Need help linking RHW and MHO

[Rixity 3]

Hi all. Hew here. After discovering that I can run SC4 now which haven't played in about 20 years because it wouldn't run on my new PC, I installed Steam and bought a new copy. I also discovered all of the great upgrades that you guys have provided and installed NAM 49, required patches and a few other mods. I didn't really understand how to use RHW and decided to stick with MHW until I needed the new stuff. That's where I am now and unfortunately, I can't get the highways to connect. I've been searching for answers for a week now, even in this forum.

According to the guide, I'm supposed to have this with RHW-4...

 

Unfortunately, what I get every time is this...

 

I thought I had a solution by using single tile one way roads to connect them, but the traffic flow is not right...

 

If anyone can tell me if this is something I'm doing wrong, or if the game is not set up correctly, I'd appreciate it.

 

In addition, the first tutorial I found to build an RHW overpass says that I need a 'Road over MHW piece', but I can't find it anywhere. Is it an option that I need to select when installing the NAM?

 

Lastly, I've seen mention of DgVooDoo 2. Is that something that I need while using Steam on Win 11 with Geforce RTX 3060?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

 

[rsc204 21,808]

On 13/09/2025 at 9:25 PM, Rixity said:

Unfortunately, what I get every time is this...

If I am remembering correctly, the files got mixed up and this is preventing the override from working properly, but should be fixed in the next update.

On 13/09/2025 at 9:25 PM, Rixity said:

 

In addition, the first tutorial I found to build an RHW overpass says that I need a 'Road over MHW piece', but I can't find it anywhere. Is it an option that I need to select when installing the NAM?

This is probably quite old, these days there is a draggable overpass replacement, use those pieces instead, general principles apply from this tutorial:

This tutorial shows the new draggable method of drawing ramps too:

On 13/09/2025 at 9:25 PM, Rixity said:

Lastly, I've seen mention of DgVooDoo 2. Is that something that I need while using Steam on Win 11 with Geforce RTX 3060?

If you don't have it and your game is running fine, then maybe you don't need it. Generally speaking it acts as a compatibility layer for systems with hardware that doesn't otherwise support the legacy standards SC4 was built upon.

[Rixity 3]

If I am remembering correctly, the files got mixed up and this is preventing the override from working properly, but should be fixed in the next update.

Good to know. Eagerly awaiting the update. I don't suppose you know when to expect that?

 

This is probably quite old, these days there is a draggable overpass replacement, use those pieces instead, general principles apply from this tutorial:

Ok, I have found the other method. The problem is that the tutorials don't have a date on them to show how old they might be.

This tutorial shows the new draggable method of drawing ramps too:

I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Still working on it.

 

If you don't have it and your game is running fine, then maybe you don't need it. Generally speaking it acts as a compatibility layer for systems with hardware that doesn't otherwise support the legacy standards SC4 was built upon.

It seems to be working well on my PC, so I'll just leave it alone.

Thanks for the reply, Very helpful. Just need that update I guess.

Rick

[Kel9509 1,363]

On 9/15/2025 at 11:01 AM, rsc204 said:

If I am remembering correctly, the files got mixed up and this is preventing the override from working properly, but should be fixed in the next update.

What's there to fix?  I'm using NAM 49 and the Maxis Highway Override and it works perfectly for me.  I just made the connection:

The only thing I can suggest is to not put the RHW starter piece where you want to connect the Maxis Highway Override.  Other than that, I can't imagine why it's not working.

[Rixity 3]

"The only thing I can suggest is to not put the RHW starter piece where you want to connect the Maxis Highway Override. "

Ok, this might be my problem. I'm replacing a Maxis bridge with RHW and I only have 8 or 10 tiles before connecting to a Maxis elevated interchange. It might not be enough room.

I'll experiment later today and will let you know.

Thanks, Rick

[rsc204 21,808]

On 17/09/2025 at 3:55 AM, Kel9509 said:

What's there to fix?  I'm using NAM 49 and the Maxis Highway Override and it works perfectly for me.  I just made the connection:

Oh there are some issues with MHO and load ordering. But this clearly isn’t one of them.

[Rixity 3]

I appreciate the suggestions, but either I'm still doing something wrong, or there is a problem with my NAM installation.

I tried a few different things with the starter piece well away from the connection, and it's still not working. Here, the road tiles mark where I put the starter pieces.

[Kel9509 1,363]

1 hour ago, Rixity said:

I tried a few different things with the starter piece well away from the connection, and it's still not working. Here, the road tiles mark where I put the starter pieces.

Try using a test clean Plugins folder with just the NAM included, in a fresh region (maybe with SC4Fix also).  Re-install the NAM into that new test clean plugins folder.  I'm hopeful it will work.  The issue may be another plugin you're using.  

[Rixity 3]

Ok, good idea. It'll take a couple of days for me to try that.

I'll let you know what I find.

[rsc204 21,808]

On 18/09/2025 at 4:29 PM, Rixity said:

I appreciate the suggestions, but either I'm still doing something wrong, or there is a problem with my NAM installation.

You aren’t doing anything wrong. The screenshot clearly shows the transition has been made, only the piece showing up is not the correct one for MHO. So maybe I was right after all and this is just a load order issue in the NAM files. Otherwise, perhaps something else in your Plugins is messing with the piece. Either way your construction of the transition is NOT in any way the problem. 

[Rixity 3]

Glad to know that I'm not doing anything wrong.

I tried renaming the Plugins folder and installed just NAM 49 alone into a new folder. That didn't fix it.

Then I renamed the SC4 installation folder and reinstalled the game, installed the required patches and... nothing. Problem still exists.

So, what does load order mean? Is that something I can fix or is that built into the NAM?

Also, is it possible that there are different versions of NAM 49 floating around? Maybe I have an older one.

Thanks again for all of the help, Rick.

[Kel9509 1,363]

2 hours ago, Rixity said:

I tried renaming the Plugins folder and installed just NAM 49 alone into a new folder. That didn't fix it.

What version of SimCity are you running?  The GOG or the Steam version?  Where are you installing the plugins?  In a subfolder of your Documents directory, or in the installation folder?

EDIT: I see you're using the Steam version.  It might be that you're using the wrong Plugins folder since I think Steam does it slightly differently.  But for clarify, where is your plugins folder?  What is the complete path?

I'm honestly baffled that it's not working.  There should be only one version of NAM 49 around.  Did you install the NAM properly (ie: patch Simcity4's executable with the 4GB patch, etc)?

[Rixity 3]

Yes, it's the steam version and yes, I installed a number of patches... 

      SC4Fix, Startup Optimization, SaveWarning_Disable_Exit_Quit, 4gb patch, Disable FPS limit, CPU options.

The plugin folder is here...       D:\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins

    Which I believe is correct as all of the plugins I've put in there work.

After seeing your reply, I went poking around and did find another Plugins folder...

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Plugins

All that was in there were 5 png background files. As an experiment, I deleted the NAM from the Documents

  folder and installed it into the one on C:. Nothing changed, problem still exists. I'm going to reverse that and put it back where it was.

It is a bit of a head scratcher, isn't it?

Thx, Rick

[Rixity 3]

By the way, My NAM 49 is labled (Rev 1) if that matters..

[rsc204 21,808]

The load order for NAM is pre-determined by, the NAM team. As I mentioned there have been some issues that have snuck in, causing Maxis Highway pieces to override (load after) the MHO. Once I can get to a computer, I can confirm the exact file. But basically the temporary fix is just moving some files. But those we’re aware of will get fixed in the next release officially. 

[rsc204 21,808]

So looking at my personal NAM 49 install, I am not seeing any overrides for these models, which are inside the b_Viaduct_Crossings.dat file. So if something is overriding it on your system, then it is most likely another mod you have installed interfering with it.

If you can follow this process, using the following file:

MHO-RHW Transition.dat

It will tell us exactly what, if anything, is overriding these models.

[memo 1,444]

I don't see a load order problem with NAM 49 either. Under normal circumstances, the following files are never installed at the same time, as they are mutually exclusive:

NetworkAddonMod_MaxisHighway_Crosslinks.dat
a_Base_Overrides.dat

Make sure you don't have both files in your Plugins, but only the latter. When you re-install the NAM, don't install over your existing Network Addon Mod folder, but remove the entire folder first.

[Rixity 3]

YAY!

Removing NetworkAddonMod_MaxisHighway_Crosslinks.dat did the trick.

 

Both files were in the Maxis Highway folder. I did not install the NAM over a previous install, all of my tests were installed to a clean folder. So looks to me like NAM is installing both files itself, unless there is an incorrect option selected during the installation. I don't know which option that would be.

If you need me to do some tests, let me know.

Note to RSC204: I did copy  MHO-RHW Transition.dat to the plugin folder, but I didn't see any process to follow and didn't know what to do with it. I've since removed it from the folder.

Thanks to everyone for the help. I appreciate the effort to find a solution.

As I mentioned, if you need me to check anything to find the cause, LMK.

Rick

PS: I'm not getting notifications from this group even though that's enabled. So if I'm late replying, it's just that I haven't checked in. I will try to do that.

 

[rsc204 21,808]

The file needed you to follow the linked YouTube tutorial.

As for the wrong files getting installed, that just shouldn’t be possible because of how the installer works. Which set are installed is an either/or choice. Given at least 3 NAM team members have double-checked and did not have that file, I guess how it came to be there will remain a mystery. Although the good news is we’ve found and removed the problem. Because that undesirable one covers way more pieces than just that transition.