One of the constants in the long running Piranha Bytes series of CRPGs is that masterful soundtrack that seems to haunt the player as they traipse about the lovingly crafted open worlds those games are built around. The composer behind those titles, Kai Rosenkranz, is a gifted musician and a man whose skill goes far beyond simple game design. To prove this, he has started a Kickstarter which aims to get his new album off of the ground.

The album, titled “Journey Home”, is meant to draw upon his skills as a pianist while also exploring what it means/feels like to return to one’s home. Employing Kai’s talent with the grand piano and using a string quartet, Rosenkranz hopes to deliver this feeling in a way that doesn’t require a PC or a knowledge of arcane battle systems.

I’ve always adored the man’s work and consider Gothic 1-3 (especially 3) to have some of the best ambient video game music ever written. So far, he has a little over 13K of his stated 20K goal, so there’s a good chance he’ll meet it before it ends in mid September.