Devlog & release notes

⌨️ Run the whole plant from the keyboard

• Every part of the console now has a keyboard shortcut. Press ? any time (or ⚙ menu → Keyboard shortcuts) for the full list.
• Views: 1 all-in-one · 2 operate · 3 data · 4 switchyard.
• Simulation: Space pause/resume · +/− speed · M sound · G guide · Esc close a dialog.
• Units: Q/W/E select unit 1/2/3 (the active unit is highlighted), then S start · A auto-sync · Y synchronise · C close breaker · B energise dead bus · X stop · R reset lockout.
• Shortcuts are ignored while you're typing or dragging a slider, so they never get in the way.

💾 Your shift is saved

• The sim now autosaves your shift every 30 seconds and whenever you close or switch away from the tab — a small green "● SAVED" tick in the top bar confirms each save.
• Come back later and you'll be offered to RESUME SHIFT right where you left off: reservoir level, running units, cash, faults, market, time of day — everything. Or start fresh if you'd rather.
• Finishing a shift or picking a scenario starts clean — the save is only for shifts in progress.
• Save game from the new ⚙ menu downloads a save file you can keep or move between machines — the only copy that survives clearing your browser's cookies / site data. Load it back from the ? GUIDE, which also shows when you last backed up.
• After a good stretch of unbacked-up play, a small, dismissable reminder offers to grab a backup file in one click (turn it off any time).

⚙️ Tidier top bar

• Guide, Legal and Support now live under a single ⚙ menu (alongside Save game), so the top bar is less cluttered.

🔌 Multi-grid switchyard (Realistic & Expert)

• Export power to two neighbouring grids — Coastal Intertie and Rural Co-op — each with its own live price and its own price spikes.
• Exports are surplus-only: the town is always served first, and whatever you generate beyond its needs flows out automatically, highest price first, up to the "sell up to" limit you set. Exporting can never rob the town or sag your frequency — to sell more, make more.
• Real switchyard procedure: synchronise the tie, close its breaker, set your limit. ⭐ marks the top buyer; ⚡ spikes are the cue to push power their way. Lives on the new SWITCHYARD screen, with prices in the MARKET tab.

⚖️ Balance

• Town demand eased ~12% across the day. Two units now carry a normal day and the third covers the peak — leaving real surplus headroom to sell over the interties, instead of running flat-out from the opening bell.

🖥️ Pages view & 🎓 rebuilt tutorial

• ▤ PAGES splits the console into larger SCADA-style screens — OPERATE, DATA and SWITCHYARD — with alarms and unit controls on every page. ALL-IN-ONE remains the default.
• A rebuilt 24-step tutorial walks you from cold start to two-unit operation, the dispatch market, the river licence and a clean shutdown, with highlighted "▸ DO THIS" action steps.
• Readability fixes (the console no longer renders smaller than intended in some layouts), live rotor rpm% on every start, and Guide coverage of the interties.

The first public release, on hydroelectricsim.com and itch.io.

• Full control-room sim: 3 turbine units (start / sync / load / stop), spillway, line breaker, GSU tap, AVR/excitation, cooling and maintenance.
• Island-grid frequency game: match generation to the town's demand and hold 60 Hz, with under-frequency load shedding, blackouts and black-start recovery.
• Grid dispatch & market loop: dispatch orders with compliance pay, spot-price surges, industrial load blocks and system frequency events.
• Water management: weather and inflows, floods and droughts, downstream licence (minimum flow, ramp rate, headpond band) and river flood routing.
• Ancillary-services market, water value / economic dispatch, five scenarios, three difficulty modes, an interactive tutorial and a fully synthesised soundscape.