Living Off The Land


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I recently started a new run, with the sole purpose of achieving the Living Off The Land achievements, but I was wondering if consuming carrots or potatoes would disqualify my efforts or would I still get the achievement.

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Posted (edited)

Good question. It has been years since I got this achievement, and the description for it reads: "Survive 25 consecutive full days only consuming calories harvested from wild plants and animals (single game).". 

I would guess that carrots and potatoes will reset the achievement, since they are not wild plants, and you do not harvest them- you loot them. 

("Harvested" is the key word in the description. Which is why many of us back then did not eat rabbit, venison or fish found in refrigerators or out in the snow, and did not eat fish found washed up on shorelines- we did not harvest them, we looted them. Burdock and Acorns should be okay, but avoid taking any rose-hips and reishis found in trash cans or other containers, or laying on the ground at abandoned campsites and similar- you didn't harvest them, you looted them, and using them to make teas that you then drank did reset the achievement progress, IIRC.)

Edited by ThePancakeLady
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I would almost guarantee that they would not be okay and would reset your timer for the achievement. It would be easy to test with a disposable run if you wanted to. Also be careful of things that have calories that you wouldn't think do. When I tried to do this achievement I totally didn't recognise that coffee had calories. I figured if they don't have calories they don't count....well they have calories. So I got to start over. I'd stick to fish, game, and teas you have physically harvested as TPL has described. Not at all hard to do. You can combine almost all the achievements together in one run. Just be sure you drop anything man-made so you don't accidentally consume something you don't want to (like from the radial menu-been there and done that).

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No herbal tea,coffee, any found food,not even fish meat found in containers etc..

I also believe that cat tails are bugged at the moment too so you can't eat them either.

Reishi,birch bark,rosehips,ravaged carcasses are all fine... And of course any fish you catch yourself,and any animal you kill yourself..

Good luck

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3 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

I also believe that cat tails are bugged at the moment too so you can't eat them either.

Huh. First I've heard of that bug. Cattail Stalks were a major source of calories for me when I did this one. But, it was years ago, and we did not have Burdock or Acorns back then either, so there is that to help replace some calories if Cattails are actually bugged.

Coffee and herbal teas are a definite no-no, that's for sure. Since the achievement doesn't have to be started at the beginning of a run, the best advice I can give is to drop and stash anything and everything you have in your inventory- including prepared rose hips and reishis, since you may have picked one or two up from containers along the way, and you won't know it, but the game will. 

We didn't have Birch Bark back then either (I got the achievement in 2017 and Birch Bark was not added until 2019 IIRC, and we don't actually harvest it, we just pick it up like other loot- so I am unsure if Birch Bark Tea resets the progress or not (it has calories). 

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13 minutes ago, ThePancakeLady said:

Huh. First I've heard of that bug. Cattail Stalks were a major source of calories for me when I did this one. But, it was years ago, and we did not have Burdock or Acorns back then either, so there is that to help replace some calories if Cattails are actually bugged.

Coffee and herbal teas are a definite no-no, that's for sure. Since the achievement doesn't have to be started at the beginning of a run, the best advice I can give is to drop and stash anything and everything you have in your inventory- including prepared rose hips and reishis, since you may have picked one or two up from containers along the way, and you won't know it, but the game will. 

We didn't have Birch Bark back then either (I got the achievement in 2017 and Birch Bark was not added until 2019 IIRC, and we don't actually harvest it, we just pick it up like other loot- so I am unsure if Birch Bark Tea resets the progress or not (it has calories). 

I forgot about burdock and acorns, I never used either...   But birch bark is definitely ok to use..I used some a few years back when I did the achievement..

Good point about the rosehips though..unless you're 100%sure it didn't come from a bin then don't use it.

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1 minute ago, Leeanda said:

But birch bark is definitely ok to use..I used some a few years back when I did the achievement..

Thanks! That's very good to know! I have some friends I bought the game for years ago, but they have been patiently waiting for Wintermute to be completed before they even start playing (they want to play the entire Story Mode first before jumping into Survival Mode), so I am sure that question will come up when they do start playing Survival and trying to unlock Steam achievements. 

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7 minutes ago, ThePancakeLady said:

Thanks! That's very good to know! I have some friends I bought the game for years ago, but they have been patiently waiting for Wintermute to be completed before they even start playing (they want to play the entire Story Mode first before jumping into Survival Mode), so I am sure that question will come up when they do start playing Survival and trying to unlock Steam achievements. 

They've got way more patience than I have, I couldn't wait to start playing 😁

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On 5/22/2024 at 6:13 AM, Leeanda said:

No herbal tea,coffee, any found food,not even fish meat found in containers etc..

I also believe that cat tails are bugged at the moment too so you can't eat them either.

Reishi,birch bark,rosehips,ravaged carcasses are all fine... And of course any fish you catch yourself,and any animal you kill yourself..

Good luck

Thanks for the info!  Cat tails are my main source of calories in the current run, but if it is indeed bugged, I'll just avoid them for the next 25 days.

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8 minutes ago, Africanboi7 said:

Thanks for the info!  Cat tails are my main source of calories in the current run, but if it is indeed bugged, I'll just avoid them for the next 25 days.

I'm not 100% sure but I suppose it's better to not risk it than have to restart..  

Good luck😊

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Yeah, if you started your run on the "uber-easy" settings, you can easily accomplish this with a little preparation.  If you need help, there are many guides available.  If I recall, I actually did this on my long, established run when I was stocked up and well-prepared.  To be on the safe side, if you doubt a food meets the criteria, just don't eat it.  Fish, Deer, Rabbit, Bear (only that you have harvested yourself - NOT FOUND).

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I looked at my achievements this morning only to find I apparently haven't done it,though I know I have.. haven't checked the boxes either in Milton , except maybe 50-60 times😁

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  • 4 weeks later...

I am finding this achievement a bit more challenge than it probably should be! First I ate potatoes & carrots before day 10,(just before I asked the question about it). So I thought I should bed able to get the achievement at around day 35. To my disappointment,I realized at day 36 that butch bark tea reset the achievement. So here I am at day 53 hoping to get it at day 60. If not I'll restart when the update drops!

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Huh, that's odd that birch bark would reset it. Now I'm wondering, does anyone know if acorns or acorn coffee reset the counter too? I'm trying this achievement as well but I drank acorn coffee and now I don't know if I reset or not lol. 

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  • 1 month later...

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