SimCity 4, NAM and Lion

[wenchance 0]

Hello everyone:

I signed up for this forum a while back and I just began to pick up the game again. I also began to add mods and am getting into the game on a new level but then I installed OSX Lion. After installing the Universal Binary Update, I found NAM and attempted to install it to. In the end I eventually found out that as soon as I opened a city, the game will freeze up and stop responding. I then went and did some digging to see if I am able to circumvent this issue. Through my digging and research, I found out the current version of NAM has requires an updated version of SimCity. From what I was able to determine, I believe I am running on SimCity 4 Deluxe 1.1rev. I don't know if this has any significance but I believe I need an update, which I can't find.

In the end all I have now is a headache and a buggy version of SimCity 4. What I am asking is, what do I need to do to get NAM to work. What updates do I need and where are they? I understand that many other are going through the some of the same issues but any information will be great and much appreciated. Thanks!

  Edited January 21, 2012 by wenchance  

[Tarkus 6,932]

First off, welcome back to the game!

Lion, unfortunately, has a bit of a hard time with SC4, in large part because Apple removed Rosetta, thus requiring one to use the Aspyr Universal Binary patch. However, the Aspyr patch was never actually finished and exists in a "beta" stage. While it does allow the game to run natively in universal binary, it also, from appearances, corrupts parts of the executable as well, especially sections dealing with transport-related items (you'll notice the colors are probably way off on your Route Query arrows).

This corruption's interaction with certain components in the NAM is what is causing your issues. We've had many users running Lion come to us and say that there's a few specific files in the NAM that seem to be triggering crashes with the Aspyr patch. Those files are:

-NetworkAddonMod_High_ElRail_Plugin.dat (located in Network Addon Mod/Plugins)

-NetworkAddonMod_High_Monorail_Plugin.dat (located in Network Addon Mod/Plugins)

-NetworkAddonMod_Bridges_Plugin_Controller.dat (located in the root Network Addon Mod directory)

Unfortunately, that last file, the Bridge Controller, is a particularly critical one for the NAM. Without it installed, one cannot use any custom bridges, Left-Hand Drive functionality may not function properly, and no shadows will appear below elevated network models that have them. Some have reported that one can use custom bridges still by stopping the game paused, installing the Bridge Controller file, building the bridge, taking the Bridge Controller back out and resuming the game.

We do not know why this rather random sampling of NAM components causes the Aspyr patch to freak out, either, and thus, we currently have no solution--just advice to be careful with those particular files while running SC4 and the NAM on Lion.

-Tarkus

[wenchance 0]

Thanks for the help! I removed the "cursed" files and I at least got the game work with most of the add-on!

[alexthefox 0]

First off, welcome back to the game!

Lion, unfortunately, has a bit of a hard time with SC4, in large part because Apple removed Rosetta, thus requiring one to use the Aspyr Universal Binary patch. However, the Aspyr patch was never actually finished and exists in a "beta" stage. While it does allow the game to run natively in universal binary, it also, from appearances, corrupts parts of the executable as well, especially sections dealing with transport-related items (you'll notice the colors are probably way off on your Route Query arrows).

This corruption's interaction with certain components in the NAM is what is causing your issues. We've had many users running Lion come to us and say that there's a few specific files in the NAM that seem to be triggering crashes with the Aspyr patch. Those files are:

-NetworkAddonMod_High_ElRail_Plugin.dat (located in Network Addon Mod/Plugins)

-NetworkAddonMod_High_Monorail_Plugin.dat (located in Network Addon Mod/Plugins)

-NetworkAddonMod_Bridges_Plugin_Controller.dat (located in the root Network Addon Mod directory)

Unfortunately, that last file, the Bridge Controller, is a particularly critical one for the NAM. Without it installed, one cannot use any custom bridges, Left-Hand Drive functionality may not function properly, and no shadows will appear below elevated network models that have them. Some have reported that one can use custom bridges still by stopping the game paused, installing the Bridge Controller file, building the bridge, taking the Bridge Controller back out and resuming the game.

We do not know why this rather random sampling of NAM components causes the Aspyr patch to freak out, either, and thus, we currently have no solution--just advice to be careful with those particular files while running SC4 and the NAM on Lion.

-Tarkus

thanks. I was wondering why my game keeped frezzing.

[blueearthspam 1]

I did as you said but it still keeps freezing with Version 31 of the NAM...any ideas?

 

UPDATE:

I was using the Windows installer through wine...hadn't realised there was no mac update yet!

[Tarkus 6,932]

There won't be a separate Mac update.  There's a few reasons for that:

 

• We discovered that the installer can be opened like a .zip using Keka, and we found that to be easier for support purposes, than continuing to have separate versions.
• Some users have had success using WINE to run the Windows Installer (Linux users have done this for years).
• The NAM does not get along well with the Mac port on OS X Lion and later, and we have no way of supporting it as a result.
• There's no real plan to create a Mac installer at this point, which, with the discovery of the Keka trick, the advent of an installer would be the only real reason to have one.

-Tarkus

[TEG24601 32]

The only portion of the new NAM (31.1) that has any issues with Intel/UB SC4 is the bridge controller.  You can use it, just not with the game running.  If you need to make a street, one-way, or RHW bridge, pause your game, save, quit, load the dat file, build your bridge, save, quit, remove, and reopen.  I have been using NAM 31 and 31.1 without issues, and am narrowing down the crashing issue to Hypertheading, Turboboost, and/or using DMG to play.

 

TEG

[gweed123 33]

The only portion of the new NAM (31.1) that has any issues with Intel/UB SC4 is the bridge controller.  You can use it, just not with the game running.  If you need to make a street, one-way, or RHW bridge, pause your game, save, quit, load the dat file, build your bridge, save, quit, remove, and reopen.  I have been using NAM 31 and 31.1 without issues, and am narrowing down the crashing issue to Hypertheading, Turboboost, and/or using DMG to play.

 

TEG

 

When NAM 31 was first released, I tried using the Windows installer on a Windows machine, and then copying the files from that machine to the appropriate path on my Mac. Even when I removed the 'offending files', it still hung. What are these hyper threading, turboboost, and using DMG to play that you're talking about?

 

I'm going to try again with NAM 31.1. Hopefully that solves some of the issues. But I know that I couldn't even get NAM 30 to work, so I think I'm actually still using NAM 29, although I'm not 100% sure. Could there be a random lot or modd that's causing a conflict? I have a boatload of them, and going through them 1 by 1 would be the ultimate PITA. Just wondering if anyone has found a non-NAM file that if installed could cause a freeze?

[TEG24601 32]

 

The only portion of the new NAM (31.1) that has any issues with Intel/UB SC4 is the bridge controller.  You can use it, just not with the game running.  If you need to make a street, one-way, or RHW bridge, pause your game, save, quit, load the dat file, build your bridge, save, quit, remove, and reopen.  I have been using NAM 31 and 31.1 without issues, and am narrowing down the crashing issue to Hypertheading, Turboboost, and/or using DMG to play.

 

TEG

 

When NAM 31 was first released, I tried using the Windows installer on a Windows machine, and then copying the files from that machine to the appropriate path on my Mac. Even when I removed the 'offending files', it still hung. What are these hyper threading, turboboost, and using DMG to play that you're talking about?

 

I'm going to try again with NAM 31.1. Hopefully that solves some of the issues. But I know that I couldn't even get NAM 30 to work, so I think I'm actually still using NAM 29, although I'm not 100% sure. Could there be a random lot or modd that's causing a conflict? I have a boatload of them, and going through them 1 by 1 would be the ultimate PITA. Just wondering if anyone has found a non-NAM file that if installed could cause a freeze?

 

The Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors have a system called Turboboost, that allows the processor to overclock itself by up to 1Ghz. when needed.  There have been many reports of issues on Windows Machines that may be caused by it.  Hyperthreading is the system Intel uses to double the effective processing power.  This may cause problems with software, like SC4 that wait for specific responses before continuing, but I'm unsure.  DMG is a disk image used to play the game on machines without DVD drives.  I have an MBPr, which has no optical drive, so I use a faked copy of my disc to play.  It works, but may the root of some of my issues.

 

One thing I have found in my investigations, is a PPC application within the "Sim City 4 Rush Hour.app" package call APlayer, that I removed.  You may wish to do the same on your system and see if that help with the freezing issue.  If you would like some assistance removing APlayer, let me know.

 

I have also modified the graphics.sgr and videocards.sgr to recoginize my much newer video card as a "High End" card.

 

The only other things I've found since NAM31 to cause freezing are 3rd party plugins (like Modern Station and Cargo Station) that I wasn't using much anyway.  I simply removed them without issue.

 

TEG

[gweed123 33]

The Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors have a system called Turboboost, that allows the processor to overclock itself by up to 1Ghz. when needed.  There have been many reports of issues on Windows Machines that may be caused by it.  Hyperthreading is the system Intel uses to double the effective processing power.  This may cause problems with software, like SC4 that wait for specific responses before continuing, but I'm unsure.  DMG is a disk image used to play the game on machines without DVD drives.  I have an MBPr, which has no optical drive, so I use a faked copy of my disc to play.  It works, but may the root of some of my issues.

 

 

One thing I have found in my investigations, is a PPC application within the "Sim City 4 Rush Hour.app" package call APlayer, that I removed.  You may wish to do the same on your system and see if that help with the freezing issue.  If you would like some assistance removing APlayer, let me know.

 

I have also modified the graphics.sgr and videocards.sgr to recoginize my much newer video card as a "High End" card.

 

The only other things I've found since NAM31 to cause freezing are 3rd party plugins (like Modern Station and Cargo Station) that I wasn't using much anyway.  I simply removed them without issue.

 

TEG

 

 

Thanks! Yeah I have a MBA, so I use the disc image too. I looked for the file that you're talking about, but I wasn't able to find it. I'll hopefully be able to try installing NAM 31.1 on Tuesday at some point. If it still freezes, I may ask you to point me to that APlayer to see if removing that helps.

[TEG24601 32]

 

The Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors have a system called Turboboost, that allows the processor to overclock itself by up to 1Ghz. when needed.  There have been many reports of issues on Windows Machines that may be caused by it.  Hyperthreading is the system Intel uses to double the effective processing power.  This may cause problems with software, like SC4 that wait for specific responses before continuing, but I'm unsure.  DMG is a disk image used to play the game on machines without DVD drives.  I have an MBPr, which has no optical drive, so I use a faked copy of my disc to play.  It works, but may the root of some of my issues.

 

 

One thing I have found in my investigations, is a PPC application within the "Sim City 4 Rush Hour.app" package call APlayer, that I removed.  You may wish to do the same on your system and see if that help with the freezing issue.  If you would like some assistance removing APlayer, let me know.

 

I have also modified the graphics.sgr and videocards.sgr to recoginize my much newer video card as a "High End" card.

 

The only other things I've found since NAM31 to cause freezing are 3rd party plugins (like Modern Station and Cargo Station) that I wasn't using much anyway.  I simply removed them without issue.

 

TEG

 

 

Thanks! Yeah I have a MBA, so I use the disc image too. I looked for the file that you're talking about, but I wasn't able to find it. I'll hopefully be able to try installing NAM 31.1 on Tuesday at some point. If it still freezes, I may ask you to point me to that APlayer to see if removing that helps.

 

The file is actually within the package of the application.  So to access it you will need to "right-click" on the application icon on the hard drive, select "Show Package Contents", open the Contents folder, then the Resources folder, and it should be right there.

[gweed123 33]

The file is actually within the package of the application.  So to access it you will need to "right-click" on the application icon on the hard drive, select "Show Package Contents", open the Contents folder, then the Resources folder, and it should be right there.

 

 

Found it, thanks! Also, I downloaded the new NAM, stripped it down to only the basic stuff, and it worked! 

 

Not only that, the new NAM solved a problem I was having with the old one, whereby the vast majority of the traffic in a city was exiting to neighbourhood cities via the closest connection to the edge. It created a real traffic problem, but thankfully this updated NAM solves that and directs inter-city traffic to more appropriate routes.

 

I'm going to try adding some of the additional stuff to see if that works with it too.

[nittie 0]

Hi all, 

 

I just recently started playing SimCity4, and I'd like to install the NAM. I am running OS X.5.8, so I will not have the Lion/intel issue. Where do I find a NAM version to fit my system? I have only found windows versions, but maybe I am looking in the wrong place? 

 

Can anyone help?

[TEG24601 32]

Hi all, 

 

I just recently started playing SimCity4, and I'd like to install the NAM. I am running OS X.5.8, so I will not have the Lion/intel issue. Where do I find a NAM version to fit my system? I have only found windows versions, but maybe I am looking in the wrong place? 

 

Can anyone help?

The NAM is no longer packaged in a ZIP format for OS X.  You will have to download the Windows version and run the installer via Wine, Wineskin, Crossover, Bootcamp, or a Virtual Machine running Windows then transfer the files to your Plug-Ins folder.  If you are running on an Intel machine, you will likely need to avoid the NAM Bridges Controller while the game is not paused, as it will cause freezing, but you can use it on paused cities to build RHW, One-Way, Street, and custom bridges.

[Jelskii11 0]

Hi all,

 

I just tried to fix NAM for my Mac Book Air and managed to get it working. I just installed the NAM version 31.2 from Moddb.com and removed the following files:

 

-NetworkAddonMod_High_ElRail_Plugin.dat (located in Network Addon Mod/Plugins)
-NetworkAddonMod_High_Monorail_Plugin.dat (located in Network Addon Mod/Plugins)
-NetworkAddonMod_Bridges_Plugin_Controller.dat (located in the root Network Addon Mod directory)

 

(as AlexTheFOx mentioned earlier in this topic)

 

and:

 

- Modern Arched GHSR Station

- Modern HSR Station

- Modern Monorail and Bullet Train Station

 

(as Tech24601 mentioned before)

 

Thank you all!

[TEG24601 32]

With NAM 31.2, you no longer need to remove the High_ElRail or High_Monorail Plugins, as what every was causing problems with them has been fixed.

[Billish 1]

 

Lion, unfortunately, has a bit of a hard time with SC4, in large part because Apple removed Rosetta, thus requiring one to use the Aspyr Universal Binary patch. However, the Aspyr patch was never actually finished and exists in a "beta" stage. While it does allow the game to run natively in universal binary, it also, from appearances, corrupts parts of the executable as well, especially sections dealing with transport-related items (you'll notice the colors are probably way off on your Route Query arrows).

-Tarkus

 

Hmm...there are a TON of apparently good coders in this "NAM" community.  Has anyone taken a stab at decompiling the Aspyr patch and fixing the darn route query color bug (aka Intel color table bug aka whatever)?  Other than that issue, the patch is working fine for me on my MacBook Air with SnowLeopard (10.6. .  Can we all just crowd-fund a project to take care of this, say on Kickstarter?

 

UPDATE:  I'm running Snow Leopard on my MacBook Air and can still launch SimCity 4 using Rosetta (Duh!).  So I did it, and sure enough, the color table for the Route Query tool is now correct!  YES!!!!  

 

Really silly that Aspyr made that "Big Endian, Little Endian" error when they wrote the patch, though.  This thing would work fine under Lion and later if they'd just fix that silly little mistake.

  Edited December 4, 2013 by Billish  

[Tarkus 6,932]

 

 

Lion, unfortunately, has a bit of a hard time with SC4, in large part because Apple removed Rosetta, thus requiring one to use the Aspyr Universal Binary patch. However, the Aspyr patch was never actually finished and exists in a "beta" stage. While it does allow the game to run natively in universal binary, it also, from appearances, corrupts parts of the executable as well, especially sections dealing with transport-related items (you'll notice the colors are probably way off on your Route Query arrows).

-Tarkus

 

Hmm...there are a TON of apparently good coders in this "NAM" community.  Has anyone taken a stab at decompiling the Aspyr patch and fixing the darn route query color bug (aka Intel color table bug aka whatever)?  Other than that issue, the patch is working fine for me on my MacBook Air with SnowLeopard (10.6. .  Can we all just crowd-fund a project to take care of this, say on Kickstarter?

 

 

The type of code in which most of us are proficient is not the same type of code that was used to write the Mac port, so we'd probably be next to useless in that task.  Also, while there's at least a couple Mac users on the team at present, they all run the Windows version on a dual-boot, and there's no one on the NAM Team who actually runs the Mac port.  (The one and only Mac port user we've ever had on the team hasn't been sighted in 4 years.)  Also, given that Aspyr is still in business and has rights over the port (though they've ceased support), and EA Maxis also has rights with respect to it, there'd be legal matters to consider as well.

 

There's also been rumblings on Reddit that Apple killed the port altogether, Universal Binary or not, with some of the changes in OS X Mavericks (10.9).  With their long-stated desire to create a "walled garden" infrastructure for software, even if any effort to make the port work properly on Intel Macs were to get off the ground, Apple's changes to the OS would put the whole thing back at square one again.

 

-Tarkus

[Hamish 1,369]

It runs on 10.9, with the universal update.

I've made a mod that updates the route query key, but it's not very good as the color for the bus and pedestrian traffic look very very similar, and some route colors, like the pedestrian traffic, has a very different look based on the amount of traffic.

I might look into fixing it, or changing how it displays the colors so it makes a bit more sense. Might be on the STEX in a few days.

[Billish 1]

It runs on 10.9, with the universal update.

I've made a mod that updates the route query key, but it's not very good as the color for the bus and pedestrian traffic look very very similar, and some route colors, like the pedestrian traffic, has a very different look based on the amount of traffic.

I might look into fixing it, or changing how it displays the colors so it makes a bit more sense. Might be on the STEX in a few days.

 

Heck, I'll take any improvement....let us all know when/if you post it.

 

Thanks!

 

Bill

[Billish 1]

It runs on 10.9, with the universal update.

I've made a mod that updates the route query key, but it's not very good as the color for the bus and pedestrian traffic look very very similar, and some route colors, like the pedestrian traffic, has a very different look based on the amount of traffic.

I might look into fixing it, or changing how it displays the colors so it makes a bit more sense. Might be on the STEX in a few days.

Did you happen to post your route query color mod partial fix yet?

[Billish 1]

It runs on 10.9, with the universal update.

I've made a mod that updates the route query key, but it's not very good as the color for the bus and pedestrian traffic look very very similar, and some route colors, like the pedestrian traffic, has a very different look based on the amount of traffic.

I might look into fixing it, or changing how it displays the colors so it makes a bit more sense. Might be on the STEX in a few days.

 

 

UPDATE:  I'm running Snow Leopard on my MacBook Air and realized that can still launch SimCity 4 using Rosetta (Duh!).  So I did it, and sure enough, the color table for the Route Query tool is now correct! It's converting the color table to that for my Intel CPUs instead of the old PowerPC chips.  YES!!!!  

 

Really silly that Aspyr made that "Big Endian, Little Endian" error when they wrote the patch, though.  This thing would work fine under Lion and later if they'd just fix that silly little mistake.