Cait Affinity _appears_ to be bugged

[EvilGeoff]

I'm doing my second run through the game, and I've been playing with Cait as companion for a few ingame days now. And I'm not getting any [Cait liked that] messages. At all. Drinking booze? Nada. Picking locks? Nothing. Taking drugs? Zilch. Fast travelling and changing cels naked? ZIP!

Seriously, that last is a major WTF? My first play through I maxed her affinity out in a hurry by doing the fast travel naked thing.

Using console command getav CA_affinity showed her at 0.00

We all got the 1.5 update pushed, and I recently installed CBBE and Bodyslide. Those are the only things I can think of that are recent changes. I will confess that I haven't used a human companion in a while before the changes - I maxed out Piper and Nick early on, then Danse... and I was using Dogmeat just before the changes, so I don't know if this is something that is effecting the other companions. I am using F4SE, and I'm not using a lot of mods, either. Here's my load order.

0 0 Fallout4.esm

DLCRobot.esm

DLCworkshop01.esm

Homemaker.esm

SettlementKeywords.esm

SpringCleaning.esm

Snap'n Build.esm

Homemaker - SK Integration Patch.esp

Homemaker - Streetlights Use Passive Power.esp

Homemaker - Unlocked Institute Objects SK.esp

SC_ExpandedScrapList.esp

Snap'n Build - Patches.esp

Snap'n Build v1.6 SK patch.esp

DarkerNights.esp

Snap'n Build - Bunker.esp

Snap'n Build - Capsule.esp

Snap'n Build - Greenhouse.esp

Snap'n Build - Industrial.esp

Snap'n Build - Real Estate.esp

More Where That Came From Diamond City.esp

Elvani's Track Pack - FIX.esp

OWR.esp

OWR_CraftableRadios.esp

DarkerNightsDetection.esp

Snap'n Build - Capsule Paints.esp

Snap'n Build - Modules.esp

CBBE.esp

I'm scratching my head here. Any ideas what might have gone buggy? Better yet, any ideas on how to fix it? I'd like to get it up to start her personal quest.

[phuhque]

have you ran loot on your order list by chance?

 

I have not had an issue with cait, but I let her go after getting her over 1000.

[EvilGeoff]

have you ran loot on your order list by chance?

 

 

Yup! I run LOOT every time I add or update a mod, get a FO4 update, or when NMM updates. My last LOOT check was about 4 hours before I posted this question, and there were no conflicts reported. I was thinking to myself "I should be getting into the backstory dialogs with Cait by now." and that's when I started active _looking_ for the [Cait like that.] messages in the top left corner. And noticed I wasn't getting any.

 

Here's a thought.

 

I completed the main quest line with the Minutemen before getting Cait as a companion. The way I completed it, I am friendly with The Railroad _and_ The Brotherhood of Steel. (Yes, it CAN be done! Although PAM with the Railroad will occasionally try to send you out to whack BOS patrols. Just ignore those.) Is it possible that having a positive relationship with all three of the main factions turns off her affinity?

[EvilGeoff]

UPDATE: To make sure that this was not isolated to Cait, I went back and traveled with Nick Valentine - hacking computers didn't get a peep. Piper? Picking locks got nada. Danse didn't comment on my upgrading and modifying power armor. Hired MacReady, broke into places, got violent, stole everything that wasn't nailed down. getav CA_affinity = 0.00 And I've earned a couple of levels trying to figure this out. ;-)

I've seen this reported in a few places, but no one has any idea what's causing it and what might fix it. The few that tried unistalling the game, deleting all mods and starting over said it seemed to work for a while, but the bug came back. I'd like to get affinity working again.

[EvilGeoff]

UPDATE 2: Doing more research - some of the players reporting this issue on places like Steam and reddit are saying they are playing clean games - no mods. And the only thing I have installed that should have any effect on companions would be the CBBE. The settlement mods (SK, Homemaker, Spring Cleaning, S&B) and radio mods (MWTCF, Elvani's Track Pack, Old World Radio) shouldn't touch companions at all. Darker Nights I don't know about, but it does change perception distances at night, so000 maybe?

C'mon hive mind! I'm not the only one who's experiencing this affinity bug.

[EvilGeoff]

Anyone experiencing this issue with companions, check in at AFK Mods (Arthmoor and the Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch crew) and report it here: http://afkmods.iguanadons.net/index.php?/tracdown/issue/20388-companion-affinity-bug/

Edited May 17, 2016 by EvilGeoff

[TheGadget1945]

I'm on my second playthrough and using Piper for the first time (more or less) , got 50 mods and no real problems maxing her affinity though she is a slightly tougher nut than Cait or Curie.

[imbitten]

I had an issue like that with cait a couple of games ago. I just forced her affinity to 900 with the console and it seemed to straighten her out.

targetID.modav CA_affinity modifies Companion affinity level by a relative value

[EvilGeoff]

I had an issue like that with cait a couple of games ago. I just forced her affinity to 900 with the console and it seemed to straighten her out.

targetID.modav CA_affinity modifies Companion affinity level by a relative value

I'll try "modav CA_affinity" in the console to see if it triggers the dialog options. "setav CA_affinity" bumps their affinity numbers up with no problem, but the dialog options aren't changing.

[EvilGeoff]

I'm on my second playthrough and using Piper for the first time (more or less) , got 50 mods and no real problems maxing her affinity though she is a slightly tougher nut than Cait or Curie.

This is a really bizarre issue in that the people reporting it don't seem to have any clear similarities in systems (doesn't appear to be a hardware trigger), some are on their first play through with 20 - 30 hours of game time, some are 2nd or 3rd play throughs with hundreds of hours of play with no issue (doesn't appear to be time in game triggered), some people are playing absolutely stock, vanilla Fallout 4 with no mods (doesn't appear to be a mod triggered issue), some are playing games that are modded to Hell and back with no other problems when WHAM! The companions just stop reacting to the things you do.

 

Which all of a sudden makes me think ... Maybe it's not a bug in the affinity system per se, but a bug somewhere in the companion perception/observation reporting...