Overview
Saleblazers is an open world RPG survival shopkeeping game for 1-8 players. Players build expansive shops from scratch, gear up using profits, and survive on a perilous island environment where every faction is out to get you.
Saleblazers is an open world RPG survival shopkeeping game for 1-8 players. Players build expansive shops from scratch, gear up using profits, and survive on a perilous island environment where every faction is out to get you.
My Roll
Game Design Intern
Game Design Intern
Collaborated closely with artists, programmers, audio engineers, and producers to conceptualize, implement and refine the Saleblazers game, ensuring its readiness for release.
Participated in daily cross department meetings to develop high-level plans for new game mechanics and also worked autonomously to help the team reach their project goals.
Utilized Perforce and Jira to maintain project organization and progress tracking.
Developed goal-based progression systems through Saleblazers’ missions, levels and combat encounters using the Unity engine and C# in Visual Studio.
Worked with artists to set dress environments while crafting and implementing intricate enemy, NPC, resource encounter designs and developed sophisticated hostile AI behaviors.
Being in charge of encounter design, I ensured that the enemy stats were tuned to feel reflective of each area in the game.
Studio
Airstrafe Interactive
Airstrafe Interactive
Platforms
PC | Mac
PC | Mac
Critical reception
NYX Game Awards winner in Best Gameplay, Survival, Role-Playing Game, Simulation, Open World, and Indie.
NYX Game Awards winner in Best Gameplay, Survival, Role-Playing Game, Simulation, Open World, and Indie.
Team size
Team of 25 professionals
Team of 25 professionals
Engine and tools
Unity, C# in Visual Studio, AI behaviors, Jira, Perforce
Unity, C# in Visual Studio, AI behaviors, Jira, Perforce
Saleblazers is a new multiplayer shopkeeping survival game where any item can be used as a weapon or sold as merchandise. It has an ongoing narrative campaign which challenges players’ shopkeeping and combat skills as they embark on a quest through increasingly harsh environments on a dangerous island. Players craft weapons, defeat ruthless bosses, and survive the night while expanding a retail empire from scratch with friends online or solo. Saleblazers was recently released in early access mode and is available on Steam.
As a game design intern at Airstrafe Interactive from January-July, 2023, I helped to develop Saleblazers, where I collaborated closely with artists, programmers, audio engineers, and producers at AirStrafe to get Saleblazers ready for release. I utilized the Unity game engine and programming language C# to design combat encounters, work with artists to set dress environments, and implement, design, and document new gameplay features. Participating in daily meetings, I collaborated across departments to iterate on and develop high-level plans for new mechanics and reach project goals. I also assisted in frequent playtest sessions where I would debug and provide feedback on various in-game systems.
William McCullen (back row, far right) pictured with the Saleblazers intern team
