Tutorial:TNT cannons/Launch point

Launch points come in two flavors: Either as a platform that is inside the cannon by default or as a position in mid-air, as found in Ejector cannons.

All special launch types have the disadvantages of not being able to constantly achieve very high fire rates and (excepting Catapult in some cases) of needing much delay.

Platform based

Platform (P)

A Plattform cannon uses a platform outside the fighting machine as its launch point.

The main perks of a platform cannon are, that the side of the fighting machine can be an alternative to a barrel and that it might not work at all without the block support. On the other side its Platform usually is pretty vulnerable to attacks.

Multi platform (Mp)

A Multi platform cannon uses multiple launch points, that can be inside the fighting machine. This is an alternative to Shifting and vertical modes.

The use of a multiple launch points is, that they can provide the regular modes of TNT-Shifting but without the use of slanted shots, while maintaining a smaller footprint and more efficiency, than found in Rebound-Shifts. That said, the Multi plattform's bigger size and incompatibility with very fast shooting reduces its use mostly to Manual cannons, when slanted-Shifts aren't possible.

Ejecting (E)

An Ejector cannon fulfills the same purpose as a Platform cannon - just without the platform. A common way to achieve that is by launching the projectiles and boosters with TNT.

It doesn't have the vulnerability of the platform and isn't affected by rules on how far blocks can leave. Its disadvantages are, that it is usually less nuanced in its Angle (-> less efficient) and some techniques such as most course altering techniques do not work here. Ejector cannons can also be some of the hardest cannons to spot.

Nether (N)

A Nether cannon lets the TNT fall out of the cannon using gravity.

The main advantage of a Nether cannon is that it only needs a release circuit wich is quite compact. Thus Nether cannons can be the most compact way to build Buffer cannons.

Cloud (Cl)

A Cloud cannon uses slime to launch TNT above the fighting machine.

For the most part a Cloud cannon is similar to Nether cannons. Its only bigger disadvantage is that it can only launch TNT about 10 Blocks up in the air.

Catapult (Ca)

A Catapult uses slime to launch projectiles and/or boosters outside the cannon. Sometimes this is used without an external launch point, just to accelerate the TNT more.

When a cannon needs higher efficiency or when the propellants would damage the player, a Catapult is a solid solution to solve those problems. When TNT is pushed into a slime block from a side via a piston, the slime will launch the TNT, as if it was in front of it.