Is it possible to develop a nice looking city without NAM?

[mattmontgomer16 9]

I've been playing with NAM for a little over a month and I still have yet to figure it out. I've gotten some aspects of NAM down but others I have had issues with (Like interchanges and offramps using RHW).

I want to know if its possible to develop a city that would look good using the default maxis roads and transportation. This is a theoretical question as I would like to keep NAM and work with it. 

[Indiana Joe 1,752]

Matter of opinion of course.  There are some plugin-free City Journals, but in general the most popular ones are the most customized.  The thing is that everyone's seen the default game and all of its capabilities.  It's old news.

 

The expanded transportation options provided by the NAM provide many more possible combinations.  And you absolutely need the traffic simulator, or else you won't be able to build big sprawls.  If you want to focus on building without worrying about RHW, you can always use Maxis highways (with one of the NAM texture mods of course).  Just leave plenty of room around interchanges.  Then, later, when your skills have developed, it will be an interesting challenge to upgrade the highway system.

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

Aspects such as RHW aren't necessary if you don't wanna use it. The only part of the NAM you must have to ensure proper growth at all is both the Traffic Simulator and the NAM's transit stations, because both in conjunction ensure realistic and proper commute patterns, and if you're using highways, ensuring that your highways are used at all. Anyone who plays without the NAM will always find bugs such as excessive amounts of "abandonment due to commute time", disused highways, and very little Monorail usage, and those will always cripple your chances at growing a successful city.

If you're using something like the RHW and you want to, be sure to read the user's manual for more information. If you still have questions, ask away.

[APSMS 1,893]

Absolutely. I think most will agree that outside of the RHW much of the NAM consists of primarily functional cosmetic upgrades to the base networks. Things like the NWM, TuLEPs, RTLs, STR, GLR, etc. are all functional (NAM policy is form follows function: cosmetic improvements only come after success in making a network functional and useful), but their primary addition to most cities is the difference in appearance. I use all of the aforementioned, but have made cities pre-NAM that I converted over after I discovered the NAM. They remain my only cities with the default transportation options, and aside from the slopes, I think my network looks rather nice.

 

I would, of course, keep the traffic simulator, as it is the single most important part of the NAM. The bugfixes, alternate textures, and other such options are nice to keep around in case they ever strike your fancy. The additional capacity is handy too (for the wider-lane networks like TLA-3, TLA-5, RD-6, etc. all have a higher capacity than the default one and two-tile networks they replace). But yes, the default transit options that come with the game will work just fine, provided you keep the NAM around.

[Lost Realist 762]

The original traffic simulation is pretty much just broken which is the one thing for which I consider the NAM to be essential and absolutely unreplacable.

For the other features, everything important has been said, but I think you're a little early to give up on features like the RHW. I thought it was a terrible pain at first, too, and the learning curve is admittedly quite something but once you start getting the hang of it it's incredibly rewarding to be able to lay out your own interchanges the way you want them, control the width of your highway, use cosmetic pieces... It's really worth diving into it, trust me.

[GeometryMath Algebra 614]

If you want to have a totally vanilla CJ, install the NAM with the traffic simulator only. The default traffic simulator is totally broken.

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

Yes, it's possible. I've seen nice cities developed with little to no custom content, and poor cities utilising the NAM.

But if you feel overwhelmed by the add ons the NAM offers, do as the others have said and install the basic traffic simulator.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

At the moment I have both RHW and GLR turned off in my set up.  If you want to pick up things in the NAM slowly with reduced menu clutter, use the custom installer.  I use the NAM alternate texture for MHW and it works just fine.  My current style of play does not need RHW and trams are more trouble than they are worth for me.

[Cyclone Boom 17,032]

It could be argued that without the NAM traffic simulator, it's hard to create a sustainable city. Abandoned buildings certainly don't look nice on the map. The great thing about the NAM is the flexibility of a custom installation. Once you've got the bare bones, the rest is pretty much icing on the cake. Although functional, the extra components aren't needed to make an appealing or diverse city. Other items of content (such as MMPs) can achieve added details.

[Sims21 2]

I think the transportation in the game itself is fine.  I haven't used the NAM or any others in the game. 

[Richie99 159]

I was thinking the default traffic in sim city deluxe is fine.My citizens are using everything according to plan.Is NAM really necessary?Won't it make the game slow?

I had to wait so long before I had sim city deluxe just last week and am quite content.The intelligence of the sims just blow my mind...

[NCGAIO 562]

For those who do not want or can not simply load the NAM, but still want to adjust the problems there exist a solution that is use SC4config to adjust traffic and some other things
 
 - SC4config
 
Apart from several other parameters also allows him to make changes to pathfinding logically but it is not a tool type "instal to solve" of course!
 
It would require some reading about the parameters that can adjust to then  can play around with the values ​​and determine which would be the best fit for a certain situation
 
But if has no patience for reading then there is no way ... the way that left over is the NAM.

[Richie99 159]

I would like to know more about the config tool you are talking about.I don't want this NAM thingy.

[Haljackey 17,405]

I don't want this NAM thingy.

 

I would still suggest running the basic install of the NAM. It fixes a lot of the bugs Maxis did not get around to.

[NCGAIO 562]

I would like to know more about the config tool you are talking about....

 

The download for this tool is on the link and technical information to possible adjustments are discussed  extensively in this and other sites SC4 on the topic "traffic simulation" as also the other things.

 

As said before it is not a simple thing to use but for those who do not know or want to edit the parameters of tune the game to make  corrections through the other tools SC4config is an option.

 

Haljackey remembered well above that the NAM not corrects only the simulator traffic but also some other bugs so the information is  addressed to issue of topic

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

As cities get larger and players start to run into abandonment due to commute time in the default game, you will consider replacing the default traffic controller with the one in the NAM which has been developed over 10 years or more.  You need only install the traffic controller but there are serious benefits in selectively installing other features.  I currently do a custom install and omit features I do not presently expect to use.  However, to each his own.

[Richie99 159]

Well I may have to get NAM after all.But can I get sure links to updating my game and then installing NAM,please?

[GeometryMath Algebra 614]

Well I may have to get NAM after all.But can I get sure links to updating my game and then installing NAM,please?

The 1.1.638 update maybe downloaded here.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

There is no evidence in this thread that that update is needed.

 

Where did you get your game?  If it is a digital download and not from CD, you don't need any updates of that type.

 

Go for the NAM locations.  You definitely want NAM 31.2

[Richie99 159]

I got my game from a friend.He most probably downloaded it for free.

Thanks for the links.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Be very careful.  If the game has been cracked, none of the patch updates (EP1) for example will take and you will be locked out of custom content because most of it requires the EP1 update.  Freebie games of this calibre seldom are legal copies, and usually have some barrier.

[Richie99 159]

Hmmm I live in Ghana and am not sure whether sim city is popular in our game stores.If I do find one,I will get a legal copy.

[MandelSoft 2,775]

You can get legal copies by for instance Steam or Origin. Often costs you around US$10, but this version is fully up to date

[Richie99 159]

Oh ok thanks.