portrait #05: KaiRo
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name: Kai Rosenkranz
age: 22
team member since: 1999
project history: Gothic
indian name that fits:
Hi-No-It (He-who-can-do-everything)
look at mug more closely
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Hint by KaiRo: Usually I'm doing the portraits. This time, though, Sascha took over to interview me. Thanks a lot!
KaiRo
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What's your job at Piranha Bytes?
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I'm in charge of the audio sector, i.e. music and sound effects. In addition to that I'm the unofficial Gothic II site's webmaster and I'm doing several smaller jobs in the graphics and special effects departments.
(he's programming irrelevant things such as the whole localisation- and integration tools, among other things. - Sascha)
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How long have you been making music?
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I think I started as a little kid. My parents gave me a keyboard when I was 7...
Since then I've been specializing in piano and keyboards, playing other instruments (like guitar, percussions and didgeridoo) mainly for fun. But I rarely went beyond the 'testing phase' with those :-).
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You made the music for the first part of Gothic, now for Gothic II. What do you think you learned from your work on Gothic?
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During my Gothic I work a lot of effort went into single passages, and I tinkered with short melodies for days - mainly because I lacked experience with meeting deadlines. This lead to the music being 'fragmented' and some fragments being neglected. Now I'm trying to keep the Gothic II music on a constant level during the whole game.
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Another thing was that I tried to consider the feedback of all the Piranhas which ended with me dumping certain passages I actually liked. In the meantime I developed my own style, and I usually do music my way even though I still value feedback a lot. Which is why I upload some pieces of music from time to time.
(to the 'music & sound fx'-section)
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You didn't just make the music for Gothic, you also programmed several tools which eased our work. Which other +5 skills do you have?
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*laughs*
This is a difficult question. Here's a little story about my first day at Piranha Bytes...
I visited the Piranhas in their ramshackle old hut out of curiosity. During the visit I heard that they were still looking for staff. When I was asked what I could do I gave an answer they didn't forgive me to this day: "It depends on what you're looking for."
I meant that I was interested in many different things without being perfect in anything. Because I kept up my diversified interests to this day I'm able to do graphics and programming jobs (on top of my audio work) which are obviously good enough for the final product.
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You're planning to attend a university after Gothic II. What will be you major field of study?
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After mulling it over for quite some time I decided to take up - don't laugh now - neuro psychology. Initially I wanted to do something on the media sector, but everybody and his brother kept on telling me that you needn't have studied to work in the games industry - talent and first-class references are of greater importance. So I'll venture to access a new field of interest instead - natural sciences. After basic studies in psychology there'll be courses in medical and computer science to try to explain the workings of the brain. Then I'll finally be able to tell myself and the other Piranhas what's wrong with us :-).
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Will you be available for the games industry after your studies?
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Yes. Definitely... after I finished my studies. My career aspiration (game developer) hasn't changed. I don't know about the time I'll spend at university though... I guess it depends on how much effort I'll have to put into my studies, and how much time there will be left.
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If you had to give your life a fun rating, what would it be?
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High. Somewhere in the 80-90% range. I have to admit that I've never really been in a bad mood in all my life. In problematic times the gage will slide a bit, but thanks to a stable circle of friends and my family this rarely holds true for more than a few days.
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Where would you like to travel to?
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I guess I'd love to wander through New Zealand with just a backpack and a lot of time on my hands. I think the country is really cool. It's just speculation, of course... I've never been there before. But I like the notion. Those endless geographic variations... that's something for me. Besides, the Lord of the Rings was filmed there :-).
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Whom or what would you never like to deal with?
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Phhh, I 'll have to ponder this for a while...
*ponders for a while*
The thing I hate most are false friends.
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Is there a quotation (e.g. from a movie) that you frequently use?
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Dang, I'm not prepared for this. Argh...
*pauses to think*
But there's one quotation from the movie "Life as a house" I like a lot:
"Change can be so constant, you don't even feel the difference until there is one."
(George in "Life as a house")
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