LITP's NAM 32 Impressions

[LivingInThePast 364]

So I restarted SC4 for the first time in months, with some (not all) of the plug-ins intact (we'll see if the rest fixes anything, since the textures for the in-game residential were missing). But I was mostly focused on NAM. I named the city "Venture III" since it was my third attempt at reinstalling Windows.

 

I first checked out the draggable viaducts, which was great. I could even place regular roads underneath it.

 

Sadly, the more I zoomed out, the worse it looked.

 

 

 

I think this was because partially I was using a higher-ish resolution, but I've always wondered why this turned out this way because this isn't the first time I've seen this. I'm sure there's a technical reason for this...

 

What's going on here? Why does that not connect at all? Is this one of Maxis' mistakes, or is something wrong with my NAM installation? I don't remember it being disconnected (awkward, yes, disconnecting no). Maybe I should've switched textures.

 

 

 

There were some missing textures at the RRW (now I see why it's optional...)

 

A train generator placed at the site helped me realize that RRW was more than a texture mod as the train went quickly and made clicking noises. It would be nice if the crossings made a DING DING DING sound as they went with a loud train horn, but I'm sure there could be a mod to do that later. It also went much faster than I remember, but it seems way too fast for more urban areas. Unfortunately, speeds are fixed on networks, so no use asking.

 

One of those missing textures started to sort itself out later.

 

More "rough textures". Those turns seem far too sharp for a highway, even if you were puttering along at a relatively gentle 50 mph (80 kph). 

 

A puzzle piece saves the day!

 

I didn't experiment with it fully (seems some documentation is lacking--I never found either the documentation nor BRT, but I wasn't looking in the right place either for the latter).

 

Tram-in-road! Although the texture is not to my taste (not to mention the lack of power poles), it warms my heart to find that we're getting closer to remaking Houston in SC4.

 

 

^^ Playing with more textures. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a puzzle piece where the tram and light rail split off and go their separate ways. I was a bit worried about the highway pieces--trying to make even the simplest diamond style interchange (MIS ramps) seemed more trouble than it was worth, but the latest videos have shown making interchanges to be easy. We'll see...

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

I think this was because partially I was using a higher-ish resolution, but I've always wondered why this turned out this way because this isn't the first time I've seen this. I'm sure there's a technical reason for this...

 

What's going on here? Why does that not connect at all? Is this one of Maxis' mistakes, or is something wrong with my NAM installation? I don't remember it being disconnected (awkward, yes, disconnecting no). Maybe I should've switched textures.

 

There were some missing textures at the RRW (now I see why it's optional...)

Some of these "issues" you found are actually technical design decisions; the "graininess" on both the draggable viaducts are because of the models being ported directly from the RHW. The reason why the RHW textures appear grainy is because of the S3D settings used for embedded mipmaps. This is also, for the record, answered in the RHW FAQ section in the RHW manual.

With the streets, that's just a quirk with how terrible the textures are compared to other NAM texture sets. Actually, that's part of the issue; the rest of it is because you accidentally triggered the Diagonal Streets override. There's no really way around it except finding something different that does work.

What I would recommend is read the documentation (as outdated as it is), but the more important to part should be the FAQ; particularly with the RHW, since half of all NAM dev is centred, based off of, or influenced by it. The other recommendation is to just experiment, but I recommend doing so in a test city.

[LivingInThePast 364]

Thanks. As for the missing textures on RRW, I wasn't entirely sure the problem was on my end or not, since I admitted that the residential textures were also missing--though if I recall correctly, there was something in a FAQ about that (settings?)

Don't get me wrong, I totally love the NAM, and I really didn't want this to seem like complaining, it was more of the experience of trying something new, what I loved, what I liked, and what made me say "Huh?"

[Haljackey 17,242]

Great to see you back playing SC4! I remember the days when you and I cluttered the transit network forums.

 

NAM 32 can take some time to get used to. Getting various components of the mod to work how you invision them can take some trial and error. Keep at it!

[Sabretooth78 808]

This will give you your RRW crossing textures...

 

[LivingInThePast 364]

One more thing...it seems that the arrows are showing up on OWRs again. Given that I did only reinstall about half my mods, it's possible that it was an extra I left out, but I thought that NAM had the OWR arrow reduction implemented? If so, how did I miss that?

[APSMS 1,892]

It's an option. You'll need to choose it in the installer as it's not a default option. It also looks a lot better (imo) with the NAM custom textures (as opposed to the MAXIS default ones).

 

The RRW documentation would demonstrate (as would following the thread on SC4Devotion) that the way you draw some of the curves has been de-implemented, due in part to the complexity of the game's texture assignment system--how the code is handled. Swordmaster was faced with either restoring all of the Maxis code into the RRW and losing a number of important features (and possibly getting the project stalled in the process) or sacrificing variety (of ways that you can draw identical setups) for functionality and features.

You'll have to pay attention to how you draw the curves/switches. Typically you'll need to go from the straight to the diagonal for it to work, but occasionally it's the other way around. Again, the things you can do with rail hasn't decreased, only the number of ways you can drag out any given pattern has.

[LivingInThePast 364]

It's an option. You'll need to choose it in the installer as it's not a default option. It also looks a lot better (imo) with the NAM custom textures (as opposed to the MAXIS default ones).

 

The RRW documentation would demonstrate (as would following the thread on SC4Devotion) that the way you draw some of the curves has been de-implemented, due in part to the complexity of the game's texture assignment system--how the code is handled. Swordmaster was faced with either restoring all of the Maxis code into the RRW and losing a number of important features (and possibly getting the project stalled in the process) or sacrificing variety (of ways that you can draw identical setups) for functionality and features.

You'll have to pay attention to how you draw the curves/switches. Typically you'll need to go from the straight to the diagonal for it to work, but occasionally it's the other way around. Again, the things you can do with rail hasn't decreased, only the number of ways you can drag out any given pattern has.

I did notice that I could get the rail drawn the way I wanted eventually. The RRW also seemed to be "under-documented", and I am happy that there were new features (like clicking of the tracks, and I think the models may have received a re-do as well)--this must be the "other features/functionalities" mentioned as it seems (to me) that the RRW is more than a texture mod.

Maybe I'm missing something else, but when I loaded a pre-existing city, some of the intersections that I had with left hand turn lanes disappeared. Since that seems to be a NAM-related problem, I don't know went wrong (probably stemming from the fact that the installer tried to override the existing install, possibly leaving some stuff in and causing conflicts). The plug-ins folder is due for a shake-down anyway once I install everything back.

[Tarkus 6,931]

Maybe I'm missing something else, but when I loaded a pre-existing city, some of the intersections that I had with left hand turn lanes disappeared. Since that seems to be a NAM-related problem, I don't know went wrong (probably stemming from the fact that the installer tried to override the existing install, possibly leaving some stuff in and causing conflicts).

 

 

The RTL is no longer automatic.  It's been a thorn in the side of the NWM for a number of years, and it turned out to be massively complicating Draggable FAR, so it now works on a "semi-automatic" basis.  Place a single tile of OWR over the Road + or T-intersection, and the turn lanes will show up.

 

-Tarkus

[LivingInThePast 364]

Maybe I'm missing something else, but when I loaded a pre-existing city, some of the intersections that I had with left hand turn lanes disappeared. Since that seems to be a NAM-related problem, I don't know went wrong (probably stemming from the fact that the installer tried to override the existing install, possibly leaving some stuff in and causing conflicts).

 

The RTL is no longer automatic.  It's been a thorn in the side of the NWM for a number of years, and it turned out to be massively complicating Draggable FAR, so it now works on a "semi-automatic" basis.  Place a single tile of OWR over the Road + or T-intersection, and the turn lanes will show up.

 

-Tarkus

Ah--I remember that there was some "trick" to make turn lanes appear in intersections, you had to place another tile of something over it: but I was remembering "rail" instead of OWR for some reason to no avail. Thanks!

It looks like in my NAM folder, for whatever reason, the mythical BRT wasn't installed somehow...and neither the OWR Arrow Reduction Mod, which was implemented into NAM at some point in the past. A NAM 32 reinstall may be necessary (I'm going to with the 800MB one and not the 250MB one next time around--not sure what the SFX means).

Anyway, I really don't want to make this a redundant troubleshooting thread--I wouldn't mind if a mod locked or merged this. Thanks! (Further inquiries will be in their respective threads)

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

About your missing residential textures:  Did you remember to include the BldgProps_vol1, ..._vol2 during your reinstall?  They are on the lot editor page at SC4Devotion.

[LivingInThePast 364]

Yessir, though they're in the My Documents plug-ins set under a subfolder "Maxis Props". Should I put them in the root plugins one level up?

[blunder 1,079]

Yessir, though they're in the My Documents plug-ins set under a subfolder "Maxis Props". Should I put them in the root plugins one level up?

 

folder structure within /Plugins is irrelevant except regarding load order, so you're fine there.

 

For your rail textures, do you have the old version of rivit's RUM installed and loading after the NAM?  It has replacement textures for the crossings and curves, and it looks like that's whats happening in your OP.  Drop it or update it to the new version and your rail should be fine.

[LivingInThePast 364]

I set the "City Detail" to "High", let's see if that solves the problem.

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

I set the "City Detail" to "High", let's see if that solves the problem.

 

"City Detail" and "Texture Detail" should be set to High, or else you will have missing props and textures.