Economy & ∀Cred
∀Cred is vCareer's only currency. You earn it by flying
missions and spend it on type ratings and tier-ups. XP is the
parallel progression token — it never converts to ∀Cred and you can't
spend it; it gates tier advancement inside a class.
The anchor
The economy hangs off one number:
∀1,000 ≈ 1 minute of paid flight at the Bush class rate with no multipliers.
Bush sits at base rate 1.0. Other classes earn more per minute via their
class_pay_rate: Business 1.1, Charter 1.1, Small Airline 1.2,
Cargo 1.3, Long Haul 1.4. Tier does not directly scale
per-minute pay — progression is felt through unlocked classes and aircraft,
not through a tier multiplier on identical flights.
Reward formula
For a completed mission:
base_reward = leg_minutes × 1000 × class_pay_rate difficulty_mult = weather × atc_coverage × time_of_day × first_time_at_airport total_reward = round(base_reward × difficulty_mult × time_sensitive_bonus) xp_earned = round(leg_minutes × class_pay_rate × difficulty_mult)
XP and ∀Cred share the same multipliers but scale differently. A typical 90-minute flight at class rate 1.0 with no multipliers earns ~90 XP and ~∀90,000. The 1,000× factor is what makes ∀Cred numbers feel weighty.
Multipliers reference
| FACTOR | WHAT IT MEASURES | RANGE |
|---|---|---|
weather | Computed from current METAR (ceiling, vis, wind, gusts). | 1.0× – 1.3× |
atc_coverage | Average dep+arr ATC presence at landing time. | 1.0× – 1.4× |
time_of_day | Night legs and unusual hours. | 1.0× – 1.1× |
first_time_at_airport | Either dep or arr is new to you (one-shot per airport). | +10% |
time_sensitive | Departed inside a published window (e.g. within 60min of accept). | +15% |
Multipliers compose multiplicatively. A flight with active Tower at both ends, a first-time arrival, marginal METAR, and a time-sensitive window can easily pay out at 1.7×–1.9× the base.
XP vs ∀Cred
∀Cred is a balance. You earn it, you spend it on type ratings and tier-ups. There is no premium currency; you can't buy ∀Cred with money; you can't trade it. The minimum balance is 0 — crashes and fees can never drive you negative.
XP is per-class progression. XP accumulates inside the class you flew the mission for, and gates tier advancement (e.g. T1 → T2 requires 20,000 XP plus a mission count). XP never decays, never converts, and never spends. Mastering Charter doesn't help your Bush XP.
What you spend on
Most of the cost over a career is type ratings and tier-up fees. Class entries are intentionally cheap so the early-game lock-in regret never happens.
| SINK | COST | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Class entry test | ∀1,000 | Refunded on pass · retake at 50% fee |
| Class registration | ∀5,000 | One-shot per class, charged on pass |
| Type rating · GA | ∀5,000 | C172, Beaver, Cub |
| Type rating · Turboprop GA | ∀15,000 | TBM, PC-12, DA42 |
| Type rating · Regional turboprop | ∀30,000 | ATR-72, Dash-8 |
| Type rating · Business jet | ∀50,000 | Citation, Phenom |
| Type rating · Narrow-body | ∀100,000 | A320, 737 |
| Type rating · Widebody | ∀200,000 – ∀500,000 | 767, A330, 777, 787, 747-8, A380 |
Fairness rules
- No purchases, ever. ∀Cred is in-game only. We don't sell it.
- No trading. Balances are per-CID and don't move between accounts.
- Server-authoritative. Rewards, refunds, and penalties are computed and applied server-side from your VATSIM track. The client doesn't get to claim a completion.
- Floor at zero. Crash penalties and fees clamp at the available balance; we never run you into the negative.
docs/economy.md.