Solve Thought-Provoking Puzzles While Exploring the Artistic World of “Alida”

by Louis Bedigian

Producer Cos Russo talks music, gameplay, inspiration, and more. 

Have you ever wanted to kiss your world goodbye, hop on a plane, and travel to a far off land?  If the answer is yes, then you might want to visit the world of Alida.  Alida is an island theme park that was built and inhabited by a hugely successful rock band.  The island’s shape takes on that of a guitar, giving your eyes something to stare at while the plane crashes – [ahem] I mean as the plane lands.

Everything is so wonderful, so peaceful, until you get separated from one of your friends.  Then you have to find him, and the whole vacation becomes about survival, not fun in the sun.

That’s what happens to the rock band who formed Alida when they decide to return for a reunion.  One of the band members, Arin, leaves the island and is not heard from again.  More like “disappears” from the island.  Did he ever really leave?  No one knows for sure.  But it’s up to you and your band member buddies to find him.

That’s just the beginning though.  Cos Russo, creator and producer of Alida, tells us that you’ll find Arin pretty early on in the game.  What happens next?  How does the game continue if the main goal has been completed?  We chat with Cos to find out.

Describe the gameplay.  What can players expect from Alida?

Cos Russo: Alida is a point-and-click interactive graphical adventure game that encompasses five CD-ROMs. Players can expect to be captivated by meticulous graphics, unique environments, intriguing puzzles, bizarre transportation machines, ornate objects, electronic imagery, tactile contraptions, animated natural elements and original music score.

Alida's world looks like a tropical paradise, with a slight eerie sense of isolation.  Were there any real-world locations, games or movie that inspired your game's settings?

CR: Well, my hometown Bowral here in Australia certainly has a natural beauty that inspired me while I was producing Alida, and a lot of the textures that you see in Alida are from the local area. I always imagined Alida to be a hot, dry place ... I would love to sit on the Balcony in Alida and soak up the sun! Riven was an inspiration, as I believe it to be more than a game - a work of art.

Pretty water, trees, blue sky…it sure looks peaceful.

But is it?

Despite looking like paradise, the island is actually a giant guitar!  Tell us about this.

CR: A lot of time was spent just brainstorming ideas, concepts to try and make Alida gel as a complete world that would make sense. There was an initial period where I was continuously day dreaming the imaginary world of Alida. I came up with the idea of the giant guitar while I was working on a film with a friend. That was all I needed to commence work, all the ideas came easily from that point. I had a lot of fun producing the internal elements of the guitar and incorporating them into the game.

Talk about the game's puzzles.  What will they be like?  How crazy will they make us? :)

CR: The puzzles range from simple to complex. The puzzles stem from the story and the environments - I did not want to create puzzles that appeared out of nowhere, trial and error, having no relevance to anything in the story. They are logical and have clues somewhere in the story or environment. I think I succeeded in creating unique puzzles that players will find interesting to play with. Some of the harder puzzles may make you crazy, but you can always get help from the hints/diagrams/walkthrough page at the Alida website:  http://www.alidagame.com/hints.html

Are there any other obstacles that players will have to overcome?

CR: There is one character in particular that I certainly wouldn't trust ...but players will have to work that one out!

Even the buildings have trees in them.

How has being a musician influenced the way you design video games?

CR: I can say that I know what feeling I wanted the game to have, and I think that I was able to focus that feeling with the music that I produced for Alida. It is amazing what a piece of music can do to shift a person's mood or feeling. I wanted to make sure that players are removed from their normal world and immersed in the Alida experience. Arin's part of Alida has some unusual musical instruments which were fun to create. Some of the puzzles are centered around these musical instruments - but don't worry, you need no knowledge of music to solve them.

Fill us in on the game's unique story.

CR: Alida centers around four young men in the band Alida that attained phenomenal success with their first CD release. Loads of money coupled with wild imagination resulted in construction of "Alida" - the theme park. As Alida was nearing completion things got complicated, their popularity was waning and money stopped coming in. Distrust set in. Each of the band members claimed different areas of Alida for themselves where they devised weird and elaborate systems to protect their wealth. They retracted from each other finally leaving Alida uninhabited. Fifteen years later one of the guys is missing on Alida, and it's up to the player to find him, solving puzzles along the way.

Does the music correspond with the rock band-oriented story, or is there more than one style of music present in the game?

CR: The music in Alida is used to enhance the gameplay, it has no connection to the band's music at all. There are no samples of the band's music - I didn't want to narrow their appeal by focusing on one genre of music.

Besides being tropical, Alida looks somewhat industrial.

What is the ultimate goal in Alida?  Will the quest be over when you find Arin?

CR: At the beginning of the game, Arin's wife Julia pleads for you to find her husband and return him home. You will actually find Arin quite early in the game ... but it's complicated ...

Now that you've done both, which is more difficult – designing games or writing music?

CR: Designing games! To produce a game requires creating story and puzzle concepts, modeling 3D environments, creating texture maps, producing 3D video animations, video production with live actors, fully produced sounds, programming scripts etc., and after all that, music as well! The creative processes of both are fantastic, and that's the reason why I do it.

Thank you for your time.