# V1 progression and balance

The source of truth is `QuietPlaces/Core/Economy.swift` and `Catalog.swift`. `swift run Balance` exercises the same implementation as the app, with no purchases. `BALANCE_RESULTS.txt` records its output. This is a deterministic design model, not observed player retention or a promise of a particular completion time.

## One spendable resource

Discoveries pay for equipment. Postmarks are optional premium provisions, also earned through play. Knowledge and generations are permanent progression records, not additional spendable wallets. No streaks, missed-visit penalties or time-limited offers are used.

For equipment rank `r`, the next price is `ceil(base × growth^r)`:

| Equipment | Base | Growth | Maximum | Effect |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- |
| Solar sail | 30 | 1.85 | 30 | +14% of base travel speed per rank |
| Survey instruments | 45 | 1.90 | 30 | +24% of base arrival reward per rank |
| Navigation | 150 | 3.00 | 9 | Reveal unfamiliar destinations; +2% base travel speed per rank |
| Scouts | 100 | 2.05 | 30 | Additional automatic Discovery income |
| Cargo | 200 | 2.40 | 8 | +2 offline hours per rank, within the free cap |
| Current gathering | 300 | 3.20 | 8 | More charge per action, stronger boost, more exceptional surveys |

Travel speed is `(1 + .14 × sail + .02 × navigation) × (1 + .012 × Knowledge) × (1 + .2 × generations)`, limited to 60 base-distance units per second. One unit is one second of travel for the initial vessel. The last quarter of a route is presented as surveying; both phases benefit from the sail.

The global reward multiplier is `(1 + .05 × Knowledge) × (1 + .6 × generations)`, with a further `1.5` for Luminous charts. Generation growth is additive, preventing an exponential prestige feedback loop.

## Destinations and route trade-offs

| Place | Navigation | Generation | Base distance | Base Discoveries |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Lantern Reach | 0 | 0 | 45 | 30 |
| The Folded Moon | 1 | 0 | 75 | 70 |
| The Glass Grove | 2 | 0 | 110 | 160 |
| The Listening Ring | 3 | 0 | 160 | 360 |
| Porcelain Shore | 4 | 0 | 220 | 850 |
| The Tidal Library | 5 | 0 | 300 | 1,900 |
| Cradle of Comets | 6 | 0 | 420 | 4,400 |
| The Quiet Meridian | 7 | 0 | 540 | 10,000 |
| The Anchorless Garden | 4 | 1 | 360 | 16,000 |
| The Far Bell | 5 | 1 | 480 | 25,000 |
| The Weaver's Horizon | 6 | 1 | 660 | 40,000 |
| The Last Haven | 7 | 1 | 900 | 70,000 |

Already charted places remain accessible regardless of reset equipment.

| Course | Distance factor | Reward factor | Purpose |
| --- | ---: | ---: | --- |
| Short passage | 1 | 1 | Earlier arrival and earlier spending opportunity |
| Long expedition | 3 | 3.75 | 25% better steady reward per travel-second to the same place |
| Unfamiliar current | 1.7 | 1.6 | A permanent entry and first-visit reward |
| Deep survey | 6 | 8 | Repeatable post-completion course |

Arrival reward = base destination reward × route factor × `(1 + .24 × instruments)` × global multiplier × `(1 + .03 × charted places)`. A first visit also multiplies by `1.75`. Every `max(3, 7 − floor(current rank / 2))`th lifetime arrival doubles its reward. Counts and first visits are integrated identically during active and offline play.

Scouts earn `n × .2 × (1 + .15 × floor(n/5)) × global` Discoveries per second, where `n` includes Companion signal's permanent scout. That product also multiplies the scout total by `1.2`. Scouts are supplementary income; route rewards carry the main exploration economy.

Each accepted current action adds `20 + 4 × current rank` charge, limited to one action per 0.8 seconds. At 100 charge, the meter empties and the sail gains 90 seconds at `1.7 + .1 × rank` times normal speed. The duration refreshes rather than stacking indefinitely. Charge does not decay. Tracing and tapping call the same operation.

## New Bearings and Passing the Atlas

New Bearings needs five expedition arrivals and `10,000 × global` earned expedition Discoveries. It grants `floor(3 × sqrt(expedition earnings / threshold))` permanent Knowledge, limited to 100,000 per reset, plus 2 Postmarks. Including permanent reward factors in the threshold keeps the prestige reward curve controlled. Better equipment and more profitable routes still improve rebuilding.

The first Passing needs eight places and 50 Knowledge earned since the previous passing. Later requirements are `ceil(50 × 1.9^generation)`, with a 100,000 ceiling, and all twelve places. Passing grants one generation and 10 Postmarks. It keeps total Knowledge but clears the since-passing counter.

| State | New Bearings | Passing the Atlas |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Unspent Discoveries, expedition earnings/arrivals | Reset | Reset |
| Equipment, current route/progress, queued course, boost/charge | Reset | Reset |
| Total Knowledge | Keep and add reward | Keep |
| Knowledge since passing | Keep and add reward | Reset |
| Atlas, Postmarks, colours, purchases, settings, lifetime records | Keep | Keep |
| Starting Discoveries | 20 per Knowledge, maximum 1,500 | Same |
| Generation starting equipment | After first passing: sails 2, instruments 2, Navigation 2, scout 1 | Same, immediately available |

Each generation contributes +60% base rewards, +20% base speed and two hours of free offline capacity. The first unlocks the four places Beyond the Fold. The finite atlas remains complete after further resets.

## Offline accounting

The free hold is `min(24, 8 + 2 × cargo + 2 × generations)` hours; Deep hold is 32. Offline travel advances the selected repeated route, applies one queued change at the next arrival, handles both destinations' first visits, aggregates revisits and exceptional results, and adds scout income. Remaining temporary sail time is integrated separately from ordinary travel. Time beyond the cap is settled rather than deferred for a second claim. A backward clock change never moves the save watermark backwards.

The calculation is algebraic for repeat arrivals, so a long absence does not require thousands of per-arrival UI or simulation operations. The core tests compare a long settlement against quarter-second steps across a queued new destination, boost expiry and exceptional surveys.

## Modelled pacing

The included policies buy affordable equipment, prefer an available unfamiliar route and otherwise use a profitable known long expedition. Navigation has priority when a new place is locked; equipment spending is restrained relative to its next goal. New Bearings is taken at increasing Knowledge rewards. No Postmarks or purchases are spent.

The active policy makes equipment/route decisions every ten seconds and gathers at most once every two seconds. The two idle policies make decisions every five minutes and every eight hours. The eight-hour policy is deliberately coarse: it represents minimal revisits, not an optimised opening session. Exact milestone times are recorded in BALANCE_RESULTS.txt. The opening is roughly half a minute to the first active arrival, then several destinations and affordable upgrades over the next fifteen minutes. The atlas is a focused multi-session progression; repeated expeditions remain after completion.

Human pacing, clarity and long-term enjoyment still benefit from TestFlight feedback. No live economy telemetry or real-player retention study was performed.