A railgun in Roblox's physics sandbox game Plane Crazy is a specialized player-built weapon designed to pierce targets, fling opponents, or instantly shred enemy craft across the plot. Depending on your platform and engineering preferences, community builders utilize two distinct railgun systems: the instant camera-locked explosive compressor beam (tech originally innovated by player Namnam) and the magnetic repulsion launcher. Both weapon formats serve as primary counters against agile shredder bugs in multiplayer PvP servers.
Railgun System Comparison
Plane Crazy players rely on two main configurations depending on whether they prefer an instantaneous hitscan-like explosive beam or a physical kinetic projectile launcher.
| Railgun Type | Core Mechanism | Ammo / Payload Type | Key Strengths | Known Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cam-Lock Beam Railgun | Camera locking combined with looped compressors and explosive blocks | Harmless trigger TNT + Harmful max-yield TNT blocks | Instantaneous range; high structural damage; flings targets; saves plot block limits | Camera lock breaks on reload or server rejoin; can occasionally damage your own aircraft |
| Magnetic Push Railgun | Multi-magnet array set to high-force repulsion on a turret or gyro core | TNT balls, Cutters, or custom block penetrators | Reusable kinetic barrel; adjustable projectile types; no need to re-weld cameras manually | Physical projectiles can bounce or spill; requires fine-tuned impact velocity settings |
Step-by-Step Cam-Lock Explosive Railgun Tutorial
The camera-locked beam railgun aligns a long chain of compressed explosive blocks to an exact line of sight, creating an instant hit-line when activated.
1. Preparing the Fuselage and Camera Base
- Load your vehicle (such as a standard starter jet) and move the build upward in the builder to give yourself adequate clearance.
- Identify a single highlighted reference block directly along your vehicle's centerline fuselage, such as a centered propeller or nose cone block.
- Place a 1x4 beam temporarily extending forward from your mounting point, and mount a Camera block behind it.
- Delete the temporary 1x4 guide beam.
- Rebind the camera key to an unused keybind so normal flight controls do not interfere with camera alignment.
2. Configuring Trigger and Explosive Settings
- Place a harmless trigger TNT block directly adjacent or perpendicular to the camera. Set its blast pressure and radius to minimum so it does not destroy your vehicle on trigger.
- Select your firing keybind (for example, keybind 1 or 2).
- Place a second TNT block directly behind the camera. Configure this block with your firing keybind, set blast yield and radius to maximum, and ensure the "Arm on key" toggle is enabled.
3. Assembling the Compressor Extension
- Place Compressor blocks facing outward from the assembly.
- In the compressor configuration menu, turn off "Can Collide" and set transparency to active.
- Form a snake or cube layout by extending compressors in sets of three, angling one compressor sideways every three placements, and then extending forward again toward the edge of your building plot.
- Replace the angled turn blocks with harmful explosive blocks copied from your primary destructive TNT settings (max blast radius and pressure; "Ignore Self" can be checked based on vehicle clearance).
- Fill the gaps along the compressor line with explosive blocks to complete the destructive beam length.
4. Locking the Camera and Firing
- Enter the configuration tool, click the Camera block, and immediately click your aligned centerline reference part on the fuselage.
- Ensure the reference part is on the exact same horizontal and vertical level as the camera. If the reference part is offset above, below, or to the side, the beam will fire off-center.
- Launch into flight mode.
- Press your designated firing keybind once to spawn and arm the compressed explosive line.
- Press the firing keybind a second time to detonate the beam across the target area.
Building a Magnetic Push Railgun
For players who prefer reusable kinetic launchers, the magnetic push railgun accelerates physical projectiles through a barrel using repelling magnetic fields.
1. Turret Base and Chamber Construction
- Build a stable base using two or three motor blocks for standard turret movement, or attach the mount directly to a gyro core for shredder-style maneuverability.
- Construct a compact 1x1 interior chamber to seat your projectile.
- Place Magnet blocks surrounding the chamber in a cross configuration: one above, one below, and one on each side of the projectile chamber.
- Place one or more additional magnets directly behind the rear of the chamber to push the payload forward through the barrel.
2. Magnet and Keybind Configuration
- Open the configuration menu for each magnet and set the function to push/repel.
- Maximize the magnet strength setting. Expanding the magnetic radius is optional depending on barrel clearance.
- Bind the repel action to your primary firing key.
- Optional: Mount an aiming camera parallel to the barrel to track distant targets.
3. Selecting and Tuning Projectiles
Player testing identifies three viable projectiles for magnetic launchers:
- Explosive TNT Balls: Highly destructive against vehicle armor, penetrating roughly six blocks before triggering localized destruction. In the TNT ball menu, assign no keybind (or an unassigned key), and dial the impact speed setting to approximately 20. Do not select "Explode on Impact," as the force of aiming and barrel acceleration can trigger premature self-destruction.
- Cutter Blocks: Cutters do not combust inside the barrel and provide extreme flinging force against target builds. When loading cutters, cut your active magnet count roughly in half to prevent the cutter block from welding directly to the barrel walls.
- Solid Multi-Block Penetrators: Custom physical shells can punch directly through large ships, forts, and static bases. These payloads require all driving magnets to sit strictly behind the projectile rather than beside it, and carry a risk of bouncing off heavy exterior plating.
Known Operational Quirks and Troubleshooting
Operating railguns in Plane Crazy involves specific engine quirks documented by community tests:
- Camera Lock Resets on Reload: When using cam-lock explosive railguns, saving your build, loading a different slot, rejoining the server, or resetting your vehicle unlinks the camera lock. You must manually re-select the camera and re-click the aligned target block before each flight session to maintain beam alignment.
- Self-Damage Risks: If compressed explosive blocks spawn inside your own jet's collision box before clearing forward space, the detonation can instantly destroy your aircraft. Ensure "Can Collide" is disabled on compressors and verify that the trigger block is completely harmless.
- Plot Limits: Building compressor-driven beam railguns drastically reduces part counts compared to stacking hundreds of standard blocks, ensuring you won't have 3,000 blocks on your plot while maintaining full-plot combat reach.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my cam-lock railgun fail to align after loading my save?
The camera-locking link does not persist through save file reloads or server transitions. Every time you spawn or reload your vehicle build, click the camera tool, select the camera block, and click your reference fuselage block again to restore the aim lock.
What is the primary purpose of railguns in Plane Crazy PvP?
Railguns are primarily deployed to counter shredder bugs and heavily armored combat builds. The instant hit-box of a compressor beam and the high velocity of magnetic TNT balls bypass standard evasive maneuvers.
Can cutters and TNT blocks be combined into one magnet railgun projectile?
Community testing shows that affixing cutter blocks directly onto TNT blocks causes structural and firing failures inside the magnetic barrel. Projectiles should focus strictly on single-type kinetic cutters, standard timed TNT balls, or solid penetrators.
