SPAM vs. NAM - how serious an issue is it?

[TheMurderousCricket 5,097]

I just found a post which mentions that SPAM comes with its own traffic simulator, which I wasn't even aware of.

The post also says that it may interfere with the NAM traffic simulator and I don't like the looks if it...

Could you Guys tell me which file should I remove from / modify in the SPAM directory to resolve this potential issue?

My NAM installation loads first ("a_NAM" is the name) but I'm not sure if this is enough...?

[Tarkus 6,933]

There is indeed something known as the PEG SPAM Traffic Mod out there, which uses basically just slightly tweaked Maxis default settings.  It used to be packaged in with the main SPAM download, but due to complaints, it was moved out to a separate download, so as long as you haven't explicitly downloaded and installed the SPAM Traffic Mod, you should be okay. 

If you did have it installed, and you made the NAM load first . . . you would have set yourself up to have it override whatever your NAM settings were, as if there's a duplicate copy of a file (like the Traffic Simulator Exemplar), the game uses the information from the last file it loads, not the first.

-Tarkus

[TheMurderousCricket 5,097]

Uh-huh. Well, I just downloaded SPAM and SPAM only. I don't recall ever wanting to specifically get the SPAM TS. 

22 minutes ago, Tarkus said:

the game uses the information from the last file it loads, not the first.

Oh...  Sooo, should that be "z_NAM" then? Just to make sure NAM is not interfered with?

[BartonThinks 3,416]

1 hour ago, TheMurderousCricket said:

Uh-huh. Well, I just downloaded SPAM and SPAM only. I don't recall ever wanting to specifically get the SPAM TS. 

Oh...  Sooo, should that be "z_NAM" then? Just to make sure NAM is not interfered with?

Unless you downloaded SPAM years ago, there's nothing to worry about.

I'm not on the NAM team, but I'd recommend leaving the NAM folder under it's default name. Two reasons:

1. Renaming the NAM folders can cause problems with certain NAM tools, such as the traffic simulator configuration tool and (I believe) the main NAM installer. These programs look for the default NAM directory, so if you rename the folders, they will think that the NAM folder is missing.
2. There are some mods that override parts of NAM, like some of Rivit's and MGB204's mods, and they need to load after NAM to work. If you relabel the NAM folder, you could mess up the load order for these overrides.

Given the widespread use of NAM, people tend to be very mindful of keeping content NAM-compatible. As such, it's almost impossible to download something that overrides NAM by accident. So long as you have a basic understanding of what you're doing and read the description of STEX/LEX files before you install them, you shouldn't be worried.

[RobertLM78 1,598]

I had to dig because i was curious, but it looks like i installed SPAM in the beginning of 2017.  Never had a single issue with it and NAM installed.   In my opinion, like NAM, SPAM is one of those "must have" mods (way better than the vanilla agriculture - and no Pedriana Plants )

[TheTimvh1 939]

The SPAM Traffic Mod comes in two parts/separate folders. The one that reads Caution is the one you want to remove.