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Where There's Smoke Problem

BxtaAccount

Member
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43
I looked throughs threads and couldn't find a fix, but I've run into a problem.

My game is stuck after the New Plots on the Block quest. I forgot that Where There's Smoke was supposed to initiate, so I didn't think twice about it and continued on my day. But after doing a lot of questing for the minutemen, I realized.. something was a bit off. I hadn't gotten a single notifcation from Jake, despite spending hours out in the Commonwealth. So, I looked up the wiki and bam, I've run into a big issue.

I've attempted to use the holotape to both skip the mission in the main quest and attempted to set myself to it, I attempted using both the SkipToQuest command and manually using SetStage. Nothing has worked. I've even made sure there's no conflictions and I got zero idea what to do at this point.

Any help would be appreciated, I got over 24 hours in this game and I'd cry if I had to restart.

[EDIT] Got the same problem as this individual, not sure what's causing it. :c

[EDIT V2]
Forgot to add a few things, so some notes;
  • My playthrough is on PC.
  • I've attempted talking to Jake.
  • I've checked all conflictions and have none.
My current theory is it has to do with the fact I told Jake I didn't need a tutorial during New Plots on the Block, seeing as the other individual with the same issue did the same thing and ran into it.
 
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Ideally, if you don't want a demonstration of new plots, you are to follow Jake to the Vault Hub in Concord Hardware and dialogue usually automatically starts up when you get there.
I haven't tried delaying that conversation in a while, but last time I tried it (albeit several releases ago), Jake did start the quest dialogue when I returned.

Quest skipping to the same quest will not reset the quest for you. You can only skip to the next quest or quests after that one. You also cannot Quest Skip to quests that you have already completed.
I always recommend reloading a previous save and attempting the quest again, but ya, quite some time since your last save.
Making a save before starting a quest is always a good thing to do - in case you need to go back in time.
 
Ideally, if you don't want a demonstration of new plots, you are to follow Jake to the Vault Hub in Concord Hardware and dialogue usually automatically starts up when you get there.
I haven't tried delaying that conversation in a while, but last time I tried it (albeit several releases ago), Jake did start the quest dialogue when I returned.

Quest skipping to the same quest will not reset the quest for you. You can only skip to the next quest or quests after that one. You also cannot Quest Skip to quests that you have already completed.
I always recommend reloading a previous save and attempting the quest again, but ya, quite some time since your last save.
Making a save before starting a quest is always a good thing to do - in case you need to go back in time.

Well, that's the issue. I did make a save before the quest as proven by the 14 hours save, just the issue is, because I hadn't played Sim Settlements in so long it didn't click that Where There's Smoke was supposed to start automatically. So by the time I realized that it hadn't started properly, hours had flown by.

I managed to finish the Minuteman questline in that period, as well as build up all of my settlements. To go back in time would probably end up killing my drive to do all of that again, which is especially bad when it's crucial to the gameplay of SS2.
 
Well, that's the issue. I did make a save before the quest as proven by the 14 hours save, just the issue is, because I hadn't played Sim Settlements in so long it didn't click that Where There's Smoke was supposed to start automatically. So by the time I realized that it hadn't started properly, hours had flown by.

I managed to finish the Minuteman questline in that period, as well as build up all of my settlements. To go back in time would probably end up killing my drive to do all of that again, which is especially bad when it's crucial to the gameplay of SS2.
Then the next best option is to use Quest Skipping to skip to the next Main Quest. :)
 
I'm having the same issue now. Tho for me I did have jake set up the new plots. Now he's just not talking on top of the hardware store.

Not sure if I should add another thread about this or not. So just posting in this one.
 
Is Jake just using one of the workbenches - like the chemistry bench or the armor bench? I had this issue and I did two things - 1) Run into him until you sort of push him off the roof of the hardware store (this is if he is using the armor workbench) then follow him around to the CommHub and he'll start dialogue. Or 2) if he's at the chemistry bench talk to him so he stops using it, then get to the side of him and run into him until you effectively push him down the stairs enough that he goes to the Comm Hub. If you hold the sprint button against an NPC for a long time you can sort of move them.

I have a theory that the reason the quest doesn't start right is because he can't path his way back downstairs so sometimes you have to kind of force him down there. Sometimes it's because you have a companion or somebody on the stairs and that blocks his path so he just doesn't do anything. Similarly, this can happen with Who Can ASAM when he is supposed to go down the stairs to talk to Old Paul and he won't do it because something is blocking him.

I've pushed Jake down the stairs and off the roof of Concord Hardware a lot. Also what can help is before you even approach it tell you companions to stay put out on the street so they don't come in the store and block the way.
 
... Going to try the "He tripped honest" plan and see how it goes.

Well knocked him off the roof. Still didn't help. Just ported back up. Still not saying anything. I had to skip ahead to the Memory Lane quest to get things going again.
 
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If you haven't fixed it, i managed to work a way "around" it. It seems a few of the first chapter quests are bugged because the second chapter, i was stuck on the same place, unable to use the console or holotape, then i disabled my chapter 2 mod, used the console skip to memory lane and it worked just fine, after that i just enabled the chapter 2 again. But seems to be a conflict somewhere with the second chapter, try and see if at least you can skip to a certain point.
 
i disabled my chapter 2 mod
Fallout 4 does not support the removal of mods during a playthrough. Its OK to do for troubleshooting, but by continuing that save, there is a high probability the save will become corrupted.

Its most likely not caused by chapter 2 as most users do not have this problem.
 
Same issue as OP, also on PC. Jake is unresponsive, using [Jake].moveto player to put him in front of the Vault-hub didn't work.

Reloaded to before moving Jake about, and dug into the quest status with the sqs command and learned a few interesting things:
1) SS2_sirick_MQ10 (New Plots on the Block) is stopped, and has stages 70, 80 and 280 marked as done, and 60 as not set. Given that I declined the demo, this appears to be expected behavior.
2) SS2_sirick_MQ11 (Where There's Smoke) is stopped, and no stages are marked as done. Per the notes on the wiki page for MQ10, the expected behavior should be that the quest is running, with stages 1, 2, and 5 marked as done, and a conversation trigger pending at the Vault Hub to complete stage 10.
3) The Quest skipping system has become completely unresponsive. Per sqs queries, neither skipping nor force complete alter any quest statuses.
4) console commands for quest manipulation don't work either.
`
 
Experiencing the exact same issue as OP(BxtaAccount) and aracondal. I am on PC as well. I also attempted the same methods to potentially fix the issue as they had mentioned. The only difference for my playthrough however, was that during, "New Plots on The Block", I accepted Jakes help with the demo and the quest completed as normal(as far as I could tell).

I tried the method of gently pushing Jake around in order to get him to path along the CommHub as Captain LaserBeam had suggested, but this didn't work for me unfortunately.
I even tried disabling Chapter 2 and using the Skipquest to "Memory Lane" as SherlyKaru had mentioned to see if that would work for me, but no.

I then checked the sqs command as aracondal had did, and I noticed that for SS2_Sirick_MQ10(New Plots on the Block) stage 70 - Decline to Demo was Not Set, since I accepted the Demo, but stage 250 - All 4 Plots Built was also Not Set. Unsure why this is marked as Not Set as I am positive I built all 4 plots and had the conversations afterwards with Jake. The following stages, 260,270 and 280 all say Done.
Like aracondal also, SS2_Sirick_MQ11(Where There's Smoke) stages 1,2,and 5, are all Not Set.

I'm really stumped on this one. This is the first major bug I've encountered with SS2 since it's release.

 
Experiencing the exact same issue as OP(BxtaAccount) and aracondal. I am on PC as well. I also attempted the same methods to potentially fix the issue as they had mentioned. The only difference for my playthrough however, was that during, "New Plots on The Block", I accepted Jakes help with the demo and the quest completed as normal(as far as I could tell).
I am experiencing this issue and I also accepted the demo.
I then checked the sqs command as aracondal had did, and I noticed that for SS2_Sirick_MQ10(New Plots on the Block) stage 70 - Decline to Demo was Not Set, since I accepted the Demo, but stage 250 - All 4 Plots Built was also Not Set. Unsure why this is marked as Not Set as I am positive I built all 4 plots and had the conversations afterwards with Jake. The following stages, 260,270 and 280 all say Done.
Like aracondal also, SS2_Sirick_MQ11(Where There's Smoke) stages 1,2,and 5, are all Not Set.
My quest stages mirror yours. I cant force to any of the quest stages either. I am also positive I did everything, the quest completed like normal and I went about my playthrough expecting Jake to check in later. I haven't tried SherlyKaru's fix but as mentioned it sounds to dirty a fix for me and if it didn't work for Orkestra I don't expect it to work for me. I really don't have a clue what is going on here, I don't have a past save to test anything. I hope we can find a fix for this. Will be keeping my eyes here.
 
I encountered the same issue with Jake being unresponsive at the end of SS2_Sirick_MQ10(New Plots on the Block) preventing the initiation of SS2_Sirick_MQ11(Where There's Smoke) regardless of whether I went through the tutorial or not. Nothing I have tried has worked so far to fix this.

Edit: I am playing with the FO4 StoryWealth Collection via Vortex.

Edit 2: Temporarily Disabling SS2 Chapter 2 worked for me but I don't know if its a stable solution in the long term
 
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Hi there, I have done some more testing on this issue. Glad to report I have found a workaround.
I am using StoryWealth collection. Tried your fix Remje and noticed that disabling SS2 Chapter 2 turned off 4 dependencies for XDI. Thanks to the hint of Skywise001 in other topic: https://simsettlements.com/site/index.php?threads/where-theres-smoke-not-starting.23585/#post-162228 I fiddled with those and it worked.
Sim Settlements 2 XDI Perk Speech Perk Speech Patch was the culprit on my setup.
My fix:
1. Reverting to the save just before activating the CommHub during the SS2_Sirick_MQ10(New Plots on the Block) at Concord Workshop.
2. Decline Jake's tutorial.
3. SS2_Sirick_MQ11(Where There's Smoke) started properly.

Gonna play with this mod off for the rest of the playthrough, luckily it is not that essential.
 
Hi there, I have done some more testing on this issue. Glad to report I have found a workaround.
I am using StoryWealth collection. Tried your fix Remje and noticed that disabling SS2 Chapter 2 turned off 4 dependencies for XDI. Thanks to the hint of Skywise001 in other topic: https://simsettlements.com/site/index.php?threads/where-theres-smoke-not-starting.23585/#post-162228 I fiddled with those and it worked.
Sim Settlements 2 XDI Perk Speech Perk Speech Patch was the culprit on my setup.
My fix:
1. Reverting to the save just before activating the CommHub during the SS2_Sirick_MQ10(New Plots on the Block) at Concord Workshop.
2. Decline Jake's tutorial.
3. SS2_Sirick_MQ11(Where There's Smoke) started properly.

Gonna play with this mod off for the rest of the playthrough, luckily it is not that essential.
Thank you for posting your progress ukabix :) I also had the Sim Settlements 2 XDI Perk Speech Check Patch installed when this issue was happening for me. I'll give your fix a try when I reach that point. I just ended up starting a new play through in hopes of discovering a workaround or fix. I'll definitely give your suggestions at shot.
 
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