Questions about NAM installation

[Dreadnought 8,226]

I've been playing Sc4 for quite some time (about 100 cities), but I've been running a mostly "vanilla" game with some downloads and ONLY the traffic simulator.  Pretty basic stuff.

I've decided get away from the "maximum-population-syndrome" and embark on a more realistic, detailed look to my maps.  Better terrain, water, trees, and better city planning through a  "regional" approach to my cities.  For example: instead of packing an oil refinery into a 6x6 lot and jamming it in beside an auto plant, a steel mill, and 14 seaports -- I want to build the oil refinery in complete detail as the focal point of the city's industry with a smaller, less crowded city around it.  I can send the steel mill next door to another city -- no need to squeeze it all in, ignore good planning principles, and generally wind up with a crowded, ugly city!

Having said all that -- I'm considering re-installing my Nam 32 for more options.  As a "Nam member" -- Could you take a few moments and give me a brief overview of:

1.  Which boxes I should check for the custom install (and why) -- and which ones may not be essential?

2.  What, exactly, is this "Real Highway" thing I keep hearing about?

Your expertise would be much appreciated.  In my lack of experience, I hesitate to install too many things which may hinder the game.  You know -- don't want the tail to wag the dog!  ;->

 

  Edited September 15, 2015 by Cyclone Boom  
Split to new topic.

[Eggman121 1,035]

Hello Dreadnought.

Basically the NAM brings more than a traffic simulator. The NAM has a set of new and enhanced networks to make realistic highway interchanges, A new rail type called the Real Railway and the NWM or Network Widening Mod for new types of road infrastructure among others. The Real Highway Mod is basically a more expandable version of the highway network based on the hidden network that was not put into the vanilla release of the game (It can only be activated with the NAM) and you can make realistic highways from 2 lanes to 10 lanes.

The Real Highway has no prefabricated interchanges but with the large array of ramps and curves you can design your own realistic highway interchanges. So I would give it a go in a blank region if you are new to the Real Highway. In the NAM 33 PR the Real Highway has been significantly enhanced by the introduction of overrideable smooth curves which will make their way into other areas of the NAM.

As for checking boxes you can do a custom install and install the networks you want to use. Just try a custom install and see what network you would like. With the networks there are descriptions when you hover your mouse over the check box and see if you want to install that network. 

If you need any more clarification I am more than willing to help

-eggman121

[rsc204 21,805]

Hey Dreadnought,

Just a word of caution here, a full NAM install is all good and well, but with a computer spec like yours, that may instantly result in some problems. It's much better to be a little selective at first with the NAM, besides anything else it all takes a while to get used to. There is a link in my signature for some NAM tutorials, this should give you an idea of some of the basic features and what you can do with them. Remember you can run the installer as often as you need, it will remember the last installed options so you can easily add/remove features.

For now I'd highly recommend installing the Wide Radius Curves and Fractionaly Angled Networks, those really add a lot of variety to your roads. SAM (Street Addon Mod) is another mod I wouldn't be without, it contains 10 different texture overrides for the street networks.

I wouldn't worry about installing the full RHW yet, you might find it a little bewildering. However, the Maxis Highway Override is a really good place to start off, essentially it makes the Maxis highways look more like RHW and adds some features that will be like a stepping stone to the more complete RHW.