So, Do you play FO4 as a male or female?

[LucidLady]

 

That's Heather's biggest, only negative mark.

However, R404 actually does the idle thoughts very well. She's 3rd in line on my slutbrigade. The way she comments based on decisions you make after quests is really something special.

 

Right now I have Heather paired with Audrey. Take seems to be a good balance in personalities. Heather and R4-04 spent some time together in Nuka World right after I was able to get Gage's perk. It is never a sad moment to wake up in bed with both Heather and R4-04.

 

Yeah, Audrey comes in second place for me. She simply has the most interesting dialogue of the bunch. And the best looks.

She just needs... more dialogue.

 

So far, my least favorite modded companion is Ellen. Holy s***, she's just SO boring. Her story was mildly amusing, but she's got absolutely nothing going for her personality-wise. She's even worse than Piper, and that's bad.

Edited June 1, 2017 by LucidLady

[tomomi1922]

 

 

That's Heather's biggest, only negative mark.

However, R404 actually does the idle thoughts very well. She's 3rd in line on my slutbrigade. The way she comments based on decisions you make after quests is really something special.

 

Right now I have Heather paired with Audrey. Take seems to be a good balance in personalities. Heather and R4-04 spent some time together in Nuka World right after I was able to get Gage's perk. It is never a sad moment to wake up in bed with both Heather and R4-04.

 

Yeah, Audrey comes in second place for me. She simply has the most interesting dialogue of the bunch. And the best looks.

She just needs... more dialogue.

 

So far, my least favorite modded companion is Ellen. Holy s***, she's just SO boring. Her story was mildly amusing, but she's got absolutely nothing going for her personality-wise. She's even worse than Piper, and that's bad.

 

How is Ellen boring? Or rather, how are companions more interesting than others? To my knowledge, they are all setup the same. They have their usual commentaries on combat, on picking up junks, on your naked body, etc... and vanilla companions have 3-4 special dialogues when we reach a certain affinity. Like Cait first tells you her story (just so you know, no quest or reaction is needed). Then later on she offers a quest ... then another quest .... and maybe switched to be a romantic partner (with altered commentaries). So the only thing that makes them stand out from another is their voice acting and the content of their commentaries, which is subject to personal preference. But once you hear them all... they are about the same. The choice comes down to "which snarky comments you wanna hear?"

 

I wish companions have better specialization. Like MacCready can really act like your sniper, picking off targets while you go melee (like in Green Hornet). Or in fact you can do exactly the same with Cait being you are the sniper and Cait is the melee. But as it stands, MacCready is no distinctively better than Piper with a sniper rifle. I mean, what is Piper good at? MacCready is a professional killer for hire, and looks like he prefers sniping. But in game, I honestly cannot tell a big difference. I know they have different stats, maybe MacCready lasts longer in combat. But it seems that MacCready and Piper behave almost the same. I would hope MacCready would warn "hey I see a target coming way over there, you want me to engage?" Or Deacon would warn "Dude, that guy is up to something, he is lying". Or Codsworth and Curie with their advanced scanning can tell us how tough our target is and what he is strong and weak against.

 

So far .... everyone is about the same. It's all about their looks and their snarky comments.

Edited June 1, 2017 by tomomi1922

[LucidLady]

 

So far .... everyone is about the same. It's all about their looks and their snarky comments.

 

Well, yeah. Ellen's "snarky" comments are... nonexistant. All of her commentary is just completely boring and map related.

She never seems to warm up to the player. Her dialogue, even after maxing her out, is the same as when you first meet her.

And the voice acting is X6 tier of emotionless. Not only that, but her personality is... nothing. She makes maps. It's like, "Hi, i'm Barbie! And today, i'm a Cartographer!" Piper's the same, just with News.

 

Except, Piper at least comments on things not News related from time to time. I dunno if that's true for Ellen.

 

Ellen has probably least dialogue of any modded companion that i've encountered. And every modded companion (except Heather) has nowhere near the complexity of the base game companions. And of all the base game companions, none have as much sheer numbers of thoughts as Hancock. And I find Hancock's thoughts, and overall character, to be the most interesting of all. (personal opinion)

 

My favorite thing about the base game companions, is their thoughts/commentary based on whatever location you find yourself at. About the location itself, or the enemies there. And like i said, no other companion has as much commentary in these fields as Hancock. And unless i've not been paying attention, none of the modded companions have any dialogue that is enemy specific.

 

It's a subtle thing, i know, but it really makes a huge difference. Makes the companion seem like it's actually alive, and present with you in that moment, and in that place. For instance, I can think of three different lines Hancock will only use when fighting Ferals. And many for when you're standing in an area populated by Ferals. And that goes for every enemy, not just Ferals because he's a ghoul. No modded companions do this. They all simply focus on the bare bones areas that you brought up.

 

I don't blame them, don't get me wrong. To include all the dialogue like that would be a tremendous task. And it seems like most people are satisfied with the basic stuff. But, for me, they all just seem so shallow and bland. I don't enjoy taking them places. It's not fair to compare these modded companions to Hancock, I know. He sets the bar too high in every field. But, when I try my hand at making a companion mod, i'm damn sure gonna use Hancock as a baseline.

Edited June 1, 2017 by LucidLady

[iXenite]

Well, that's the problem, really. He's described as a decorated war hero, but if you actually open his skill chart, he doesn't actually have the skills you'd expect. I mean, you can get experience for at least one level of a combat skill by the time you're done with concord. Which is to say, in a day. He's got none. Doesn't really sound like someone who's got much combat experiuence on the front line.

 

Nor any technical skills one muight actually learn in the army, for that matter. We're no longer in the age of conscripted spearmen. The army has a lot of technical or support roles, in addition to a lot of combat specialists.

 

ESPECIALLY in an infantry regiment, hell, more than half the soldiers have some specialist role, be it designated marksman, or the LMG guy, or operating a recoilless gun, or SOMETHING. Plus the technical guys, logistics guys, etc. Even by sheer chance alone, Nate should have learned SOME skill.

 

Unless he actually wasn't an infantry guy at all, I guess. We know he was attached to an infantry regiment, but we don't really know in what role. For all we know, he could have been some war reporter, or whatever. Gets shot after a couple of days, comes back with a Purple Heart, explains the decorated hero part.

 

That or he really is an experimental synth replacement for the actual war hero.

 

Do you seriously need me to explain game mechanics to you? This shouldn't even be a question. That's like saying we're not really building anything in the game because it just simly appears. Or that tons of the other things in this game, or many other games for that matter, don't make sense. Certain things just have to be taken as they are. The game mechanics wouldn't really work otherwise. Geralt is frequently called a "Master Witcher" throughout The Witcher 3, yet he can be easily be killed by wolves at the start of the game if you're on the higher difficulties. He has a skill tree that should logically be maxed out the moment you start the game - but it isn't for the sake of gameplay.

 

In Fallout 4 the protagonist can die and then be magically resurrected as if nothing happened because the last save game is automatically reloaded. Why? It's not very immersive or realistic is it? It's for gameplay purposes. All games, no matter how "realistic" are going to be like this. It's a game - it needs to have game mechanics in order to make it an actual game. Nate and Nora start with no perks because the player needs to be able to set them to add gameplay mechanics. It's called character building. It's not something Fallout 4 excels at in any shape or form, but at least it's there.

 

You can't look at any video game like the way you describe. All of them fall apart in the end - because at the end of the day they're just games. I mean, would you seriously have preferred to have zero character building elements in this game (which already has very few) and have had all SPECIAL skills and perks chosen by the developers for you from the very start? Just play a pre-made character where you have literally zero choices? I know I wouldn't want that. I know this whole post must sound terribly rude, but I just can't believe the stuff you've written here.

[Moraelin]

What you can or cannot believe is, of course, your own issue, not mine. Some of us still look for explanations that need less such ass-pulls and have less such internal inconsistencies, especially when better explanations do exist in the game world. And in fact, when one of them is proposed even in the game, by the devs. If you don't want to bother your head with them, fine, that's your prerogative and nobody is forcing you to. But conversely no ammount of huffing and puffing gives you the right to tell anyone else not to.

[iXenite]

What you can or cannot believe is, of course, your own issue, not mine. Some of us still look for explanations that need less such ass-pulls and have less such internal inconsistencies, especially when better explanations do exist in the game world. And in fact, when one of them is proposed even in the game, by the devs. If you don't want to bother your head with them, fine, that's your prerogative and nobody is forcing you to. But conversely no ammount of huffing and puffing gives you the right to tell anyone else not to.

 

I was about to really get into with you, but honestly it's not worth it. I'm not going to engage in asinine discussions with someone who's best response is to act like their an intellectual because they ponder the deeper meaning behind simple gameplay mechanics. In addition to that, it's off topic and I don't want to derail the thread. I will not reply to any further comments about this.

[tomomi1922]

 

So far .... everyone is about the same. It's all about their looks and their snarky comments.

Well, yeah. Ellen's "snarky" comments are... nonexistant. All of her commentary is just completely boring and map related.

She never seems to warm up to the player. Her dialogue, even after maxing her out, is the same as when you first meet her.

And the voice acting is X6 tier of emotionless. Not only that, but her personality is... nothing. She makes maps. It's like, "Hi, i'm Barbie! And today, i'm a Cartographer!" Piper's the same, just with News.

Well, I totally respect personal opinion. To be fair, Hancock is the least traveled companion for me. Call me superfiscal, but I am a bit edged out by ghoul's look and generally lack out outfit selection for male. For male companion, I prefer MacCready (for his non-existence specialized sniper/mercenary skill, just roleplaying). And now I am more into Deacon, I start to appreciate him constantly changing outfit and I do my best not to mess that up (by giving him an outfit). So far I only gave him weapon because Hunter rifle even upgraded doesn't quite fit him (I have a mod to access companion weapon to upgrade). Nick is fine, but his unstanding uncle like attitude (for a synth) kinda make me feel like a teenager traveling with an adult.

 

But per your recommendation, I am definitely going to spend more time with Hancock. As for Ellen, maybe she is still new so her voice is refreshing for me. She made me look into the actual voice actor and her contribution in Skyrim. That Recorder companion demo video looks mighty interesting. I like that dry humor about her warning us not to touch dead body... only 2 seconds later asking if there is anything for her. But I personally agree her voice acting can be a lot better, more "in person" and less "reading the script" like. However, I have seen people complaining she is talking too much. Speaking about talking too much, Nick and Curie get on my nerves. Try spending time modding weapons/armors at the comfort of your settlement, Nick went on and on with the same line every 2 minutes ... for 2 hours straight. Curie is as bad when she nags you about finding someone to turn her human. Every 5 min she forced a dialogue on you asking about it, to which I chose "it's my top priority" and then 5 minute later she asked exactly the same thing. Like an Alzheimer's patient.

 

Well, I am not disagreeing with you. I just want more out of companions than snarky comments (and we can agree to disagree who is snarkier). To my knowledge, game offers a template of 300 lines of dialogues and to make a custom companion we can record and replace those 300 audio files. So technically companions all have the same amount of dialogues (unless authors choose to have less). For a companion, we dress them up, give them a gun, and that is the end for it. I really have nothing else to give Ellen even she asked.

 

I gotta try Heather. I read we can feed her scraps and she can make something out of it. If that's true, that's innovation beyond the snarky comments.

Edited June 2, 2017 by tomomi1922

[LucidLady]

Well, I totally respect personal opinion. To be fair, Hancock is the least traveled companion for me. Call me superfiscal, but I am a bit edged out by ghoul's look and generally lack out outfit selection for male. For male companion, I prefer MacCready (for his non-existence specialized sniper/mercenary skill, just roleplaying). And now I am more into Deacon, I start to appreciate him constantly changing outfit and I do my best not to mess that up (by giving him an outfit). So far I only gave him weapon because Hunter rifle even upgraded doesn't quite fit him (I have a mod to access companion weapon to upgrade). Nick is fine, but his unstanding uncle like attitude (for a synth) kinda make me feel like a teenager traveling with an adult.

But per your recommendation, I am definitely going to spend more time with Hancock. As for Ellen, maybe she is still new so her voice is refreshing for me. She made me look into the actual voice actor and her contribution in Skyrim. That Recorder companion demo video looks mighty interesting. I like that dry humor about her warning us not to touch dead body... only 2 seconds later asking if there is anything for her. But I personally agree her voice acting can be a lot better, more "in person" and less "reading the script" like. However, I have seen people complaining she is talking too much. Speaking about talking too much, Nick and Curie get on my nerves. Try spending time modding weapons/armors at the comfort of your settlement, Nick went on and on with the same line every 2 minutes ... for 2 hours straight. Curie is as bad when she nags you about finding someone to turn her human. Every 5 min she forced a dialogue on you asking about it, to which I chose "it's my top priority" and then 5 minute later she asked exactly the same thing. Like an Alzheimer's patient.

Well, I am not disagreeing with you. I just want more out of companions than snarky comments (and we can agree to disagree who is snarkier). To my knowledge, game offers a template of 300 lines of dialogues and to make a custom companion we can record and replace those 300 audio files. So technically companions all have the same amount of dialogues (unless authors choose to have less). For a companion, we dress them up, give them a gun, and that is the end for it. I really have nothing else to give Ellen even she asked.

I gotta try Heather. I read we can feed her scraps and she can make something out of it. If that's true, that's innovation beyond the snarky comments.

Yeah, unfortunately alot of people miss out on Hancock just because he's a ghoul. Also, most people just assume his character is nothing but Chems schtick. But, I'd say chems are the least interesting and prominent part of his character. And, i know most people feel like they can't change his outfit. So, that doesn't help people warm up to him.

 

Anyway, agreed about Nick. I don't fancy travelling with a nanny. And as for MacCready, his personality just never did it for me. He's whiny. And, like you said, every companion is equally good with every gun. Hancock wrecks face with a gauss rifle.

 

But, I'm struggling with how mistaken you are about the difference in amount (not even counting quality) of dialogue these modded companions have. She has the absolute smallest pool of dialogue. And that small pool is reeeeally boring. In my personal opinion, of course. Ive got over 100 total days of gameplay under my belt, I've done whole playthroughs dedicated to each base game companion. And so far, i truly don't think any have as much travelling dialogue as Hancock. I think Piper has the least lines, of all the base game companions. And Ellen seems to have less than that. Which could be forgiven if her lines were interesting, but they're not. And the voice acting is just as boring.

 

You say all companions get just 300 lines to work with? Honestly, that's the first I've heard of it, but I believe you. Hancock must use every line, is all i can assume. And these modded companions must come nowhere near. The difference is just so clear to me.

 

I guess you and me are just different in what we value out of companions. I don't care how good they are in a fight, I'd prefer they don't interfere at all. And looks are purely subjective. (Though i do happen to find Hancock the most attractive) What I value the most, is what they have to say about where you are, and whatever other entities are there. Like I said before, it really makes it seem like they're really there with you, seeing what you're seeing, smelling what you're smelling, killing what you're killing. Which makes me feel like I'm actually in there, too. And depending on the companion, their dialogue in these fields can paint those scenes/locations in all kinds of different lights. This is something that all the modded companions lack.

 

The only reason i say Heather wins is because she is so uniquely useful. Her store function is just so handy. Particularly the fact that it never restocks. Basically, if i give Heather 1000 Nuka Cola, she'll always have all of that in her shop, until you buy it all up. So effectively, she can become any kind of shop i want. Now, besides that, i really like her character too. She hires YOU. And as you get to be closer, she lowers her prices. Nice. And if you let her work on chemistry stations twice per level, her shop inventory updates. Nice again. Her voice acting kinda sounds like somebody's mom... but, she actually sounds like a real person. I can't say that about any other modded (or some base game) companions.

 

But yet another handy feature is her teleport button. A simple relief. And, when you tell hee to Stay, she effectively dismisses herself. She'll walk around and interact with whatever is around the area you tell her to stay, as if you dismissed a companion to a settlement. Except, she'll do this absolutely anywhere. And another thing I really liked, is her special dialogue based on certain items you give her to hold. For instance, i noticed she would sometimes say "I could go for some Noodles" when i went to trade with her. So, i gave her a Noodle Cup, and she said thanks! I always give cigarettes and lunchboxes and robot models to Hancock, itd be adorable if he'd comment about it. But, i dunno anything about feeding her scraps?

 

Anyhoo, for all those reasons combined, Heather is my second favorite companion. Even compared with the base game companions.

[tomomi1922]

 

The only reason i say Heather wins is because she is so uniquely useful. Her store function is just so handy. Particularly the fact that it never restocks. Basically, if i give Heather 1000 Nuka Cola, she'll always have all of that in her shop, until you buy it all up. So effectively, she can become any kind of shop i want. Now, besides that, i really like her character too. She hires YOU. And as you get to be closer, she lowers her prices. Nice. And if you let her work on chemistry stations twice per level, her shop inventory updates. Nice again. Her voice acting kinda sounds like somebody's mom... but, she actually sounds like a real person. I can't say that about any other modded (or some base game) companions.

 

But yet another handy feature is her teleport button. A simple relief. And, when you tell hee to Stay, she effectively dismisses herself. She'll walk around and interact with whatever is around the area you tell her to stay, as if you dismissed a companion to a settlement. Except, she'll do this absolutely anywhere. And another thing I really liked, is her special dialogue based on certain items you give her to hold. For instance, i noticed she would sometimes say "I could go for some Noodles" when i went to trade with her. So, i gave her a Noodle Cup, and she said thanks! I always give cigarettes and lunchboxes and robot models to Hancock, itd be adorable if he'd comment about it. But, i dunno anything about feeding her scraps?

 

Anyhoo, for all those reasons combined, Heather is my second favorite companion. Even compared with the base game companions.

 

 

Just so you know neither you nor I are trying to win a debate here. This is pure discussion and I really find this so interesting. Nothing against Heather's content but somewhere reading the comments I was so afraid of game stability because she seems to be a big mod (and that Radio of Common Wealth) so I am still skeptical to try. CTD is quite a real threat in FO4 you know (less than Skyrim, thanks god). I would like to download that multiple companion mods but I also worry it will conflict with something else .... Horrible. I don't have the most pleasant experience with companion, technical wise.

 

So back to topic, if Heather is 2nd favorite, who is first, Hancock? Just so I am clear on that. Oh yeah, his outfit, can we change that? About that 300 lines ... it's what I read in a tutorial somewhere but it does not mean that they all used up all 300 slots for each and every companion. I have Ellen around right now but I haven't really started paying attention on her snarky comments. To be fair, we may have to open up the data files to really compare.

 

However, I really like what you told me about Hancock and Heather. It is rare to have someone also caring so much about content like yourself. I am actually not THAT super-fiscal. But I do want some new skin texture for him, because Vanilla ghoul texture looks *bleh*. So I am "that kind" of super-fiscal: the good looking graphic kind. Oh, one person I dislike more than Nick is Preston. Not because I am racist, but he is such an embodiment of virtuous idealist. I really admire his tenacity (although wondering why he lacks ambition, he should appoints himself 2nd General) but you think it is hard traveling with nanny Nick, it feels harder traveling with pope Preston. (Again, all roleplaying, don't think he can do much to me, technical wise).

 

What weapons do you give each companion to really fit their style and personality? (beside fully upgraded their companion ammo weapon as backup). Piper always gets some kind of submachine gun. Nick a big .44 revolver (and that gigantic M203 revolver rifle). Deacon always something super compact with silencer. MacCready a giant sniper rifle and some assault rifle (like he is in special forces). Cait something rough like a minigun or shotgun? Hancock I would imagine a shotgun (like Widow shotgun). I have no idea for Curie ... a laser rifle? I never really get to play with X88. I like his tough look but I always end up killing Institute. And what would fishermen use? I can't imagine something high tech. Pardon me if I asked too much. I am just trying to make the most out of the lack luster companion system. I miss the companions in Mass Effect 2 (they make day and night difference). Or all those Dragon Age companions always have so much interaction among each other.

Edited June 2, 2017 by tomomi1922

[Fkemman11]

More Smarter Companions may sound moronic but it adds a little in the way of "uniquiness" to each of the vanilla followers. As an example I have seen Piper blackmail several enemies into standing down in a fight. So they do emphasize their special abilities a bit more if anyone is interested. :smile:

 

@ Tomomi1922 You really don't need to worry as much about stability issues with FO4 in my opinion. I have used unlimited companions with Heather with War of the CommonWealth with every other thing I could think to squeeze in there and have had only one or two major issues with the game. And this is on a PC with below min specs. So mod away!!