Posted October 27, 2021
Some achievements have less than helpful descriptions, one or two are bugged but obtainable, and others have curiously low completion rates despite not being difficult. Much of the information I came across was outright false, misleading or bogged down with extraneous details. So I wanted to post a bit about these achievements, in case anyone finds it useful.
My Turn to Speak
Totally worth doing, especially on higher difficulty. When a Londoner starts riling people up, let him speak three times. The fourth time, you get the option to have them listen to you. This causes most Londoners to change their minds and stay. It's fairly easy after that to mop up the remainder with your order or faith building abilities.
Search and Rescue
Neither the description nor any "guide" I've seen tells you this is for The Refugees scenario. Right at the start, new people will arrive. Don't worry about escorting them, since you don't even have time to build a beacon before they show up. What matters is what soon after, you're told to go find missing groups of people in the frozen wastes. Rescue all of them for the achievement.
Golden Path
I eventually managed to unlock this, and I still don't know how. I passed the following laws: Sustain Life, Extra Rations for the Ill, Cemetery, Ceremonial Funerals, Care House, Prosthetics, House of Prayer, Shrines, Field Kitchens, Evening Prayers, The Temple. If you limit yourself to those, it should be fine. You shouldn't have access to any "harsh abilities" since you don't pass the relevant laws in the first place.
Urban Planner
I've seen many people fail to realize that the achievement literally requires you to have 300 people living in the heat zone of a single steam hub. Check your economy panel and if necessary, disable or demolish housing until people move into the heated buildings.
As for getting the placement right, I found it best done when you have lots of wood in A New Home or maybe The Refugees. Starting at the edge, build a sort of "pizza slice" of housing towards the generator. Build streets between all the buildings. Lastly, place the steam hub where it would affect the most buildings.
Vegetarian/Carnivore
I saw someone puzzled that it didn't unlock in The Arks scenario. Again, the achievement literally requires you to choose either only Hothouses or only Hunters. You don't have a choice in The Arks.
Unskilled Labour
Fairly self-explanatory and not too difficult in The Refugees on medium (build that wood outpost sooner rather than later). It should literally be about not building things with "Steam" in their name, but I avoided Industrial Hothouses and Infirmaries just to be safe. I saw someone say he got the achievement despite having a Factory, but I ran out of building space so I didn't get to test that.
Unknown Ship
This refers to the Unknown Ship that shows up in The Refugees. It's fairly easy to reach if you've researched at least one speed boost for the scouts.
Full House
This one is for Endless mode. Imagine my disappointment when I didn't get this despite the number in the lower right corner saying 702 in A New Home.
Unforgiven
The related quest is bugged. If you built houses at any point, the "keep cold or warmer" counter will be offset and impossible to max out. I couldn't find any way around it besides returning to a save before researching houses.
It Was Me All Along
This actually unlocks when the forager team collects the items at the Lost Crates map marker. Despite what the description says, you don't need to keep them. If you like, you can return them at the Cargo Convoy map marker.
Endless Slave Driver
This is currently the rarest achievement. It took several minutes for it to unlock. I kept the settlement popup panel open during that time, though that may not be relevant.
My Turn to Speak
Totally worth doing, especially on higher difficulty. When a Londoner starts riling people up, let him speak three times. The fourth time, you get the option to have them listen to you. This causes most Londoners to change their minds and stay. It's fairly easy after that to mop up the remainder with your order or faith building abilities.
Search and Rescue
Neither the description nor any "guide" I've seen tells you this is for The Refugees scenario. Right at the start, new people will arrive. Don't worry about escorting them, since you don't even have time to build a beacon before they show up. What matters is what soon after, you're told to go find missing groups of people in the frozen wastes. Rescue all of them for the achievement.
Golden Path
I eventually managed to unlock this, and I still don't know how. I passed the following laws: Sustain Life, Extra Rations for the Ill, Cemetery, Ceremonial Funerals, Care House, Prosthetics, House of Prayer, Shrines, Field Kitchens, Evening Prayers, The Temple. If you limit yourself to those, it should be fine. You shouldn't have access to any "harsh abilities" since you don't pass the relevant laws in the first place.
Urban Planner
I've seen many people fail to realize that the achievement literally requires you to have 300 people living in the heat zone of a single steam hub. Check your economy panel and if necessary, disable or demolish housing until people move into the heated buildings.
As for getting the placement right, I found it best done when you have lots of wood in A New Home or maybe The Refugees. Starting at the edge, build a sort of "pizza slice" of housing towards the generator. Build streets between all the buildings. Lastly, place the steam hub where it would affect the most buildings.
Vegetarian/Carnivore
I saw someone puzzled that it didn't unlock in The Arks scenario. Again, the achievement literally requires you to choose either only Hothouses or only Hunters. You don't have a choice in The Arks.
Unskilled Labour
Fairly self-explanatory and not too difficult in The Refugees on medium (build that wood outpost sooner rather than later). It should literally be about not building things with "Steam" in their name, but I avoided Industrial Hothouses and Infirmaries just to be safe. I saw someone say he got the achievement despite having a Factory, but I ran out of building space so I didn't get to test that.
Unknown Ship
This refers to the Unknown Ship that shows up in The Refugees. It's fairly easy to reach if you've researched at least one speed boost for the scouts.
Full House
This one is for Endless mode. Imagine my disappointment when I didn't get this despite the number in the lower right corner saying 702 in A New Home.
Unforgiven
The related quest is bugged. If you built houses at any point, the "keep cold or warmer" counter will be offset and impossible to max out. I couldn't find any way around it besides returning to a save before researching houses.
It Was Me All Along
This actually unlocks when the forager team collects the items at the Lost Crates map marker. Despite what the description says, you don't need to keep them. If you like, you can return them at the Cargo Convoy map marker.
Endless Slave Driver
This is currently the rarest achievement. It took several minutes for it to unlock. I kept the settlement popup panel open during that time, though that may not be relevant.