NAM General Support

[rsc204 21,808]

14 minutes ago, DennyFrontier said:

I have SC4 on Steam...

...

After running the patch I am met with an error 

Digital versions come pre-parched, hence it failed when it saw newer files than expected existed.

16 minutes ago, DennyFrontier said:

But when I try to load a city it crashes to my desktop.

What file did you patch with the 4GB Patch application? Normally where this happens, it’s a sure fire bet, SimCity 4.exe has not been updated for some reason.

[DennyFrontier 8]

15 hours ago, rsc204 said:

Digital versions come pre-parched, hence it failed when it saw newer files than expected existed.

What file did you patch with the 4GB Patch application? Normally where this happens, it’s a sure fire bet, SimCity 4.exe has not been updated for some reason.

I updated the main sc4 executable in my steam directory

[rsc204 21,808]

Before doing anything, you should pull the Network Addon Mod folder out of Plugins and see if the game starts fine without it.

The default NAM install includes a very-large controller file, this contains all the code needed to make all the new features of NAM work  It also stretches the limits of what SC4, as a 32-Bit app can handle. The 4GB Patch simply sets a ‘flag’ so that when SC4 is ran, it tells Windows to use Large Address Aware memory handling. This gives a 32-Bit app, access to more memory, by moving the system reserved portion, which by default is part of the 2GB SC4 can access.

There is a simple test to know if it ‘actually’ was applied correctly. Experience here tells us it often seems it has, but that may not actually be the case. Seemingly even the existence of a backup of the .exe isn’t enough either. You need to look at the creation date of the SimCity 4.exe file. If the patch was successful, it will match the date on which you ran it. What seems to be going on in some cases, Windows either prevents the patch from working or something restores the unmodified version. To prevent that possibility, try the following:

- Close Steam and turn off any security software that might interfere with things. It’s safest to disconnect from the internet whilst any AV/Anti-malware software is disabled.
- Right click on the 4GB Patch and select run as Administrator. This gives the application elevated privileges that might be necessary. 
- If the above doesn’t help, try moving the SimCity 4.exe to a folder outside of Program Files, whilst patching it. This is an OS protected folder on modern Windows. A temporary folder in the root of C is probably the simplest way of avoiding such. 

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

5 hours ago, rsc204 said:

something restores the unmodified version

Some launchers do this (e.g. Steam's own, which might check the "authenticity" of your exe and then "correct" it).

[rsc204 21,808]

1 hour ago, jeffryfisher said:

Some launchers do this (e.g. Steam's own, which might check the "authenticity" of your exe and then "correct" it).

But I don't think it can be that simple, because if all Steam versions were doing this, I'm sure by now we'd know. Thinking about it, since I bought my Mac version on Steam, I'll have access to the Windows Steam version. Maybe if I feel inclined, I'll try to look into this.

Certainly though, if Steam was supposed to be doing integrity checks of this type, it'd be a pretty poor implementation that allowed some users to circumvent the checks. Unless it's a toggle-able option in Steam somewhere. Honestly if it is, I certainly can't easily locate it in Settings. You can manually run an integrity check on your files, but of course doing this on a modified file is likely to end only one way.

The real problem here, is that adding the LAA flag is something that is more ideally done by the distributor/publisher. But as we all know, few of them listen to feedback or bother to update anything, so we're stuck with this workaround instead. Although it doesn't help the only reason you need it is to push the game beyond it's limits, but there is no drawback to having this present either. Just one more reason to prefer a DRM-Free version that doesn't rely on an Internet Connection to work if you ask me.

[Matrim Cauthon 344]

5 minutes ago, rsc204 said:

But I don't think it can be that simple, because if all Steam versions were doing this, I'm sure by now we'd know.

To my knowledge, Steam will only do this on a manual integrity check or if the file was replaced as part of an update.

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

Is there a way to have the network disconnector tool while not having RHW installed? I would like to have the ability to use it. That tool was really nice to have when I tried out RHW.

[Naomi57 2,985]

On 13/12/2020 at 12:53 AM, DennyFrontier said:

But when I try to load a city it crashes to my desktop.

If I remember correctly, this crash to desktop used to happen for me when I was using Hardware Rendering in the SC4 Graphics Options, before I ever installed the NAM.

The workaround was to switch to Software Rendering, which then meant switching off various visual effects to get better graphics performance.

Again, if I remember correctly, the  -EH:off  switch in the command line was the final solution to allow me to use Hardware Rendering again.

"C:\GOG Games\SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition\Apps\SimCity 4.exe" -intro:off -w -r1280x1024x32 -CustomResolution:enabled -f -gp -CPUCount:1 -EH:off

The  -EH:off  switch turns off exception handling.  From a technical perspective, it's a dirty workaround, but it worked for me.

[spiritualfire 138]

Please direct me to the correct page if already asked but.....

I have installed NAM 39, and the Java exe file. I am on 64-bit Win7 with 8gb memory and I was NOT prompted to install the 4gb patch.

I updated from NAM 35 and ran Cleanitol and I appear to be up to date.

However, I am a tad lost in terms of finishing setting this up. I have read and re-read the documents, yet I'm still hesitant to launch without knowing first if I've done everything correctly and completely. Like, in how to set up for driving RHD? Or am I supposed to delete the files I don't want/need? And do I need to install the 4gb patch anyway to be on the safe side?

 

[Matrim Cauthon 344]

Since NAM 37 it no longer installs the 4GB patch on it's own.

The 4GB patch instead is inside the NAM setup folder, in the same folder as the Installation JAR. 
If your SC4 is unpatched, you'll need to run the 4GB patch which will then prompt you for the location of SimCity 4.exe

Direct it to that and patch.

This video covers it starting at the 3:45 second mark:

 

[spiritualfire 138]

@Matrim Cauthon Well I feel stupid... Certainly didn't know about that patch.

And just so I'm clear: I need to install this patch anyway, even though it didn't prompt me to?

[Matrim Cauthon 344]

The new installer has no checking process, so it's not able to tell you if it's required or not.

It does however 'prompt' you to install it, just in text, highlighted here:

 

Technically speaking, there is no reason to re-patch an already patched SimCity 4.exe.
If this installation of SC4 is fresh however, it 100% needs it.

Fortunately if you've got it wrong you'll know immediately, because SC4 will crash practically in an instant running NAM39 without it.

[spiritualfire 138]

@Matrim Cauthon Ok so I see the 4gb.exe, and I unzipped the "NAM setup version39.jar" with 7-Zip and I thought that was all of it. I have every file pertaining to NAM39 down to the pedmalls.

But I see no NAM39 installer anywhere.... I must've done something wrong.

[Flann 1,709]

2 minutes ago, spiritualfire said:

@Matrim Cauthon Ok so I see the 4gb.exe, and I unzipped the "NAM setup version39.jar" with 7-Zip and I thought that was all of it. I have every file pertaining to NAM39 down to the pedmalls.

But I see no NAM39 installer anywhere.... I must've done something wrong.

The .jar file is the installer, it's a java application and you'll need the java runtime installed to run it.  OpenJDK is included with the NAM files so you can install that to run the installer.

[spiritualfire 138]

@Flann Hi there. So yeah, I installed the Java file first before unzipping the JAR, and that's as far as I've gotten.

 

[Matrim Cauthon 344]

1 minute ago, spiritualfire said:

@Matrim Cauthon Ok so I see the 4gb.exe, and I unzipped the "NAM setup version39.jar" with 7-Zip and I thought that was all of it. I have every file pertaining to NAM39 down to the pedmalls.

But I see no NAM39 installer anywhere.... I must've done something wrong.

Okay, the main problem here is that you unpacked the jar file.

That jar file IS the installer. You need to double click on it to run it just like you would an exe.

If it doesn't open, you are likely missing the JRE which is required to install NAM. Luckily the download also includes a JRE for 64bit windows installations. If you are having this problem, install that first.

Better yet, watch the full video I linked above, it covers the majority of this and gives a visual.

[Flann 1,709]

Just now, spiritualfire said:

@Flann Hi there. So yeah, I installed the Java file first before unzipping the JAR, and that's as far as I've gotten.

 

You shouldn't be unzipping the .jar file unless you want to manually install the files.  You should be able to either double click to run the .jar file, or find the similarly named .bat file which will launch java and the installer for you.

[spiritualfire 138]

10 minutes ago, Matrim Cauthon said:

Okay, the main problem here is that you unpacked the jar file.

That jar file IS the installer. You need to double click on it to run it just like you would an exe.

If it doesn't open, you are likely missing the JRE which is required to install NAM. Luckily the download also includes a JRE for 64bit windows installations. If you are having this problem, install that first.

Better yet, watch the full video I linked above, it covers the majority of this and gives a visual.

Okay you're saying that if the Java was installed then I should've been able to run the NAM installer. Weird.... My computer acts funny sometimes, tells me something installed correctly and actually didn't. So I'm watching the rest of the video but I will also reinstall Java to make sure it takes it.

[spiritualfire 138]

@Flann Right, I think that's what Matrim is saying also. Assuming the Java file installed itself correctly I ought to see the NAM39 make itself into a clickable icon and run the installer like normal. Is that right?

[spiritualfire 138]

37 minutes ago, Flann said:

You shouldn't be unzipping the .jar file unless you want to manually install the files.  You should be able to either double click to run the .jar file, or find the similarly named .bat file which will launch java and the installer for you.

@Flann @Matrim Cauthon Well, for some strange reason something isn't letting the JAR file reveal the icon so all I could do was run the above .bat file as an admin and it brought me right to the installer. Go figure.

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

18 hours ago, spiritualfire said:

do I need to install the 4gb patch

If your SC4 exe was patched by an earlier NAM, then it does not need to be patched again until you reinstall SC4 again.

[smurfN 26]

I installed the new NAM 39. When I tried doing a L1 overpass using the flex heigt on-slope pieces the overpass part won't become L1 and I can't drag out anything from the onslope pieces as previously possible. I didn't have this problem with NAM 38. 

[Flann 1,709]

1 hour ago, smurfN said:

I installed the new NAM 39. When I tried doing a L1 overpass using the flex heigt on-slope pieces the overpass part won't become L1 and I can't drag out anything from the onslope pieces as previously possible. I didn't have this problem with NAM 38. 

I do believe something was changed with the L1 RHW2 FlexHT piece.  It's being looked at more closely now.  However, you should be able to accomplish this setup with 2 RHW-2 L1 Starters like so:

[smurfN 26]

@Flann Was able to get it to work with your sollution even if it's a bit fiddly

[Wiimeiser 444]

IIRC it was changed because the L1 RHW-2 would override the other networks (particularly from height transitions) and there was no other workaround.

[Tarkus 6,932]

The change to remove the "auto-RHW-2" out the elevated ends of the FLEX OnSlopes (FLEX-OSTs) was actually made back with NAM 38 (see the version history here) though it probably went unnoticed, given that the FLEX-OSTs didn't even really work right with NAM 38 to begin with.  NAM 39 finally made them somewhat whole again. 

As @Wiimeiser correctly mentioned, the "auto-RHW-2" was actually the source of a lot of problems when trying to use the FLEX-OSTs with any other network.  The L1 and L2 RHW-2 tended to be "sticky", and ridiculous amounts of override code (we're talking hundreds of thousands of lines of RUL2 code) were required in order to prevent the other networks from trying to revert to L1/L2 RHW-2.

We're probably going to have to produce dedicated (but still FLEX) RHW-2 versions of the FLEX-OSTs and FLEX-HTs in order to ease things with the RHW-2, without severely compromising the ability to use other networks with the FLEX-OSTs/HTs.  I will be looking into the implementation aspects of that shortly.

-Tarkus

[matias93 7,535]

Some idea why this might happen? I tried dragging the networks in both ways, and in both orders, to no avail

 

[Tyberius06 12,189]

9 minutes ago, matias93 said:

Some idea why this might happen? I tried dragging the networks in both ways, and in both orders, to no avail

 

@matias93
Hi,

Which NAM do you use and what other mods which would altering the L1 E-RRW do you use? 

I tried with NAM 39 (more or less empty plugins) and I could NOT reproduce your issue. It works quite strong for me. 

From the top of my head, I would assume that something is conflicting with the NAM/RRW/ERRW in your plugins, that's why you've experienced that flipping effect. RUM for RRW perhaps (seeing that you have different viaduct skin)?

Wouldn't clicking around on the RHW fix the flipping?

- Tyberius

 

[rsc204 21,808]

8 hours ago, Tyberius06 said:

From the top of my head, I would assume that something is conflicting with the NAM/RRW/ERRW in your plugins, that's why you've experienced that flipping effect. RUM for RRW perhaps (seeing that you have different viaduct skin)?

A resin like RUM should only be affecting the textures, so I don’t think that’s the issue. Since this works in NAM39, if you have yet to upgrade, that’d be my first suggestion. But I’d also check you don’t have any out of date NAM controller files knocking around. Those could be screwing with any more recent code revisions. 

[matias93 7,535]

15 hours ago, Tyberius06 said:

RUM for RRW perhaps

Indeed, over NAM 39.

6 hours ago, rsc204 said:

A resin like RUM should only be affecting the textures, so I don’t think that’s the issue. Since this works in NAM39, if you have yet to upgrade, that’d be my first suggestion. But I’d also check you don’t have any out of date NAM controller files knocking around. Those could be screwing with any more recent code revisions. 

I will check the folders for legacy controllers. I remember having kept the traffic simulator from NAM 38, and maybe then carried over some other file.