Every boss in Wildheart has a job. Before it's a monster, a set piece or a trailer moment, it's a lesson. The first boss has the biggest job of all: it has to teach players how our combat works without ever feeling like a tutorial.
Start on paper
The first version of the fight was a sketch on the back of a printed design doc: a huge, sleepy tree spirit with roots for arms, and a tiny fox standing in front of it. We liked the scale immediately. A small hero against a big problem is what Wildheart is about.
Before anyone opened the engine, we wrote down what the fight had to teach: read the telegraph, dodge through the attack, punish the opening. Every attack we designed had to support one of those three ideas, and anything that didn't got cut.
Grey boxes first
Our first playable version had no art at all. The boss was a grey capsule with a cube for a head, and its attacks were coloured volumes on the floor. That sounds rough, but it's the fastest way to find out whether a fight is fun. If it isn't fun as boxes, it won't be fun with a beautiful model on top.
We ran short playtests every couple of days. The questions were always the same: did you understand what was about to happen? Did you feel clever when you dodged? Did you know why you got hit?
What we changed
- The root slam wind-up got longer. Players were getting hit before they understood the attack existed.
- We added a sound cue to every telegraph, so players can react even when the camera is busy.
- The second phase now reuses phase-one attacks in new combinations instead of adding new ones.
- The arena got smaller. Big arenas made the boss feel far away and less threatening.
If a player dies and blames the game, that's our bug. If they die and say 'oh, I should have dodged', that's the design working.
Where it is now
The fight is now fully art-dressed and animated, and it's the first thing we show new playtesters. We'll share more when the gameplay teaser premieres. Until then, wishlist Wildheart and join our Discord to get into future playtests.