[Idea] Get your spouse back (sort of)

[Froggy]

SPOILERS AHOY!

 

We know that you can change the appearance of your spouse at the start of the game, which also affects how Shaun looks later (slightly).  I remember reading a Steam review that said "Spent an hour designing the perfect wife and she dies five minutes into the game."

 

Kind of a bummer.

 

So later once we arrive at the Institute we find out that we've been decoyed by a Gen3 synth made to look & act exactly like a 10 year old version of Shaun, to the point where it doesn't even realize it's a synth (or is at least a really good actor).  You can, if you take a path aligned against the Institute, rescue that synth on your way out and carry treating him like he really is Shaun - which is kind of creepy, but hey, losing a son can be traumatic enough to scramble anyone into going along with it I guess.

 

We also find that the people at the MemoryDen can transfer memories from a living person into a synth (Kellog to Nick), which is apparently how the Institute created Nick in the first place - imprinting a real human being's memories into a Gen2 body.

 

But then I wondered... if they can do that with Shaun, why can't they do it for your spouse?  After all, he/she is still completely frozen (if dead) in their cryopod.  It would be pretty simply for the Institute to make a Gen3 synth that looks exactly like them.  Moreso, using memory transfer and the technically still fresh brain of your spouse, they could very easily transfer his/her memories into that synth as well.  Meaning even they won't know the difference.  They'll just remember getting shot and then waking up in a hospital.  Make up a story, tell them how you rushed them to this Institute hospital where they were saved.

 

 

Now... as for programming all this... it actually shouldn't be that hard, once the new GECK comes out.  After all, your spouse's appearance must be saved somewhere and permanently (you can go back to their pod at any point in the game and their body is still there).  Function-wise, it would simply be making a new NPC that copy/pastes their appearance and stuffing it's dialog tree with the countless voice files already in the game (All your character's lines?  They repeated by your spouse in the game's storage in case you play the opposite sex next time.  All of them.)  Honestly, I think the only really hard part would writing the story elements around it & making it into a quest reward for those who chose to side with the Institute.

 

What do you think?

 

 

[abeman]

At first i actually thought you could save your spouse, it seemed a gunshot to the torso but he was frozen back right away so no chance to bleed dry.

So if i could find good doctors and be ready to unfreeze him, they could save his life.

That was not the case unfortunately.

It would be cool idea though. Perhaps a way to have your own custom-made companion in the game.

[Zinker]

Both ideas sound interesting. Maybe based on whom you side with?
Institute would help you get a "clone" synth, if friendly.

But, say, BOS doctors would be able to treat a gun wound. They deal with it frequently in their profession.

[akbaa]

I like the idea! With all these dialogue files already present for the female protagonist, it should surely be possible to tailor some new dialogue out of it. It does sound like a tremendous amount of work though.

 

I am sure though, that the institute could either save Nora by operating on her or place her memories inside a synth

 

 

Just like that gigantic underwater world, Nora´s fate also opens up the possibility for future expansion in a DLC..

[Revuu]

I like the idea! With all these dialogue files already present for the female protagonist, it should surely be possible to tailor some new dialogue out of it. It does sound like a tremendous amount of work though.

 

I am sure though, that the institute could either save Nora by operating on her or place her memories inside a synth

 

 

Just like that gigantic underwater world, Nora´s fate also opens up the possibility for future expansion in a DLC..

 

Nora or Nate, depending on your choice of PC.

[alucrad90]

Problem

 

What will your spouse act like in the story?

 

A settler? A companion? A gift/spy who just have the same face of Nora/Nate?

[darius777]

Hey there -

 

To begin with, I think your idea is fantastic, and would love to see it pop up sometime. However, I also wish you'd put 'Spoilers' in the title, as I just started, and did not know about the 'Shaun-bot' deception at all, and it's kind of ruined that plot now. Otherwise, again, cool idea.

[Revuu]

To begin with, I think your idea is fantastic, and would love to see it pop up sometime. However, I also wish you'd put 'Spoilers' in the title, as I just started, and did not know about the 'Shaun-bot' deception at all, and it's kind of ruined that plot now. Otherwise, again, cool idea.

 

Don't worry. Knowing Bethesda in FO4, it'll probably be a plot twist you meet very briefly without it being fleshed out in the slightest, with any mystery being resolved in a single line of lacklustre dialogue.

 

 

 

NPC: "Sole survivor, you're an ALIEN!"

SS: "This... changes everything. What do I do? Should I turn myself in to the Brotherhood?"

NPC: [3 lines of dialogue later / 1 short quest later] "Lol no I was just joking you should have seen the look on your face."

SS: "... for some inexplicable reason I am incredibly disappointed."

 

 

[Loogie]

 

Now... as for programming all this... it actually shouldn't be that hard, once the new GECK comes out. 

 

Then do it.

[Silvarusx]

i look forward to this . 

[graymare]

Why isn't there a like or +70000 button here? Love the idea.

[Leito86]

I'm a fan of having the partner back.  It would have been interesting to see the relationship develop especially after discovering who Father is and your choices afterwards.

[Guest]

It could actualy work great, because the characters you can play are voiced

[Cerberus333]

i could see bethesda making this a DLC event 

[kusariku]

I am honestly hoping that when the programmers who've done Multiplayer for Skyrim move to Fallout 4 they make a coop mod where you play as the parents.

 

Further I think that a multiplayer mod should have players playing as members of the neighborhood, it takes a village to kill across the wasteland and get their baby back.

 

Though I would definitely like a mod that brings back the spouse as a companion.   I put time into both parents when I was making my characters, as I am sure many of you have.

[milasian]

This is a very plausible idea, just a lot of work sifting through voice files It would also be really cool if after this gets set up, that maybe the spouse starts to figure out they are a synth (if you go that route instead of BOS) and then have an identity crisis that could be "fixed" by the institute or bring them to the railroad to meet other synths and learn to live with it.

[Revuu]

I'm a fan of having the partner back.  It would have been interesting to see the relationship develop especially after discovering who Father is and your choices afterwards.

 

Urgh, imagine trying to splice the voices for it...

[Guest victorddp]

At first i actually thought you could save your spouse, it seemed a gunshot to the torso but he was frozen back right away so no chance to bleed dry.

So if i could find good doctors and be ready to unfreeze him, they could save his life.

That was not the case unfortunately.

It would be cool idea though. Perhaps a way to have your own custom-made companion in the game.

 

 

You were unfrozen by a system failure. Even if you don't open the cryopod (which if I remember correctly you have to do to continue playing), it can be seen how the body of your partner is thawed.

[IJF1492]

I'm liking this idea. It'd feel really good to have your actual husband/wife with you. Maybe even as a combat companion. They want to find their kid just as much as you do, right? Really, you could write the story however you want. Maybe if you bring Curie to vault 111, she can perform surgury. Or if you have enough ranks in the medic perk, you could do it yourself. All sorts of possibilities.