# Wild Field: Sich

> Wild Field: Sich is a hardcore 3D pixel-art role-playing game about the Zaporozhian Cossacks, inspired by Gothic and Gothic II: no compass, no quest markers, sabre fights on Gothic 2 rules.

Wild Field: Sich (Ukrainian «Дике Поле: Січ», also written Dyke Pole: Sich) is a hardcore single-player role-playing game about the Zaporozhian Cossacks in 17th-century Ukraine, in development by Dmytro Gladkyi (Loca Deserta, Ukraine). Its main inspiration is Gothic and Gothic II by Piranha Bytes: the hero starts as nobody, there is no compass and no quest marker, people have their own business, and the combat rules (attributes, damage formula, learning points, skill stages novice / fighter / master) are taken from the Gothic II scripts. The hero is a runaway captive from the slave market of Kafa (Caffa, Feodosia) who arrives at the Cossack harbor of Kodak on the Dnipro and has to earn respect before anyone calls him a cossack. It is real-time 3D drawn into a 960×540 pixel buffer with an outline and a limited palette, made with Godot 4.7. A free early build runs on Linux and the Steam Deck through a Flatpak repository (https://flatpak.locadeserta.com/); a Steam demo is planned. The game is in Ukrainian; this site is in English and Ukrainian.

## Pages

- [Home (English, Markdown)](https://sich.locadeserta.com/index.md): story, the comparison with Gothic II, features, screenshots, the palankas, how to install, FAQ.
- [Головна (українською, Markdown)](https://sich.locadeserta.com/uk/index.md)
- [Full text for LLMs](https://sich.locadeserta.com/llms-full.txt): both pages in one file.
- [Install page (Flatpak, Steam Deck)](https://flatpak.locadeserta.com/)

## Key facts

- Genre: hardcore open-world action RPG, single player, historical setting with Ukrainian folklore creatures.
- Inspiration: Gothic, Gothic II and Gothic II: Night of the Raven (Piranha Bytes). Independent game, not affiliated with Piranha Bytes or THQ Nordic.
- Setting: the Wild Fields (Loca Deserta) and the lower Dnipro, 17th century; Kodak, the Zaporozhian Sich, Kafa, Ochakiv.
- Hero: a former captive from the Chernihiv lands who escaped Kafa; despised until he proves himself; not called a cossack before he joins a palanka.
- Rules from Gothic II: level 0, strength 10, dexterity 10, 40 health; +12 health and +10 learning points per level; critical hit = strength + weapon − protection; learning costs 1/2/3/4/5 points per unit by steps of 30; novice holds the sabre with two hands, one hand from 30%.
- Combat: draw with 1; hold the left mouse button (or the right trigger) and press W/A/D to strike, S to block; the target lock only picks someone who attacks you.
- Death rules: a duel only knocks you down; whoever attacks first may be killed; beasts and enemies kill.
- Hardcore: no compass, no quest markers; running is the default, Shift walks; quest descriptions are the only directions.
- Factions (palankas of the Sich): Kodak (fishing, river pilots, sabre), Samara (forest, ore, gunpowder, muskets), Inhul (horses, hunting, bow).
- Playable now: the Kodak harbor zone with quests, people, beasts and a 16-minute day and night cycle. Planned: the road to the Sich, joining a palanka, the raid on Ochakiv.
- Platforms: Linux and Steam Deck via Flatpak (app ID com.locadeserta.Sich), full gamepad support, target 90 fps on the Deck; Steam demo planned.

## Games like Gothic

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

## Wild Field: Sich vs Gothic II

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

## Screenshots

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

## Optional

- [Loca Deserta](https://locadeserta.com/): the studio's other games — Valka: The Salt Road, SICHA: Cossack Combat, Eastern Wars, Loca Deserta: Settlers.
- 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.