NAM General Discussion Thread

[ogravme 0]

I know this NAM mod has its bugs, but is it normal for it to make SC4 crash almost every time you use the 'El over Road' or the 'Rail Puzzle' tools?

[vistla 3]

It's probibly crashing because you're hovering over a transit enabled lot, such as a tunnel entrance, for example. You just have to be careful when using the puzzle pieces.

[NiteSentry 0]

I've found that when I have a crash when placing a puzzle piece, I reload SC and go back in and do the change and immediately

hit the 'esc' key right after, and I don't get a crash. Might try that for tricky situtations. And remember, Jesus saves, so should you.

[shanghai kid 6]

I had several crashes yesterday when i was trying to place rail on-slope puzzle piece, but after some crashes i found the solution/fault --> i had to have 4 squeres from the city border(3 free squeres between the squere you put the onslope piece and the city border).

----              --> Rail
-== & ==-  --> On-slope Rail puzzle piece
I I                --> Avenue
++              --> Rail over Avenue puzzle piece.
/                  --> City Border

1. Setup 1 (crashing to desktop) -- on-slope rail piece put down 2 squeres from the border(3  incl. the slope touching the avenue):
         I I         /
         I I         /
---==++==--/
         I I         /
         I I         /

2. Setup 2 (working setup) -- on-slope rail piece put down 4 squeres from the border(5 incl. the slope touching the avenue):
          I I               /
          I I               /
----==++==------/
          I I               /
          I I               /

[silvermac 0]

When the NAM modders look at the requests, do they go for the easiest change, or the most requested?

[Andreas Roth 607]

Originally posted by: silvermac When the NAM modders look at the requests, do they go for the easiest change, or the most requested?quote>

 

The NAM team is considering every request, but in many cases, it depends on the additional work of other people, such as the new bridges jeronij was creating, or the HSRP stuff, if these items should find their way into the next NAM. Modding network items take a considerable amount of time, and the current NAM team is in no position to do additional work, such as modelling and texturing, as well. As a matter of fact, most of the NAM team members have only mediocre BATting and texturing skills, since they are modders at heart. So if you really want to see some new stuff included into the NAM, put your hands onto the BAT and your favorite texture editor, then the NAM folks will gladly help you to prepare your models for the transportation networks.

[your_adress_here 11]

I'm having trouble getting the NAM to work. I've downloaded the installer and ran it just fine, and everything works except for the traffic plugins. I'm not sure bout all of the (cause I can't really check), but the capacity hasn't changed and I still get abandonment due to commute time in a small city.

I've also (someone told me to do this) named the folder aaa.NetworkAddonMod, so that it should load before anything else (even though I'm pretty sure I don't have any other traffic plugins.

Help would be appreciated, flamming would not.

[Andreas Roth 607]

You don't need to rename the folder, but you have to make sure that there are no outdated traffic plugins left in the plugins folders. Remove any of those that came with the previous NAM versions, the one that comes with the Traffic Cop program, or any other pathfinding mod/bugfix, such as the ones by the7trumpets, redlotus or DarkMatter, since only one traffic plugin can be installed at a time. Please also keep in mind that those traffic plugins are no magical cure for all traffic-related problems; you still have to build a decent road network and public transportation, along with strategically placed zones that are not too far away from each other.

[your_adress_here 11]

Yeah, I'm not a great road placer. but I still get red on a street that has just over 1000 cars. With the 5x capacity mod, I should be OK. I will go over my plugins again though. Hopefully I'll spot the conflicting file. And thanks alot for the help.

Edit: Wow... how the heck did I forget some traffic cop files? Hopefully it's good now. =)

Edit 2: Yay, it works just fine now!

[andreharv 1,197]

I posted this way back when but has anyone has a problem with the diagonalxorthagonal el highway interchange where the traffic merges on the offramps inadvertantly? Also I thought someone was working on a highway Y interchange (I might have just dreamed it :S).

[andreharv 1,197]

I posted this way back when but has anyone has a problem with the diagonalxorthagonal el highway interchange where the traffic merges on the offramps inadvertantly? Also I thought someone was working on a highway Y interchange (I might have just dreamed it :S).

[andreharv 1,197]

I posted this way back when but has anyone has a problem with the diagonalxorthagonal el highway interchange where the traffic merges on the offramps inadvertantly? Also I thought someone was working on a highway Y interchange (I might have just dreamed it :S).

[Haljackey 17,302]

There is a highway Y interchange. Its the same as the avenue though, just convert your highways to aves 1 tile before the interchange to elimate one lane, as the two ramps are only one lane each. Then, re-convert the aves into highways to bring back the additional lane one tile after the interchange.

Because the Y interchange is only 2 lanes, it works better with the RHW rather than the regular highway because that network is also only 2 lanes.

[Haljackey 17,302]

There is a highway Y interchange. Its the same as the avenue though, just convert your highways to aves 1 tile before the interchange to elimate one lane, as the two ramps are only one lane each. Then, re-convert the aves into highways to bring back the additional lane one tile after the interchange.

Because the Y interchange is only 2 lanes, it works better with the RHW rather than the regular highway because that network is also only 2 lanes.

[Haljackey 17,302]

There is a highway Y interchange. Its the same as the avenue though, just convert your highways to aves 1 tile before the interchange to elimate one lane, as the two ramps are only one lane each. Then, re-convert the aves into highways to bring back the additional lane one tile after the interchange.

Because the Y interchange is only 2 lanes, it works better with the RHW rather than the regular highway because that network is also only 2 lanes.

[bwatterud 7]

Is it just me, or is GLR missing a "left diagonal" turn tile?

[bwatterud 7]

Is it just me, or is GLR missing a "left diagonal" turn tile?

[Andreas Roth 607]

No, it's not missing. When you have the right turn tile at the cursor, rotate it with the Home or End key as long as the left turn tile shows up. If I'm not mistaken, this is also stated in the readme file.

[lestatdl1 0]

General NAM question:

I have perfect pathfinding installed and still have issues with lengthy commute times. Does installing NAM (without installing any of the more radical changes such as increased capacity or speed) offer anything else in the way of pathfinding other than the same better/perfect pathfinding mods available separately?

[Andreas Roth 607]

The NAM contains a wide variety of different traffic plugins, but there is no "perfect" one for every city. If you have problems with the commute times itself, the plugins with modified commute times might work best (look for "commute" in the description). I'm using a modified "better pathfinding" plugin where I doubled the allowed commute time and tripled the capacity of the grey streets, and I rarely have problems with commute times anymore. But that's not only because of the traffic plugin, but also because I'm following some simple rules when building new cities.

Regardless which plugin you have installed, you always need a good public transportation system, and you also have to keep your R-$$$ population under control - that means you shouldn't allow more than 10% or so R-$$$ compared to the whole city population. Never lower the R-$$$ taxes more than the other residential taxes! It's always the R-$$$ buildings that abandon very soon "due to long commute times" - but that's not the whole truth. Long commute times are caused by jobs that are too far away from the homes, so every change in the traffic pattern will rise the risk of longer commute times, hitting the R-$$$ population first. So another thing to keep in mind when building a city is to create jobs at the same time when you zone new residential areas - and those jobs shouldn't be too far away from the residential areas. With these simple rules your problems will be a lot less likely, just try it!

[lestatdl1 0]

Thanks Andreas!

I installed NAM but only selected "Better Pathfinding," so not much help on commute times. I always have extensive mass transit and currently no traffic congestion, but still long commutes. Oh well, such is SC4 when attempting anything beyond a medium city tile.

[MasterPie 0]

Hey,

I have downloaded NAM but I can't do the stuff most people do and they say they do it with NAM.

Stuff like this:

http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/8422/tranorrailcloverleaf3ah.jpg

I can't build those kind of bridges. And I have searched all the STEX but didnt find any other bridge puzzle pieces.

And things like this:

I can't build ramps on a sunken highway without screwing up all the terrain around it. Nor can I create road bridges that don't screw up the sunken highway and the terrain around. Am I missing something? I have searched all the STEX and checked out all the puzzle pieces I have and can't find anything to make stuff like that.

Thanks in advance.

[ArkenbergeJoe 35]

Hi

here is the diagonal Euro-Ground-Highway-Ramps

[vester_DK 477]

WOW. That looks good. Looking forward for the release of this.

[Andreas Roth 607]

That's looking very nice indeed. ArkenbergeJoe said on SimForum.de that the models are done, but the preview models and the paths are still missing. Yet, this will be another great addition to the NAM - definitely worth the wait.

P. S.: @ArkenbergeJoe: I fixed the link of your picture. / Ich habe den Link zu Deinem Bild mal repariert.

[WiccanCharms 0]

ok i'm sure you all are gonna think i'm crazy... but i don't have NAM... and i've tried searching it all over to get it.. but i can't find it.. i must be missing something here... would someone be able to give me a link to where i can download nam.. and all its add ons???

[Haljackey 17,302]

You can find the NAM in the modds/downloads section. It is NOT on the STEX!

[Ryan B 35]

Originally posted by: ArkenbergeJoe Hi

here is the diagonal Euro-Ground-Highway-Ramps

quote>

ArkenbergeJoe:  Looks really good!  I can't wait to use it in my regions.

EDIT by Andreas: Please do not quote images.

EDIT:  Sorry about that, Andreas!

[van1357 15]

ArkenbergeJoe, they look awesome! I saw these some time ago, and was hoping they hadn't been forgotten. Can't wait for these. Great work to all involved...

Also, are there gmax models of transit network items like the highways, elevated rail, etc.? Are they available for download anywhere?

[____----____ 37]

I think these look really cool But I have one crucial question

are they going to be able to conform to a sunken highway

like the single sided parrallel?

AK