CyrusAmell

That was really more of a side project. That turned into something bigger. Also, they aren't robots so much as really advanced androids - though the distinction is made that they are truly synthetic organisms. For now, the use of synths to supplement human labor serves as a foundation to the Institute's projected growth going forward. Off topic but I am reminded of a conversation between two Institute scientists that goes something like this: "Hey, isn't this your day off?" "What am I supposed to do on my day off?" "I don't know, what do you usually do?" "Read reports, go over records... work. You?" "Huh. Same thing. Well, enjoy your day off." As for what the Institute wants, despite what the wiki might espouse I have found no in-game records that would indicate any desire to remake human society. Rather, the Institute is dedicated to the advancement of science by any means and this shows in the game. To that end they study everything from cold fusion to dark matter and make strides in a number of scientific fields. Granted, many advancements seem to come more from curiosity or some kind of internal one-upamnship than actual needs. For instance, Dr. Holdren's sytnehtic gorilla project was really more of a "whatever" thing than anything else. I am not saying that synthetic animals can't be useful, but gorillas are a bit out there. Otherwise the Institute's overall goals seem to align with whatever the Directorate seems to think is important at the time. In the game itself, this means ensuring the energy independence of the Institute by any means necessary, as this is the key to ensuring uninterrupted expansions of new facilities, living quarters and laboratories that are needed for the Institute to grow. A persuasive and charismatic Director can probably get the Institute to follow his own goals, within reason of course. At present, the Institute puts the human race on the surface into two camps. They are either to be ignored or to be the product of experiments. This is pretty ruthless and petty, though it was not always the case. Over time, the Institute has become more and more insulated and caring less and less for their fellow man. Before, the Institute did genuinely try to establish a Commonwealth Provisional Government but that fell apart due to infighting. After that, one can only speculate what the Institute has done since. As the Director, you will probably get to see the files on all of the Institutes dirty secrets.

The DLC was only 10 US dollars. Unlike Wasteland Workshop, Automatron showed us new features and intertwined them into a narrative. However, it was not ended as well as it could have been. My biggest problem with the radiant quests that Cruz gave was how little experience was given, only around 80 total. This is pretty bad since the Brotherhood of Steel radiant quests given at the Cambridge Police Station were 200-300 exp each and could be handed in at the same time. And I saw little need to farm new robot parts since 1) it is easy enough to make more and 2) there are already Rust Devil and Rogue Robot groups around the map that give spare parts when defeated. Frankly I thought it a waste of a good character to just let the former Mechanist stay cooped up in that factory, as she would have made a decent companion.

The location is suppose to serve as a player's secret lair for playing out their fantasy of being a super hero, in this case the Mechanist instead of Batman (or maybe the Silver Shroud). I have not myself tried to build anything there, but you could probably add enough lights to make the place look brighter. I don't know why the staircases can be destroyed however, it does not seem very productive. The location serves as an indoor version of the Boston Airport, just a pad for spare companions and whatnot. Otherwise not much point to it. It would have been needed if the player had not other place to place his robot creation station due to having met the max build limit in all other settlements (in theory but never really). Not much point to Jezebel, I left her manning a guard post in Red Rocket Station and just tried to forget about her. I like that we get to keep the place, whichever faction the player champions in the main game can probably use the factory to make more robots. I know the Minutemen desperately need some kind of backup, the Brotherhood occasionally uses robots and I am sure the Institute could find some use for the facilities. The Railroad wouldn't care much for such, beyond P.A.M most robots are unsuitable for espionage work - though if they have to man outposts in the Wasteland they might appreciate a few new robots and maybe use the facility itself as a Railroad base.

No, it is more of an introspective remark that the kid accidentally said. He tends to do that. Our son Shaun (Father) is dead, and the synth kid Shaun (S9-23) was originally made at the behest of Father perhaps because he wanted the Sole Survivor to have someone to be with when he himself died of cancer. While the "Download Synth" idea is a fun theory, it is unlikely that Father would have gone through with such a procedure as he himself was against transhumanism where it concerned heavily modifying an original human being (which is why he did not like cyborgs such as Kellog). So when S9-23 made those remarks, it was because our son did die and was replaced by a synth in the form of this kid. We as the parent are left to speculate as to whether to those remarks are true to an extent.

*700 hours playing the game* What is everyone talking about?

What I want to know as I wind down my second character (who will side with the Institute) is whether or not we can set up some sort of supply line to Far Harbor so we can build up the settlement plots up there. Yes I know it would be cheap to construct a mega-doom death fortress surrounded by blade-wielding assualtron robots on day 1 but I really really want to. There will be settlement locations in Far Harbor (confirmed by leaked screenshots), so I was hoping I could draw upon my resources back in the Commonwealth. This would be especially crucial since on survival mode I can barely carry anything. It would also take a great deal of time to gather up standard shipments that weigh nothing. However, I will certainly see about doing such if needed.

Oh, so that was what you were referring to. Alright.

Speaking of M7-62 (Mayor McDonough) did they replace the original person before or after he became Mayor of Diamond City? If after then the Institute captured and tortured a horrible person who ran on a platform to exile ghouls from the city. If before, then they had their synth run on a platform to exile ghouls and are responsible in part for their suffering. Testimony from Hancock might lead us to believe it was before, but Alana Secord's words might lead us to believe that they only picked up the original McDonough after he became Mayor. I think Secord's version makes sense because it would be easier to replace any Mayor than to invest in a single candidate that has to run for election. On the topic of Alana Secord's views on self-awareness, it is a given that although many view her as a better alternative than Justin Ayo she is still of the same camp and is charged with repressing synths as a member of the SRB. Though I do not know if actual Coursers get periodic mind-wipes, that would only be if they became unfit for duty. Otherwise they would be wasting a great deal of invested combat training and would have to continuously retrain new Coursers. As for X4-72, the synth with the eye problem, the only evidence we have that he was a Courser was that it was Justin Ayo that submitted the complaint on his condition. Which is a valid enough reason to believe such. And it does show a callous disregard by the Institute for loyalty shown by Courser units. Again, one of many flaws the Institute suffers at present. It would have been interesting if Justin Ayo viewed X4-72's decommission as a personal slight against him by another Department who did not opt to try and save the unit's current operational status. Coursers receive extensive combat training and mental conditioning, although there are disputes as to whether they receive additional augmentations. Coursers are still Gen 3 Synths and can be re-purposed if they fail in their duties for things Gen 3 Synths would normally do. However, I did not know they actually graded synths as they were produced. That is interesting to know - where is this listed?

There is a confirmed instance of a Courser leaving the Institute, his unit designation was A3-21, also known as Harkness, and he appeared in Rivet City in Fallout 3. That said, this was ten years before the start of Fallout 4 so he could very well have been an early Courser Prototype. In fact, Harkness' unit designation, A3-21, implies that he may be among the first gen 3 synths every created. This makes sense because the only other possible Courser on the scene, designated Armitage who acts as Zimmer's bodyguard, is actually not that capable of a combatant and speaks in a normal tone of voice. Coursers as we know them today speak with a monotone voice perhaps to establish a sort of mental conditioning. Additionally, Fallout 4 Coursers are some of the toughest combatants in the game. Without access to VATS mode, players would be hard-pressed to pin these guys down at earlier levels much less kill them in a straight up fight. So it stands to reason that since Fallout 3 the Courser program has been overhauled and fine-tuned. X6-88 is the staple example of this new breed of Coursers, and it is true that none among them have actually been noted to abandon their duties. This will only occur in the event the Institute is destroyed when some Coursers try to join raiders gangs (thus becoming Minutemen Radiant Quest targets), but at that point it can be argued that Institute has ceased to exist. Also, I find that with large walls of texts you can make such arguments more navigable by using spoilers and indexing so as to organize your key points. And of course, never forget to make new paragraphs. After five sentences paragraphs become unwieldy and people will just not read them. Lastly, beware of run-on sentences and never be afraid to edit your postings if you see an error. It is actually quite introspective to consider that when presented with a chance at diplomacy the Institute actually opted for a peaceful resolution. Certainly, the need to ensure the safety of T.S. Wallace was a factor in trying to avoid violence (Quest Name: Pinned). The Minutemen at the scene were pathetically armed and out in the open, so I think it no great leap to assert that two Coursers could have handled them without breaking a sweat. And yet, sending the General of the Minutemen to tell the Minutemen to stand down actually qualifies as a novel idea in this game (stupidly enough). At no other point do any of the other factions attempt to use your clout as a General to their advantage - completely ignoring a valuable asset. It is also interesting that although the Railroad and Minutemen endings are both considered "good" that they, along with the Brotherhood ending, all end up leaving a hellish nuclear crater in the middle of Boston. The few times I accidentally strayed near where the institute used to be in my Railroad game I almost died from radiation poisoning - and it is a vast area that is affected. We practically make a new Glowing Sea in the middle of Boston. That boiling stew of radiation we end up creating should actually be as much of a threat to the Commonwealth as the Institute ever was or could be, maybe more so because it is indiscriminate.

Agreed, there is little to no evidence that there was ever a normal human named Danse who was replaced by our synth Danse. What is up for discussion is how Danse ended up in the Capital Wasteland to begin with. The standard belief is that the Railroad saved him, gave him new memories and set him up in D.C. where he eventually joined the Brotherhood of his own volition. However, none of the Railroad Operatives know who he is in Fallout 4 (which could be explained by facial reconstruction). Alternatively, he was planted by the Institute as a sleeper agent with no knowledge of his true nature and just enough ingrained "memories" that he would not question his past. Various medical logs in the Brotherhood speak of how he is getting a terrible headache lately which some believe may be Institute signals that he just shuts out. It would be this unintended defiance that would get him labeled a missing synth in the database because the institute has no idea why Danse is not responding.

Agreed, and given that the Brotherhood has worked to distance itself from the Lyon's Doctrine it would be an about face if these fanatics just accepted such a regime change. That, and the Litany as described by Danse does not sound like something that would have been added into the Codex and then not mentioned until now. It would have been used much earlier, in Fallout 3 by the Outcasts and in Fallout: New Vegas by this one Brotherhood Paladin that also wanted to remove the Elder. Such a clause would make the Brotherhood completely ungovernable because the Elder would now have to worry about trial by combat at all times.

It would have been nice, and it would have made the Brotherhood a better faction than it is now. I would have loved if we could become Elder, make peace with the Railroad and focus on just attacking the Institute rather than mindlessly wiping out all synths and anyone we thought was in our way. Frankly, perhaps that is why Bethesda decided to limit our choices in this matter so that the faction weight system would not be thrown off-balance. As it stands, the Brotherhood comes off as a bit callous - to the point where they are only partially more moral than the Institute. And with the Institute, at least you get to be in charge and have control over a teleportation system (valuable in survival mode). I certainly wouldn't mind an expansion that featured new quests and choices with our factions in the endgame.

Survival mode would not be quite as much of a pain for me if it were not for the odd crash in VATS or out of nowhere as I am making my way across the map. I had to try no less than three times to make it from Somerville Place to the Castle due to such. Word of advice, take a lot of 1 hour naps and avoid the Boston Commons and City areas like the plague. And don't forget to make sure you have Vertibird Grenades, if you have access, before going back to Sanctuary Hills because it is a long walk back to freaking anywhere from the starting zone. But yes, while I can appreciate the added gamble of losing an hour of playtime by dying as opposed to a minute with the old save system it does make the game slightly more stressful due to technical difficulties. Below: Small Spoiler on Institute

Bit strange, I will have to look closer at it the next time I get a chance to play.

So I turn on survival mode and I notice after a while that I have an ailment concerning Purified Water, something about building up an "immunity" to it and that I have an increased chance of getting sick (or some such). Why? It is Purified Water, the one thing that anyone, everyone, should be able to drink non-stop short of drinking so much that they die. Am I missing something? Do I have to supplement Purified Water with another beverage?

I like Cait because she allows for a flexible morality. I mean sure, she disapproves of helping people who are just dying in front of us but that's a petty quibble since she is fine about it all after you pick a lock. She is fun to have around when I want to threaten someone, and whenever we do agree on something then that moment is almost magic. For instance, when fighting for the Railroad you eventually come across a dying ally, Glory, and she asks that you swear to save her people. As you swear to do so Cait chimes in: "Sure, sweetie... we'll do whatever you say." [Cait Liked That] She sure as hell earned the wedding ring on her finger after that, and the rampage through the Brotherhood occupied police station was the icing on the cake. I could practically hear singing... For my second playthrough, despite romancing Piper, I might just go full-on Lone Wanderer after getting all of the companion perks I can.

It has been stated that synths do like eating. Doctor Binet once made a cursory study into why synths seem to all prefer to eat Fancy Lads Snack Cakes. He was even thankful that the synths could not actually get fat. Full terminal entry below: And as Curie's romance can attest, synths also like to have sex. And you can hear one nameless Institute scientist poking fun at his colleague about her possible liaison with a mysterious gen 3, to which she just shushes him. So recreational sex among synths is a thing. As for the original question - no, synths cannot reproduce. They are simulacrum of human beings in this regard, although possessed of almost every other characteristic one might expect of a normal person. Frankly, they would not need to reproduce to fit into human society - plenty of people are infertile so this is would not in and of itself raise any eyebrows. Still, this helps explain why the Institute seems to infiltrate families, such as the Warwicks and Art's family who already have children, so that it is even less likely this deficiency will be noticed. The Institute has yet to actually perfect the technology needed for a child synth. The technological requirements to make a synth that grows from a child to an adult (much less a baby) would be so strenuous and scientifically demanding that it would certainly never be worth it.

The lack of prostitution is strange since it was notable in both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. Like as not, the developers never intended that their conceived and voiced Nate/Nora would ever ask someone for such a service and then never bothered integrating it into the setting. Well I don't think you could put it in Diamond City given that the prudish Mayor there would have run such establishments out of town to garner votes. Goodneighbor, on the other hand, is the perfect location for such a business to flourish given the desperation and the availability of gangs who would seek to maintain such a racket. Most of the buildings to my knowledge have already used interiors but a few are shuttered, I believe, and would make an excellent stand in for a location. Mayor Hancock would certainly approve. As for applications? I am not modder, wouldn't be much use unless you wanted me to conjecture lore & fluff for the place. I don't do dirty talk however....

Most games depict a fictional setting, sometimes based on real world locations, with its creation ultimately based on the desired scope and artistic liberties taken by the design team. This is very notable when it comes to towns. An actual town in real life can be pretty massive with branching sections and with layouts to accommodate public needs such as housing and sewage. By contrast most games may seek to depict towns and cities that look good but will usually have a paltry population and none of the standard requirements to make a town run seemingly livable such as available sewage and other amenities. When you walk around in a Pokemon game you will note that most towns are 3-7 buildings with no conceivable infrastructure. In Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim there are certainly more sewers but the towns are otherwise still very small in scope. The only games that try to take in the full-scope requirement of such a sprawling community are the Sims and the GTA Games because their whole schtick is massive population areas to mess around in. Just as towns in video games are essentially condensed & cartoonish depictions of real world towns at best, so too is the over-world essentially limited in scope by the costs of development and the artistic interpretation of the setting. In Fallout 4 that means that we are not expected to ask why Boston is not the size of the actual Boston or missing buildings that would be expected to be where they are. Or why our settlers never complain about the lack of "waste disposal" in the settlements we erect. In short, it's just a video game.

Well this thread got off topic a bit. For me, my first interest would probably be Rosalind Orman, the junior Institute scientist in the Advanced Systems Division. She is cute and ridiculously smart, and I can really see her as one good reason for possibly siding with the Institute. What can I say? She likes handling advanced weaponry.... *Automatron DLC Spoiler Below*

The people of the Commonwealth despise synths because they see them as Institute errand boys or body snatchers out to replace you. The Broken Mask incident and the CPG Massacre both served to fan this paranoia, despite the fact that there is sound evidence the Institute did not actually seek either outcome. That and people constantly disappearing which, while not all might have been due to the Institute, was likely for various unethical tests including the FEV experiment because we just can't have a Fallout game without Super Mutants now can we? I don't think the Railroad is naive, rather they have a singular focus which is to liberate the synth population within the Institute. With the Institute gone the paranoia regarding synths will disappear in the coming decades by which time all the surviving synths will have found a new life for themselves.

I agree, it would be ideal if the player could work to restrain the Institute's worst tendencies even as one helps the Minutemen on the surface rise to power. My biggest problem with the Brotherhood of Steel is that they are driven by their ideology more than pragmatism as they were back in Fallout 3. They came to the Commonwealth, 500 miles or so from the Capital Wasteland, just because the Institute was making synths and not because they were hurting people and this shows when they feel the need to wipe out the Railroad. At least when the Institute sends you to wipe out Desdemona and her crew it's because of an ongoing conflict and not just something that was pulled out of thing air as being wholly necessary. Would we really be comfortable with the Brotherhood going into the future after this? One where mankind may make more technological strides that the Brotherhood does not agree with? But yes, the endings were kind of half-assed. Either press the button or press to talk with Shaun one last time.

You forgot teleportation. That is a biggie.

If you like the spread of knowledge, especially Fallout & Elder Scrolls, then you will love their Youtube Channel. Fair Warning set some time aside before you throw yourself down that rabbit hole.

When you do the Silver Shroud questline, I pretend he or she is going through a midlife crises.