Cannon

Cannons are essential tools in the modern battlefield. They provide the ability to attack areas from greater range than infantry, and bombard enemy defenses to prepare for an attack. Cannons can be found on almost every military vehicle, and is the standard method to engage other vehicles. There are 5 different cannons currently in the game, each fulfilling a unique role.

Cannon Mechanics
Cannons have several modes of operation, which are listed here. Note: Do not press the stone buttons on the cannons, or the cannon will be destroyed. This is a known bug.

Scouring
When a cannon is first created, it needs to be scoured. In order to scour a cannon, right click it with a stick in hand. Firing projectiles will also cause soot to build up, which requires scouring to remove. The amount of scouring required depends on the gunpowder used. Note: Machine Guns do not require scouring.

Manual Loading
When a cannon is fully scoured, right click on the cannon block with gunpowder in hand to prime the cannon. Different cannons require different amounts of gunpowder. Careful, as loading too much gunpowder will cause the shot velocity to increase, but there is a chance the cannon can explode. After priming the cannon, right click the cannon block with the projectile ammo in hand you wish to load. The projectile then needs to be rammed with a stick. Right click with a stick to ram the shot. The shot is now ready to be fired!

Manual Aiming and Firing
In order to aim the cannon, you have to right click on the cannon block with an empty hand. Right clicking on the left will aim the cannon left one tick, right clicking on the right will aim the cannon right one tick, and right clicking on the top will aim the cannon up one tick. In order to invert your action, hold shift while right clicking. E.g. shift-right clicking on the top will aim the cannon down one tick.

In order to fire the cannon, right click on the lever. Stand back from the front, as being too close to the muzzle will cause damage and nausea.

Autoloading
If a chest is next to a cannon on one of the designated spots, and loaded with gunpowder and projectiles, it can autoload. Simply shift-right click on the lever in order to autoload a projectile. During auto-loading, there is a delay where the projectile cannot be fired, which depends on the cannon type.

Autoaiming
While holding a clock in hand, right click on the cannon block; you will enter auto-aim mode. Auto-aim mode does not require the clock to be constantly present in your hand to operate. To aim the cannon, hold shift and look around. The cannon's aim will match the current direction of the player. The cannon will not account for parallax, so the block you are looking at will not be the block the cannon is looking at. If you are looking towards 20 degrees, the cannon will be aimed towards 20 degrees.

If the cannon is unloaded and able to be autoloaded, you can autoload it by pressing shift-right click. This will autoload a shell.

In order to fire the cannon when it is loaded, right click.

In order to exit autoaim mode, right click the cannon with a clock, or walk far enough away from the cannon.

Redstone Firing
Cannons can be fired using redstone contraptions by placing a redstone torch underneath the cannon. When the redstone torch is turned on, the cannon will try one of two things. If the cannon is unloaded, it will try to autoload from an attached chest. If the cannon is loaded, it will try to fire the cannon.

Rotation using Movecraft
If a sign is placed on a cannon with "Subcraft Rotate" on the first line, and "Cannon" on the second line, a cannon can be rotated 90 degrees using movecraft. Left click the sign to rotate left, and right click the sign to rotate right. In order to remove Subcraft Rotate signs, either world edit has to be used, or the block he sign is touching must be destroyed. The sign will rotate touching iron blocks, iron bars, stone buttons, levers, glass, signs, lapis, chests, iron pressure plates, and obsidian. The system is similar to turrets, but the block list is much more limited.

Impact Indicator
Certain cannons (Mortars and Long Cannons) can use the impact indicator. This is a a bunch of glowstone in a bundle that moves when you aim the cannon while the cannon is loaded with a shot. This is approximate, as the cannons have a certain inaccuracy involved. This impact indicator only will work to the render distance from the cannon, and will not show up past that. An empty cannon will not display an impact indicator.

A second player can view your impact indicator using the command "/cannons observer" and then right clicking on the cannon. The player will then see the impact indicator when you aim. Note: viewing multiple cannon impact indicators does not work properly, and will cause flickering. Using the same command again and right clicking on the same cannon will remove you as an observer.

Important: The glowstone the indicator creates is not real and is only visible on your client. Jumping on the glowstone will result in you being kicked for flying.

Info Sign
By placing a sign on the side of the cannon, you can display information about the cannon. The cannon will display following information on the sign: The name of the cannon, the owner of the cannon, the amount of gunpowder loaded (p), the temperature of the cannon (c), and the current angles of the cannon (h/v).

Cannon Types
There are 5 different cannon types currently in the game. Not every cannon will fulfil every role, and not every cannon type can fit on every vehicle. For example, the AA Tower can only be placed on three vehicles, so other vehicles will need to be escorted to fight off airships.

Projectiles
There are 6 standard projectiles that most cannons use, and 3 projectiles the AA tower can use, and 1 projectile the machine gun uses.