NAM General Support

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

With the NAM team, I'd rather be surprised.  Good luck, and good coding guys.

[Tarkus 6,932]

Does that mean it could be a Christmas present?

 

 

Every time we've tried to make a "Christmas present" release, it's ended up being a January release.  I think Maarten's 0.7% figure is charitable, if anything.

 

With the NAM team, I'd rather be surprised.  Good luck, and good coding guys.

 

The main issue we had previously is that we had really forgotten how to release, and "feature creep" had clawed us, dragging us to "development hell".  The so-called "modular NAM" paradigm from NAM 21 to NAM 30 was basically a crutch for, "yeah, you can add that--we can always make a NAM Essentials update", and enabled that style of development.  Since we've gone "monolithic", we've had the most NAM releases in a single year since 2005 (a year which saw 5 NAM releases).  Granted, the 2013 releases thus far have been ".x" releases, adding little in the way of new content, but it's really forced us to streamline the development process and confront our stumbling blocks.  NAM 32's going to be a real test of that, since we're getting back into content development for it (namely, the return of TuLEPs and a really exciting new project you'll be hearing about soon).

 

-Tarkus

[Wiimeiser 444]

RaBETS? I'm guessing because of the turbo roundabout...

[SIMple SIMon 0]

^{Sorry this is going to be in the wrong section guys, I just know it!}

 

^{Returning to the game after about 18months away (was pretty average back then too)}

^{I just downloaded NAM31.2 and installed the whole package to my computer over the older NAM30 that was previously on it.}

 

^{After I installed the mod there was a readme which stated that part of this mod (perhaps the traffic control - not sure) would use something like 3gB of virtual memory and if it caused performance issues you could replace the boot.ini with a boot.ini.bak that should be on my computer.}

 

^{Anyway long story short the performance of my whole PC has suffered (programs running slow....) and I wanted to find and read the readme that gave instructions to revert back. Problem is now I can not find the readme.}

 

^{Does this make sense to anyone here and how I can fix this? I've racked my brain and can't figure out what to do. Will an uninstall of the whole game fix this?}

 

^{BTW I have an older computer although still pretty high end (2008) that runs}

^{Windows XP.}

^{2.33gHZ  3.5gB RAM (which I think is the big issue here)}

 

 

^{Thanks in advance}

[timmie 988]

The readme of the NAM can be found in the 'Documentation'-folder in your 'Network Addon Mod'-folder. It should be in this location: C:\Your User Name\My Documents\Simcity 4\Plugins\Network Addon Mod\Documentation

 

3,5 GB of RAM should be fine to run the game with NAM, normally.

[GarrFarkel 2]

I hope this helps.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Having the new NAM installed should not affect your other programs if SC4 is not running.  With that much RAM you should be fine, but if necessary, follow the instructions above and fix your boot.  What has happened is that, on a 64-bit machine, you are now allowed to use up to 4 GB for a 32-bit program instead of 2 GB.  If your machine is 32-bit, this fix should not have been invoked.  If it was, then there is a problem in the installer and this should be investigated further.  Are you running XP-64-bit?

[z1 566]

^{Anyway long story short the performance of my whole PC has suffered (programs running slow....) and I wanted to find and read the readme that gave instructions to revert back. Problem is now I can not find the readme.} 

 

You can always just rerun the installer to get to that page, and cancel the installation once you've noted the instructions.  That page is not part of the external ReadMe files or other documentation.  I will fix things so that it will be included as a separate file in the next release, however.

 

 

^{BTW I have an older computer although still pretty high end (2008) that runs}

^{Windows XP.}

^{2.33gHZ  3.5gB RAM (which I think is the big issue here)}

 

The bigger issue is that you are still running Windows XP, a 32-bit OS.  Although the NAM does its best to support this configuration, you will do far better by using a modern 64-bit OS such as Windows 7 or Windows 8.

 

 

Will an uninstall of the whole game fix this?

 

No, it will not, as the modified file is not part of the game.

 

Having the new NAM installed should not affect your other programs if SC4 is not running.  With that much RAM you should be fine, but if necessary, follow the instructions above and fix your boot.  What has happened is that, on a 64-bit machine, you are now allowed to use up to 4 GB for a 32-bit program instead of 2 GB.  If your machine is 32-bit, this fix should not have been invoked.  If it was, then there is a problem in the installer and this should be investigated further.  Are you running XP-64-bit?

 

As the user is using 32-bit Windows XP, things work a little differently.  Since the OS is 32 bits, both the user program and the kernel have to fit in the 4 GB address space.  Normally, the OS assigns 2 GB to each of them.  This patch gives the user program 3 GB and the kernel 1 GB.  This is usually enough for the kernel.  However, if the user has certain device drivers that require a lot of space, such as video drivers that use main memory, they may not be able to get the space they need to run, and problems will ensue.  In this case, the patch needs to be reverted.

 

The installer has patches designed for both 32-bit and 64-bit systems, and the user got the correct patch.  The patches for 32-bit systems are optional, as unlike the patches for 64-bit systems, they have the potential to cause problems.  This is why instructions for reverting them are included in the installer.

[JessiLaurn 183]

I've run into a wee bit of an install problem with 31.2.  Simply put, I get as far as the install selection screen (Typical, Custom, etc)... and then, regardless which one I select and click Next, the installer stops responding.  Just plain stops, no matter how long I leave it there.  I eventually have to close it via the Task Manager.

 

Is a manual install still an option with this version, and if so, how?

 

This is, btw, on that antique system of mine:  ancient (circa 2002) custom-built machine with an Intel 2.26GHz Northwood and Tyan Trinity 510 mobo (with the old VIA chipset).  Operating system is the sort of thing that gives a tech a case of the screaming fits:  Win XP Pro SP3, atop SP2, atop SP1, atop original XP... atop 98b, atop 98, atop 95b, atop 95, atop 3.1, atop DOS 6.22.  74G free on C: (where 31.1 resides), and a meager 4G free on E: (where SC4/RH and all the other plugins live).  Swap file's on F:, with 6G free.  2G of DDR RAM (max the old mobo can support).  And yes, the 31.1 installer worked without a hitch.

[z1 566]

It's possible you got a corrupted download.  The first thing I'd try is to download a new copy and try again.

[SIMple SIMon 0]

 

^{Anyway long story short the performance of my whole PC has suffered (programs running slow....) and I wanted to find and read the readme that gave instructions to revert back. Problem is now I can not find the readme.} 

 

You can always just rerun the installer to get to that page, and cancel the installation once you've noted the instructions.  That page is not part of the external ReadMe files or other documentation.  I will fix things so that it will be included as a separate file in the next release, however.

 

 

^{BTW I have an older computer although still pretty high end (2008) that runs}

^{Windows XP.}

^{2.33gHZ  3.5gB RAM (which I think is the big issue here)}

 

The bigger issue is that you are still running Windows XP, a 32-bit OS.  Although the NAM does its best to support this configuration, you will do far better by using a modern 64-bit OS such as Windows 7 or Windows 8.

 

 

Will an uninstall of the whole game fix this?

 

No, it will not, as the modified file is not part of the game.

 

Having the new NAM installed should not affect your other programs if SC4 is not running.  With that much RAM you should be fine, but if necessary, follow the instructions above and fix your boot.  What has happened is that, on a 64-bit machine, you are now allowed to use up to 4 GB for a 32-bit program instead of 2 GB.  If your machine is 32-bit, this fix should not have been invoked.  If it was, then there is a problem in the installer and this should be investigated further.  Are you running XP-64-bit?

 

As the user is using 32-bit Windows XP, things work a little differently.  Since the OS is 32 bits, both the user program and the kernel have to fit in the 4 GB address space.  Normally, the OS assigns 2 GB to each of them.  This patch gives the user program 3 GB and the kernel 1 GB.  This is usually enough for the kernel.  However, if the user has certain device drivers that require a lot of space, such as video drivers that use main memory, they may not be able to get the space they need to run, and problems will ensue.  In this case, the patch needs to be reverted.

 

The installer has patches designed for both 32-bit and 64-bit systems, and the user got the correct patch.  The patches for 32-bit systems are optional, as unlike the patches for 64-bit systems, they have the potential to cause problems.  This is why instructions for reverting them are included in the installer.

 

 

Hey z1, thanks. I've looked up how to modify my boot.ini file as I can not find a boot.ini.bak file.

 

The boot.ini file currently looks like this on notepad

 

 

I see at the end of the sequence that it has 3GB. Can just simply delete the "3GB" and save? I am a little scared to do it without some confirmation.

 

 

Also a big thankyou to all of you who responded. @GarrFarkel - that was exactly what I read, cheers mate.

[z1 566]

 

I see at the end of the sequence that it has 3GB. Can just simply delete the "3GB" and save? I am a little scared to do it without some confirmation.

 

Yes, that's all you need to do.  The installer added the "/3GB" switch; you just have to remove it.

[SIMple SIMon 0]

Success!

 

Deleted the "/ 3GB", rebooted my computer and it is back to normal. Thankyou so very much z1 - you've made my day,

[s_olah 87]

Sorry If I'm in the wrong thread... I have a problem with my starting pieces, they just don't work. I place them, then I drag the RHW out of it and nothing, it just goes to a two-laner. Reinstalled, looked in forums...nothing. Also, I'm missing the Maxis Highway Overrire interchanges, they don't show (there is only a red arrow... even if I'm in an open space), same with some RHW custom pieces... I have no idea what's wrong. Please help or guide me in the right direction. Thank you,

S.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I guess the installer should look at the memory of the machine in this case, and if it is less than 4 GB should just bypass this process.  If that kills the installation, then more work need to be done.  Any way to virtualize the installation so that it can page.  Even XP has paging.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

You should actually try reposting this in
where it should get better attention.
 

Merged it with the NAM General Support thread

- MandelSoft (moderator)

[MandelSoft 2,769]

s_olah: this might point to a conflicting NAM Controller. Have you checked your SimCity 4 plugins folder for duplicate controllers?

[z1 566]

I guess the installer should look at the memory of the machine in this case...

 

Actually, it does.

 

...and if it is less than 4 GB should just bypass this process.

Since we're dealing with virtual memory here, the physical memory can be a bit less than 4 GB without causing any problems.  From what I have seen, the NAM occasionally causes a temporary spike in memory usage that can kill unpatched versions of SC4.  With the patch, they survive the spike, and average memory usage is typically well under 2GB.

 

The only problem comes when the kernel needs more than 1 GB, in which case the 32-bit version of this patch can't be used.  The only real solution in this case is for the user to upgrade to a 64-bit OS.

 

Fortunately, Wine doesn't have this problem, as it doesn't need the 1GB for Windows, since there is no Windows.  On Wine, the patch always give the SC4 process 4 GB, and this is risk-free.  (Assuming you have the current Wine patches, of course.)

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

There are no known to me wine patches.  I am running wine-1.5.31  The installer runs like clockwork, so I assume it has made the fix.
 

[z1 566]

There are no known to me wine patches.

 

I must have been thinking of the Ubuntu patch you mentioned then.

[JessiLaurn 183]

 

I've run into a wee bit of an install problem with 31.2.  Simply put, I get as far as the install selection screen (Typical, Custom, etc)... and then, regardless which one I select and click Next, the installer stops responding.  Just plain stops, no matter how long I leave it there.  I eventually have to close it via the Task Manager.

 

Is a manual install still an option with this version, and if so, how?

 

This is, btw, on that antique system of mine:  ancient (circa 2002) custom-built machine with an Intel 2.26GHz Northwood and Tyan Trinity 510 mobo (with the old VIA chipset).  Operating system is the sort of thing that gives a tech a case of the screaming fits:  Win XP Pro SP3, atop SP2, atop SP1, atop original XP... atop 98b, atop 98, atop 95b, atop 95, atop 3.1, atop DOS 6.22.  74G free on C: (where 31.1 resides), and a meager 4G free on E: (where SC4/RH and all the other plugins live).  Swap file's on F:, with 6G free.  2G of DDR RAM (max the old mobo can support).  And yes, the 31.1 installer worked without a hitch.

 

 

Tried re-downloading the patch:  no good, same problem.

Tried a number of combinations of leaving the old files in place, removing them, etc:  same problem.

Tried disabling every other operation running, including AV:  same problem.

Tried installing while in safe mode:  same problem.

 

I finally managed a workaround:  installed SC4RH w/ all patches on my laptop, installed NAM31.2 there - where it ran just fine - then copied all the NAM files (along with the SimCity executable from /apps) over to my ancient machine.  That worked.  A bit of a kludge, but at least now I can have my additional Maxis highway interchanges accessible again, and everything appears to be working nicely.

 

What a strange, strange ride.....

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

 

There are no known to me wine patches.

 

I must have been thinking of the Ubuntu patch you mentioned then.

 

I am getting lost in this.  There are no Ubuntu patches.  They don't patch.  There is a problem with a withheld library, which has still not been resolved, but all fixes to either system come as full packages.

[Eclipse99 2]

Hi everyone,

 

Just been testing out 31.2, and have been having some euro texture issues (yellow bits of texture on some of the ramp pieces).

 

Can anyone tell me if this is known NAM issue or i'm doing something wrong?

 

Here is an example of some of the pieces where im getting this.

 

 

 

[MandelSoft 2,769]

This is a known issue during the installation of the Euro Textures in Left Hand Drive (LHD) versions of the game. And yes, this ONLY happens with LHD versions. How to solve this:

- Go to "...\Plugins\z___NAM\Road Textures\Euro Cosmetic Re-Texture Mod\RHW\z0_Standard_LeftHandDriveSupport"

- Keep "z0_RHW_v50_EuroTextures_LHDSupport.dat", "z1_RHW_P57_EuroTextures_LHDSupport.dat" and (when applicable) the alternative texture variation set you selected in the installer. Delete the rest.

- That's it. Your issue should be gone.

If it's a RHD however, this directory shouldn't even be present.

[Eclipse99 2]

Thanks Mandelsoft, that did the trick, looks much better now.

 

I spotted another couple of things that have appeared since I switched to 31.2 (apologies again if this is already known):

 

1. MIS intersecting with NWM(RD-4) only seems to create a uniform junction when I drag it out the other side, otherwise I'm getting slightly mis-aligned textures with a small yellow line in the middle. 

 

2. When I fork the MIS, i'm getting some yellow texturing at the fork.

 

 

[Wiimeiser 444]

Looks like there's no Euro textures for either situation.

[MandelSoft 2,769]

I'm pretty sure the y-splitters do have Euro Textures...

[GarrFarkel 2]

Hello again ya'll.

 

Today I'm working on sunken highways and overpasses and such.  I'm trying to replicate Haljackey's Sunken Diamond Interchange from his interchange guide 

 

It's an older guide using RHW v3.0 so I'm sure many things have changed.  Anyway, here's what I'm out to do:

 

 

He didn't specify but I'm pretty sure he used Road puzzle pieces to build the overpass (white textures and pylons).  But in 31.2 the Straight Road OnSlope puzzle piece won't allow any connection at that spot (reserved tile).  And even if it would, the MIS ramp won't link up.

 

The "T" Road OnSlope puzzle piece allows the close connection but again there's the MIS thing.

 

I can build the overpass using the RHW-2 Ground-to-Elevated (L2) T-OnSlope transition and MIS will join with it, but I miss the white texture and the pylons. ( I even tried using the Elevated Road puzzle piece in the center to get the pylon and according to DrawPaths it should function but the textures don't match and it's fugly).

 

I've looked several times through the menus and can't find a way to join MIS to Road.  Am I missing something?  Can the interchange still be built as shown?  Or, is there a better way with the current version?

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

What you need to do is place the "T" Road Onslope, and drag some road out from both of the stubs.  Then delete the roads up to the intersection, and you will then be able to drag MIS through it.

[GarrFarkel 2]

What you need to do is place the "T" Road Onslope, and drag some road out from both of the stubs.  Then delete the roads up to the intersection, and you will then be able to drag MIS through it.

 

Wunderbar!  Thanks Joe.