Rick Eid and the videogame designers of TickStorm, LLC, have the perfect plan to save Ironton -

they're going to destroy it.

The designers are currently creating a digital version of the city for a game called "Defend Ironton!"

But first they'll have to finish their first title: "Insanity," due out in 2007.

Eid teaches classes in game design at Ohio University Southern, and as the years progressed, his students began to show an interest in getting a little practical experience.

"There were a bunch of students who said, 'We can do this,'" Eid said. "Out of the dozens of students we've put through the class, we have eight that are dedicated to doing it, and have the talent to do it."

"Insanity" is a game in the first-person perspective that challenges players to escape from a mental institution in which they've been wrongly imprisoned

So far, Eid and crew have almost finished the game's first level, which they hope to distribute at their large gaming event "School of Frag" this October.

"We want this game to be as perfect as possible, but not having the expertise or the equipment we know it's not going to be," Eid said. "But where it may lack in graphical intensity, we'll make up for it in gameplay and challenge."

Once that game is complete (hopefully in 2007) the team will begin work in earnest on "Defend Ironton!" For that game, the TickStorm team hopes to recreate the entire city in the game.

The plot (which Eid hints may be connected to "Insanity") will put the players in the role of one of the sole defenders of the city against a mysterious attack.

In the non-virtual Ironton, the enemy, an economic depression, is all too real. Eid said that hope is that the game will help bring Ironton some much-needed notoriety.

"The students love this area, they were born here, they want to stay here. We've all seen the technology drained," Eid said. "These guys are volunteering knowing that the paycheck will come when the game's completed and the game is sold."

Eid said that most members of the team say they'll put the money they make back in to the company, to attempt to make "Defend Ironton!" great.

Some local landmarks, such as The Depot, have already been modeled for the game, though there is much work to do before the estimated 2009 release date.

"Hopefully, we'll put Ironton on the map," Eid said.

More information on TickStorm is on the Web at www.tickstorm.com.