NAM General Support

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

Why that peaks at the edges of the bridge appears? Also, is necessary that all the terrain were equal at both sides of the bridge?

That happens if you try to redraw an already-drawn bridge.

I was wondering if it is possible to change the sidewalk texture of the Tram-on-Street puzzle pieces to match the sandstone sidewalk texture?

You'll need to go in and modify the textures, because the sidewalks are baked into the textures. You can begin here: NetworkAddonMod_GroundLightRailxStreet_Plugin

[SimCoug 5,973]

Thanks! 'Baked into' makes it sound like I will have to create my own custom textures?

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

'Baked into' makes it sound like I will have to create my own custom textures?

Pretty much. If it's for third-party lots, then I don't think there's any sort of NAM-created lot support for any GLR components, unlike RHW or NWM.

[Hellken 1,658]

'Baked into' makes it sound like I will have to create my own custom textures?

Pretty much. If it's for third-party lots, then I don't think there's any sort of NAM-created lot support for any GLR components, unlike RHW or NWM.

http://ragutaro.sakura.ne.jp/bbs/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=803: Are you looking for this?: z_GLR_SandStone_Textures_Mod.zip

It's part of the Japanese NAM Facelift Mod (The overpasses are outdated): z_NAM_FaceLift_Mod.zip

[SimCoug 5,973]

Thanks Hellken - I'll take a look at that!

EDIT - Yes, that is exactly what I was looking for. This will save me some time learning how to make textures.

[Swordmaster 50]

Maybe this tut can help: http://sc4devotion.c...44824#msg444824

Cheers

Willy

[wingman182 1]

Is it possible to change the home/end key to something else? I'm on a windows laptop that does not have these keys and using RHW tiles is impossible without it.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Are you sure these functions are not there? They may be on the second function shift. Laptop keyboards are so compressed, I find that they often stick seldom used functions buried away on the second shift. Check your manual.

[z1 566]

Yes, if it's a Windows laptop, they basically have to be there - too much in Windows depends on them. Look for them in a less contrasting color on existing keys.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

For the first time ever I got myself into a position where I needed to use a FLUP to underpass something. So I went to my sandbox and set up a test case. What I got was a bunch of no-road zots where I should have had a passage from one side to the other. I am trying to get under a Maxis ground highway, and I thought it would be neat to have an underpass rather than an expensive section of elevated highway.

What I did was drag the road up to both sides of the highway, then dropped the flup pieces on the road. They oriented themselves correctly, but there doesn't appear to be any path between them under the highway. I must have missed something?

If this is not available, and I have to use a piece of elevated highway instead, it will be OK, but I'd rather not. Please advise.

[bnsf611 6]

Did you only place the road FLUP entrances? If so you need to tab through the FLUP pieces until you get to the FLUP under ground highway piece and plop that in between the two road entrances, this will complete the path.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Thanks. I did tab though, but must have missed it. Darned 2 point type.

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

I have something I think you guys should add to the release date post in your new group:

 

 

I, for one, will keep this on my desktop 

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

I have something I think you guys should add to the release date post in your new group:

You know how we don't do release DATES? We don't do release times, either, so that counter could be up to 24 hours off.

I wouldn't count on a counter. Besides, you know what day the surprise is coming, but you don't know what time.

[z1 566]

That's just plain scary to me.  I wouldn't want that on my desktop!

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

Haha I guess it's like the impending judgement day for you guys.  FYI Alex was all boasting over on SC4D that he would try to get it out at midnight on the 1st, so that's where that came from.  I don't want to get him in trouble though 

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

This was from a discussion on another site: Considering that some of us reside in the US, it's already tomorrow in Asia and Australia. That's why people were saying it's Valentine's Day on the 13th; It was already the 14th for them.

So for some people, the NAM may be released on the 28th of February.

Another technical discrepancy as to why we traditionally don't do release dates?

[Tarkus 6,932]

Haha I guess it's like the impending judgement day for you guys.  FYI Alex was all boasting over on SC4D that he would try to get it out at midnight on the 1st, so that's where that came from.  I don't want to get him in trouble though 

 

I did mention it as a possibility . . . but even then, I'm on Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8 ), whereas your clock is set up for Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5), and will hit zero at 9pm on February 28th for me.  That March 1st date is pretty much intended to mean sometime on March 1st in UTC-8, so depending on your time zone, some places could see it as early as the 28th (Alaska, Hawaii, etc.), and, should it come at about 11pm my time on the 1st, it'd actually be the 3rd for New Zealand, Samoa, and a few other places in the South Pacific (daylight time down there pushes them into UTC+13 and UTC+14 this time of year, so there's actually 26 different hours on the planet right now).

 

-Tarkus

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Monkeying with the time zones is so agrarian.  I don't think we really need this anymore.

[nathkel 31]

Since this is a general discussion thread about NAM, i wanted to proffer that what we could use beside the great advantages to playing SimCity 4 with NAM, is a complete all-in-one guide to creating pieces AND if possible an application that does most of the work for you, so that if i come with all the graphics for the tiles i want to build, the application could easily cut it into Sim tiles, and use standard English to assemble the paths and link info to neighboring tiles. I wanted to get into creating a full tablet of interchanges, including underpass turn lanes and merging traffic lanes on for their sloped exits, but the how-tos are scattered, not always completely understandable, and often inconsistent. The data files use some sort of archaic data structure that i fall asleep to trying to dissect.

 

We have a few experts working on NAM's files, and when they're done perfecting NAM the way they want it, they should teach and enable young students to create more for NAM. Helpful applications and clear, near-professional textbook tutorials would be the cornerstone of this NAM university...

 

Not really crybabying about NAM, i'm just a frustrated artist who can't do anything with his ideas.

[timmie 988]

Is it possible to change the home/end key to something else? I'm on a windows laptop that does not have these keys and using RHW tiles is impossible without it.

fn-left arrow and fn-right arrow should do the trick. I'm using Windows on a Mac and on Mac keyboards there are is no home/end key

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Keyboard stuff is always there.  These functions are basic to many apps, especially editors.  Read your system manual for the key mapping for these.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

And now, a question:  I need a flup for straight road under diagonal rail and I didn't find it.  I didn't find it in the v30 document either.  Did I miss it?  If so, where?  If not, is it in v31?

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Since this is a general discussion thread about NAM, i wanted to proffer that what we could use beside the great advantages to playing SimCity 4 with NAM, is a complete all-in-one guide to creating pieces AND if possible an application that does most of the work for you, so that if i come with all the graphics for the tiles i want to build, the application could easily cut it into Sim tiles, and use standard English to assemble the paths and link info to neighboring tiles. I wanted to get into creating a full tablet of interchanges, including underpass turn lanes and merging traffic lanes on for their sloped exits, but the how-tos are scattered, not always completely understandable, and often inconsistent. The data files use some sort of archaic data structure that i fall asleep to trying to dissect.

We have a few experts working on NAM's files, and when they're done perfecting NAM the way they want it, they should teach and enable young students to create more for NAM. Helpful applications and clear, near-professional textbook tutorials would be the cornerstone of this NAM university...

 

Not really crybabying about NAM, i'm just a frustrated artist who can't do anything with his ideas.

Although at first this seems like a good idea, the problem of that is that it would be a huge and complex program to assemble that will take even more work to make than making the NAM itself. Some things, like pathing, can hardly be automated and the current tools we use are sufficient enough to do the job just fine. SimCity 4 modding isn't the easiest task; you do need a bit of a beta or programmer's mindset for it to read some of the code.

As for tutorials go, over the years, there has been a NAM How-To's and Tutorials section over at SC4Devotion.com with reference material about certain RUL files, making bridges and puzzle pieces, how to work with the Path Tool, how T21s work and so on. There's no problem about the amount of documentation...

However, I see only little people actually using the tutorials; in fact, I was hoping that more people were making puzzle pieces when I released the Puzzle Piece Creation Tutorial one or two years ago, but that didn't happen. It's rather disappointing to see that so little people pick up these tutorials and actually do something with it, and bundling all of them together isn't going to help either. Also, remember that if you can do something really good, that doesn't mean you can explain it very well to other people automatically. I know that I can be a bad teacher sometimes, assuming that people would make a few steps that are so simple to me I don't notice them (while they don't), or assume too much present knowledge at the reader's end. Making stuff for the NAM is one thing, but explaining what you just did is a different ballgame...

So, to cut a long story short: this is the best we can do for now. Making better tools and tutorials will either take too much time, or even we can't handle it or do it right...

We are open for new talent. We always were. But that talent must be motivated enough to pick up the tutorials and actually use them.

Best,

Maarten

[Hellken 1,658]

However, I see only little people actually using the tutorials; in fact, I was hoping that more people were making puzzle pieces when I released the Puzzle Piece Creation Tutorial one or two years ago, but that didn't happen. It's rather disappointing to see that so little people pick up these tutorials and actually do something with it, and bundling all of them together isn't going to help either. Also, remember that if you can do something really good, that doesn't mean you can explain it very well to other people automatically. I know that I can be a bad teacher sometimes, assuming that people would make a few steps that are so simple to me I don't notice them (while they don't), or assume too much present knowledge at the reader's end. Making stuff for the NAM is one thing, but explaining what you just did is a different ballgame...

Best,

Maarten

A Youtube / Dailymotion video tutorial might help a LOT. If you missed something, you can always view it again. Many people make mistakes because they miss small details that a tutorial cannot cover 100%.

---

Any new NAM 31 videos? I can't wait for the MHS.

[Tarkus 6,932]

Any new NAM 31 videos? I can't wait for the MHS.

 

Most likely, there won't be any more NAM 31 videos before release.  We're in crunch mode trying to get everything we have in the works ready for March 1st.

 

As far as further tools/tutorials go, even if a tool to simplify the process to a great extent were made, you'd still have to work with some gnarly hex stuff, because that's really the bread-and-butter of how the interface with the transit network side of the game works.

 

I remember when I first got into this, there was one guide to puzzle pieces, redlotus' old "Interchange Tutorial"--which was extraordinarily dense reading--no tutorials and very little publicly-available documentation on everything else, no tools aside from the Reader, and very few NAMites around to assist.  It took several months of staring at hex pointers in the Reader and redlotus' guide before I made a simple 1x1 puzzle piece.  The rest of the stuff I learned from staring at and studying the files.

 

I will say, though, that if someone has the propensity toward one of the skills needed as part of the process, and can produce assets (e.g. textures) that are usable and comply with specifications, those assets can be readily built into NAM items by someone versed in the really gnarly technical stuff.  That's how the Road Wide-Radius Curves came to be, actually--dedgren made some textures, and memo and myself did the technical side.

 

-Tarkus

[Swordmaster 50]

What the NAM team is currently doing (not referring to myself in this case) is so far ahead of average SC4 modding that no tutorial or video could teach you anything worthwile within a reasonable time frame. The folks who've reached this level have spent years living inside the game/Reader/modder's hell to figure it all out. Teaching others is at best a piecemeal effort that requires more or less the same amount of time and effort on the learner's end to have any effect.

 

That being said, Maarten's tutorial on how to make puzzle pieces is a very good starting point for anyone with a bit of an eye for modding to get into it. I even managed to write some working (albeit unusable) RUL2 code by just going through the available documentation and comments. So with enough determination you can get quite far.

 

 

Cheers

Willy

[Neshi 3]

I was wondering if there is a dependency I am missing for the GLR stations that come with the NAM.

I have installed the NAM and all the stations work fine, except that I get the big brown box for the 'tram' station.

could anyone link me to the download file?

[Tarkus 6,932]

There are no GLR stations (or any other stations, for that matter) that come with the NAM.

 

-Tarkus

[Neshi 3]

hmm... you sure?

Then I guess I have to find out where/what I have.. thanks anyway