1. Basics
2. Turrets
3. Enemies
4. Missions
5. Hints and tips
1. Basics
When you start a new game you'll first get to the following screen:
From here you'll be able to start new missions and spend your upgrade points to improve your ship's performance. To start a new mission, click the latest available level on the map and click the icon that says "Bring It" to play.
The main game mechanics are quite easy to learn, when you've found your way through the map to the first level, you'll see a space ship in front of you with one big turret on it. When the game is in this state, you have the ability to upgrade and improve your ship or collect coins with the gathering-ship that follows your mouse. Click an empty slot on the ship and select a turret from the menu to build it, click the turret again to see it's current level and upgrading possibilities.
Deep Space Barrage uses two types of currencies: TP and ATP. The TP's are symbolized by an icon of a white gear, the ATP coins have as symbol a white gear with a green alien on it. You can earn TP coins by shooting down enemy ships in the game, and spend them by upgrading and buying new towers on your ship. The ATP coins come available at random when destroying an enemy, when you've finished a level you can control a small ship with your mouse to gather those coins. During gameplay you can't use the ATP coins, they're to be used for the upgrades you can buy in the menu.
When you click "Start Wave" the first enemy ships will slowly start to appear. Notice how you can move the camera around the level by using the arrow keys, you can zoom in or out by pressing Z or X on your keyboard. Use the mouse to fire from the main turret. After finishing off all enemies you can start upgrading and expanding your ship again and also collect the available coins.
When all levels are finished, you get some extra gathering time and then you get back to the game menu as seen above. Now you get to spend your ATP! Select the icon that says "Upgrades" for a wide variety of available upgrades, basically you can invest in more firepower, more defense or more money. Also you get the ability to upgrade each turret individually in the "Turret Properties", this will make the turret's overall performance better.
From here you'll be able to start new missions and spend your upgrade points to improve your ship's performance. To start a new mission, click the latest available level on the map and click the icon that says "Bring It" to play.
The main game mechanics are quite easy to learn, when you've found your way through the map to the first level, you'll see a space ship in front of you with one big turret on it. When the game is in this state, you have the ability to upgrade and improve your ship or collect coins with the gathering-ship that follows your mouse. Click an empty slot on the ship and select a turret from the menu to build it, click the turret again to see it's current level and upgrading possibilities.
Deep Space Barrage uses two types of currencies: TP and ATP. The TP's are symbolized by an icon of a white gear, the ATP coins have as symbol a white gear with a green alien on it. You can earn TP coins by shooting down enemy ships in the game, and spend them by upgrading and buying new towers on your ship. The ATP coins come available at random when destroying an enemy, when you've finished a level you can control a small ship with your mouse to gather those coins. During gameplay you can't use the ATP coins, they're to be used for the upgrades you can buy in the menu.
When you click "Start Wave" the first enemy ships will slowly start to appear. Notice how you can move the camera around the level by using the arrow keys, you can zoom in or out by pressing Z or X on your keyboard. Use the mouse to fire from the main turret. After finishing off all enemies you can start upgrading and expanding your ship again and also collect the available coins.
When all levels are finished, you get some extra gathering time and then you get back to the game menu as seen above. Now you get to spend your ATP! Select the icon that says "Upgrades" for a wide variety of available upgrades, basically you can invest in more firepower, more defense or more money. Also you get the ability to upgrade each turret individually in the "Turret Properties", this will make the turret's overall performance better.
2. Turrets
There is one turret you control yourself, and 5 different turrets that do their job automatically.
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Main turret The main turret is the only turret already available on your ship when you start a level. It's also the only turret you can control yourself. Upgrades for this turret are expensive but it will uncover some unexpected surprises if you do upgrade the gun. |
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Gun turret If you want a cheap and quick firing turret, you should definitely consider the gun turret, placed on the edges of your ship it will provide a good first defense from any side. If upgraded, the turret's fire rate will heavily increase which will give a nice bullet spree, good against groups of incoming enemies. |
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Laser Turret The laser turret mainly affects a ship's forcefield with heavy damage. This turret is useful against enemies with a large force field like the Alien Defender. The laser gun is unlocked at stage 1-2 of the game. |
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Sniper Turret Some enemies will attack your ship with misiles from a long distance, use the sniper turret for long range targets. The sniper is very effective against units like the Farstriker. The sniper turret is unlocked at stage 1-3 of the game. |
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Flak Turret An unusual turret that is unlocked in stage 1-6. The flak turret has the ability to slow down enemies, it shoots large blobs that travel at low speed. |
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Rocket turret The rocket turret is a precision weapon that locks on a target, when the target is reached, a big explosion causes a lot of damage. |
3. Enemies
There are quite some different ships coming after you:
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Battilion The first of the enemies you meet is a small ship with a low forcefield, health and gun power. These buggers shouldn't give you any problems unless they're with many. |
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Defender The small ship also known as Alien Defender carries a huge forcefield to protect itself from incoming projectiles. |
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Farstriker A large but slow ship, like it's name suggests the ship stays away from it's target and fires missiles from a distance. |
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Wyvern Very fast enemy with an average health and forcefield. This enemy first shows up in stage 1-5. |
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Crow Crows are very slow ships but have a high health level as well. It explodes on contact and does a lot of damage. |
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BOSS - Goliath Goliath is the level boss of stage 1, a heavily armed ship with a large forcefield to protect itself. The ship has an avarage speed. |
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Solar Battilion An evolution of the regular battilion ships. This one is able to fire solar powered shots, they're just flies when they attack. |
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Raven Boom With slow speed but strong health this ship delivers heavy damage, like the Crow, it's a kamikaze unit that explodes on impact. |
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Protector This ship uses its power to protect the weaker ships and provide support. They can be very dangerous in swarms. |
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Drake An almost unmatched speed, that drifts in the deep space. |
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Offstrike A slow flying ship that will hold still at a distance to shoot with high precision. |
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BOSS - Martian Eagle Another level boss, the Maritan Eagle is a legendary spaceship, a veteran of over 200 battles. This is one ship whose wrath is something to be feared. |
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Hyper Battilion Faster and tougher, this battilion ship can be quite dangerous in a group, but it's armor is still quite low. |
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Blood Raven Protected by the strongest metal, this ship throws a star shattering punch on impact. |
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Shield This ship protects itself and anyone behind it with a mighty defense, it also has small cannons but they won't harm you a lot unless they're with many. |
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Dragoon This ship may appear out of nowhere since it's very fast. This ship may execute some strange moves to avoid enemy attacks. |
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Coldstrike The long range ship blindly attacks it's prey with a deathly shot that has a devastating force, make sure you have some upgraded sniper towers ready when this unit pops up! |
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BOSS - Shadow The final level boss has the ability to clock itself, the ship is very fast and can fire 3 or more bullets at once, be prepared! |
4. Stages
The game consists of 3 galaxies, play through the stages of each galaxy to get through the game. Sometimes you'll get multiple battles to choose from. Besides the regular stages, there are also missions with mist or asteroids involved to make the situation more challenging. Also at the end of a galaxy you'll meet a level boss!
5. Hints and tips
For some cheap and effective upgrades, make sure to check out the Turret Properties, you can find them at the Upgrades window.
Make sure to place turrets on different sides of your ships, enemies will be coming in from different angles, a turret that has it's target coming right for it will have an easier job than a turret that has to turn with the movement of the enemy.
During gameplay, the upgrades for your Main Turret seem expensive but there's quite some more power in the turret.
To make sure your turrets keep up with fast enemy ships, upgrade your turret rotation at the Upgrades window.
Make sure to place turrets on different sides of your ships, enemies will be coming in from different angles, a turret that has it's target coming right for it will have an easier job than a turret that has to turn with the movement of the enemy.
During gameplay, the upgrades for your Main Turret seem expensive but there's quite some more power in the turret.
To make sure your turrets keep up with fast enemy ships, upgrade your turret rotation at the Upgrades window.