Foraging

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Foraging is a survivalist skill and game mechanic allowing the ability to search for food and resources.

Investigate area & search mode

"Investigate Area" can be toggled via the spyglass icon. This brings up a new overlay showing the terrain type, position of the sun in the sky, and a button for activating "Search Mode". While Search Mode is activated, the screen will blur except for a "Target Radius" around the player which will grow as their foraging skill increases.

Usage

• Hidden items spawn and despawn (seemingly randomly) regardless of player skill or time of day.
• As a player approaches within Target Radius distance of an item which they have the requisite skill level to find, an eyeball icon will appear over their character
• Remaining near the item for a short amount of time will make the item's icon appear. A small amount of xp will be granted at this point.
• Double-clicking the item icon will gather it into the inventory. Right-clicking will give the option to gather or discard the item. Additional xp is granted regardless of which option is chosen.

Herbalist trait/magazine

• The Herbalist Trait/Magazine grants the ability to detect the poison of berries and mushrooms.

Foraging skill

The foraging skill determines:

• Items that can be found
• Search Radius
• Chance of berries/mushrooms being poisonous <--ItemPoisonChance + ((10 - foraging level) * 5)

Search radius

• Maximum Search Radius is 10 Squares.
  • With bonuses, the maximum radius is 15.
• Minimum Search Radius is 3 Squares. (Decreased to 1.5 squares if the Darkness Penalty is higher than -50%)

Target Radius has various factors:

• Foraging skill level
• Occupation
• Traits
• Movement
• Weather
  • Weather Effect * (100% - (Trait/ProfessionEffectReduction% added together))
  • Mushrooms, fish bait, medicinal plants, and wild plants are more likely to appear during rain, after rain, and at night.
  • Insects are more likely to appear at night.
  • Medicinal plants and wild plants are less likely to appear when there is snow on the ground
• Darkness
  • Darkness Effect * (100% - (Trait/ProfessionEffectReduction% added together))
  • When Darkness Effect reaches 50%, new items cannot be spotted.
• Moodles

Bonuses

Characters with certain skills and occupations can spot some types of items from further away than others. For example, the fitness instructor has a 25% bonus to finding junk food. This means if the foraging level, location, and light level give the fitness instructor a search radius of 8, the fitness instructor will be able to find junk food at a distance of 10 (8 * 125% = 10).

Chance of finding items

The chance of finding items in different categories is determined by: area searched, Occupations, Traits, search focus, weather, time of the day and current month.

Impact of various Factors

Foraging skill

• Each level increases the radius by 0.5 squares.

Occupations

Name	Cost	Foraging skill	Radius increase	Ignore Weather (%)	Ignore Darkness (%)
File:Burglar.pngBurglar		-	-	5	10
File:Farmer.pngFarmer	2	-	+1.5	33	10
File:Fire Officer.pngFire Officer	0	-	-	5	10
File:Fisherman.pngFisherman	-2	1	+1	40	10
File:Lumberjack.pngLumberjack	0	-	+1.25	33	15
File:Park Ranger.pngPark Ranger	-4	2	+2	33	15
File:Police Officer.pngPolice Officer	-4	-	-	5	10
File:Security Guard.png Security Guard	-2	-	-	5	10
Unemployed	+8	-	+1	10	-
VeteranVeteran	-8	-	+1	33	10

Name	Points			Ignore Weather
File:BurgerFlipper.pngBurger Flipper	2	-	-	-	-	+5%	-	-	+5%	+15%	-	-	-	-	+30%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
File:Burglar.pngBurglar	-6	-	-	-5%	-15%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	+10%	+10%	-	-	+10%	+10%
File:Carpenter.pngCarpenter	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	+30%	+10%	-
File:Chef.pngChef	-4	-	-	-	-	+10%	-	-	+20%	+50%	-	-	-	+15%	+15%	+15%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
File:Farmer.pngFarmer	-4	0	+1.5	-33%	-10%	+10%	-	-	-	-	+50%	+10%	+10%	+5%	+5%	+5%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
File:Park Ranger.pngPark Ranger	-4	2	+2	-33%	-15%	+10%	-	-	+20%	+10%	-	-	-	+50%	-	+75%	-	-	-	+10%	-	+5%	+5%

Positive traits

Trait name	Points	radius modifier	Ignore darkness (%)	Ignore weather (%)
File:TraitLucky.png Lucky	-4	+1	-	-
File:TraitHiker.png Hiker	-6	+1	-	7
File:TraitFormerScout.png Former Scout	-6	+1	-	13
File:TraitHunter.png Hunter	-8	+0.7	5	7
File:TraitEagleEyed.png Eagle Eyed	-6	+0.5	-	-
File:TraitGardener.png Gardener	-4	+0.4	-	13
File:TraitOutdoorsman.png Outdoorsman	-2	+0.4	7	13
File:TraitCook.png Cook	-6	+0.2	-	-
File:TraitCatsEyes.png Cat's Eyes	-2	+0.2	20	-
File:TraitNutritionist.png Nutritionist	-4	+0.2	-	-
File:TraitHerbalist.png Herbalist	-6	+0.2	-	7

Negative traits

Trait name	Points cost	Radius modifier
File:TraitUnlucky.png Unlucky	+4	-1
File:TraitAgoraphobic.png Agoraphobic	+4	-1.5
File:TraitShortSighted.png Short Sighted	+2	-2

• The malus from Short Sighted can be removed by wearing glasses.

Movement type

Movement type	Multiplier
Aim	+33%
Sneak	+10%
Walk	0%
Sprint/Run/Sneak run*	-100%

• Sprinting/Running after a certain amount of time will automatically disable Search Mode

Moodles

Moodle	Effect in extreme cases
File:Moodle hungry.png Hungry	Up to +50% (for food items only)
File:Moodle endurance.png Endurance File:Moodle tired.png Fatigue Fear	Up to -75% Takes the worst of the three.
File:Moodle panic.png Panic File:Moodle stressed.png Stress	Up to -95% Takes the worse of the two.
File:Moodle pain.png Pain File:Moodle drunk.png Drunkeness File:Moodle cold.png Has a Cold File:Moodle sick.png Sickness	Up to -95% Takes the worse of the four.

Weather & Darkness

	Maximum Effect in extreme cases
Weather (rain, snow, fog)	-75%
Darkness	-95% (if higher than -50%, cannot "spot" new items, and minimum Search Radius becomes 1.5, instead of 3)

• Having an Umbrella equipped will reduce the rain penalty by 90%.
• Having an item that produces light (lighter, hand torch, flashlight) will negate the darkness effect.

Some items have modified chances if it rains, after it rains, if it snows, or if it is night time or day time. See the table below:

Item / Category	Bonus if it rains	Bonus after it rains	Bonus if it snows	Bonus at night time	Bonus at day time
Stones	+None	None	-50	None	None
Berries Berry	+None	None	-10	None	None
Mushrooms	+35	+50	None	+20	None
Fish Bait	+50	+50	None	+100	None
Medicinal Plants	+50	+25	-50	+100	None
Wild Plants	+50	+25	-50	+50	None
Wild Herbs File:Item HerbBasil.pngFile:Item HerbChives.pngFile:Item HerbCilantro.pngFile:Item HerbOregano.pngFile:Item HerbParsley.png	+50	+25	-50	+50	None
Fruits	None	None	-10 -20(Watermelon) -100(Banana)	None	None
Vegetables	None	None	from -10 up to -50 depending on the vegetable	None	None
Sunflower Seeds	-50	None	-100	-100	None
Rosehips	+20	None	-100	None	None
Eggs & Wild Eggs	-20	None	-20	None	None
Worm	+100	None	-100	+50	-50
Frog, Slug, Snail	+100	None	-100	-50	+50
Dead Animals	-10	None	-10	None	None
Insects	+10 +20(Grasshopper) +50(Cricket)	None	-20	+200	None

Clothing

Type of clothing	Penalty (Search Radius)
Items completely covering the head, face and eyes	-75%
Items covering the face and eyes but not the head	-50%
Items covering the face but with holes for the eyes	-20%
Items covering one or both eyes (glasses, monocles...)	-2.5%

• Additionnally, the sum of all these Clothing Penalties cannot be higher than -95%.

Seasons

Items can have a +50% chance bonus or -50% chance malus depending on the month of the year, or they can be completely unavailable.

For example:

• Firewood has a +50% chance bonus during Fall. (September, October, November)
• Most berries, mushrooms, vegetables, medicinal herbs, wild herbs, wild plants, eggs, insects and animals can't be found in Winter. (December, January, February)
• Beauty Berries, Holly Berries and Winter Berries can only be found during Fall and Winter. (From September to March)

Nature's Abundance (Sandbox Setting)

Setting	Zone Density Multiplier
Very Poor (A Really CD DA)	-75%
Poor	-50%
Normal (Apocalypse, Survivor, Builder)	+0%
Abundant	+50%
Very Abundant (Six Months Later, Initial Infection, Winter Is Coming)	+100%

Items

The foraging skill determines what types of items can be found. Most items can be found in all locations, however there are several categories of items that can be found which affects where they appear and how easy they are to find. For example, vegetables are more likely to appear in farmland areas, stones appear more often in roads, and trash is more likely to appear in trailer parks and city zones. See below for more specific information.

Item	Level	Description
Berries BerryBerry	0	Appear in groups of 2-8. As foraging level rises, more varieties can appear and berries are less likely to be poisonous. Character can identify poisonous berries by starting with the herbalist trait, reading the herbalist magazine, or reaching level 7 in the cooking skill. Blackberry, Blueberry, Winter berry and Beautyberry are never poisonous (). Holly berries will always be poisonous ( Berry ).
Mushrooms	0	Appear in groups of 1-4. Character can identify poisonous mushrooms by starting with the herbalist trait, reading the herbalist magazine, or reaching level 7 in the cooking skill. Can be used in stew, pie, soup, sandwich, salad, roasted vegetables.
Wild Herbs File:Item HerbBasil.pngFile:Item HerbChives.pngFile:Item HerbCilantro.pngFile:Item HerbOregano.pngFile:Item HerbParsley.pngFile:Item HerbRosemary.pngFile:Item HerbSage.pngFile:Item HerbThyme.png	0	Appear in groups of 1-3. Herbs can be eaten for a small amount of nutrition.
Wood	0	Branches and twigs appear in bunches of 1-3
Stones	0	Used to make Crafted Spears and Stone Axe.
Junk	0	This category contains a wide variety of useful materials such as nails, screws, magazines, books, and bags
Junk food	0	This category contains several kinds of edible foods, such as candy, chips, and canned foods
Clothing	0
Junk weapons	0	This category is comprised of a variety of used or low-quality weapons, such as pens, plungers, shovels and umbrellas
Medical supplies	0	This category is made up of several objects used for healing, such as dirty bandages, ripped sheets, thread, and vitamins
Trash	0	This category has many kinds of trash-type objects, such as empty pop cans, balls, garbage bags and plates
Bait and insects	0	Worms, crickets, grasshoppers, and cockroaches can be used as fishing bait or food for the desperate.
Lemon grass	0	Appears in groups of 2-8. Eat to soothe bouts of food poisoning. Reduces sickness by a certain amount (12?)
Medicinal plants	0	Appear in groups of 2-8. These plants require the character have the herbalism trait or have read the herbalism magazine. Plantain aids recovery, comfrey heals broken bones, wild garlic fights infection, common mallow relieves cold symptoms, black sage relieves pain, ginseng restores endurance.
Wild plants	0	Appear in groups of 3-6. Violets and sunflower seeds can be eaten for nutrition.
Wild veggies	2	Leeks, broccoli, red radishes and grape leaves may be eaten for nutrition
Forest rarities	2	Campfire kits, tent kit, tarps, and tent pegs
Onion	3
Wild fruit	4	Appear in groups of 1-4. Cherries and rosehips may be eaten for nutrition. Rosehips do not spoil
Ammunition	4	Ammunition from a wide variety of firearms
Wild plants	5	Oranges and daikon (white radishes) can be eaten for nutrition
Dead rat	5	Can be butchered for meat
Wild fruit	6	Lemons, limes, habaneros, and jalapenos can be eaten for nutrition
Wild plants	7	Grapes, apple, lettuce, bell pepper, peanuts, pumpkin, and mango can be eaten for nutrition
Wild animals	7	Frogs and dead birds can be butchered for meat
Wild plants	8	Strawberries, grapefruits, peaches, pears, avocados, zucchini, and eggplant
Eggs	8	Wild eggs and eggs can be cooked and eaten
Dead squirrel	8	Can be butchered for meat
Traps	8	Box traps, cage traps, crate traps, mouse traps, snare traps, and stick traps
Forest rarities	8	Hiking bags and big hiking bags
Banana	9
Wild Fruit	10	Pineapple and watermelon
Dead rabbit	10	Can be butchered for meat

Search Focus

As characters gain levels in foraging, they can choose a focus while searching. This increases their chance to locate items in that category (at the expense of an item in the other categories). More focuses unlock as levels increase.

Focus	Level Available
Firewood	0
Stones	0
Berries	3
Mushrooms	3
Insects	4
Wild Herbs	4
Wild Plants	4
Trash	4
Animals	5
Crops	5
Medicinal Plants	6
Fruits	7
Medicine	8

Item Types and Locations

Although most items can be found in most locations, the location can influence which items are available to be scavenged in a given area. Below is a list of weights for each item type by area. Note: these are not percents.

	Deep Forest	Forest	Grasslands	Farm Land	Farm	Trailer Park	Town	Streets and Parking
Animals	15	15	25	20	20	5	5	3
Dead Animals	3	3	2	2	2	1	1	1
Berries	30	30	20	15	15	5	5	1
Fruits	15	15	15	25	25	10	5	0
Vegetables	10	10	15	15	15	5	10	0
Crops	5	5	10	25	25	5	5	0
Mushrooms	30	30	20	15	15	5	5	0
Fish Bait	10	10	15	20	20	5	5	1
Forest Rarities	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Insects	25	25	25	15	15	15	15	10
Medicinal Plants	30	30	15	15	15	0	0	0
Wild Plants	15	15	10	7	7	2	2	0
Firewood	150	150	75	35	35	10	10	15
Stones	30	30	30	30	30	15	15	120
Junk Items	3	3	3	3	3	7	7	3
Junk Food	1	1	1	3	3	5	5	1
Clothing	1	1	1	3	3	7	7	1
Junk Weapons	1	1	1	1	1	3	3	3
Ammunition	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1
Medical Items	0	0	1	0	0	3	3	1
Trash	5	5	10	5	5	40	40	30

Medicinal herbs

The herbalist trait is the only method that will allow the character to forage for medicinal herbs. A poultice can be made with a Mortar and Pestle. There is no skill requirement to find medicinal herbs (unconfirmed as of 41.60)

Item	Description
Black Sage	Provides mild pain relief. (-7 pain?)
Comfrey	Aids recovery from broken bones when applied as a poultice.
Common Mallow	Eat to relieve cold and flu symptoms. (-5 cold sickness)
Ginseng	Eat to restore endurance. (2 endurance)
Lemon Grass	Eat to soothe bouts of food poisoning. Currently can be found by non-herbalists, and hence might not be considered a medicinal herb (bug?). (-12 sickness?)
Plantain	Aids recovery from wounds when applied as a poultice.
Wild Garlic	Helps to fight against infection when applied as poultice.

Recipes

Product	XP gained	Skill(s)	Recipe	Ingredient 1	Ingredient 2	Ingredient 3
Campfire Materials	0.5 Carpentry	none		Log x2 (consumed)	One of: Twigs Sheet Ripped Sheets Dirty Rag Book Magazine Newspaper (consumed)
Campfire Materials	0.75 Carpentry	none		Plank x3 (consumed)	One of: Twigs Sheet Ripped Sheets Dirty Rag Book Magazine Newspaper (consumed)
Campfire	0 XP	none		Campfire Materials (consumed)
Stake	1.25 Carpentry	none		Tree Branch	One of: Stone Knife Hunting Knife Kitchen Knife Meat Cleaver Machete (keep)
Stone Knife	0 XP	none		Tree Branch (consumed)	Chipped Stone (consumed)	One of: Ripped Sheets Dirty Rag Twine (consumed)
Stone Axe	0 XP	none		Tree Branch (consumed)	Chipped Stone (consumed)	One of: Ripped Sheets Dirty Rag Twine (consumed)
Stone Hammer	0 XP	none		Tree Branch (consumed)	Stone (consumed)	One of: Ripped Sheets Dirty Rag Twine (consumed)
Crafted Spear	1.25 Carpentry	Starting condition scales with player's carpentry.		One of: Tree Branch Plank (consumed)	One of: Chipped Stone Hunting Knife Kitchen Knife Machete Meat Cleaver Stone Knife (keep)
Splint	0 XP	none		One of: Plank Tree Branch Sturdy Stick (consumed)	One of: Dirty Rag Ripped Sheets (consumed)
Frog Meat	2.5 Cooking	none		One of: Kitchen Knife Hunting Knife Meat Cleaver Stone Knife Machete (keep)	Frog (consumed)
Sturdy Stick x8	0 XP	none		One of: Saw Garden Saw (keep)	Plank (consumed)
Plank x3	0.75 Carpentry (0.25 above level 3)	none		Saw (tag) (keep)	Log (consumed)
Mortar and Pestle	0.25 Carpentry	Carpentry 2		Saw (tag) (keep)	Plank (consumed)
Logs Stack	0 XP	none		Log x2 (consumed)	One of: Rope x2 Sheet Rope x2 (consumed)
Logs Stack	0 XP	none		Log x3 (consumed)	One of: Rope x2 Sheet Rope x2 (consumed)
Logs Stack	0 XP	none		Log x4 (consumed)	One of: Rope x2 Sheet Rope x2 (consumed)
Log Wall	1.25 Carpentry	none		Hammer (tag) (keep)	Log x4 (consumed)	One of: Ripped Sheets x4 Twine x4 Rope x2 (consumed)

History

Alpha
Build 41.60	*Replaced foraging system with "Search Mode"
Build 41.50	*Reduced fatigue due to foraging by a large amount.
Build 34	*Black and blue berry can no longer be poisonous
Build 33	*Randomized poisonous berries/mushrooms. Added herbalist trait and new plants complementing the skill.
Build 32.17	*Fixed being able to forage above ground level. (Issue #001926)
Build 32.7	*Fixed stacks of harvested plants and foraged food items not aging until the stack is expanded. (Issue #001823)
Build 32.4	*Added some map zones for foraging etc. Fixed overlapping zones. (Issue #001632)
Build 31.2	*Fixed calcul in the foraging action
Build 30	*Foraging for food during winter will be impossible, or really hard in cold months
Build 29	*Introduced, initially named Scavenge/Scavenging before being renamed to Forage/Foraging

See also

• Fishing
• Trapping