2 Basic NAM Questions

[MarkShot 631]

I am trying to decide whether I am really going to learn NAM.  The answer to that question is key on whether SC4 is still viable for me, or should I just concentrate on CS+DLCs+MODs.

(1)  Does deployment of the Traffic Simulator with the default installed model resolve the "endless commuter" problem?  (meaning:  the cycles which develop due to the fact that commuters only have attractors, but do not recall from whence they came and how long they have been in transit)?

 

(2)  Is NAM only cosmetic in terms of the amount of vehicle traffic (mainly cars) that it moves?  So, for example, does a Maxis 2 way road move as much traffic as a NAM RD4?  Does a Maxis Highway (6 lanes) move as much traffic as a NAM RHW 10S?

Thanks!

PS:  The fun for me in city builders and transport games is building efficient designs.  NAM adds a wealth of diversity to SC transportation, but is that diversity coming with associated performance improvements that make a challenging to integrate and worthwhile upon which to build city infrastructure?

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

1. Among the longest-standing bugs in the game that have been fixed, I've never witnessed a fix for the Eternal Commuter Bug be announced.

2. As long as you use the Traffic Simulators the NAM comes with, the NAM-provided roads have a legitimate capacity boost over the base roads.

2a. For single-tile roads, any road that has a lane count greater than its base network's lane count is generally 1.5 times that of the base capacity; EG, for NRD-4 vs the standard Road network, NRD-4 has 1.5 times the capacity.

2b. For multi-tile roads, with a few exceptions, the general capacity is 1.5 times base network capacity times however many tiles wide the road itself is; EG, for MHW vs RHW-10S, even though their base capacities are the same, their overall capacities are completely different. For MHW, it's more proper to compare its capacity to RHW-4 since its overall capacity is for two directions of travel; for the 10S, its overall capacity for just one direction of travel is 1.5 * 2 * the base capacity of RHW. Double that again for the overall capacity for two 10S'es back-to-back and you'll find the overall capacity is three times that of the MHW.

[MarkShot 631]

Thanks.

So, much of NAM is cosmetic, but it will generally with at least +1 lane/tile outperform 150% Maxis?

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

14 minutes ago, MarkShot said:

Thanks.

So, much of NAM is cosmetic, but it will generally with at least +1 lane/tile outperform 150% Maxis?

It's more like stepwise-functional; the game itself has no concept of lane count or lane height level, so that 150% boost is the closest thing to making higher lane counts functional. (I may also be misremebering the percentage; it could instead be 125%, but it's definitely more than the base capacity; using the wrong Traffic Simulator may lead to the case where that capacity boost becomes a capacity deficit because in some older simulators, that percentage is LESS than 100%.)

Consider the capacities of the RHW:

• MIS and RHW-4 -> Base RHW capacity for one direction of travel
• RHW-6S -> Base RHW capacity times capacity boost for one direction of travel
• RHW-8S, 10S, and 12S (undeveloped but can fit within the same footprint as the 8S and 10S) -> Base RHW capacity times 2 times capacity boost for one direction of travel
• RHW-2 -> Base RHW capacity shared between two directions of travel
• RHW-3 -> Base RHW capacity times capacity boost shared between two directions of travel
• RHW-6C, 8C, and 10C (undeveloped but can fit within the same footprint as the 6C and 8C, with overhangs) -> Base RHW capacity times 3 times capacity boost between two directions of travel (the outer sections have one direction of travel; the inner section is shared between two directions of travel)
• DDRHW-4 -> Base RHW capacity times capacity boost for two directions of travel

It's hard to say it's cosmetic when most people will want a feature regardless of whether it works as expected, and it's a bit dubious to estimate any sort of per-lane capacity; you could try but something like the DDRHW will throw a wrench in that plan (how does 3x = 4x = y? You'd get 3 = 4. If you still wanna try, you could "pretend" that the capacity of one RHW lane is one-fourth that of DDRHW-4, but the game has no way of knowing whether a road exceed its capacity and road widenings by just one lane but not one full tile may have to be down to judgment and the query tool). People want a consistent progression with something as simple as lane count no matter what, even with shortcomings such as capacity.

[MarkShot 631]

Alright, so, we can say it is generally true that if I learn how to use NAM features, I can increase my overall network flow versus the same footprint invested on Maxis networks.

To say by how much is a difficult and fruitless exercise.

I guess I am satisfied.  Since I am building both for the creative satisfaction and the engineering satisfaction, NAM will achieve both.

Thank you, and NAM developers.

[APSMS 1,893]

It's not necessary to use all the NAM features to enjoy the benefits, although a number of the addon features like RHW and NWM do offer increased capacity options and cosmetic changes.

The versatility, for me, it what makes it worth it.