Economy Balancing - Atlas Scripts

The default economy is a “normal-server” starting point. Tune it to match your earning rates, money sinks, and expected session length. This page explains how the numbers interact so you change the right one.

How a catch is rolled

After a successful minigame, the server picks a catch. Each candidate fish gets an effective weight, and one is chosen in proportion to that weight:

effectiveWeight(fish) = tiers[fish.tier]          -- base rarity weight
                      * (fish.weight or 1)         -- intra-tier bias
                      * bait.mult[fish.tier]       -- the equipped bait
                      * zone.mult[fish.tier]       -- current hotspot (1 if outside any zone)

Separately, the bait’s fail chance can produce no catch at all before this roll even runs. So bait does two jobs: it lowers the fail rate and reshapes which tiers are reachable.

A bait mult of 0.0 for a tier makes that tier impossible with that bait. In the defaults, Worms and Dough Balls have epic = 0.0, legendary = 0.0 — you cannot pull a legendary on cheap bait.

The controls

Config area	Controls
`Config.tiers`	Base rarity weights (junk 10 · common 45 · uncommon 24 · rare 9 · epic 3 · legendary 1)
`Config.baits`	Bait `price`, `fail` chance, and per-tier `mult`
`Config.fish`	Catch `price` and optional intra-tier `weight`
`Config.zones`	Location-based rarity multipliers
`Config.shop.items`	Rod and bait purchase prices
`Config.sell.account`	Account that receives sell payouts
`Config.boatrental.boats`	Optional boat rental prices

The bait ladder

The six default baits form a deliberate progression — each one costs more, fails less, and shifts weight up the rarity curve:

Bait	Price	Fail	Reaches
Worms	15	28%	junk/common only
Dough Balls	25	25%	up to rare (weakly)
Minnows	60	22%	rare comfortably, a little epic
Shrimp	120	16%	strong rare, real epic, a sliver of legendary
Squid	250	10%	epic-focused, better legendary
Glowing Lure	600	5%	best epic + legendary odds

Good bait design keeps this shape: cheap bait is low-risk but capped, premium bait is expensive enough that the payout jump feels earned rather than mandatory.

Sell prices

Sell prices live on each fish in Config.fish and climb steeply by tier — common fish are 120–250, rare 950–1600, epic 3200–4500, and legendary 9000–25000 (the Golden Koi). Tune these after you have watched real catch frequency, not before, because the tier weights and bait mult decide how often each price actually pays out.

A balancing pass

Set target earnings

Pick what a normal player should earn in 10, 30, and 60 minutes.

Test starter bait

Worms and Dough Balls should be affordable and low-risk, but clearly capped.

Test premium bait

Shrimp, Squid, and the Glowing Lure should feel worth buying without printing money.

Check zone value

Deep Sea and Alamo Sea should reward the travel, boat cost, and risk via their rare/epic/legendary multipliers.

Adjust sell prices last

Tune Config.fish prices once you know how often each tier actually lands.

Worked adjustments

If players earn too much, raise the cost of the best bait and rein in legendaries:

Config.baits[6].price = 800   -- Glowing Lure (default 600)
Config.tiers.legendary = 0.5  -- default 1

If fishing feels too slow, shorten the bite wait:

Config.cast.biteWaitMin = 2500  -- default 4000
Config.cast.biteWaitMax = 8000  -- default 12000

If rare fish are too common in a hotspot, soften that zone’s multipliers:

mult = { rare = 1.2, epic = 1.5, legendary = 1.8 }  -- default deep_sea: 1.4 / 2.0 / 2.5

Avoiding runaway profit

Keep legendary base weight low (Config.tiers.legendary).
Make premium bait expensive enough that the fail-rate and tier gains are a real trade.
Do not boost every tier in every zone.
Balance boat rental cost against deep-sea rewards.
Test with real players for 20–30 minutes, not just an admin who knows the minigames.

Testing checklist

A new player can afford the rod and starter bait.
Cheap bait is useful but clearly capped.
Premium bait feels exciting, not mandatory.
Each zone has a reason to exist.
Selling pays the intended Config.sell.account.
Failed catches and junk do not feel unfair.

​How a catch is rolled

​The controls

​The bait ladder

​Sell prices

​A balancing pass

​Worked adjustments

​Avoiding runaway profit

​Testing checklist

How a catch is rolled

The controls

The bait ladder

Sell prices

A balancing pass

Worked adjustments

Avoiding runaway profit

Testing checklist