AndyBlue

I originally had the 32 bit version of SimCity 4 installed on my Mac, purchased from the App Store in 2015. I'm currently running High Sierra 10.13.6 on a Mid 2015 MacBook Pro. I have several other 32 bit games and programs that won't run on the newest version of OSX, so I decided not to upgrade to a newer OSX version. I stopped playing SimCity for a couple of years and restarted playing a few months ago. I surprisingly found that SimCity was auto-updated at some point to the 64 bit version of the game, and I don't remember giving permission for the update. In any event, I haven't noticed any change whatsoever in the game play between the 32 and 64 bit versions. The 32 bit and 64 bit versions of SimCity 4 are equally stable on my computer so I don't have any hesitation in recommending the upgrade to the 64 bit version.

Hi RSC204, I am pleased to report that I have successfully been able to draw a diagonal rail bridge using my NAM/DBE configuration but in a highly unexpected manner. I was not able to draw a diagonal rail bridge using the convention dragging method as shown in your YouTube video, but can do so via a diagonal road bridge. Here are the steps I came up with: 1- Draw a regular diagonal road bridge where the rail bridge is to be located. 2- Draw regular diagonal rail away from the road bridge in both directions. 3- Remove one or two tiles from the rail line and place a diagonal rail bridge starter tiles at each end of the diagonal rail. 4- Beginning at the rail bridge starter tile, draw a rail line over the entire road bridge. The road bridge will disappear and workers will build the rail bridge in its place. Connect any loose ends. I came up with this method using the DBE TestCity region you provided, and tested the procedure in my New York Rockaways region and it worked as well, including when I added back all of my plugins. I'm providing a screen shot of the steps I used, as well as the step of dragging the rail line over the road to generate the rail bridge. I haven't tested the rail bridge to see whether trains will cross over it, but I assume they will. I presume that I didn't uncover a new feature, but it would be great if this technique could be applied to other diagonal bridges such as elevated light rail or tram bridges. Now I can get rid of the orthogonal rail bridges that are cluttering up my region!

Hi RSC204 and Tarkus, I followed RSC's YouTube video (very helpful, thank you!) and your recommendations and added a "ZZZ" to the DBE folder so that it loads last. I also temporarily deleted all of my other plugins except for the NAM and DBE plugins, and also tried deleted and not deleting the \Network Addon Mod\2_Additional Network Features\Rail (RealRailway)\Tunnel and Slope Parameters\RealRailway_SlopeParameters.dat file. Using this configuration, I can sometimes get a diagonal rail line all the way across the water channel (I couldn't before) but there still is no bridge; rather, the bottom surface of the channel rises up to meet the rail line. I've tried various permutations of these steps but still cannot get a rail bridge. I'm attaching a screen shot of my plugins folder in case you find it helpful. At this stage, I think that I've spent more than enough time trying to get diagonal rail to work on my computer. I'll assume that a particular setting in the Mac prevents the correct loading of the DBE rail plugin, whereas there is no problem loading the plugin under Windows. I'm going to move on and either implement a standard orthogonal rail bridge or (preferably) figure out how to get an underwater rail tunnel without massively terraforming. Thank you for the help. I do appreciate it.

Thanks, RSC. I'll have to check the Readme's to see how the NAM files should load on the Mac, as compared to the PC, and figure out how to make sure the folders get read in the correct order. I'll definitely check out your YouTube channel. As an aside, I completely deleted and reinstalled the NAM files on my Mac in case this helped the situation. The Java installer installed the files in the Documents>SimCity 4>Plugins folder, instead of the Library>Containers>com.aspyr.simcity4.appstore>Data>Documents>SimCity 4>Plugins folder. I remembered reading that the Plugins folder should be under Library, not Documents, so I moved the entire NAM folder to the Library plugins folder and NAM loads without any duplicated icons as I had before. I'll keep you posted on any developments.

Hello Tarkus, I'm using the Diagonal Bridge Enabler (DBE). The documentation for the DBE does not mention elevated (light) rail and after plenty of tries with and without the DBE over several days, especially re-reading the documentation, I figured out that I couldn't get a diagonal elevated rail bridge. I've ended up having the elevated rail go via subway under my water channel and come back aboveground on the other side. I have a separate discussion thread re an inability to build a diagonal regular rail bridge via the DBE.

I'm having a similar problem, but I'm trying to get a diagonal elevated rail bridge over a water channel. I can get an orthogonal elevated rail bridge with no problems at all but it doesn't fit my region. I've given up with this and decided to have my elevated rail go underwater via subway and then resume on the other side as elevated. It doesn't really fit my region but I've spent too many hours on this and decided the subway workaround is the only way it will work for me. Good luck with your situation!

Hi RSC, I've tried terraforming and still can't get a diagonal bridge. I've attempted to build the bridge with and without the RealRailway_SlopeParameters.dat file enabled as you suggested above. The bridge just goes straight down to the bottom of the water channel without staying at the water surface level. I think I am close to giving up and will try to come up with another way of getting rail across, maybe via subways for both rail and elevated rail. In case it is helpful, I've attached a screenshot as well as the SC4 Rockaway region.Perhaps there is something obvious that I'm not seeing. Thank you for the advice. City - Rockaways.sc4

Thank you for the suggestions, RSC. I'll give them a try over the next several days and will report my progress. I can't get the bridge started so perhaps it is the lack of steepness that is the issue. In any event, I'll report my progress. Thanks again.

Hello rsc204, I tried your suggestion of deleting the RealRailway_SlopeParameters.dat file from the plugin folder and it didn't change anything. My file was located in a different folder: \Network Addon Mod\2_Additional Network Features\Rail (RealRailway)\Tunnel and Slope Parameters\RealRailway_SlopeParameters.dat Whenever I try to drag the vertical rail bridge, the error message that I get is "Failed Smoothing Terrain" when my rail line starts to go uphill (under the waterline). I'm attaching a screenshot showing this in case it is helpful. I don't know if it matters but a few of my tools tiles are doubled. For example, I have two Railroad tiles, and two Diagonal Street tiles, among others. I'm attaching a screenshot. I read in another forum that this doubling may be due to duplicate controller installations. I realized I have a plugin folder under "Documents" (from my original NAM installation from several years ago) and under "com.aspyr.simcity4.appstore". I deleted the plugin folder under "Documents" but the bridge problem still exists. I tried building a bridge in another city in the same overall region (Bklyn Bridge area), but that didn't help. Thanks for any further advice you can provide.

OK, I checked my SimCity 4 version via System Information and Activity Monitor and both say that I have the 64-bit version and the copyright date now says 2020. As I didn't reinstall the program, I suspect that the game checked there was a newer version and autoinstalled the 64-bit version. I haven't noticed any difference with gameplay so that's a good thing. I installed the RRW patch for DBE but I still can't draw diagonal rail bridges. I noticed that the icon for dragging rail says DTR instead of RRW (I assume it should say RRW) and I thought that maybe the installation of the RRW didn't go through. I started up the NAM installer JAR program and the RRW options are grey and not solid like the other options. Should I re-download and re-install NAM? The other bridges (avenue, road, one-way) are all easy to build. I'm assuming that the rail bridge doesn't use a starter piece and the starter piece will convert a basic bridge to an undertruss (or other) bridge. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Thanks for the reply. My Mac is five years old and still running High Sierra (10.13.16) due to compatibility issues with some programs I have that haven't been updated to 64 bit yet. I thought that I couldn't run the 64 bit version of SimCity on my Mac, but I now realize that I should be able to run it- I think I have the last version of OSX that can still run 32 bit programs. In any case, I'll try downloading the 64 bit version of SimCity and see how that works. Hopefully it will stop the processor from running so hot and making the fans blow like a jet engine whenever I play SimCity. I'll see whether my Mac can keep both versions. I haven't installed the RRW patch for DBE but I'll give it a try tonight. Maybe that's all I need to use DBE for rail. I hope that it can also fix the problem of not being able to make elevated rail bridges. I'm glad that the patches and mods and plugins all are equally useable for Macs and Windows. I'll report back. Thanks again.

Hello all, I'm trying to build a diagonal rail bridge connecting two parts of my city (NYC Maxis map, Rockaway peninsula to Queens) using the Diagonal Bridge Enabler plugin. I have a good-looking diagonal avenue bridge over the drained water, but I can't get the rail network tiles to make a bridge to the other side. I thought I was supposed to simply drag the rail network over the drained water channel using the rail tile, but whenever I drag the rail line to the point where the land starts to rise again, the rail line turns red. I won't say how many hours I've spent trying to figure this out. I'm also confused whether I need a starter piece or I need to first make an elevated heavy rail incline to start the rail bridge. I've scoured the forums for any discussions of similar problems but couldn't find anything. I'm also trying to figure out how to make a diagonal (elevated rail) bridge across a water channel (e.g. the A train runs elevated from Broad Channel to the Rockaway). I'm reasonably sure the Diagonal Bridge Enabler plugin doesn't do this, but the elevated rail just stays at the bottom of the water channel. I finally gave up and made a subway but the transition puzzle piece for elevated rail to subway is only orthogonal and not diagonal, so my elevated-to-subway sections look crooked. Do I need to convert elevated rail to tram and then build a diagonal tram bridge? I feel like finding and printing a list of every NAM puzzle piece as it is easy to overlook them. I have the Mac Aspyr 32 bit version of SC4 (v. 1.2.1) and NAM version 38. I though the Rockaway section of the NYC map was going to be easy and didn't expect that the diagonals were going to beat me to a pulp. Thanks for any advice.