black plague.. machine room bug

[noodles385]

If you are totally unpatched (meaning, no patches at all) you'll have to install one of the patches so that you can even finish the game, so I recomend you to do so right away!

I've just patched the game.
I've noticed that I can put off the gas mask even with the patch installed and even with changing the sequence of the places I've visited: I've tried to go to the machine room directly after visiting the storage in which you find the gas mask but nothing.. In my original saved game I visited armory-storage-computer central-infirmary-machine room, while in the second one I tried the sequence armory-storage-machine room.. but the problem is always there.

Do I have to restart the game from the beginning in order to solve this problem? Or do you advice of continuing it? By continuing, will I be able to finish the game?