NAM is Total Garbage

[jboord44]

Seriously, I got this so that I could build roundabouts and have cooler looking curved roads. This is 95% useless junk that nobody has any clue how to use. There are 800000 connector pieces linking up a million different transportation networks, it's just way too confusing, you can't click and drag build any of it so you have to place individual pieces that never wanna line up correctly. I find this mod to be total garbage. It's a bunch of complicated crap that sits there clogging up the hard drive.

And none of the pieces reliably works all the time. The fractionally angled road pieces can't even have regular roads connecting to their ends, so someone please explain when you would ever use this??

I felt dumb when first diwnloading this, thinking wow, all this stuff, I'm prob the only person on earth who doesn't have a clue how to use a straight URail under Diagnal DTR Viaduct piece. But come on, you could play this game for a million years and have thousands of cities and never have any use for any of this.

I think of all the things this game actually needed and it's weird they wasted all this effort on such absolutely useless crap. I like some of the curved roads, that's a nice touch, and the street textures are cool. But I find the NAM to be 95% useless junk that I have no clue how to use or what all that ♥♥♥♥ is or does.

[Nadlug]

Video's up if your still interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfG3TqZIf5E&feature=youtu.be

FIrst and foremost yes RHW has problems but with a bit of creativity and expierence you can find ways around them.
I dont claim to be an expect but usualy i can get it to do what i want.

[jboord44]

Originally posted by Nadlug:

Video's up if your still interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfG3TqZIf5E&feature=youtu.be

FIrst and foremost yes RHW has problems but with a bit of creativity and expierence you can find ways around them.
I dont claim to be an expect but usualy i can get it to do what i want.

Ok, so I think I get what you're saying here. Basically you're saying the ramps I used were fine obviously (any flex ramp compatible with L1 8C RHW since that's the highway I used). And you're saying that you do indeed use Flexheight to connect level 1 RHW Ramps to the ground, but you're saying I used the wrong Flexheight piece. Is that it??

So basically, you're supposed to push tab once and use that second Flexheight piece to connect the ramp to the ground, and not the first piece like I used. And you're saying the piece I used was meant to connect ramps on sloped ground.

Is that all correct?? And as far as playing with and getting creative with nam by clicking around and using starter pieces to try to fix its issues, I've kinda been doing that already, but you showed a few more good tips that I will take with me.

But did I get your central message correct?? And if I did not, can you tell me the actual correct way to connect elevated highway and ramps to the ground, because in the vid it looked like you used Flexheight also, just a different piece.

But I think you're saying yes, you do use Flexheight, just not the piece I used.

[Nadlug]

I actaully didnt cover non-flexheight ramps in the video since they only come in 15m versions and not 7.5. Usualy you wont need them but they are kept around for thoes "just incase" senario's. You probably wont even need to think about them unless you start trying to do double overpasses or something crazy.

Essentially my intent was to point out that sometimes the game wont cooperate but you can still achive your ultimate intent with a bit of stubborness and or creativity.

When you first select the flexheight tool the first 2 ramps you get are the onl slope variety. Yes they will work but will look ugly as hell unless you actually use them as they were intinded. And oviously you use tab to cycle through the different flexheight ramps same for all the other RHW pieces.

I know these explinations really arnt the best but thats kinda all you can get really. Ive seen other far better turtorials for RHW that at one point or another run into these same issues and they just say "Sometimes you just have to fudge it a little to get it to work." Which essentially boils down to either tearing it all down and starting over doing the exact same thing and hoping for different results, or trying a few different minor things such as moving a ramp a few tiles back giving yourself more room etc, or just clicking around with the RHW drag tool and seeing what happens.

RHW is a big headache but you can make some really nice looking stuff if you stick with it long enough.

[jboord44]

Originally posted by Nadlug:

I actaully didnt cover non-flexheight ramps in the video since they only come in 15m versions and not 7.5. Usualy you wont need them but they are kept around for thoes "just incase" senario's. You probably wont even need to think about them unless you start trying to do double overpasses or something crazy.

Essentially my intent was to point out that sometimes the game wont cooperate but you can still achive your ultimate intent with a bit of stubborness and or creativity.

When you first select the flexheight tool the first 2 ramps you get are the onl slope variety. Yes they will work but will look ugly as hell unless you actually use them as they were intinded. And oviously you use tab to cycle through the different flexheight ramps same for all the other RHW pieces.

I know these explinations really arnt the best but thats kinda all you can get really. Ive seen other far better turtorials for RHW that at one point or another run into these same issues and they just say "Sometimes you just have to fudge it a little to get it to work." Which essentially boils down to either tearing it all down and starting over doing the exact same thing and hoping for different results, or trying a few different minor things such as moving a ramp a few tiles back giving yourself more room etc, or just clicking around with the RHW drag tool and seeing what happens.

RHW is a big headache but you can make some really nice looking stuff if you stick with it long enough.

Gotcha. Good stuff.

But just to ram this home, the textbook way to get a level 1 8C RHW to connect to the ground is.... Flex ramp followed by the correct Flexheight piece?? Or something different?

[Nadlug]

That will work yes.
Once you have it all hooked up and if it still fusses with you, try moving the ramps futher away from each other and any turns.

[STEELER_506]

This is the textbook way:

http://i.imgur.com/mrbFptT.jpg


This is how you build that. Place a FlexHT first(*):
http://i.imgur.com/UUlNHMY.jpg

Place a FlexRamp immediately adjoined to it(**):
http://i.imgur.com/awK7eG2.jpg

Connect the L1 8C to it:
http://i.imgur.com/tpSCcqE.jpg

It should all magically snap in place.

(*) They're not the same as the FlexOSTs you used in your vid (On Slope Transitions... they are placed on slopes. FlexHTs (Height Transitions) are placed on flat terrain.
(**) Read the small print to see which networks are supported for which ramp. Not all widths are covered by every ramp due to network geometry.

[spiff]

Originally posted by MGB:

I've taken the time to post some beginners tutorials over here on YouTube that goes through the basics of the NAM step by step. As you can see, such in-depth tutorials have proven to be really popular /sarcasm.

thanks, very helpful
especially as many tutorials on sc4devotion are missing the referenced images

[sps96]

I love streetcars, more than almost anything. I would kill a man if it meant saving a streetcar. Oh, and don't even get me started on historic streetcars—I'd never stop killing if it meant having them on every single street, their charming rumble and ringing bringing joy into the dark void that is my life.

I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ LOVE STREETCARS. Streetcars, trams, trolleys, light-rail....what is a rose by any other name?

I got NAM with the intent to build my dream city—a perfect world where what little cars left exist only in extermination camps out in the woodlands, where they will soon be cleansed from my world once and for all.

A world where a shiny, brightly colored PCC streetcar runs on every single street, a world where, like that of my own psyche, streetcars are love, streetcars are life.

What a joy it would be to create this, let alone live in this New World Order, where only traditional archtiecture exists, and where one is no longer slave to the automobile—where streetcar and mankind nearly intertwine—two parts of a singular, glorious entity.

But this dream was taken from me, by NAM. I found that what should have been the simple process of dragging streetcar tracks onto existing roads...was but a cesspool of complete ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and indignation.

My tab key, once so innocent and pure, met with the grime of my hands as I stripped it of it's SimCity 4 virginity. I had become a monster. Tabbing away like a madman, forced to use puzzle pieces to implement something that should essentially be rail that has been simultaneously given a value as "road," allowing for their use as access corridors.

I was wrong. So, so wrong. I had lost—my dream was dead, I found that NAM should really be called SHAM—a horrid interface takes the simplest of tasks and makes them nigh-impossible, and whether this is a result of SimCity 4's engine, or the NAM developers being handsomely payed off by General Motors, I know not, nor do I care to know.

I just wanted to put streetcars on my Haussmanian diagonals, and begin the first of many steps towards streetcar justice, if at least in a game—God knows, the automobiles won the war in real life.

TL;DR - Can't build Streetcar Reich, justice denied, revenge unclaimed, UI unusable, puzzle pieces...puzzle pieces everywhere, GM did 9/11, GM made Hitler in a lab, GM funds ISIS, GM kidnaps children to feed to the flesh dragon, etc.

[Nadlug]

Strange, i thought there was a dragable light rail tool.

Anyway its not too bad so long as you go about it a certain way. First buldoze the route then place your stations, afer that place the intersection pieces then the plain road segments.

Trying to do it in series though going back and fourth through the plop selections downright abysmal :P

I do agree though its pretty ♥♥♥♥♥♥ what GM and oil and automotive company's did to the rail industry, including urban light rail.

[TarkusSC4]

sps96, sorry to hear you haven't had a good initial experience with the NAM. There are limitations to what all we can do with the interface, but there's actually been substantial developments in terms of the dual-networking features in this past release, and there's more in the works at present. The team knows that people hate TABing through puzzle pieces, and we're gradually going through and killing them, replacing them with draggables and FLEX items. It is a long process, however, given how many puzzle pieces there are.

NAM 34 added some draggable options for the (1) Tram-in-Avenue, (2) Tram-in-Road, (3) Tram-on-Road, and (4) Tram-on-Street features. To make #1, #2, and #4 the draggable way, simply click over a tile of the desired road network with the Elevated Rail tool; you'll need to use regular Rail for #3. It'll convert to the appropriate Tram Dual-Network. Due to how the game's network hierarchy works, unfortunately, we can't really get an override going by dragging the Elevated Rail network right over the Road or Avenue--the click method is the best the game will allow us.

Some intersections are supported as well, and those can be built by dragging the intersecting network up to the edge of the Tram Dual-Networks--but not through them--at which point, the overrides will trigger an intersection. It's still in the early phases, and there may be some setups where you'll still need the puzzle pieces, but it's a huge improvement.

Also, if you're looking to just build the tracks without them being within a road network, check the Draggable GLR feature. Place the starter piece, and then just drag the Elevated Rail tool through the starter, and it'll convert the Elevated Rail to ground level. There's different styles of tracks, too.

I hope that helps.

Tarkus
NAM Developer

[Morkonan]

I just wanted to jump in here with this: http://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/21118-simcity-4-extra-cheats-plugin/

The "Extra Cheats" plugin, a .dll file that resides in your SC4 executable directory and allows you access SC4 dev commands, easily, is a "must have" install for anyone who is using NAM or serious about their SC4 builds.. or is having issues with their networks. Why?

Showpaths

Showpaths will show your transportation system routes and the actual paths that the sims can take... and can't take due to a connection problem. If there is a problem with your network, like a puzzle piece not seeming to connect correctly or an intersection that has gotten borked up, you can quicly and easily find the problem. When you fix the problem, you'll know immediately, because there won't be a nasty little redspot on your network where there once was one. And, if you just want peace-of-mind in knowing that your network is working as built (not, necessarily, as intended, depending upon your choices..) then running a Showpaths on it will give you that peace-of-mind.

I don't know if NAM includes this now or not. But, it didn't used to. If it doesn't, now, then download this and install it, according to the instructions, if you're having issues and don't know where the issues are. The uncompiled .dll code is also available, in case anyone is worried.

PS - This is also valuable when testing out various ploppables and networks that come with NAM. Just find a medium tile, start a test city, plop down some stuffs, play with NAM pieces and then run Showpaths so you can see exactly what it is that they're doing for your network. When you run out of money, scrap that city and start a new test city for a new pile of cash to play with.

[Abrammsssss]

what?how NAM could be 95 useless?that's nonsense!I'm 100% sure what i am doing when it comes to nam.just check this:
http://i.imgur.com/8Wo8aH1.png
does it look like total garbage?also why do you want to learn everything so fast?nam takes time.even sometimes for me it can get difficuit AND i'm using it since 2007/2008.

[Nadlug]

Originally posted by Abrammsssss:

what?how NAM could be 95 useless?that's nonsense!I'm 100% sure what i am doing when it comes to nam.just check this:
http://i.imgur.com/8Wo8aH1.png
does it look like total garbage?also why do you want to learn everything so fast?nam takes time.even sometimes for me it can get difficuit AND i'm using it since 2007/2008.

Is that a full cloverleaf I spy hiding off in the corner?

Sure wish my sims would use the one I spent the better part of a day making.

[Steel Driver]

Y'all have heard of cities skylines, right? It's not even that expensive.

[Nadlug]

Originally posted by cadetboi123:

Y'all have heard of cities skylines, right? It's not even that expensive.

I have, from my experience its almost as bad and just as restrictive as Simcity 2013.