January '09 NAM Release

[dedgren 830]

The latest NAM release is out, and is available over at SimCity4 Devotion [linkie].  It should be available here at ST shortly, but if you want it today, well...

What are you waiting for?

Enjoy!

David

[_Atticus 10]

YES!!!!!!

Thank you guys (NAM team) for doing so much to help the SC4 community!!!

[JakeMD 107]

Good job NAM Team!

[Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ 273]

AMAZING WORK! THANKS

[Goldfish4209 9]

w00t! Party! This is gonna be fun!

[JakeMD 107]

I found a bug with one of the RUL files in the NAM, so there will be a small update in the next day or so.

[Haljackey 17,371]

Originally posted by: SWAT-MEDIC I found a bug with one of the RUL files in the NAM, so there will be a small update in the next day or so.quote>

This bug only applies to those who are using the new RHW that was uploaded today.  The probem can cause a CTD when you are cycling through the new RHW-8 curve pieces.  Apparently it was caused by some last-minute copy and pasting of the NAM controller file, causing an error. 

We will let you know when a proper fix is made for this issue.  In the meantime, enjoy everything else the new NAM and RHW 3.0 has to offer!  

Best,

-Haljackey

[Tarkus 6,932]

To expand on what Haljackey and dedgren have said, I have the fix ready, and it just needs to be added into the Installer.  I will also be uploading the RHW Version 3.0 release here on the STEX once the NAM is in place.  I have also informed Dirk about the current state of things as well.

-Tarkus

[chrisnhl50 2]

can i delete the old nam and rhw files before i install all the new ones?

[CaptCity 4,888]

chrisnhl50...

Not only can you, you should . Conflicts can and probably will arise if you don't.

Great work NAM Team!!! Lots of great new stuff and a surprise or two (at least to me).

[IsaacTham 0]

Great! Now I can use the RHW and the other parts of the new NAM! Just that there is a problem with my SC4, so it can't run. Anyone had this problem before?

Isaac

[jacqulina 162]

wonderfull work thankyou NAM team

[DocRorlach 25]

While congratulations are certainly on order for the latest update of NAM, I do wonder if things were not a little bit hastily packed. I've just come accros the following:

##Intersection Placement String Missing##

It appears several times in Rail Viaducts, GLR, and ELR over road puzzle pieces. No image shows under he cursor, just the above message. For rail viaducts I suspect it concerns the gentle curves - because they have now disappeared from that puzzle set, and I could not find them elsewhere.

Then there are several oddities with RHW. First an old one I always found strange but for which probably there is no remedie:

This happens when he RHW connects to an avenue.

This second is certainly a bug: when you use these splitter pieces next to an avenue connection, one side of the avenue will always come up odd: fix it by dragging either avenue or RHW, and the other side will come odd.

On the other hand the bug about the curved RHW does not appear to happen wih me.

Finally, uninstalling the old NAM caused it to also remove SAM and Under-ELR folders, which I then had to reinstall. No biggie; but it ought to have been mentioned in the documentation.

But I am sure that the inner workings of the simulator have been vastly improved - so, congrats, still..

[Tarkus 6,932]

Andreas uploaded the fix this morning for the issue swat-medic pointed out, so the RHW-8 Diagonal pieces will no longer cause CTDs.  (Thanks, Andreas!)

DocRorlach, to answer your question with that one RHW transition there in your first pic, that's actually been an issue since the initial Version 1.2 release back in 2005.  It's a side-effect the modifications made to RUL 0x10000001 to allow Avenues to connect to the RHW-4, and there's no way around it unless we were to disable RHW-4/Avenue transitions (which would be a fairly unpopular move, I'd imagine).

That second pic you might be able to workaround by clicking on the Avenue or the RHW-4 tiles around the transition. 

-Tarkus

[Chrisim 44]

Originally posted by: DocRorlach

While congratulations are certainly on order for the latest update of NAM, I do wonder if things were not a little bit hastily packed. I've just come accros the following:

##Intersection Placement String Missing##

It appears several times in Rail Viaducts, GLR, and ELR over road puzzle pieces. No image shows under he cursor, just the above message. For rail viaducts I suspect it concerns the gentle curves - because they have now disappeared from that puzzle set, and I could not find them elsewhere.

quote>

Obviously you have a conflict with an older NAM version in your Plugin folder. Remove the NAM completely and install it again. Maybe you moved previous NAM files into other directories or maybe you DATpacked a previous version of the NAM?

[The Arrowz 3]

AHHH!!! AWESOME!!!

[DocRorlach 25]

Originally posted by: Chrisim

Obviously you have a conflict with an older NAM version in your Plugin folder. Remove the NAM completely and install it again. Maybe you moved previous NAM files into other directories or maybe you DATpacked a previous version of the NAM?quote>

 

Not obviously: as I stated, the uninstallation completely removed the Network Addon Mod folder; and I had used to included Cleanitol file to move all conflicting items.

Tarkus: I figured the first might be improbable, and I'll try your second suggeston.  Thanks.

Meanwhile: what happened to the curved road that used to be part of the elevated road puzzle set - it seems to have disappeared.

[Goldfish4209 9]

Also, the congestion graph for the Z sims seem to be screwed up. I'm getting congestion all over the place, and in most cases it seems that the network isn't even near full capacity. I have the Z ultra sim installed, and streets with 500 cars on them show up as red in the graph. I'll try to get pics up soon.

Also, the Z sim seems to be causing lots more congestion at curves and intersections. Is this correct? This may account for some of the absurd readings I've been getting.

[SounderBruce 173]

Finally!

[Tarkus 6,932]

Originally posted by: DocRorlach

Meanwhile: what happened to the curved road that used to be part of the elevated road puzzle set - it seems to have disappeared.quote>

The Road Curves have been moved to the new Road Curves Puzzle Piece button, also on the Roads menu.  It also contains all of the new Fractional Angle Road (FAR) puzzle pieces added to this release.

Goldfish4209:  It is usually recommended that you let the SImulator run for 5 "in-game" years to make sure it's fully taken effect.  There will likely be some fluctuation during that time. 

As far as the intersections, that is an intended effect of Simulator Z, as a result of the Intersection and Turn Capacity Setting used.  For more information, you can consult the Readme section on Traffic Plugins, or you can read z's development thread at SC4 Devotion, which will explain in some detail the simulator's features.

-Tarkus

[thepokemaniac 18]

Nice job! It's finally here!

[b22rian 153]

Originally posted by: Goldfish4209 Also, the congestion graph for the Z sims seem to be screwed up. I'm getting congestion all over the place, and in most cases it seems that the network isn't even near full capacity. I have the Z ultra sim installed, and streets with 500 cars on them show up as red in the graph. I'll try to get pics up soon.

Also, the Z sim seems to be causing lots more congestion at curves and intersections. Is this correct? This may account for some of the absurd readings I've been getting.quote>

Hello Goldfish..

I will see if I can help you out some here...

First on your congestion graph...

there are a few other congestion graphs floating around out there but lets assume you

are using the original maxis  (Sim Z  does not have its own congestion graph but relies on

the maxis one unless you installed another..)..

First the congestion graph has been known to behave somewhat "buggy" at times, For

instance I have noticed myself some peculiar behavior from it in spots.. although overall

its a very solid graph..

But another thing that may or may not be an issue is that the congestion graph is reliant on..

both (morning + evening commute)...So when you say a reading of 500 is this just

from either the morning or evening commute or would that be the sum of both ?

As far as the added congestion around intersections, this is normal behavior ..and it is

created by something called the "intersection and turn capacity effect".. all of the traffic

sims use this setting.. to try and aproximate real life congestion issues at and near

intersections.. ( its effect goes out 2 squares in either direction).. Actually , if you

were to take an average of this reading of all the traffic sims still available .. traffic

sim Z is a bit less than the average in this setting..

Anyways, I hope this helps you a bit...But I still would encourage you to stil and post

some pics of these various traffic conditions in your city, and either myself or "Zorro"

personally will assist you further if needed..

Thanks, Brian

[tahill79 13]

you guys did a great job with this and the RHW also. thanx for the fun you just added to the game.

[Terring 6,476]

Cool!

But i don't know where is the download button. I already make an account at Simcity 4 Devotion and i can't see where i need to click to get the new N.A.M.

(Forget the above, i found it)

Also i have a question. I need to remove the older N.A.M. to get the newer, but i have some cities using N.A.M.. Are they will affected? Do i neet to remove any item from N.A.M. at these cities?

[DocRorlach 25]

Originally posted by: terring Cool!

But i don't know where is the download button. I already make an account at Simcity 4 Devotion and i can't see where i need to click to get the new N.A.M.

Also i have a question. I need to remove the older N.A.M. to get the newer, but i have some cities using N.A.M.. Are they will affected? Do i neet to remove any item from N.A.M. at these cities?quote>

 

There is no download button, but a link at the bottom of the forum message at SC4 Devotion - Click on  the linkie in David's oriinal post to get there.

And you don't need to remove anything from the cities; but you do need to uninstall the original NAM installation first - and use BSC Cleanitol with the Cleanitol file provided with the new installation, to remove any conflicting DAT's or Lot's.

If you don't have BSC Cleanitol get it from the SC4 Devotion Exchange (LEX)

[Terring 6,476]

I downloaded it and i like it, it's very nice. Good job N.A.M. team :-D :-D

[Goldfish4209 9]

Originally posted by: TarkusGoldfish4209:  It is usually recommended that you let the SImulator run for 5 "in-game" years to make sure it's fully taken effect.  There will likely be some fluctuation during that time. 

-Tarkusquote>

thank you very much. I ran the game for about 2 years, and commute times dropped a bit at first, then stayed there, so I assumed that the new traffic sim was done taking effect. Guess I'll have to find that out later.

Originally posted by: b22rian

Originally posted by: Goldfish4209 Also, the congestion graph for the Z sims seem to be screwed up. I'm getting congestion all over the place, and in most cases it seems that the network isn't even near full capacity. I have the Z ultra sim installed, and streets with 500 cars on them show up as red in the graph. I'll try to get pics up soon.

Also, the Z sim seems to be causing lots more congestion at curves and intersections. Is this correct? This may account for some of the absurd readings I've been getting.quote>

there are a few other congestion graphs floating around out there but lets assume you

are using the original maxis  (Sim Z  does not have its own congestion graph but relies on

the maxis one unless you installed another..)..

First the congestion graph has been known to behave somewhat "buggy" at times, For

instance I have noticed myself some peculiar behavior from it in spots.. although overall

its a very solid graph..

As far as the added congestion around intersections, this is normal behavior ..and it is

created by something called the "intersection and turn capacity effect".. all of the traffic

sims use this setting.. to try and aproximate real life congestion issues at and near

intersections.. ( its effect goes out 2 squares in either direction).. Actually , if you

were to take an average of this reading of all the traffic sims still available .. traffic

sim Z is a bit less than the average in this setting..

Thanks, Brianquote>

The graph is reading both morning and night commutes? That's a new one.. Thanks for the info.

[The Arrowz 3]

Are there stations out for T-RAM systems yet? Or do we have to take the glr out of the road and onto the side to get a station?

Thanks! Even a zebra stripe and some lines on the road could be a station

[warrior 169]

I'm pretty sure the SFBT will be releasing a set of 'coloured' T-RAM stations at some point in the near future, so for the moment you will have to convert to rad and GLR and back again.

Jonathan

[deathtopumpkins 43]

Andreas just posted pictures of the T-RAM station at a corresponding thread at SC4D: https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=6763.60