ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — It's the Quad Cities like you've never seen it before. After years of work, one QC native created a video game set in the Quad Cities that features several familiar icons and businesses.
William 'Bill' Ellis is the creator and designer of "Tha Come Up," a game where characters race through levels collecting stars and microphones, all while battling monsters and trolls.
But for those familiar with the Quad Cities, the background of his levels are pretty recognizable. As characters jump and shoot their way towards a win, digital paintings of the Rock Island-Milan High School, the Adler Theatre, Me & Billy, Main Street Coffee, Modern Woodmen, Bolt Motors, Yoshi Tronics, Quality Construction and more Quad Cities businesses slide past.
Ellis grew up in Rock Island and has since moved to Moline and then Bettendorf. When he decided to try his hand at creating a virtual world, he knew his home would be the perfect setting to place it all in.
"The first level was in Rock Island, but the next level I made was in downtown Davenport," Ellis said. "I took a lot of businesses from that area that I liked and that I'm used to shopping at and I use them in the game."
But there's even more local connections to his game.
QC artist, Sedrick McDowell, hand drew some of the artwork and helped another Quad Cities musician, TY Fouse, with all of the music.
To Ellis, keeping that hometown flavor was a no-brainer, considering the wealth of local talent.
"It's really a little Hollywood in the middle of the Midwest, you know. We're not very big, but we are very active and literally anything that possibly can be done, I've seen it done here," he said.
Still, it wasn't easy for him to get to this point. He spent six years designing, imagining and building "Tha Come Up." Along the way, he had to teach himself every single step.
"No schooling was involved," said Ellis. "A lot of studying on YouTube, not gonna lie. A lot of YouTube, a lot of Google and a lot of reading. But it was fun!"
His own kids helped out throughout the process, although Ellis jokes that they had a hard time believing he'd ever finish the game.
"A lot of people started to think I was crazy for even thinking this idea," he laughed. At one point, he said even he started to drift away from the project. "But when we were in quarantine, you had to find something to do. And this is what me and my kids did."
The game is a tribute to his own children and to the hometown he loves so much.
"It's a beautiful place. It's a great place to flourish. You can do anything here," Ellis said. "You can plant a seed here and it will grow."
But at the end of the day, Ellis says "Tha Come Up" is also a message.
"You can do anything you want to do. Anything. Set your mind to it and you can do it," said Ellis. "I'm an old man and I can do this."
Now, his game is out for the public and features two levels. While it's only available on Google Play at the moment, Ellis plans to have "Tha Come Up" on Apple's App Store by this summer.
This June will mark the one-year anniversary of when his game launched. To celebrate, he's working on a third level that will encompass even more of the Quad Cities and wants to feature more businesses.
If you or someone you know is interested, you can contact him at projectviewsqc@gmail.com.