STARSHIP DEFENSE (A.K.A. Starship Patrol Europe, Starship Defender Japan) DSIWare Version 1 By Minor Annoyance ------------ Introduction ------------ Starship Defense is a tower defense game for the DSi (download). Enemies follow a path around your fleet of ships which have two types of hard points to attach weapons that fire on enemies within there targeting field. Your main resource is energy. It's used to buy weapons and the cost is shown in the this guild like this: <###>. You start with a small amount and get more mainly by defeating enemies. At the end of each wave you earn "interest" on the energy you have at the end of the wave. Because of this it is a good idea to spend just enough energy to defeat each wave so you'll gain more in interest. Remember what Einstein said: "The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest" Your second resource is crystals, used to unlock advanced weapons, the cost of which is shown in the this guild like this: (#). You get one at the end of each wave and can also be used to unlock bonuses, or use SOS cards. SOS cards are awarded at the end of successful missions. You can hold only three at a time and if you use an SOS and still fail the mission you get that SOS card back. So there's no reason not to use one if you so if your not trying to get a no SOS bonus then Note: Anything more than S.O.S. cards and basic weapons are unlocked while playing theough them game. I don't have the information on when they're unlocked because I'd have to start over and delete the game data. I'm not going to do that yet before I know anyone else actually plays this game. ------- Weapons ------- I've described the effects of each weapon and some basic strategy for them. I've done some experimenting so some details that aren't spelled out anywhere in the game are here. Also the effects of the three types of power ups are described. You get the basic idea just from the name of the power up but again, there's some more details that aren't spelled out that you'd have to notice for yourself it know about. Or you can read them here. [Basic] Ghost Laser <100> This is your most basic weapon and like you'd expect of your most basic weapon it's cheep and versatile, but not the most effective option. Obviously you will need it for cloaked enemies. The Ghost Laser has a narrow targeting arc so it's best placed somewhere where enemies approach straight towards it, where you may be able to get two shots from it. If enemies are passing in front of it, it will hit the first one and its slow recharge will cause the rest to pass it by. You may have to micromanage its adjustable firing arc sometimes so it hits the first enemy in a wave and then shift the angle so it can catch another enemy at the end. If they're close enough some enemies may even pass behind it's firing range. Also useful when placed in an area where enemies have to pass by more than once like in a wide "U" shaped canyon or where several of them can be angled to aim at approaching enemies, like an interior corner, placing them along both walls. +Power The power upgrade as an added effect in addition to doing more damage. It causes the Ghost Laser beam to shoot through enemies, allowing it to hit several of them in one shot, which can be very effective. In the right levels and placed correctly I've seen more than five weak enemies get killed in a single shot. To be effective they obviously have to approach down it's firing arc and not across. +Range A big improvement over its standard arc. Best used when enemies are passing at a distance at the widest part of the arc allowing it to fire earlier and get a second shot at the later part of the enemies path. Also can allow you to hit an enemy a second time if it makes a U turn to move along an opposite wall. +Speed The most useful upgrade if multiple enemies are passing in front of it at close range. Still won't make it fast enough to hit the same enemy more than once unless they're lingering in the area anyway. Berserkers <120> Almost as inexpensive as the Ghost Laser, so you can buy them in large amounts. Has splash damage and good power so it's useful against swarms of weak enemies as well as stronger ones. They have to be moving slowly though. Apparently these gunners haven't played Missile Command and don't know you need to shoot not where the enemy is, but where it is going to be, because a fast moving enemy will often be on the edge of the blast radius by the time it explodes. Also with its slow recharge time you may not get many shots from them per wave. While they cannot target stealth enemies, they can still damage them if they fire on a visible enemy and the invisible one is within the blast radius, but since they're not at the center of the blast they won't take as much damage. They are very short range but there variable angle can still help you get extra shots on occasion. It's best placed where enemies pass in front of them if for no other reason than to allow the Ghost Laser to get the placement that's better for them. +Power Basic damage increase so good against strong enemies, but since it also has splash damage it will increase the damage done to weak enemies at the edge of the blast radius where they might not have been killed in one hit before. This may also increase the size blast radius or it may just seem that way because of the increased damage at the edge. +Range The Berserker already has very short firing range, so doubling almost nothing is still almost nothing. The real use of this is that it increases the blast radius of the missiles. It's quite an increase actually. I've been surprised how far away weak enemies pop into a shower of energy when a Berserker targets a much closer enemy. So it's very useful for attacking swarms of weak enemies. +Speed It was very slow, now it's less slow. Not much else to say. Makes them better but doesn't change your strategy. Gatling Gun <200> Fires rapid low damage shots and has a very wide firing arc, so they are great for whittling down enemies with constant damage. Best placed on an outside corner where it can fire on something while it moves throughout it's firing arc. It's good to pair other slow firing or restricted range weapons with a Gatling Gun. While your Ghost Lasers or Berserkers can get a good but sometimes non-fatal hit on something they likely don't have the time to get in a second hit in due to thier recharge time. The Gatling Gun however is always firing on something that's in range, so it's a reliable source of damage, with the exception of solar flare levels. Solar Flares will shut down all your Gatling Guns for a few waves, so it's best not to use them at all in those levels +Power Great increase in damage, not much else to say. +Range This makes an already large firing arc huge. With this the Gatling Gun will rarely be idle. +Speed Better than the power bonus from what I've seen. In the same situation I've seen speed kill more enemies than power, possibly due to overkill in the final hit on an enemy wasting damage while faster firing likely does the same damage, but nothing is lost on overkill. It's rare for the right situation to occur where it will make a difference, so don't hesitate to use power if you want to upgrade a Gatling Gun's damage output if it's available, but if you have the option like with the rotating power up, go for speed. [Advanced] Mag Ray <200> (1) There's an important factor to consider when using Mag Rays. Their targeting beam rotates clockwise, so the direction the enemy wave is moving in can determine how well the Mag Ray works. If the enemy is moving in the same direction, depending on the speed, it might not catch a single enemy but if it does when the it releases the enemy, the Mag Ray might grab it again and hold it indefinitely. The other possibility is the beam and enemy are moving towards each other, in which case it is certain to catch something, but when released they more in opposite directions so it will not catch the same enemy twice. Although if the other enemy units don't more fast enough to pass the trapped one then you'll likely trap each one once and slow down the whole wave. This is best used against high strength single enemies or very small groups. Holding one out of twenty enemies in a wave likely won't tip the scales in your favor. You should probably only place the Mag Ray where there's empty space on at least two sides, otherwise the beam will spend a more than half it's time scanning the interior of your ship. +Power Allows the Mag Ray to hold two enemies at the same time. While it's twice as effective, it's still doesn't make it good against swarms. +Range Simply increases range. Since the Mag Ray is installed in the interior of your ship rather than on the edge some of it's range is wasted scanning where no enemies can be. This gives you more open space to target. Range bonus is almost necessary to get the most out of your Mag Ray. +Speed The scanner spins faster making it easier to catch enemies, but the range is still the critical issue with Mag Rays Mine Launcher <250> (2) The Mine Launcher drops four mines a short distance in front of it. They disappear after a short time, but it takes slightly longer than it takes for it to recharge, so for about three seconds you will have eight mines in place. The fact that a mine hit will decloak a stealth enemy allowing for conventional weapons to hit them may be it's most important feature. The first enemy in the wave will plow through the minefield and take most of the damage and be decloaked. Since it doesn't wait for an enemy to fire you can't be sure when in a wave it will fire new mines, so don't rely on mines to handle all your stealth enemies. Keep in mind that the decloaking effect lasts for about 8 seconds, and you can't decloak an enemy again until it's cloak is fully restored. This means if an enemy gets hit with a mine and decloaks and gets hit with another mine 7 seconds later it will still recloak one second later. So if you want to use it to decloak strong enemies to be fired on by conventional weapons you have to watch your spacing of Mine Launchers and the speed of your target. Against weaker enemies you can have them closer together because they will likely be destroyed by the mines themselves before you benefit from the decloaking effect. Remember that the Mine Launcher spreads mines in a random pattern, which means not evenly. They may end up all too far away or too close or some far and some close and none in the middle and you're targets might slip between them. Nothing you can do but have more launchers to increase your odds of having them hit something. +Power With the unpredictable nature of mines I can't determine how much of an increase in damage the power upgrade gives. I just assume it works. +Range Not really much of a range increase at all. I actually throws out an extra mine increasing it from four to five. So it doesn't really cover a wider area, it just covers the area more thoroughly so there's less likelihood of there being empty space for enemies to pass through. +Speed This is, in my opinion, clearly the best option for a Mine Launcher upgrade. I mentioned earlier the recharge rate causes an overlap of 3 seconds where you have double the active mines. With the Speed upgrade that increases to 7 seconds, which actually leaves only two seconds when it doesn't have double mines. More mines active at the same time means more damage (like the damage upgrade) and less empty space for enemies to pass through (like the range upgrade). So this is really the best of all options. Starport <330> (2) The Starport launches three small fighters that fire small quick shots similar to the Gattling Gun and follow a target for a set amount of time. The fighters can follow their target outside of the "firing" range of the Starbase itself. Its range is just for launching fighters, they can operate outside of that range afterwards. When there target is destroyed they will begin attacking another nearby target. Again, this is independent of the Starbase's launch range. This makes the Starbase best used against fast moving enemies. While other weapons get more shots when an enemy stays in it's firing arc long enough to recharge, the Starbase will do a consistent amount of damage regardless of how fast or on what path the enemy flies. Solar Flares will shut down all your Starports for a few waves, so it's best not to use them at all in those levels. +Power Appears to be a standard damage increase. +Range As I've mentioned several times, the Starport's fighters can fly outside of the Starport's firing range, making range less important for it. The range upgrade can however be used to get a second attack against a large wave by launching earlier and having time to return and refuel and launch again against the enemies at the end of a wave. They will likely still have to be moving slowly for this to work. +Speed This isn't really a speed increase at all. Instead it increases the flight time of the fighters, allowing them to get in more shots before returning to base. [Science] Storm Gun <350> (3) The Storm Gun does not do a lot of damage to any individual target, however it does hit so many targets at once that it adds up quickly. The Storm Gun has two targeting radii. An enemy has to enter the inner radius for it to fire. Afterwards the attack will continue to cascade over all enemies that are within that or the second targeting radius. So obviously the more open area it covers the more potential targets it can hit. Solar Flares will shut down all your Storm Guns for a few waves, so it's best not to use them at all in those levels. +Power Standard damage increase, and with the small individual damage there's no danger of overkill. +Range Increases both firing range and cascade damage range, and this weapon more than any other benefits from having more targets available. +Speed A faster recharge rate. Doesn't really affect your strategy for using the Storm Gun. Gravigun <400> (3) Fires at an enemy (stealth included) and creates at that point a wide circular field. While in that field enemies take constant damage. The in game description implies it slows down enemies but the way it works it seems to stall them near the center of the field and then they quickly rejoin the place where they would have been on the path had they not been caught. So no practical slowdown effect I can see. +Power Standard power increase. +Range Increases the firing range but also the size of the singularity it creates. +Speed Fires faster. No other noticeable effect. [Special] Y-Bomb (2) Can be placed anywhere and explodes shortly after, so make sure you place it ahead of your target. If an enemy escapes all your weapons and you can't place anymore in it's path this may be the only option left. Crystals are a limited resource so don't use it often. Although if you already have all the weapons you need unlocked then there's no reason not to use it. E-Boost (1) This should be the first thing you use crystals for in any mission. It will increase the energy bonus (interest) from each wave from 5% to 10% then 20%. This can be a big bonus over the course of the mission so the sooner you get it up the better. And if you need more crystals... Power Crystals <200, 300, 400, 500> You don't really need to unlock every weapon on every mission so you shouldn't often be short on crystals, but when going for perfect missions then sometimes you can't wait. Especially if you used E-Boost (which you should) because then it would be the sixth wave before you unlock a science weapon. Buy getting to a 20% bonus early you can earn enough extra energy to buy a power crystal to replace the ones you used to get to 20%, unless you need new weapons really early. Basically I'm saying use you own judgement. ------- Enemies ------- I'll get to them next - This is the end of the file. You ain't got to go home, but you can't stay here. - 0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789123456789