MMORPG with similar combat to COX

[Haijinx]

11 minutes ago, Myrmidon said:

I remember.

 

my pet peeve is Highlander sequels ( of which, there are NONE).

Lot of those to be honest. 

 

Matrix

Indiana Jones

Jurassic Park 

Alien 

Scream

[Myrmidon]

Just now, Haijinx said:

Lot of those to be honest. 

 

Matrix

Indiana Jones

Jurassic Park 

Alien 

Scream

Aliens was the only one worth a damn as a sequel to that entire list.

[Haijinx]

1 minute ago, Myrmidon said:

Aliens was the only one worth a damn as a sequel to that entire list.

Aliens was a good movie.   But really shouldn't have had Ripley in it.  

 

But then the sequels kept coming .. 

Edited January 16, 2020 by Haijinx

[Myrmidon]

4 minutes ago, Haijinx said:

Aliens was a good movie.   But really shouldn't have had Ripley in it.  

 

But then the sequels kept coming .. 

 

The Marines giving up their ammo was the  “WTF” moment for me.🤣

[Haijinx]

19 minutes ago, Myrmidon said:

 

The Marines giving up their ammo was the  “WTF” moment for me.🤣

Made no sense. 

 

The entire station was surrounded by a Nuclear Reactor?  How does that work?  Why would you do it that way?  Its not like there was some space limitation.  They were on an emptyish planet.  An entire planet.  But lets surround the settlement with Nuclear material that can go boom?  Or the cooling system or something.   

 

The Reactor Fuel somehow is Enriched enough to actually explode?  Why would you build one like that?  To save mass?  Entire planet.  

 

Even if they had brought the fuel it with them, looking at the Nostromo they obviously had solved the whole Every Gram Counts problem with space travel.   So .. at least use Uranium a couple % below bomb grade.  Just saying.  

 

But then... They have to nuke it from orbit?  Why not just shoot a bullet at it? It will evidently nuke itself. 

 

 

 

[SaintD]

5 hours ago, Haijinx said:

Made no sense. 

 

The entire station was surrounded by a Nuclear Reactor?  How does that work?  Why would you do it that way?  Its not like there was some space limitation.  They were on an emptyish planet.  An entire planet.  But lets surround the settlement with Nuclear material that can go boom?  Or the cooling system or something.   

 

The Reactor Fuel somehow is Enriched enough to actually explode?  Why would you build one like that?  To save mass?  Entire planet.  

 

Even if they had brought the fuel it with them, looking at the Nostromo they obviously had solved the whole Every Gram Counts problem with space travel.   So .. at least use Uranium a couple % below bomb grade.  Just saying.  

 

But then... They have to nuke it from orbit?  Why not just shoot a bullet at it? It will evidently nuke itself. 

 

 

 

As was made clear in the film, the entire situation had been fabricated by Burke. He ordered the civilians to investigate the crashed ship so they would become implanted, and took command of the Marine squad sent to investigate the distress signal with the obvious, although never directly stated by himself, intention of ensuring the Marines wouldn't kill all the xenomorphs and colonists who couldn't be saved. Ripley, however, pretty much lays out that Burke would have killed any of the Marines still alive after the mission himself during hypersleep in order to bring back any implanted civilians he could have gotten them to acquire; if he didn't have any, he could have used the facehuggers on Ripley and Newt.

The facility probably isn't that fragile that the Marines couldn't have opened fire in it, but Burke needed to disarm them so they wouldn't potentially slaughter the whole damn hive and his big biotech payday. By that time they already had facehuggers, Ripley, and Newt, so he didn't actually need the Marines anymore and it would be infinitely easier for him if they all died fighting xenos instead of mysteriously in their hypersleep pods. Plus, if they don't scrub out the nest and none of them escape to nuke it from orbit, he still has a pile of xenos waiting around on a dead world if he needs to send some more disposable fodder to get more samples.

The problem is you're taking the statement at face value. It's a lie. Burke wanted the xenos, and the Marines were always a loose end that needed tying up.

Edited January 16, 2020 by SaintD

[Uun]

11 hours ago, Chris24601 said:

One reason I went with SWTOR when CoH shut down was that its tab-targeting and trays full of powers on recharge timers was the closest I could find to CoH.

 

If you've not played it, its worth doing the free-to-play version just for the vanilla level 1-50 fully voiced stories there if you're looking for a change of pace. Beyond that though development slowed to a comparative crawl as what were once eight separate storylines consolidated down to two and then one (recently back to two again) due to EA/Bioware channeling all the profits off the game to whatever their latest attempt at a WoW-killer happens to be.

 

Its also the last outpost of the old Expanded Universe in that its lore aligns with what is now considered non-canon by Disney; but after Rise of Skywalker is probably the canon of preference for die-hard Star Wars fans as a whole.

I also played SWTOR while CoH was shut down. The combat feel is somewhat similar to CoH, but the roles are much more limited (DPS, Tank, Healer). It was impossible to get a character fully geared for long, as they kept increasing the max level or the armor limit, so the end game became a continuous grind for gear. You couldn't do the top level ops unless you had top level gear.

 

While the class stories are entertaining, almost nobody teamed for them. Teams were limited to flashpoints and heroics (4 player max) and operations (8 or 16 players). I got characters in each class to max level, so the only thing to do was the new content released every few months, which was the same for all classes. I dropped my sub when CoH came back.

[Oubliette_Red]

12 hours ago, Call Me Awesome said:

 

My experience with Secret World was that it was fun solo and teaming in the early game but late game teams were complete gear snobs, if you weren't the equivalent of a 500,000,000 inf build then you were wasting your time trying to team.  It's been years, I only played there for about 5 months after CoH shutdown so maybe it's changed but that attitude really soured me on the game.

 

The game I lasted the longest with was Star Wars Old Republic.  It was a fun game and the classes were interesting.  Unfortunately it was basically a single player game with some MMO mechanics tacked on... your class missions were forced solo, at least some of the time.  While everything could solo, and most were fairly good at it you always ran into a forced solo mission whenever you started running with a team.

I only recently cancelled my sub to SWToR. Before Homecoming came along I played it enough to make a sub worth it. I found it's mechanics similar enough to CoH. I used to team with friend that I had played Legacy CoH with, then we moved on to Neverwinter, then TSW. I still gravitate back to SWToR, I've noticed enough people on that teams could be had if one could only ask. I actually prefer to solo so I can enjoy the storylines. The only time I recall coming across forced soloing during class missions was during end-of-arc missions. But then again I mostly solo anyway. 🙂 I've managed to get 2 classes to 70, my 3rd is currently at 42.

[Haijinx]

4 hours ago, SaintD said:

As was made clear in the film, the entire situation had been fabricated by Burke. 

The problem is you're taking the statement at face value. It's a lie. Burke wanted the xenos, and the Marines were always a loose end that needed tying up.

Even in that case, I find it hard to believe they would be so ignorant of nuclear reactor tech, when in their world it was ubiquitous as coal.  

 

But the Burke said so angle is a bit less contrived, Ill concede that.

 

If that's what the author had in mind, anyway, and not a plot hole rationalization that people came up with.

[Leogunner]

With regards to feeling super, I feel both Tera and Blade and Soul really hit that mark probably due to their mechanics emphasizing control, knock back and aerial juggling. You don't get as much customization in your abilities but some exists in both. Also both are horribly grindy. 

 

I don't feel people were too snobby about great (probably in late game but you have to get there which means grinding your way there). Mostly a powerful character would just carry the others but eventually you start carrying others too. 

 

Methodical combat, I'd voch for Final Fantasy XI. The combat is slower and tend to revolve around interrupting foes, coordinating skill chains and bursts and managing aggro. A lot has changed however since it changes to a solo game. Now you're collecting NPCs like pokemon cards to help in different quests. 

[KaizenSoze]

Sounds like SWTOR is the closest.

 

One that feel like COH is some ways but has the teaming issues and overly simple combat is Neverwinter online.

 

It's made by Cryptic, so the feel being similar is not surprising.

[srmalloy]

7 hours ago, Uun said:

I also played SWTOR while CoH was shut down. The combat feel is somewhat similar to CoH, but the roles are much more limited (DPS, Tank, Healer). It was impossible to get a character fully geared for long, as they kept increasing the max level or the armor limit, so the end game became a continuous grind for gear. You couldn't do the top level ops unless you had top level gear.

Not to mention the fact that, for game-balance reasons, the non-Force classes got crammed into little tiny boxes that distorts their performance. In one of the conversations the Trooper has with Eric Jorgan, their first companion, Jorgan comments on how, during his time with the Deadeyes, he made a 900-meter shot as a sniper. The non-Force ranged classes have a maximum range of 30 meters, except for the two subclasses that are supposed to be focused on ranged attacks (one of which is named Sniper), who get an extra five meters of range. Admittedly, it was a deliberate attempt to see if I could make Jack Emmert's claim "range is a Blaster's defense" (which became much less true after all mobs were given a ranged attack, with some mobs having ranged attacks that outrange a snipe slotted for range with Range Boost active), but back on live I had a blaster who I would amuse myself while waiting for ITFs to assemble and start by standing on the platform where Imperious is and sniping out mobs in the courtyard across the valley. A 'sniper' with a 35m range feels ridiculous in comparison.

[Communistpenguin]

I liked WoW. It has action bars and the classes felt different enough. Did not care for Champions, teaming was pointless, at least in the levels I played, though web slinging and the flying disc travel powers were fun. The powers felt shallow and I hated the look and the campiness of the lore. Also the loot sucked and was annoying to understand. I think I tried Tera? I don't really remember it, but I didn't enjoy it. I played the free version of SWTOR, It didn't connect for me? Like the world felt too disconnected. I also tried DC's MMO. It was ok. I got bored quickly.  I tried The secret World, it was a big disappointment, I had been looking forward to it for awhile and it just completely failed to connect for me. I also played a little of Warhammer online, it was ok.  I really like CoH's control/buff and blast powers, no other game really lets you do stuff like that, and at such a wildly different ways.

[Haijinx]

1 hour ago, srmalloy said:

Not to mention the fact that, for game-balance reasons, the non-Force classes got crammed into little tiny boxes that distorts their performance. In one of the conversations the Trooper has with Eric Jorgan, their first companion, Jorgan comments on how, during his time with the Deadeyes, he made a 900-meter shot as a sniper. The non-Force ranged classes have a maximum range of 30 meters, except for the two subclasses that are supposed to be focused on ranged attacks (one of which is named Sniper), who get an extra five meters of range. Admittedly, it was a deliberate attempt to see if I could make Jack Emmert's claim "range is a Blaster's defense" (which became much less true after all mobs were given a ranged attack, with some mobs having ranged attacks that outrange a snipe slotted for range with Range Boost active), but back on live I had a blaster who I would amuse myself while waiting for ITFs to assemble and start by standing on the platform where Imperious is and sniping out mobs in the courtyard across the valley. A 'sniper' with a 35m range feels ridiculous in comparison.

In the future you will only be able to shoot about 90 feet (30m) 

 

That's just the way it is.

 

*Or in the past in the case of a Galaxy Far Far Away.  Which is a bit of a redundant name.  

[Shred Monkey]

On 1/16/2020 at 2:47 AM, Haijinx said:

There were 2 movies.  Then about half a movie followed by a Infomercial for Ewoks Toys.

 

Then there was a 3 part origin miniseries that got a lot of the Lore Wrong

 

Then some Fan Fics by JJ Abrams and crew. 

 

Then finally a kind of cool TV series that could use longer episodes with a B plot, but I'll take it. 

 

The best reason to get Disney Plus is Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels.  Having watched them end to end within the last month, I now consider those to be the best Star Wars stories on film.   Clone Wars expands the Universe so much more beyond 2-3 planets we see in the movies and it really makes the Emperor's rise and Anakan's fall more believable.   It also turns the force back into a thing of Mysticism and not just biology like in the Prequels.

 

Rebels sets the stage for Episode 4 showing the world where the Rebellion is just a group of unaffiliated cells fighting against a Galactic superpower where Jedi are just a legend and not something you run into in every crowded bar on Curesant.

 

The Mandalorian is great so far, but I need to see more seasons before I'm willing to put a crown on it.

 

 

[jubakumbi]

STO.

To me, in terms of timing abilities, cadence of play, etc. STO feels the closest to me when examining it at a meta-level for gameplay and when actually controlling the player and ships in-game.

[Nefertari]

46 minutes ago, jubakumbi said:

STO.

To me, in terms of timing abilities, cadence of play, etc. STO feels the closest to me when examining it at a meta-level for gameplay and when actually controlling the player and ships in-game.

This. 

 

After shutdown, anytime I wanted to try a new game, if I couldn't set up the controls like CoH, I usually didn't make it past the tutorial.  Star Trek Online, Champions, SWTOR and the original Secret World let me do that.   I stuck with Star Trek (lifetime sub) and Star Wars the longest.

[biostem]

I've tried many different MMOs since CoX's original run ended.  None had all aspects of what I love(d) about this game, but here are some that embody some of what I like, (to varying degrees):

 

1. Champions Online - Close, but the setting just isn't as interesting to me.

 

2. DC Universe Online - Pretty fun until you get to the "end game" portion, where a lot is gated if you're a free player.  Has an odd setup, (from a CoX player's perspective), where you pick a power set and a weapon as separate aspects of your character.

 

3. TERA - It's a fairly sandboxy-feeling game, IMO, and can be quite fun.  It can get very grindy later on, but is still worth giving a try.

 

4. Neverwinter - Though not superheroes per se, certain classes have a more visceral playstyle to them than other, (I prefer Barbarians, (formerly Great Weapon Fighters), and Rangers).

Edited January 18, 2020 by biostem

[Haijinx]

9 hours ago, Shred Monkey said:

The best reason to get Disney Plus is Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels.  Having watched them end to end within the last month, I now consider those to be the best Star Wars stories on film.   Clone Wars expands the Universe so much more beyond 2-3 planets we see in the movies and it really makes the Emperor's rise and Anakan's fall more believable.   It also turns the force back into a thing of Mysticism and not just biology like in the Prequels.

 

Rebels sets the stage for Episode 4 showing the world where the Rebellion is just a group of unaffiliated cells fighting against a Galactic superpower where Jedi are just a legend and not something you run into in every crowded bar on Curesant.

 

The Mandalorian is great so far, but I need to see more seasons before I'm willing to put a crown on it.

 

 

The cartoons are ok.

 

I hate Anakin so that kind of tarnished Clone Wars for me.  The Clones themselves though are very well done I thought.  

 

Rebels seemed ok, but seemed aimed at a younger target audience with two young teens on their crew and so on.  

 

Both live in the flanderized Star Wars though.  

 

The Mandalorion managed to avoid some/much of the Flanderization which made me like it a lot more.  

 

 

[Heraclea]

Now, the MMO that held my interest longest besides CoH was Age of Conan.  Let my subscription lapse a couple years ago, though.  Mostly the attraction of the world and the lore kept my interest.  Had a level 80 of each class.  Eventually ran into the wall of choreography in the endgame though. 

[Nemeroff]

On 1/15/2020 at 6:39 PM, Bill Z Bubba said:

I've looked. I've failed to find anything that gives me the same feeling as CoH for pure visceral excitement in combat.

 

Quite frankly, every other MMO I've touched bores the living #*($& out of me.

This.

[SaintD]

On 1/17/2020 at 3:41 AM, Haijinx said:

Even in that case, I find it hard to believe they would be so ignorant of nuclear reactor tech, when in their world it was ubiquitous as coal.  

 

But the Burke said so angle is a bit less contrived, Ill concede that.

 

If that's what the author had in mind, anyway, and not a plot hole rationalization that people came up with.

Can you tell me how ANY generator works without Googling it? They're very ubiquitous. So you should know.

[Luminara]

On 1/16/2020 at 10:04 AM, SaintD said:

As was made clear in the film, the entire situation had been fabricated by Burke. He ordered the civilians to investigate the crashed ship so they would become implanted, and took command of the Marine squad sent to investigate the distress signal with the obvious, although never directly stated by himself, intention of ensuring the Marines wouldn't kill all the xenomorphs and colonists who couldn't be saved. Ripley, however, pretty much lays out that Burke would have killed any of the Marines still alive after the mission himself during hypersleep in order to bring back any implanted civilians he could have gotten them to acquire; if he didn't have any, he could have used the facehuggers on Ripley and Newt.

The facility probably isn't that fragile that the Marines couldn't have opened fire in it, but Burke needed to disarm them so they wouldn't potentially slaughter the whole damn hive and his big biotech payday. By that time they already had facehuggers, Ripley, and Newt, so he didn't actually need the Marines anymore and it would be infinitely easier for him if they all died fighting xenos instead of mysteriously in their hypersleep pods. Plus, if they don't scrub out the nest and none of them escape to nuke it from orbit, he still has a pile of xenos waiting around on a dead world if he needs to send some more disposable fodder to get more samples.

The problem is you're taking the statement at face value. It's a lie. Burke wanted the xenos, and the Marines were always a loose end that needed tying up.

 

That's not how it went down.

 

Burke sent a request to the colony, asking them to investigate a coordinate.  That was, initially, all he did.  He wanted firm confirmation or denial of Ripley's reported "derelict alien ship".  If she was lying to The Company, he lost nothing, but if she were telling them the truth, he saw it as an opportunity to acquire control over the evaluation, research and development of the site and potential contents.

 

The Wildcatter, Newt's father, had the same general idea.  All he'd been ordered to do was find out if anything was there.  His greed drove him to enter the ship, subsequently leading to his ensnarement by the Facehugger.  Events ensue, colony goes silent, etc.

 

Burke, either realizing or strongly suspecting that Ripley had been honest, concluded that he had to go to the colony and secure whatever he could.  Remember, at this point, only Ripley really comprehends how bad it could be, and Burke sees only percentages and exclusivity.  It's likely that he already had Gorman on standby, someone with little field experience, looking to make his career or find a comfortable niche to sit in until retirement.  Alternatively, he may have asked for Gorman based on that same psychological profile (inexperienced, easily manipulated).  He did have access to Ripley's psychological evaluation records, which implies he could obtain records for others.

 

Burke doesn't order the Marines to drop their ammo.  Ripley suggests that shooting around the reactor might not be the best idea, and Burke reinforces her, but it's at Ripley's urging that Gorman gives the order.

 

Later, when the survivors are shoring up defenses, Ripley confronts Burke about being responsible for the situation, as he was the one who asked for the "grid reference" to be checked, and tells him that she intends to inform The Company.  Then Burke goes all in.  He decides to infect Ripley and Newt.  Whether he would've sabotaged the Marines' sleep pods as well, or expected to buy Gorman off, or had another plan, is all speculation.

 

Also, there was no distress signal.  "Ripley, we need to talk.  We've lost contact with the colony on LV 426."

 

He did protest to "nuking the place from orbit" because he couldn't be certain he'd manage to smuggle a specimen back with him, but once the reactor's cooling system was breached, that was moot.

 

Regarding the reactor, it was a fusion reactor.  Fusion reactors use hydrogen for fuel, not enriched uranium.  The entire complex was a multi-use facility, providing energy via the fusion reactor (as well as water, likely), fulfilling the purpose of terraforming LV 426, and housing the colonists, manufacturing workshops and hydroponics gardens.

 

Regarding the likelihood of an explosion "the size of Nebraska", that part is Hollywood fiction.  But reactors can explode, both fission and fusion.  Fission reactors can vaporize water in a few milliseconds, creating enormous pressure and blowing apart containment vessels, pipes, etc.  It's happened a few times in reality.  Fissile material can cause an explosion even if it's not in a containment vessel, under certain conditions (Japan had one criticality event which blew out windows when a mixing machine was switched on).  A fusion reactor, being reliant on hydrogen, would definitely explode without proper cooling if the hydrogen were ignited and safeties were compromised.  Given the events portrayed in the film, I consider it plausible that the reactor in the movie would explode, though I couldn't hazard a guess of how much damage it would do.  It would depend on the way the reactor was constructed, the types of safety mechanisms and how effective they were, etc.

 

Lastly, addressing Haijinx's comment about weight, that's only applicable when a ship is entering or exiting the gravity well of a large body, and given the accomplishments of civilization in the film, namely, the capability to create and maintain large space stations, it's irrelevant.  The question you should be asking is, why was there a queen?

 

"Cain... the crew member who went onto that ship, Cain, he said he saw thousands of those eggs."

[Haijinx]

7 hours ago, SaintD said:

Can you tell me how ANY generator works without Googling it? They're very ubiquitous. So you should know.

I know the basics of several.  Including some proposed 4th gen Nuclear concepts   As well as space based concepts. 

 

Pebble bed reactors might be a favorite.  Hydrogen is pumped through a critical mass of moderately enriched uranium pebbles. This heats the hydrogen which turns a turbine.  This mechanical motion creates electricty by moving a magnet surrounded by wires.  The whole reactor is rotated to keep the pebbles cooling even.

 

But I'm in a Tech Field and its of interest to me.   I like to read the Atomics Rockets website in my spare time.  So I guess I pre googled years ago.

 

So I'm probably not a good example.  I doubt that most marines know as much as I do about power plants.  Though some know a lot since they were stationed on Nuclear Carriers. 

 

If you are going to send Combat troops interstellar distance in a Space Travel is hard setting, you should be sending the best and brightest.  Since you could only send a tiny fraction of your force. Sci Fi writers no sense of scale.

 

Most educated  people know the very basics of how a coal plant works.  In a space based society, most should know how Nuclear reactors work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2020 by Haijinx
Autocorrect

[Haijinx]

1 hour ago, Luminara said:

 

That's not how it went down.

 

Burke sent a request to the colony, asking them to investigate a coordinate.  That was, initially, all he did.  He wanted firm confirmation or denial of Ripley's reported "derelict alien ship".  If she was lying to The Company, he lost nothing, but if she were telling them the truth, he saw it as an opportunity to acquire control over the evaluation, research and development of the site and potential contents.

 

The Wildcatter, Newt's father, had the same general idea.  All he'd been ordered to do was find out if anything was there.  His greed drove him to enter the ship, subsequently leading to his ensnarement by the Facehugger.  Events ensue, colony goes silent, etc.

 

Burke, either realizing or strongly suspecting that Ripley had been honest, concluded that he had to go to the colony and secure whatever he could.  Remember, at this point, only Ripley really comprehends how bad it could be, and Burke sees only percentages and exclusivity.  It's likely that he already had Gorman on standby, someone with little field experience, looking to make his career or find a comfortable niche to sit in until retirement.  Alternatively, he may have asked for Gorman based on that same psychological profile (inexperienced, easily manipulated).  He did have access to Ripley's psychological evaluation records, which implies he could obtain records for others.

 

Burke doesn't order the Marines to drop their ammo.  Ripley suggests that shooting around the reactor might not be the best idea, and Burke reinforces her, but it's at Ripley's urging that Gorman gives the order.

 

Later, when the survivors are shoring up defenses, Ripley confronts Burke about being responsible for the situation, as he was the one who asked for the "grid reference" to be checked, and tells him that she intends to inform The Company.  Then Burke goes all in.  He decides to infect Ripley and Newt.  Whether he would've sabotaged the Marines' sleep pods as well, or expected to buy Gorman off, or had another plan, is all speculation.

 

Also, there was no distress signal.  "Ripley, we need to talk.  We've lost contact with the colony on LV 426."

 

He did protest to "nuking the place from orbit" because he couldn't be certain he'd manage to smuggle a specimen back with him, but once the reactor's cooling system was breached, that was moot.

 

Regarding the reactor, it was a fusion reactor.  Fusion reactors use hydrogen for fuel, not enriched uranium.  The entire complex was a multi-use facility, providing energy via the fusion reactor (as well as water, likely), fulfilling the purpose of terraforming LV 426, and housing the colonists, manufacturing workshops and hydroponics gardens.

 

Regarding the likelihood of an explosion "the size of Nebraska", that part is Hollywood fiction.  But reactors can explode, both fission and fusion.  Fission reactors can vaporize water in a few milliseconds, creating enormous pressure and blowing apart containment vessels, pipes, etc.  It's happened a few times in reality.  Fissile material can cause an explosion even if it's not in a containment vessel, under certain conditions (Japan had one criticality event which blew out windows when a mixing machine was switched on).  A fusion reactor, being reliant on hydrogen, would definitely explode without proper cooling if the hydrogen were ignited and safeties were compromised.  Given the events portrayed in the film, I consider it plausible that the reactor in the movie would explode, though I couldn't hazard a guess of how much damage it would do.  It would depend on the way the reactor was constructed, the types of safety mechanisms and how effective they were, etc.

 

Lastly, addressing Haijinx's comment about weight, that's only applicable when a ship is entering or exiting the gravity well of a large body

Interesting.   Thank You.

 

A couple of comments, not disagreements ...

 

=====

Mass always matters even in microgravity.  The Tyranny of the Rocket Equation takes no prisoners.  

 

But in Alien verse they have solved this problem since they move gigantic starships around.  

 

=====

 

I remembered it as a Nuclear reactor which I presumed fission.  Thanks.  Though the basic idea that you don't pipe your cooling apparatus for your reactor around the habitat applies. 

 

Fusion would likely suggest even more physical seperation if they were using DD or DT due to all the neutron radiation.  Unlikely they would go anueutronic like DHe3 due to the fact they are on a planet.  Maybe even just HH see below. 

 

Build the powerplant kilometers away from the settlement.  Pile lots and lots of dirt around it for shielding.  Run power wires back.  Make sure the settlement is in the shadow of the shielding.

 

Fission reactors don't blow up in the thermonuclear sense.  But as you said, the active cooling can fail and the reactor melts down.  When they fail  there can be hydrogen explosions caused by the heat disassociating hydrogen from oxygen in what used to be water / steam.  The explosions can send fissile materials everywhere.

 

Fusion reactors probably wouldn't blow up like an h-bomb because its too hard to make the reaction happen.  But your cooling system could fail and it could blow up also.  But in the Alien World they have artificial gravity.  So they could use gravity confinement like a star.  Maybe with gravity confinement the pressure would be high enough for a run away fusion if too much fuel got into the reactor. 

 

Gravity confinement might let them use normal Hydrogen to Hydrogen fusion instead of using Deuterium.   That might make the idea of an actual fusion explosion more possible.  Maybe?

 

If so you'd put it even farther away.