Development of "Crash Team Racing" started with block-headed characters with no Crash or otherwise related personalities. Naughty Dog showed their development to Sony, and showed interest in having the game be Crash-themed, to which Sony agreed, and made a deal with Universal. The game could have had original characters in case the deal did not come through. Naughty Dog began production on "Crash Team Racing" after the completion of '; the game engine for "Crash Team Racing" was created at the same time ' was produced. Development took place over the course of eight months on a budget of $2.4 million by a team of 16–18 staff. The characters of the game were designed by Charles Zembillas and Joe Pearson, who designed the characters of the last three installments of the series. Nitros Oxide was originally a mad scientist obsessed with speed who plotted to speed up the entire world until the end of time. However, having exhausted human, animal, machine, and various combinations for "Crash Bandicoot" bosses in the past, it was decided to have Nitros Oxide be an otherworldly character. The original "speed up the world" plot is referenced in a promotional comic (written by Glenn Herdling and drawn by Neal Sternecky) featured in the Winter 2000 issue of "Disney Adventures".