game for iPhone or an Android device, release it on the appropriate application store, and make a mint. “One of the competitors for ‘Angry Birds’ is called ‘Tiny Wings.’ It owned the top spot on the app store for a couple of weeks. Talented people with simple ideas can become millionaires,” McElhaney says.
McElhaney has always been technically inclined. He was the one in his family who would reset the VCR when it was blinking “12:00,” and at a young age, he taught himself to build Web sites. When a friend showed him the iPhone, he bought a Macintosh computer, learned to program for it, and started writing software. One of the first programs McElhaney released was a visual replication of the tricorder seen in the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” television series. Called “iScanner Tricorder,” it still brings in a few dollars a month. Then, in January 2011, he started working on the more ambitious “Heartland.”
One of the early challenges for McElhaney was nailing down the time period in which the game would be set. He settled on “around 2030” because it was close enough to today to still have the Aquarium in the background. McElhaney also needed an artist because he’s not one. He found Marty Sisto on Craigslist. “It’s a good thing I found Marty. Otherwise, the planes would be blocks and happy faces,” McElhaney says.
Sisto create a backdrop for the game’s battles that begins at Ross’ Landing and moves along Amnicola Highway to where an airport and a railroad create a transportation hub. Although Sisto took liberties when designing portions of Chattanooga, McElhaney says the game takes place in the future, and the city could change between now and then. McElhaney plans to develop “Heartland” into a series that explores different genres of gameplay. He’d also like to start developing for the Xbox 360 at some point and build a game development company in Chattanooga. Before McElhaney tackles those goals, he intends to return to school in the spring and begin working toward a master’s degree.
That should leave him with a few years to stockpile supplies for when World War III arrives at Chattanooga’s doorstep.
“Heartland: Chattanooga” is available on the Apple App store for .99. It’s rated 9+ for scenes of mild cartoon and fantasy violence. For more about McElhaney, visit www.exohive.com.