I have a few Ideas for new companions. and how companions work in general.

I really think it would be cool if you could have a bighorner as a companionl. You could call it Babe as a reference to Paul Bunyan's blue ox. I know what your thinking but here me out. This companion may not necessarily be a combat heavy companion. ranged attacks are out of the question of course be maybe he could do some ram attacks or trample smaller enemies. The big draw to a bighorner companion is it should have a much larger carry capacity in contrast to the combat oriented characters, I'm talking like 400, 450, or 500 pounds carry capacity. Maybe babe would be more passive than other enemies and only attack when it was attacked. or maybe its a BATTLEHORNER and it s got armor plates on it and extra spikes on its helmet for ramming with. Or even better a companion that you can ride, you can shoot from the saddle and when you run full speed into an enemy it deals damage, or it could be more passive without armor and moves faster. that could be its companion quest perks. on way is to make it run faster or carry more weight and the other way is to give it battlehorn armor and make it better at dealing Damage.

I also think there should be companions who allow you to bypass skill checks or buff your skill like a smooth talker companion can interupt a conversation and win a speech check for you or he just gives you a boost to speech like + 20 or something. Or having a scientist who can hack computers or pass medicine checks for you. It makes sense to me.

I'll have to come back to this one... Too late/early to post anything sensible. So I was thinking a sandworm, size doesn't matter really.

maybe there could be a bird like companion.

he would have no inventory or fighting skill but he could find new locations and enemies at a much greater range than you. And you could send him to wherever your base is and interact with your base through your bird.

maybe an intelligent lake lurker , they already kind of look like Abe from the Hell boy movies. Give him a suit and an energy weapon, or maybe he uses his sonic blast thing that normal lake lurks use. His perk could give you water breathing or make other lake lurks non hostile towards you.

you could find a captain America type guy (or possibly captain china), he was frozen on purpose or accidentally before the great war and does not even remember what happened and you have to explain it to him. He would automatically be able to use power armor, He should probably start with power armor actually. He would be an expert in pre war tech (energy weapons). Each time you see a new major area he can start dialog with you so he can better understand the new world he has found himself in. through your dialog options you can determine his companion quest perks kind of like how Raul's old school ghoul works. You could convince him to use his old school soldier skills to become a mercenary or join the brotherhood of steel. Or you could have him focus on what he remembers of the old world medicine and work with the followers of the apocalypse. The mercenary gets more proficient at combat and the doctor becomes harder to kill. He could possibly be one of the ways you learn how to use power armor from.

maybe you can meet a Chinese descendant of the crimson dragoons. maybe they survived in a bunker somewhere and migrated to a new bunker wherever the next game takes place. She could meet the player on a mercenary mission or get rescued after being captured. She then brings you back to her base and you learn she is still a rookie to her clan. You team up with her and do a couple of missions that are a rite of passage for her clan and depending on how you did the missions that gives you a different award like if you did the missions in a stealthy fashion she gets a fully functioning stealth suit and sword and if you did the missions a more frontal assault approach she gets a less sneaky but better armored suit and the sword. the sword being here right of passage. her perks could lower enemy perception or just plain boost your sneak skill.

I want a one button command for companions, press it somewhere and they would move to that location, press it on an enemy and they would attack.

I herd about sand sharks in fallout 1 and 2, not sure if they were cut or not, sounds cool but what about when you go into areas that are concrete? would they go underground or just slither on top of it.

maybe a glowing one as a companion? he could make you more resistant to radiation, Maybe instead of giving off radiation his body absorbs radiation so he makes it safer to explore radiated areas and will constantly though slowly absorb radiation off of you. maybe just so he does not freak out non hostiles he will wear a haz mat suit that hides his body and only light can be seen glowing from his goggles.

we have already seen docile at least one docile mole rat in Sloan. I don't remember if there are anymore than one but is could be a beefier mole rat companion like dog meat. He could have side saddles on him to carry some weight and he could bite enemies resulting in crippled legs or he could be a even more mutated mole rat and his bite is poisonous.

Securitron / robo brain / sentry bot these ones are too big. And I mean that by there is so much that you cold do with all of these that I don't even want to get into to it yet if if you guys have any ideas please post them.

EMPTY POWER ARMOR. greatest idea ever. a super elite prototype power armor that became sentient. It outlived it owner ( it did not kill his owner but just outlived it) the suit was programed to only be used by its original owner to prevent it from being used by the Chinese if it was ever captured (prewar) so the player during the suits ( I think I will call the suit TUX) companion quest can choose to either upgrade the suit because you find it needed repairs because it was going to eventually shut down or you can sabotage the upgrade sequence killing the AI and turning your companion into a wearable power armor. If you choose to keep Tux alive not only will he be a formidable follower but he can make your power armor last longer and be more durable.

go ahead and vote on what the most important factor of a companion is

So basically power armor trauma harness? IDK, I would like current companions to be improved before adding new ones.

I agree, these Ideas are just ideas for future games, hopefully one of the guys who actually makes the games will read this and go hell yeah that's an awesome Idea and put it into the next game.
But yeah this game should be done with companions for now. I want to rename my post to future ideas for companions but I don't know how.

I'm sure it was cut.

Anyways if I went on concrete I would put it in my backpack and then let it out when I'm done on the concrete. If it was like a huge mutant sandworm then it would probably be fine slithering on top of it.

I voted non human, or otherwise unique apperance

I think a Deathclaw would be a good companion. The perk could make you more powerful.
Or a Yao Guai. The perk could be Yao Guao Strength, make you stronger.
Or a unique mutant like Harold in F3.
A securitron would be good. Like a rogue or unique version.
Or a lakelurk. They could have a waterbreathing perk for when you are underwater with them and use sonic attacks and energy weapons. They could wear a air rebreather for when going away from water.
A mutated bat would be good. With a see in the dark perk and somic atttack. Or a mutated giant crow.

About the bighorner if you are on the PC there is a mod that lets you get a brahman. One of my favorite mods... it runs from combat, but comes back afterwards.

As for what kind of companion I want in a future game? One that I can foster a relationship with. I am not talking get a wife/husband or anything, but I just need to care more about my companions. That is one reason Cass is my favorite companion... it feels like after the dust settles we may be able to forge a future (albeit probably a short one) out of it.

I don't know... I just feel like I care more for her. Since I play on hardcoe mode it feels like I am saving her nine times out of ten. I like that.

That is also why I like, and have Rex as my partner more times then the eyebot. I can bond with it a little, and I can bond the crap out of the King.

I guess its more of a want of bonding/kindred spirits more then a relationship... but I would not turn down a relationship either