NAM General Support

[MarkShot 631]

Okay I the NAM 35 MHO pdf open.  Hopefully, I will find my combining MHO with NWM/Maxis there.

[rsc204 21,808]

12 hours ago, MarkShot said:

I see that Maxis style generated junctions or the ones under DEFAULT fail as textures won't match (black and gray).  So, I know I must use some form of transition component, but I cannot find where and how.

Outside of the set pieces for MHO, everything is connected up using the RHW tools, mainly MiS, which will connect ramps into base networks for supported configurations.

12 hours ago, MarkShot said:

(1)  Do I lose anything by using both MHO and RHW?  Meaning is my traffic capacity between MHO and RHW (the bonded 2 lane X 2) basically the same?  As I understand adjusting traffic capacity via TSCT and mass transit is more important for SC4 than road choices and design are in CS?

At its core MHO is simply a cosmetic override of the MHY, the capacities are therefore those of MHY and totally separate from RHW.

Honestly, traffic flow is about the only thing you need to nail in C:S, it's literally critical to prevent everything from seizing up. Whilst some people get easily flustered when they see congestion in SC4, the reality is that unless it's truly awful, like many times over capacity, everything still continues to work. Real cities aren't perfectly designed to handle the actual traffic flows either, some congestion is actually quite normal and doesn't have any huge consequences for SC4. Obviously setting the base capacities in line with your intended plans population-wise is a good idea, but beyond that and upping or lowering it later if necessary, there isn't a great need to dig into all the manual TSCT settings unless you want additional control.

12 hours ago, MarkShot said:

(2)  Neighbor connections ...

I assume for NWM 1 tile and 2 tile, I just need to drag through and it will work?

The same for MHO?

The ploppable neighbor connection fix is for just RHW, right?

1-Tile Bi-Directional networks will all work as neighbour connections, even with various overrides applied. Anything wider, with the exception of MHY and AVE, i.e. the game-default 2-tile networks, require special Neighbour Connection pieces to be placed on either side to ensure they work correctly. A set exist for NWM, although they have yet to be FLEXed like the new RHW ones, although it's on the cards at some point. MHO just works, because again it's only a cosmetic override, it functions otherwise (some different possibilities aside), identically to MHY. 

[MarkShot 631]

Thanks.  I read the MHO guide that came with NAM44 which is labeled NAM35.  It is all much clearer now.

[MarkShot 631]

Should starter pieces be removed after their use or just left in place?

Thanks.

[MarkShot 631]

Once upon a time I saw a silvery NAM piece for simply flattening terrain.

Where might that be located in NAM44?

Thank you.

[MarkShot 631]

If I have an RHW 5S(L0), I can use an RHW Flex Ramp to pull off two lanes, but that takes me down to a 4S.  I don't know how to add a lane back to make it a 5S.  Is there a way to do this?

Thanks!

PS:  Normally, I can use an add lane RHW width transition, but it doesn't seem to work for this case.

[matias93 7,535]

5 hours ago, MarkShot said:

Should starter pieces be removed after their use or just left in place?

Thanks.

left in place, they add stability to the resulting network and removing them might reverse them to the base one.

5 hours ago, MarkShot said:

Once upon a time I saw a silvery NAM piece for simply flattening terrain.

Where might that be located in NAM44?

Thank you.

Flattening lots were made by Pegasus, and aren't on the NAM. The most used technique is to plop single tiles of networks, which aren't slope-tolerant, to flatten terrain, but a lot might be useful if you want to cover a big area or also get an specific depth in one step.

4 hours ago, MarkShot said:

If I have an RHW 5S(L0), I can use an RHW Flex Ramp to pull off two lanes, but that takes me down to a 4S.  I don't know how to add a lane back to make it a 5S.  Is there a way to do this?

Thanks!

PS:  Normally, I can use an add lane RHW width transition, but it doesn't seem to work for this case.

It's the same ramp, but in reverse. If you are getting trouble with the pattern, try using the FLEX ramps on the RHW menu, which are compatible with all widths.

This guide might be useful if you want to persist with dragging patterns. Oh, and BTW, the names of the networks refer to both inbound and outbound lanes, so you are talking about a RHW 10S.

[MarkShot 631]

Matias,

Thank you very much for the chart.

I will do a STEX search for Pegasus.

Thanks!

[MarkShot 631]

Okay, next quicky.  I am watching MGB videos.  Of course, I know that many of his videos are deprecated or eliminated like fences around >L0 viaducts.  As FLEX overrides, drag, and auto configuration are far (no pun) better in the NAM of the 40's.

Anyway, MGB explains how there are 3 FARs between every 2 perpendicular orthogonal networks.  Thus, FAR-1/2/3, but I don't see such a thing in NAM44 menus.  Am I missing something???  Since MGB is doing his FAR by plopping with wizard pieces into predefined patterns, has this simply eliminated to limit user complexity?

I must say NAM44 is the most intuitive NAM, I have yet seen.  For the near total adoption of full NAM features usage, this is exactly what is needed.

Thank you.

[rsc204 21,808]

2 hours ago, MarkShot said:

Okay, next quicky.  I am watching MGB videos.  Of course, I know that many of his videos are deprecated or eliminated like fences around >L0 viaducts.

I'm using a lot of visual mods, so what you see with the default NAM might be quite different from what's in the videos, but otherwise it's the same content. Granted since that video was made, the Flex-Based overpasses have been greatly expanded, but I personally still use the original Puzzle Piece ones. If nothing else for these viaducts, it gives me two style choices to choose from, but until pretty recently they were necessary to have any sort of diagonal crossing support. At some point I'd like to update the Road Viaducts mod to cover the newer draggable viaducts, but this is very complex and time-consuming thing to do. If I ever do, then I'll probably dispense with the Puzzle Pieces, I already did so with the equivalent Viaduct Rail since E-RRW is just so much better.

2 hours ago, MarkShot said:

 

Anyway, MGB explains how there are 3 FARs between every 2 perpendicular orthogonal networks.  Thus, FAR-1/2/3, but I don't see such a thing in NAM44 menus.  Am I missing something???  Since MGB is doing his FAR by plopping with wizard pieces into predefined patterns, has this simply eliminated to limit user complexity?

I think you've misunderstood something, between an Ortho and Diagonal stretch of road, there are 2 FA-Road options, FAR2 and FAR3. A puzzle-piece based version of them exist, but are depreciated and therefore not installed by default. indeed I am using the updated 'drag patterns' when building these networks, which is actually my favourite method/system for building NAM content. Granted, that does mean a bit of a learning curve, but given the increased efficiency of building this way, you'll easily recoup any time given over to learning it in the long run.

The basic FAR2/FAR3 patterns are really very simple to remember, basically overlap 2 tiles of 4 tile segments or 3 tiles of 6 tile segments of road, where one road is a tile higher or lower than the other. The video really shows this much more clearly than trying to explain it, as do the images in the NAM documentation showing them. I'll note that myself, like many others, play with a guide for such patterns to hand, my phone or tablet is great for this as I have the various images and .pdfs on the cloud, therefore I have one 'copy' I can use between all my devices.

Currently no FLEX pieces exist for this particular feature and personally I prefer things that way, since it keeps my menus cleaner and I'm happy using the patterns. Of course not everyone will necessarily feel the same way, but for me I prefer the menus to only have what I need present, either way more Flex pieces = More menu items/Tab Rings, something of a continual cause of user complaints over the years, so there is a good argument I think for limiting them where practical.

Something I hope comes across when watching my videos, whilst they show some specific features being used, the point was to show people how to use the various types of NAM content. For example how to build with Puzzle Pieces, Flex Pieces, Starters and Drag Patterns, all of which are generic skills. I.e., if you've learned how SAM starters work, you know how all starters work, you don't need to learn this technique for each individual component of NAM that uses them. The same applies more generally, the way you build all Puzzle-Piece networks or use Flex Pieces are all essentially the same, of course the pieces themselves might be quite different. Yes there are some specifics and nuances, but the goal for me was to provide a good grounding in these fundamentals, then showing some more specifics to build upon them.

The Pegasus Leveller tool can be found here, but honestly I would try out the 'stub' method before using those, whilst they are great for big changes like making harbours, I wouldn't use them for building transport networks. Again I show this (stub levelling) in my videos, I prefer to use the Rail tool since it doesn't suffer from Auto-Connect issues.

Lastly, I'll just note that so far as I can recall, nothing shown in any of my tutorials is no longer relevant or has changed in terms of how to do it. Of course there will always be new content as the NAM is developed, as such it will never be complete. However, in the event that something was changed or otherwise no longer possible, I certainly intend to do something about it as I wouldn't want to keep out of date or irrelevant tutorials around.

[MarkShot 631]

RSC204,

Are you also MGB on YouTube?

After much playing around, I finally got dragging FAR-2 and FAR-3.

Beside PC games, I take grade course including MD in my spare time.  Today's lecture was discussing how BNDF (a growth factor) and new plasticity can be achieved in the pre-frontal cortex of seniors through a combination of cognitive exercises and software which emphasizes hand and eye coordination.  Well, she was covering this.  I AM THINKING - YES NAM THE PREVENTION FOR ALZHEIMER AND EARLY ONSET DEMENTIA. 

[MarkShot 631]

I notice NAM44 includes some bus filters.  Cool.

Of course, I use TM in CS.

Are there more filters to block/allow just trucks, non-commercial, or service vehicles in STEX or LEX?  Like in CS it is a good idea to have dedicate roads for freight to your industrial parks, and to block traffic through residential areas for cargo.

Thanks.

[rsc204 21,808]

57 minutes ago, MarkShot said:

Are you also MGB on YouTube?

Indeed, it's noted in my signature

57 minutes ago, MarkShot said:

After much playing around, I finally got dragging FAR-2 and FAR-3.

Just because I think it's a little clearer, here an image I made for the video, showing just one 90° segment:

Of course it is technically possible to do the same with Ortho, FAR-2/3 and Diagonal roads coming off in up to 24 directions from one central point.

[MarkShot 631]

MGB ... ah, the fine print.  Now, you know why I use a 32" TV.  Big high res displays just make text smaller, 1080p makes text larger, the bigger the diagonal.

I did copy the graphic in my notes.

MGB, Sir, it is an honor to meet you!

[Dead_End 1,621]

Perhaps a weird question, but a while back (NAM 36 I'd say) I accidentally created this intersection between two of the SAM streets (SAM-7 replaced with this file). I'd really like to recreate it, but I have no idea how I did in the first place. Anyone have an idea?

[rsc204 21,808]

It may simply be that in a specific rotation or setup the use of the 4-way intersection ‘breaks’ the override, in such a specific case that’s actually a useful workaround. But honestly this behaviour is almost certainly unintended and may well have been fixed with any code updates.

A new SAM feature allows you to transition between two SAM networks or SAM and Streets, using a special flex-piece, found at the end of the SAM starters. So actually such a setup, albeit with a one tile transition between them, will work. I’m pretty sure I updated the SAM7 mod to include these transitions, i certainly made the textures. Although the LEX version is out of date. 

[pierrebaptiste 472]

Hello,

It's a cycling way on road ?

[Lucario Boricua 7,028]

7 minutes ago, pierrebaptiste said:

Hello,

It's a cycling way on road ?

Only an aesthetic override for SAM-7, courtesy of Catalyst and maintained by @rsc204 :

 

 

As for functional cycling infrastructure, that's something that's much trickier to do to do, but it's something I'm researching.

[Dead_End 1,621]

12 hours ago, rsc204 said:

It may simply be that in a specific rotation or setup the use of the 4-way intersection ‘breaks’ the override, in such a specific case that’s actually a useful workaround. But honestly this behaviour is almost certainly unintended and may well have been fixed with any code updates.

A new SAM feature allows you to transition between two SAM networks or SAM and Streets, using a special flex-piece, found at the end of the SAM starters. So actually such a setup, albeit with a one tile transition between them, will work. I’m pretty sure I updated the SAM7 mod to include these transitions, i certainly made the textures. Although the LEX version is out of date. 

Solved it! Clockwise from the top-left:

• Place two SAM7 starter pieces
• Connect the starters with streets both north-south and west-east
• Place two SAM2 starters at the end of the north-south connection
• Draw a street through the north-south connection

Obviously this also works with other SAM starters, but most won't have an intersection where the textures line up.

[simbot87 0]

Not sure if this is the right place for this but I'm having issues with half square grass coming off my diagonal avenue over diagonal avenue piece.  Assuming this is still something being worked on development of NAM since this piece still shows grass textures no matter where its placed? 

[Ulisse Wolf 4,412]

1 hour ago, simbot87 said:

Not sure if this is the right place for this but I'm having issues with half square grass coming off my diagonal avenue over diagonal avenue piece.  Assuming this is still something being worked on development of NAM since this piece still shows grass textures no matter where its placed? 

This thread is reserved for Real Highway and so I ask @CorinaMarie to move this discussion to NAM General Support. 

We did an internal test and this problem does not manifest itself. Seeing from the image I see that there is something wrong and therefore I recommend you reinstall NAM. If this doesn't work then there is some plugin that conflicts with NAM, but generally a clean reinstallation of NAM can solve the problem. Before starting the installation process it is recommended to delete the Network Addon Mod folder located at Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

1 hour ago, ulisse said:

I ask @CorinaMarie to move this discussion to NAM General Support. 

Done.

[Ulisse Wolf 4,412]

Network Addon Mod Tutorial - Hybrid Railway

Finally the first tutorial of a long series of tutorials on Network Addon Mod. As a first tutorial we saw a little-known component. Hybrid Railway (HRW) available from NAM 38

[rsc204 21,808]

On 14/07/2022 at 12:33 PM, simbot87 said:

Not sure if this is the right place for this but I'm having issues with half square grass coming off my diagonal avenue over diagonal avenue piece.  Assuming this is still something being worked on development of NAM since this piece still shows grass textures no matter where its placed? 

Given that this problem isn't happening by default, I doubt there is anything wrong with your NAM installation directly, more likely a third party mod is altering the default textures. Actually this looks almost identical to a problem/bug from my SWN mod from a few years back, which came about because many of these Avenue textures are re-used in various places. In that case a sidewalk was sticking out (not grass), when building the diagonal Avenue Bridges (DBE).

It looks like you might have TGN installed for the Sudden Valley mod?, if so I suspect that's where the issue comes from. Honestly the diagonal crossings, assuming you are using the draggable road viaducts, NOT the old puzzle-based ones, are quite new and I've not really done any testing with them, so it's possible like with the DBE issue, something needs to be adapted so things work as intended. I'll try to take a look into the issue further over the coming days.

[thornp113 54]

How does one access the NAM controller?  I remember trying to remember when I installed it, but it don't.... remember.

Id like to switch my traffic mode from American to European. 

Thanks!

[Lucario Boricua 7,028]

Keep in mind there's a difference between drive side (traffic goes along the left or right side of the centerline of the network = LHD/Left Hand Drive, RHD/Right Hand Drive) and the network textures (American or European style).

Given how the NAM installer works currently, the safer option is to remove your current NAM installation from Plugins, run the installer again, making sure that you're selecting the corresponding texture option (under 8 Texture and Drive Side Support).

Now, if you also want to change the drive side, make sure to also select an LHD controller to go with your features (RHD full installation controller is selected by default), and also to change your game to operate in Left Hand Drive. Follow this tutorial to do so:
 

 

[rsc204 21,808]

On 18/07/2022 at 1:40 AM, thornp113 said:

How does one access the NAM controller?  I remember trying to remember when I installed it, but it don't.... remember.

Sounds like you want to use the TSCT tool, a Java based app for altering various controller settings. Currently this doesn't get installed with NAM, instead it can be found in the .zip download of the NAM within a folder named Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool.

[memo 1,444]

On 7/16/2022 at 2:41 AM, ulisse said:

Network Addon Mod Tutorial - Hybrid Railway

Finally the first tutorial of a long series of tutorials on Network Addon Mod. As a first tutorial we saw a little-known component. Hybrid Railway (HRW) available from NAM 38

Oh wow, thanks for this nice video. For me, it's the first time I see most of the many additions from several years of development I have missed – it is very impressive to see. The Flex paradigm certainly has come a long way. And the variety of wide radius curves leaves me speechless.

I am very tempted to look into reinstalling the game.

Something that surprises me a bit is the fact that the HRW×road network crossings are functional. So far, I believed that car traffic does not usually work on pure rail or monorail tiles, or does it? Or does it only work on intersection tiles? IIRC, @GoaSkin did some research in that direction at some point, but I cannot quite recall the results.

[Eggman121 1,035]

5 hours ago, memo said:

Oh wow, thanks for this nice video. For me, it's the first time I see most of the many additions from several years of development I have missed – it is very impressive to see. The Flex paradigm certainly has come a long way. And the variety of wide radius curves leaves me speechless.

I am very tempted to look into reinstalling the game.

Something that surprises me a bit is the fact that the HRW×road network crossings are functional. So far, I believed that car traffic does not usually work on pure rail or monorail tiles, or does it? Or does it only work on intersection tiles? IIRC, @GoaSkin did some research in that direction at some point, but I cannot quite recall the results.

Indeed the HRW that uses the Rail x Monorail Falsies (Do) accept road traffic. This does lead to some creative projects that could be done in future.

I hope that one day a return to just enjoying the game will come to fruition since many of your java content has proved invaluable to the development of the NAM and it would be hard to imagine the progress we have made without your input/ wisdom.

We are always receptive of your ideas and improvements. With the items you left us we owe you and you have remained a legend of the team and a role model.

In essence, enjoy the game. You have had a lot of indirect and some direct input to the development as of late and hope that you can reap the rewards

-eggman121 (NAM team member)

[Tarkus 6,932]

6 hours ago, memo said:

Oh wow, thanks for this nice video. For me, it's the first time I see most of the many additions from several years of development I have missed – it is very impressive to see. The Flex paradigm certainly has come a long way. And the variety of wide radius curves leaves me speechless.

I am very tempted to look into reinstalling the game.

Something that surprises me a bit is the fact that the HRW×road network crossings are functional. So far, I believed that car traffic does not usually work on pure rail or monorail tiles, or does it? Or does it only work on intersection tiles? IIRC, @GoaSkin did some research in that direction at some point, but I cannot quite recall the results.

The Rail network does actually accept Car traffic (my failed Rail-based DDRHW implementation was able to accept Cars, but had Road capacity for Car traffic instead of the expected Rail capacity, probably due to some hardcoded fallback).  I suspect the presence of the Rail network in the HRW CheckTyping is what has allowed for this.

And I must echo @Eggman121's thoughts . . . we're incredibly grateful for the groundwork you've laid, which has been absolutely crucial to many of our recent developments.

-Tarkus