Hydro News

[p]Hi everyone, [/p][p]I know it's almost over, but October 2025 is actually a BIG milestone month for Hydro, as it marks a whole year since I began the Hydro project! (I officially began development back on October 6th, 2024). [/p][p]To celebrate, I've been working busily on a MAJOR UPDATE for Hydro over the past few weeks and here are the fruits of that labor![/p][p]This is the very first MAJOR UPDATE for Hydro since its full version release less than 3 months ago, and this one adds a HEAP quality and feature updates! Let's get into it...[/p][h2]RANDOM TELEGRAPH MESSAGE SEND/RECEIVE FAILURES[/h2][p]As part of this update, the telegraph units are now looking worse-for-wear by default and more prone to randomly failing to either send or receive telegram messages...these failures can now occur even if the Accumulator is charged sufficiently (>50V). [/p][p]Note that a previous update (v1.19) which introduced telegraph send/receive failures when the Accumulator charge is low (receive will mean you are not notified of the event which has just occurred, however the consequence of that event will still occur (such as a noise complaint penalty) - you just won't have the info on what happened.[/p][p]Note that missed incoming messages can also mean you can occasionally miss out on receiving the coveted Township Demands and this can affect your income; thankfully there is a way to 'upgrade' your telegraphs to make them more reliable...keep reading to learn more![/p][p][/p][p]Above: an example of an UN-upgraded telegraph unit - prone to more failures with this update![/p][p]To get the telegraphs functioning as reliably as possible, apply the brand new telegraph upgrades detailed below...[/p][h2]THREE (3) NEW UPGRADES[/h2][p]The Upgrade Blueprint now scores a brand new page (page 4) and there are 3 brand new upgrades to research.[/p]

1. [p]Refurbished Sending Telegraph Unit - this improves the sending reliability of the Sending Telegraph Unit...note that a sufficient Accumulator charge (above the 'red zone' - or 50V) is still recommended to avoid reliability issues[/p]
2. [p]Refurbished Receiving Telegraph Unit - this improves the receiving reliability of the Receiving Telegraph Unit...note that a sufficient Accumulator charge (above the 'red zone' - or 50V) is still recommended to avoid reliability issues[/p]
3. [p]Upgraded Marker Light Panel Circuits - this improves the light changeover speed of the Marker Light Panel when you flip the levers, so you won't have to wait around as long as previously. The panel will also score a lick of new paint and a new look once upgraded. NOTE: as of this v1.22 major update, the Marker Light Panel also consumes Accumulator charge when the light color changeover process is occurring.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Above: a fully-upgraded Marker Light Panel![/p][h2]A NEW STORAGE UNIT OUT-BUILDING[/h2][p]A few of you have been asking for this feature, and it's finally here![/p][p]This handy 'out-building' allows you to safely store your supplies such as oil cans and battery acid in one location. Note that in the future, I plan on adding a door lock and potentially introducing the chance of random supply theft when the player rests (and potentially higher risk of theft if the player reputation is lower), so it might be a good idea to get in the habit of storing your reserves in this building, in preparation for future updates...[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]TEN (10) NEW TOWNSHIP DEMANDS[/h2][p]Prior to this update, Hydro has 27 total unique Township Demands.[/p][p]This update now adds 10 brand new Township Demands! Of these new 10, 4 of them have associated 'good news'/'bad news' newspapers. So you now have 4 additional newspapers you can frame up in the power station![/p][h3]NEW 'HIGH PRESTIGE' TOWNSHIP DEMANDS[/h3][p]Listed below are the 5 more notable of the new Township Demands - these are all 'high prestige' demands meaning that you can only access them if your Reputation is > 50: [/p]

1. [p]Electric Train Station Commissioning - 70 power units demanded (day shift only)[/p]
2. [p]Flour Mill Running Overtime - 55 power units demanded (day shift only, no linked newspapers)[/p]
3. [p]Overseas Pop Band Playing - 65 power units demanded (night shift only)[/p]
4. [p]Township Night Festival - 55 power units demanded (night shift only)[/p]
5. [p]Automobile Factory Power Demand - 70 power units demanded (both day and night shifts)[/p]

[h3]NEW 'LOW PRESTIGE' TOWNSHIP DEMANDS[/h3][p]In addition to the above 5 Demands, there are 5 more 'unforeseen' power demands, with more 'accessible' power unit demands (as low as 35 power units), for those times when you're not feeling 'energized' enough to meet those higher-unit demands. The payout amounts on these demands are however fairly low in comparison (as well as rewarding less Research Points), but should still provide a nice bump to your coffers![/p][p]Note that each of the new unforeseen demands have differing payouts and are 'low prestige' demands, meaning they are all available even if your Reputation is =< 50.[/p][p]Finally, shown below are the 4 new newspapers that can be framed as part of this major update (this means you can now frame a total of 13 newspapers in the power station! Previously it was 9):[/p][p][/p][p]As part of these new Township Demands, a selection of them have been added to the 'Hydro Stats' tracking, seen below:[/p][p][/p][h2]SLEEPING QUARTERS FUSE BOX[/h2][p]There is now a new Local Power Fuse - #7 - and this is located in a brand new fuse box mounted on the Sleeping Quarters itself. This fuse comes with its own durability/repair value which will degrade over time, and require repairing at the Fuse Repair Workbench:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]FIVE (5) NEW 'CALM RIVER' DAY SHIFT TELEGRAMS[/h2][p]In addition to the existing three telegram messages you can receive during calm river day shifts, there are now five additional messages (each with their own associated reward/penalties) you can randomly receive, taking the total pool of possible messages to 10; the 5 new messages are:[/p]

• [p]Township Land Tax Charged[/p]
• [p]Waste Oil Levy[/p]
• [p]Renewable Energy Subsidy Payment[/p]
• [p]Vintage Power Station Power Line Maintenance Fee[/p]
• [p]Telegraph Service Charges [/p]

[p]I haven't noted the reward/penalty amounts here, you'll just have to play and find out for yourself :-)[/p][p]Note: on the subject of these calm river day shift telegram messages, I have also removed any reputation gain/loss that was previously associated with them. These messages are now only associated with either a monetary gain or loss.[/p][h2]OTHER IMPROVEMENTS[/h2][p]There are a heap of additional feature and quality updates included with this major update. The more notable of them are:[/p]

• [p]The Marker Light Panel now drains some Accumulator charge when the Marker Light color scheme changeover is occurring! Each color wheel will trickle drain its own amount of Accumulator charge, so having all three color wheels turning at once, will mean 3x the Accumulator drain (this is inescapable as whenever you need to make a color change to the Marker Lights, you will need to change all of them anyway). So, make sure you factor this in and keep a robust amount of Accumulator charge. If the Accumulator charge hits zero, changing the Marker Light colors will not be possible (and any Marker Lights currently in the process of changing-over their color scheme will cease to do so). [/p]
• [p]Changed the desk in the power station to have a different texture[/p]
• [p]Bug fix: previously, if the 'On-screen messages' difficulty setting was set to FALSE, it was not being respected if an incoming boat or calm day telegram message failed to receive (the 'Message send/receive failed!' on-screen message was still displaying (erroneously), when it should have been hidden). This is now fixed. [/p]
• [p]All window frames in the power station and other wooden items (such as unupgraded telegraph units) have been changed to the 'rotten' wood texture to match the rest of the roof beams being suitably weathered...[/p]
• [p]Some code enhancements (housekeeping and optimisation)[/p]
• [p]Re-wording and text improvements to a number of the 'Help' screens accessible from the Main Menu[/p]
• [p]Increased rain-falling-on-metal sound effect volume for the Sleeping Quarters[/p]
• [p]When repairing Local Power Fuses, you now get an indication of exactly which # fuse is being repaired, as well as an indication of the repair quality! This will help to better illustrate the repair quality when repairing fuses. You will note that when you initially start repairing a fuse, the current repair level is shown first (a blown fuse = 0% quality) and a few seconds later once the repair is complete, the new repair quality for a given fuse is shown. Repair quality remains (as-always) variable each time you perform a repair, so if you're not too happy with the repair quality of a fuse, you can repair it again. [/p][p]Note: all fuses in your Pocket Inventory are repaired in-order, so if you're holding multiple fuses in your inventory, they will all be put through the repair process each time you repair a fuse (I plan on potentially introducing a new interface here in future, allowing you to choose which fuses in your inventory that you wish to repair, as well as an option to only 'inspect' (or otherwise display) current fuse repair quality before allowing the option to make a repair).[/p]

[p][/p][h2]THANK YOU![/h2][p]Once again, thanks so much for all your support! Once again your feedback has helped shape this update and I love making Hydro the best it can be for players such as you![/p][p]I would have loved to cram even more features to this major update, but I was fast running out of time as I wanted to meet the end of October deadline whilst still ensuring I delivered a quality, bug-free update; as you can appreciate, there was a mammoth amount of planning, development and testing involved in bringing this update to you all in just a few weeks, considering I am a solo developer and can only work on Hydro in my 'free time' outside of my real-world commitments.[/p][p]There's still more to come on the development road map and you can even have your say in the roadmap too! (check it out here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3355830/discussions/0/599660183449291892/)[/p][p]Until next time, happy generating! ⚡[/p]

[p]Hi all! [/p][p]Get ready for another update to Hydro, taking it to v1.21 (confirm the version from the Main Menu of the game). [/p][p]This update brings a number of improvements, once again many of them being feedback items from the community! [/p][p]Here's all the details: [/p][h2]OIL STAIN ADJUSTMENTS[/h2]

• [p]Oil stain growth within the power station (from the line shaft) has been slowed by 70%! This means that oil stains should now take at least a few in-game days to reach full size. This is more realistic and hopefully less frustrating for players who are here to run a power station (who isn't?)[/p]
• [p]Cleaning oil stains now also happens quicker, with each 'wipe' cleaning-off more of the oil stain. Less time spent on your knees, and more time spent running the power station! ⚡ [/p]

[p][/p][h2]WIDGET ENHANCEMENTS[/h2][p]A number of improvements have been made to the 'widgets' (subtitles/tooltips) that appear when you interact with items around the place. The most notable are detailed below:[/p]

• [p]Reduced the decimal places for many read-outs such as the Generator temperature readout, Accumulator condition and Generator Air Filter dirt factors (down from 3 decimals places to 1)[/p]
• [p]Enhanced several widgets so that a 'read-out' is now shown for the item being interacted with:[/p]
  • [p]Accumulator Stand: a voltage read-out is now shown - with the number turning red when the Accumulator charge is 'low' (this can cause intermittent issues sending/receiving telegrams along with dimmed lighting, etc)[/p]
  • [p]Generator RPM: a live RPM read-out is now shown - with the number turning yellow if it's in the 'danger zone' (that can cause noise complaints, and Generator trip if the RPM rises further)[/p]
  • [p]DC Rheostat: a rheostat 'wiper position' is now shown, expressed as a percentage. This should make it more straightforward to judge the amount of charge you are sending to the Accumulator. 100% wiper position means maximum current is sent to the Accumulator. Note: the ammeter read-out is slightly 'independent' of the wiper position, in that amps reading will generally be much higher when the Accumulator is lower, and gradually reduce as the Accumulator charges-up, even if the wiper position remains unchanged[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]FUSE HOLDER SIGNAGE[/h2][p]New signs have been added to the game to help denote the fuse holders especially for new players:[/p][p][/p][h2]PLAYER-FOCUS DURING CLEANING/UPGRADE/REPAIRS[/h2][p]In the same way as the recent change to the Gear Oil refilling process, the following processes will now also cause the player to 'focus' their view (mouse/controller head movement is not possible) whilst they are underway:[/p]

• [p]Window cleaning[/p]
• [p]Upgrading parts[/p]
• [p]Building upgrade kits[/p]
• [p]Repairing local power fuses[/p]
• [p]Winding Marker Lights[/p]

[h2]OTHER IMPROVEMENTS[/h2][p]Several other general improvements have also been made with v1.21. These are:[/p]

• [p]For window cleaning, halved the fatigue gain if the player is cleaning windows during fast river shifts. This should give more incentive for players to clean (either entirely or 'spot clean') windows during their shift operations, without their efforts eating a huge chunk of their fatigue[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug with Guided Tutorial #7 where the count-down timer was misaligned[/p]
• [p]Re-aligned the position of the 'Marker Lights' sign above the switches[/p]
• [p]For the Accumulator bank, once it's upgraded (the right-bank is commissioned), it's now painted with a bright red paint job rather than a weathered/scratched green. This should denote that it's a fresh upgrade![/p]

[p][/p][p]Once again, your feedback has helped shaped this update, so keep it coming and I hope you enjoy![/p][p]Until next time, happy generating ⚡[/p]

[p]Hi all,[/p][p]I hope you're enjoying Hydro. Here's a quick update to bring the game to v1.20 (confirm the version from the Main Menu). [/p][p]This version delivers a number of quality of life and bug fixes:[/p]

• [p]During the gear oil refilling process, the camera is now much more 'focused' and it's no longer possible to move your head all around the place whilst being frozen in place (note: this only affects those players who have the 'Low viscosity gear oil' difficulty setting disabled). This should help increase the realism factor for this procedure (in the future I may look at implementing this camera focus for other processes such as applying upgrades, cleaning various items, etc, too).[/p]
• [p]Bug fix: previously, if the Accumulator charge level was zero and the player saved and then reloaded the game, the Accumulator low charge 'buzzer' would play on game load - this was not realistic as the buzzer cannot sound if the charge level is zero (the buzzer technically uses the Accumulator charge to sound). Fixed.[/p]
• [p]In the Difficulty Settings dialog box, if you change a setting, red text now displays advising you to save the game otherwise the settings will not be preserved (the red text disappears once the game is saved).[/p]
• [p]Mitigated some minor issues with cleaning the gauges on the Grid Summary Panel.[/p]
• [p]A brand new Difficulty Setting has been implemented "Additional on-screen messages" (enabled by default). By disabling the setting, this allows you to turn off some of the less critical on-screen messages for a more immersive experience. This is only recommended once you have played the game for some time and are familiar with the game play. Messages that can be hidden by disabling this option include: [/p]
  • [p]"Township Demand failed" / Township Demand met!" messages[/p]
  • [p]"Boat passage failed / success!" messages[/p]
  • [p]"Audit card delivered" message[/p]
  • [p]"Game saved!" message[/p]
  • [p]"Telegram Send/Receive Failed!" messages[/p]
  • [p]"Reputation Low! High Rep Quests Locked-out!" messages[/p]
  • [p]"Cleaning,.,." messages[/p]
  • [p]"Refilling Gear Oil..." messages[/p]
  [p]Note that some of the less frequent (more useful?) messages such as "Applying Upgrade...", "Building Upgrade Kit", "Repairing Fuse(s)...", "Cleaning Sponge Required" and a few other save error messages will not be affected by this setting.[/p][p]As always, I'm happy to take feedback on this new difficulty option (whether you think it suppresses too many messages or not enough). Please provide any feedback on the Steam Discussion boards. [/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Thanks as always for your ongoing support! [/p][p]Until next time, happy generating! ⚡[/p]

[p]Hi all,[/p][p]September is the month that keeps on giving! We are now at v1.19 of Hydro (confirm the version from the Main Menu of the game). Nevertheless, I'm calling this an October update - but don't worry, there will be plenty of further updates in October as well, I'm sure. 😅[/p][p]This mini-update provides a few cool updates and feature additions. The major item being that the Telegraph system is now affected by your Accumulator charge! In real life, telegraph systems were generally powered by batteries in any case, so it made sense to tie Hydro's telegraph system operation into the Accumulator. And this certainly will add another 'dimension' to the game play aspect. No longer can you ignore your Accumulator charge as much as you may have before...[/p][h2]Battery-powered Telegraph System[/h2][p]A low Accumulator charge now intermittently affects the sending and receiving of telegram messages! Reliable sending and receiving of messages is dependent on having 'sufficient' Accumulator charge. [/p][p]What is 'sufficient' you ask? Well, I have added a handy 'red zone' on the Accumulator charge gauge - if you're within that range (normally means your 'chg low' lamp is also on), it means that you may intermittently not receive and/or send telegram messages. [/p][p][/p][p]Here's how it works in detail:[/p]

• [p]If you fail to send or receive a telegram message, an on-screen warning is displayed to notify you of the same, but no details are given on what message was missed - it could be as benign as failing to receive the usual grid sync info telegram, or as serious as missing out on receiving a Township Demand![/p][p][/p]
• [p]Incoming message failures are normally accompanied by a rapid 'click-click-click-click-click-' sound effect as the receiving telegraph struggles to work (and fails); no physical message appears on the desk if an incoming telegram has failed to receive.[/p]
• [p]Outgoing message failures (such as when you try to use the Supply Order Form or send a 'Not Ready' telegram message will generally also have a sound like a single 'click'. Note: it takes more 'power' to send a telegram (so you'll normally encounter more failures trying to send than receive), but you can try again and again (and again) and you will generally be able to eventually (within a few retries) send the message/order successfully (this doesn't apply however if the Accumulator charge is ZERO - see further below).[/p]
• [p]Incoming message failures can fail for things like Noise Complaints, Township Demands, 'news' telegrams on calm days, as well as the boat passage telegrams which importantly notify you of the incoming ship passage direction (East/West).[/p]
• [p]If you miss a Township Demand message, it will still be in 'offered' mode (as the Township has no idea you haven't been able to receive it) but you won't be able to accept it and complete it as you won't see a message on the desk. This means you will fail it (with the usual rep loss) when you go to rest into the next shift.[/p]
• [p]If you miss a Noise Complaint message, you are still billed for it (with $$ and/or rep loss), but you just won't see what it's for.[/p]
• [p]If the Accumulator charge is ZERO, you are effectively cut-off from the outside world completely! NO messages can be sent NOR received! This means no supply orders can be sent, no Township Demands received, no incoming boat telegrams, nor Noise Complaints, etc. As before, you are still billed/penalized for the events...you just won't know the details of what has happened.[/p]

[h2]Other fixes/QoL[/h2][p]A number of other fixes/improvements have also been added in v1.19. These are:[/p]

• [p]I mitigated the light 'refraction' effects on some of the glass material...particularly noticeable on the windows when they are dirty, and some of the gauges inside...they won't have as many visual 'anomalies' as they did before:[/p][p]BEFORE v1.19:[/p][p]WITH v1.19:[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Reduced/toned-down the sponge bucket sound effects when player is moving. This also fixed the issue where other sounds could cut-out in the game when moving with the bucket, especially at 2x time compression.[/p]

• [p]In the 'Help' screens, made some wording updates to notify players around the telegraph system being affected by a low/zero Accumulator charge.[/p]
• [p]The telegraph sending and receiving units now have 'subtitle' text that explain their operation in the game as well as their dependence on a healthy Accumulator charge:[/p][p][/p]

[p]I appreciate all your support! Thanks very much for being part of this journey with me![/p][p]Until next time, happy generating! ⚡[/p]

[p]Hey everyone! [/p][p]I hope you're all doing well. September has been a BUMPER month for game updates and here's yet another update for Hydro, taking it to v1.18 (confirm the version from the Main Menu of the game).[/p][p]Here's a rundown of what's included...[/p][h2]Grid Fuse Holders[/h2][p]No more having to leave your valuable Generator Grid Fuses laying around on the ground! Now, you can store up to two (2) such fuses in the brand new fuse holders within the power station! [/p][p]These are located on either side of the Accumulator bank (one of them is slightly hidden behind the power station door when it's open). [/p][p]You can store and retrieve the fuses at will with the F key, and their position is saved in the save game per normal. Note: if you are already holding a Grid Fuse when you attempt to interact with a Fuse Holder to retrieve a fuse, you will effectively 'swap' the fuses over - i.e. you can only ever hold one Grid Fuse at a time.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Warning Light Master Switch[/h2][p]Tired of your Accumulator being parasitically-drained whenever the 'low oil' and/or 'low chg' warning lights are on? Fear not, you can now toggle them on/off with a switch! [/p][p]The Warning Light Master Switch located near the Marker Light switches will allow you turn off the warning lights at-will, so that you can preserve your precious Accumulator juice, especially when its charge is running low and you suddenly need to lean on the Accumulator for other things![/p][p]Note that this switch (unlike the other light switches) is actually state-saved in the save game, so if you turn it off and save the game, beware that it will still be OFF when you next load the game. [/p][p]Note: a side-effect of having this switch OFF is that you won't visibly see the warning lights operate if there's a low oil or low Accumulator charge condition. Be careful...[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Warning Light Master Switch ON:[/p][p][/p][p]Warning Light Master Switch OFF:[/p][p][/p][h2]Other QoL (quality of life) improvements:[/h2][p]A slew of other improvements have been made as part of this v1.18 update. They are:[/p]

• [p]Fixed the 'coarse' / 'rough' subtitle text which would appear on some interact-able items such as power station windows, the oil pump, Accumulator bank, and others. Now the text should be crisp and clear! [/p]

[p]Before this update:[/p][p][/p][p]With this update:[/p][p][/p]

• [p]Revamped the code behind the 'Not ready for Township Demand' telegram message; now, it will 'disappear' whenever the conditions for its sending are no longer valid for a given work shift. I.e., it will not visible when: [/p]
  • [p]There is a Township Demand being offered[/p]
  • [p]There is an active (accepted) Township Demand[/p]
  • [p]The river is calm (either day or night)[/p]
  • [p]Player fatigue is over 55% (Township Demands are already not sent if this is the case)[/p]
  [p]Note that resting will 'reset' the visibility of the telegram message, but only if the conditions that constitute its visibility are valid. Side note: the 'cost' for sending this telegram is now no longer fixed at 3 Reputation points; it can now cost between 2 and 4 rep points each time it's sent.[/p]

[p][/p]

• [p]Minor wording updates and additions to the following pages/areas of the game:[/p]
  • [p]Power Grid Guided Tutorial (Tutorial #7): added new line re: dirty insulators can also affect grid sync[/p]
  • [p]In the Controls page on the Main Menu, reworded the hint regarding adjustment of camera sensitivity and invert settings[/p]

[p]Once again, thanks so much for your support and keep the feedback coming! There are still more features and content I want to add to the game. You can check these out on the Discussion board in the 'Roadmap' thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3355830/discussions/0/599660183449291892/[/p][p]Until next time, happy generating! ⚡[/p]