Most of the companions in one of the most important RPGs ever made were crafted in "a day or less" by a developer with minimal 3D modeling experience.
Speaking to PC Gamer, Planescape: Torment lead artist Tim Donley explains how he was able to put a slightly unconventional team together while working on the classic CRPG.
The slightly under-the-radar approach that developer Black Isle was afforded by borrowing BioWare's Baldur's Gate-creating Infinity Engine meant that he could take some gambles - and one of those gambles paid off in the form of Eric Campanella.
Campanella designed and animated all of Planescape's party companions. But before Planescape, he had absolutely no track record in modeling the 3D figures that the game was using - Campanella was a 2D artist but asked Donley if he could have a go at working in the third dimension. "I was like, 'Have you ever made a 3D model before?' He's like, 'No, but I'd like to try'.
And we just said, 'knock yourself out'." Clearly, that gamble paid off. The first time Donley walked into Campanella's workshop, he says "it was like fucking Da Vinci.