Early build · free · Linux and Steam Deck

Open-world RPG · 17th-century Ukraine · inspired by Gothic II

Wild Field:Sich

You are a runaway from the slave market of Kafa, landed at a Cossack harbor on the Dnipro. Nobody here owes you anything. Earn respect, learn the sabre and find your own way: there is no compass and no quest marker, only what people tell you.

Install on Steam DeckScreenshotsCompare with Gothic II
  • No markersno compass, no quest arrows
  • Gothic II rulesattributes, damage, learning points
  • 3D pixel artreal-time 3D, 960×540 pixel look
  • Steam Deckgamepad, Flatpak build

The story

From a captive to a cossack

Wild Field (Dyke Pole, Latin Loca Deserta) is what maps called the steppe between the Dnipro and the Crimea in the 17th century: a borderland of Cossack fortresses, Tatar raids and river trade. The game starts there, on the lower Dnipro.

The hero is a former captive from the Chernihiv lands who escaped the slave market of Kafa (Caffa, today Feodosia). He reaches the Kodak harbor with nothing but a sabre taken during the escape. The cossacks scorn him: he is not one of them, and nobody will call him a cossack until he proves himself.

Help the fishermen, settle scores, fight snakes and worse things in the reeds, and earn the trust of a palanka, one of the Cossack districts. Join one, and the road leads to the Sich itself.

The pier and the baidak boats: here the runaway from Kafa comes ashore.
The pier and the baidak boats: here the runaway from Kafa comes ashore.

What you can play now

The playable demo is the Kodak harbor zone: the arrival by boat, the settlement, the market, the miners' camp, a day and night cycle, quests from the fishermen and the trader, and Gothic-style sabre combat. The zone is closed at its edge: the road to the Sich is the next chapter.

Where the story goes (planned)

  1. Join one of three palankas: Kodak (fishermen and river pilots, the sabre school), Samara (forest, ore and gunpowder, muskets), Inhul (horses and hunting, the bow).
  2. Enter the inner circle of the Sich and speak with the Koshovyi otaman.
  3. Gather men, food and companions for a raid on the Ottoman fortress of Ochakiv: caves, a mined wall, the storm and a duel with the commandant.

Inspiration

Made in the spirit of Gothic II

Gothic and Gothic II by Piranha Bytes are the main inspiration of Wild Field: Sich. Not the setting — the feeling: a world that does not care about you, people with their own business, a hero who starts as nobody, a sword that gets better only when you do. The combat numbers come straight from Gothic II scripts.

Gothic IIWild Field: Sich
Settingdifferent A fantasy island colony behind a magic barrier; orcs and dragons.The Ukrainian Cossack frontier on the Dnipro, 17th century; snakes, upyrs and other creatures of Ukrainian folklore.
The herosame A nameless prisoner who starts with nothing.A runaway captive from Kafa who starts with a sabre and nothing else; people scorn him until he proves himself.
Guidancesame No quest markers; you find the way from what people say.No compass and no map markers; quest descriptions are the only directions.
Attributessame Level 0, strength 10, dexterity 10, 40 health; each level +12 health and +10 learning points.The same numbers, taken from the Gothic II scripts.
Damagesame Critical hit: strength + weapon − protection; a normal hit does a tenth of it; the skill is the critical chance.The same formula and the same minimum of 5 damage.
Learningsame Teachers raise attributes and skills for learning points; the price grows by steps of 30.The same costs: 1 point per unit up to 30, then 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Combatsame Hold the action key and pick the direction of the blow; skill changes how the hero holds the weapon.Hold the mouse button (or the trigger) and press W, A or D to strike, S to block; a novice holds the sabre with two hands, from 30% one hand.
Joiningsame Join a guild: the militia, the mercenaries or the monastery.Join a palanka: Kodak, Samara or Inhul; joining gives 400 experience, like a guild.
Defeatsame Beaten humans fall and stand up again; monsters kill.A duel only knocks you down; whoever attacks first may be finished off; beasts and enemies kill.
Musicsame Quiet tracks with long silences between them.Guitar, bandura and kobza tracks with 45 to 120 seconds of silence between them, as in Gothic.
Moneydifferent Gold and magic ore.Hryvnias, with prices of its own.

Wild Field: Sich is an independent game. It is not affiliated with Piranha Bytes, THQ Nordic or the Gothic series; Gothic is a trademark of its owners.

Games like Gothic

If you look for games like Gothic and Gothic II, these share its spirit:

  1. Gothic II: Night of the Raven — the model for the rules and the feel of Wild Field: Sich.
  2. Gothic — the original: a closed world, factions and a hero who starts with nothing.
  3. Risen — Piranha Bytes again: an island, factions, hard early fights.
  4. ELEX — the same studio's open world with factions and no hand-holding.
  5. Kingdom Come: Deliverance — historical Europe, no magic, combat that has to be learned.
  6. Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword — the 17th-century Cossack and Polish world in a strategy RPG.
  7. Wild Field: Sich — a Gothic-style RPG on the Ukrainian Cossack frontier, in 3D pixel art.

Features

A small world that is hard to win over

Hardcore exploration

No compass, no quest arrows, no markers over people. Running is the default, Shift walks. Listen to the descriptions, then go and look.

Sabre combat

Draw with 1, hold the button and strike with W, A, D, block with S. A target is locked only when someone attacks you. Your skill changes the grip and the pace.

A living harbor

A day lasts 16 minutes: the sun moves, shadows grow, fires light up at night. The smith forges, miners go back to their camp, fishermen work the nets.

Choices in conversations

Quests are data, not scripts: conditions, consequences and several endings for the same task.

3D in pixels

Real-time 3D drawn into a 960×540 buffer with an outline and a limited palette: animation blends smoothly, clothes and weapons show on the hero.

Steam Deck first

Full gamepad controls and a target of 90 frames per second on the Deck. Installs through Discover from our Flatpak repository.

Screenshots

The Kodak harbor

Real frames from the current build, rendered by the game.

Ostap, the kurinnyi otaman of Kodak, by the cossacks' fire. Answers are picked with numbers.
Ostap, the kurinnyi otaman of Kodak, by the cossacks' fire. Answers are picked with numbers.
The Kodak harbor from above: the Dnipro, the pier, the settlement and the steppe.
The Kodak harbor from above: the Dnipro, the pier, the settlement and the steppe.
The pier and the baidak boats: here the runaway from Kafa comes ashore.
The pier and the baidak boats: here the runaway from Kafa comes ashore.
The journal: “Bring the fish”. The fishermen unload their catch south of the pier, and no marker shows where.
The journal: “Bring the fish”. The fishermen unload their catch south of the pier, and no marker shows where.
Fresh fish on the shore, right where the fishermen said it would be.
Fresh fish on the shore, right where the fishermen said it would be.
By the pier: barrels, cauldrons, a fire and fishermen at work.
By the pier: barrels, cauldrons, a fire and fishermen at work.
The crossroads of the settlement: carts, crates and a cossack fire.
The crossroads of the settlement: carts, crates and a cossack fire.
Morning light over the settlement. A full day lasts 16 minutes.
Morning light over the settlement. A full day lasts 16 minutes.
Night falls: the kurins go dark and only the fires burn.
Night falls: the kurins go dark and only the fires burn.
Night on the shore, where the boats and the fishermen's nets are.
Night on the shore, where the boats and the fishermen's nets are.
The southern shore: boats pulled up on the bank, reeds and willows.
The southern shore: boats pulled up on the bank, reeds and willows.
Behind the kurins: corners worth exploring, with no map markers to lead you.
Behind the kurins: corners worth exploring, with no map markers to lead you.

The world

Three palankas of the Sich

The Zaporozhian Sich was divided into palankas, districts with their own crafts and fighting schools. Each wants something different from a newcomer.

Kodak

Fish, boats and river pilots. The sabre school, up to master.

Bring the fish, the torn nets, clear the river, the smith's coal, kill the Glutton.

Samara

Forest, ore, gunpowder and muskets. Guns and cannons.

Wet gunpowder, a load of weapons, clear out a gang, hunt the slavers.

Inhul

Horses, cattle and hunting. The bow, up to expert.

Sick cattle, a fight in the tavern, strange sounds, the first hunt.

The demo shows Kodak. Samara and Inhul are planned.

Play

Install the early build

The game is free while in early development. It runs on Linux and installs on the Steam Deck through Discover, with updates about once a month.

Open the install page
  1. On the Steam Deck switch to Desktop Mode.
  2. Open flatpak.locadeserta.com and press Install: Discover opens and installs the game.
  3. In the application menu choose Add to Steam, and the game appears in Game Mode.
flatpak install --user https://flatpak.locadeserta.com/sich.flatpakref

A Steam demo is planned. Windows builds exist but are not published yet.

Questions

FAQ

Is Wild Field: Sich like Gothic?

Yes, on purpose. The attribute numbers, the damage formula, the learning costs and the skill stages come from Gothic II. Like Gothic, it gives no quest markers and starts the hero as nobody. The setting is different: the 17th-century Ukrainian Cossack frontier instead of a fantasy colony.

Is there a compass or a quest marker?

No. The game is hardcore by design: quest descriptions tell you where to go, and people are the only guide. Treasure maps are the exception.

What platforms does it run on?

Linux, including the Steam Deck, through our Flatpak repository at flatpak.locadeserta.com. A Steam demo is planned.

How much does it cost?

Nothing while the game is in early development.

What language is the game in?

Ukrainian. An English version is not ready yet; this site is in English and Ukrainian.

How big is the game now?

One closed zone, the Kodak harbor, with its quests, people, beasts, day and night. The road to the Sich and the three palankas are the next chapters.

Is it historically accurate?

It is inspired by the history of the Zaporozhian Cossacks and the Wild Field and uses real places such as Kodak, Kafa and Ochakiv, with folklore creatures on top. It is a game, not a reconstruction.

What engine is it made with?

Godot 4.7. Characters and the world are real-time 3D, drawn into a small pixel buffer with an outline and a limited palette.

Who makes it?

Dmytro Gladkyi, Loca Deserta, an independent developer from Ukraine. Loca Deserta also made Valka: The Salt Road, SICHA: Cossack Combat and Eastern Wars.

The steppe is waiting

Install the early build on your Steam Deck and see how long it takes the cossacks to call you one of them.

Install on Steam Deck