Guidelines:

Find profitable gameplay loops
Reduce number of transactions (sol-fees are fixed costs)
Use automation if applicable
compound returns

Tools:

Scanning Assumptions:

The scanning fleet is subwarping from CSS to the center of the map (50 AU) to scan there.
We assume an average information density of 10%
We use the exact same budget for each fleet to make them comparable. The downside to this is that the number of ships in the fleet has decimels.
We round the ships stats for food/scan and SDU/scan to integer as this is what is used on the blockchain transactions. SFTs like food or SDUs don't have decimels.
We added a 30 seconds delay to the cooldown, which is the average delay that we measure on the blockchain when using automation tools like SLY's Lab Assistant

Scanning Table:

Budget: Budget in USD available to purchase ships for the fleet. Only ships below the budget threshold are listed in the table.
Ship_Price: Average traded ship price in USD on the marketplace from the previous day
Ships: Number of ships in this fleet; we allow decimals to be able to compare fleets with the same budget.
Floor_Price_Crew: Current floor price of crew traded on Tensor
Crew: Number of crew members required for this fleet; we allow decimals to be able to compare fleets with the same budget.
Scan_GP: Gross Profit in ATLAS per day for scanning with this fleet. A 6% marketplace fee is deducted.
Scan_Food: Food Costs in ATLAS per day for scanning with this fleet.
Scan_Fuel: Fuel Costs in ATLAS per day for scanning with this fleet. The fleet starts at the CSS and subwarps to the center of the map (50 AU) to scan there. The fleet does not move while scanning.
Scan_SOL: Solana transaction fees of 0.000006 are used for every transaction required for this gameplay loop.
Scan_Costs: Sum of all costs. Food + fuel + sol transaction fees.
Scan_NP: Net Profit in ATLAS per day for scanning with this fleet. Scan_GP - Scan_Costs.
Scan_PM: Profit Margin in percentage for scanning with this fleet. Scan_NP / Scan_GP.
Scan_ROI: Return on Investement in percent for scanning with this fleet. Scan_NP per Day * 365 * ATLAS/USD / Budget.
Mine_NP: Net Profit in ATLAS per day for mining hydrogen with this fleet. Ammo, food and fuel costs for mining and a marketplace fee of 6% are deducted
Mine_PM: Profit Margin in percent for mining hydrogen with this fleet.
Mine_ROI: Return on Investement in percent for mining hydrogen with this fleet.

Mining Assumptions:

We use the exact same budget for each fleet to make them comparable. The downside to this is that the number of ships in the fleet has decimels.
We added a 120 seconds delay at the end of each mining process to unload the raw materials and refill with ammo, food and fuel. This is the average time that we measure on the blockchain when using automation tools like SLY's Lab Assistant
We assume that a small player (budget of $200 and $500) will use Fimbul Lowbies to transport ressources that are not mined at the CSS back to the CSS and supply the mining fleet with ammo, food and fuel. For the $1.000 mining fleet we assume that Calico Maxhogs will be used. For the $5,000 and $10,000 budgets we used Rainbow OMs. The prices for those freight ships are deducted from the budget, therefore less mining ships can be bought.
For each ressource we used the longest distance in any of the three factions. For carbon with richness 1 we used 10.2 AU for example. This is the shortest distance to carbon for MUD players, even though ONI and Ustur players have a shorter distance to the closest carbon.

Mining Table:

Budget: Budget in USD available to purchase ships for the fleet. Only ships below the budget threshold are listed in the table.
Ship_Price: Average traded ship price in USD on the marketplace from the previous day
Ships: Number of ships in this fleet; we allow decimals to be able to compare fleets wtih the same budget.
Fleets: Number of fleets that are used; only important for higher budgets.
Floor_Price_Crew: Current floor price of crew traded on Tensor
Crew: Number of crew members required for this fleet; we allow decimals to be able to compare fleets with the same budget.
Ressource: Ressource that is mined and later sold to the marketplace.
Richness & Hardness: Richness of the Asteroid and Hardness of the ressource mined.
MR: Mining rate for each ship in this fleet modified by richness and hardness.
Gross_Profit: Gross Profit in ATLAS per day for mining with this fleet. A 6% marketplace fee is deducted.
Ammo_Mine: Ammo Costs in ATLAS per day for mining with this fleet.
Food_Mine: Food Costs in ATLAS per day for mining with this fleet.
Fuel_Mine: Fuel Costs in ATLAS per day for mining with this fleet. These are the fuel costs to exit the asteroid when the mining process is stoped.
Fuel_Cargo: Fuel Costs in ATLAS per day for transporting the raw materials back to the CSS, if applicable.
SOL_Mine: Solana transaction fees of 0.000006 for every transaction required for mining.
SOL_Cargo: Solana transaction fees of 0.000006 for every transaction required for cargo.
Net_Profit: Net Profit in ATLAS per day for mining with this fleet.
PM: Profit Margin in percent for mining with this fleet. Net_Profit / Gross_Profit.
ROI: Return on Investement in percent for mining with this fleet. Net_Profit * 365 * ATLAS/USD / Budget.
Breakeven: Number of ships needed to break even = covering fixed costs.
Breakeven_Fleet_Value: Fleet Value for the breakeven fleet, calculated using market prices.

Crafting Assumptions:

We use the exact same budget for each resource to make them comparable. The downside to this is that the number of ships has decimels.
We have not taken into account any SOL transaction fees as this game loop is only resulting in a few transactions per day.
We assume that a small player with a budget of $200 is investing $190 into XXS ships (Fimbul Airbike) and $10 into buying the ingredients for the crafting. A small player with a budget of $500 is investing $480 into XXS ships and $20 into ingredients.
It is important to note that liquidity on the marketplace is still very low, so a player may not be able to purchase the ingredients or sell the crafted items at the previous day's average price. This can affect the net profit and ROI.

Crafting Table:

Budget: Budget in USD available to purchase XXS ships as crew and buy ingredients for the craft.
Floor_Price_Crew: Current floor price of crew traded on Tensor
Crew: Number of crew members used for crafting; we allow decimals to be able to compare fleets with the same budget.
Crafting_Time: Crafting Time is seconds to craft one output with one crew.
Value_Ingredients: Average traded value in ATLAS on the previous day for all ingredients necessary to craft one output.
Price_ATLAS: Average traded price in ATLAS for the crafted item on the previous day.
Entry_Liquidity: Trading volume in USD for the ingredient(s) on the previous day.
Exit_Liquidity: Trading volume in USD for the crafted item on the previous day.
Crafts_Per_Day: Number of crafts that are possible on one day taken the budget for ingredients and the number of XXS ships = crew into account.
Net_Profit: Net Profit in USD per day for crafting. A 6% marketplace fee and the crafting fees are deducted.
ROI: Return on Investement in percent for crafting with this crew. Net_Profit * 365 / Budget.
Net_Profit_Per_Crew: Net Profit in USD per day for crafting per crew member.

Upgrading Starbases Assumptions:

We use the exact same budget for each component to make them comparable. The downside to this is that the number of ships has decimels.
We have not taken into account any SOL transaction fees as this game loop is only resulting in a few transactions per day.
We assume that a small player with a budget of $200 is purchasing one Fimbul Lowbie to transport the components to the starbase that should be upgraded and investing $10 into buying the ingredients for crafting. The remaining of the budget is invested into XXS ships (Fimbul Airbike) as crew. A small player with a budget of $500 is purchasing two Fimbul Lowbie and $20 into ingredients.
It is important to note that liquidity on the marketplace is still very low, so a player may not be able to purchase the ingredients at the previous day's average price. This can affect the net profit and ROI.
It is also important to note that upgrading starbases is not a 24/7 process, most of the time it is limited to a few days or, for some components, just a few hours. Therefore, a player cannot expect to get such a high ROI as an annual yield, but rather a short-term opportunity.
Unlike crafting there is no problem with the exit liquidity as the LPs will be converted to ATLAS. There is also no marketplace fee deducted as nothing is sold on the marketplace but LPs are converted to ATLAS.

Upgrading Starbases Table:

Budget: Budget in USD available to purchase XXS ships as crew, to buy components for the upgrade and to buy cargo ships (Fimbul Lowbie) for the transportation of components to starbases that are upgraded.
Budget_Components: Budget that is used to buy components for the upgrade.
Floor_Price_Crew: Current floor price of crew traded on Tensor
Crew: Number of crew members used for upgrading; we allow decimals to be able to compare fleets with the same budget.
Upgrading_Time: Upgrading Time is seconds using one component and one crew.
Price_ATLAS: Average traded price in ATLAS for the component on the previous day.
LP_Value_ATLAS: Average LP value over all three factions of the last three days.
Components_Per_Upgrade_Job: Amount of components used for each upgrade job.
Upgrade_Jobs_Per_Day: Number of upgrade jobs done per day.
Net_Profit: Net Profit in ATLAS per day for upgrading starbases.
ROI: Return on Investement in percent for upgrading starbases with this crew. Net_Profit * 365 * ATLAS/USD / Budget.
Net_Profit_Per_Crew: Net Profit in ATLAS per day for upgrading starbases per crew member.

STAR ATLAS - Gameplay Analytics