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NAM Issues Thread - PLEASE POST YOUR NAM QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS HERE

Started by jahu, June 03, 2007, 10:15:49 AM

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Tarkus

bdonj:  Well, if the Avenue interchanges/roundabouts/rotaries aren't working for you, it sounds like you have an outdated older transit mod (pre-2007) laying around in your Plugins.  Uninstall the NAM again, and read the "ReadMe First!" document that is packaged in the .zip file with the installer.  It'll tell you how to solve the problem.  You'll want to get the BSC Cleanitol [linkie] program off the LEX, too, as it helps immensely in finding the conflicting Plugin.

-Alex (Tarkus)

Cosmic

Ok. This is my first major NAM question since ... well, since I got it. Here's my question:

There's apparently a Raised Avenue bridge, yes? It seems that it *bugs* avenue bridges so that they can only be one tile shorter than the raised bridge, thus, when you select it, there's only one end you can connect, and the other ends as part of the bridge, which you can't drag out from. You can't make it 1 tile longer to give it the other end, and it can only be this one length that it doesn't have a second end (i'll post some screenies below showing what I mean)

1:


2:

(I drew the avenue tool over the bridge in this picture to show how long the bridge is)
I can't get it any longer than shown in the screenies otherwise it turns up an "Unsuitable area to build network" message... It's driving me nuts!!  :bomb:

This is also the only length it appears in the menu at, no more, no less, only this length...

eljacko

I have a serious issue with the new NAM, one that concerns me particularly because I have not seen anyone else mention it here.

The problem comes down to the simple fact that my elevated rails no longer work.  At all.  In fact, any tile that has el rail on it is "dead".  If a road passes underneath the el rail, no cars can use that road.  This is running the NAM with little more than the el rail double decker option installed, in a brand city with no other plugins (aside from the NAM).

I have attached images to show my issue; while I did not use them in the photos, subways do work fine.

nobody goes to the industrial zone, and here, nobody is using the el-rail.


now, everyone can go to the industrial zone, but only by car.  notice they go around the station, and not under the el-rail

- el jacko and such

Shadow Assassin

It seems I have a small problem with this NAM.

On some of the newer puzzle pieces [especially the monorail high-el pieces], I get the "Intersection Placement Missing" description on those puzzle pieces, but I can still plop them just fine. What's the issue here? Has someone forgotten the descriptions or is it something else?

Or do I need the HSRP mod [I haven't got that installed at the moment :P]?
New Horizons Productions
Berethor ♦ beskhu3epnm ♦ blade2k5 ♦ dedgren ♦ dmscopio ♦ Ennedi
emilin ♦ Heblem ♦ jplumbley ♦ moganite ♦ M4346 ♦ papab2000
Shadow Assassin ♦ Tarkus ♦ wouanagaine
See my uploads on the LEX!

simbox

Ok, I have two more problems, and any help at all would be greatly, greatly appreciated.


When I place any files of any kind in my plugin folder along with the Network Addon Mod ones (incl. rural highway mod and street mod, downloaded in the recommended order), the avenues, monorails, and el rails slow down when I criss cross them in the game. I mean that the game freeze for a short while.

And, when I try to make use of the street adon mod and rural highway mod selections (the one where you click tab to choose), not a single one of the options appears; I simply can't use it.

Can anyone tell me what the issue might be? I have tried pretty much everything, empyting out the plugin folder wholesale, meaning, having absolutely no plugins of any kind in addition to the NAM ones, is the only thing that's working, but that's hardly workable.

:-(


Edit: Just to add- it seems the avenue/monorail/el rail issue has somehow been resolved, but I still can't get the SAM and RHW items to appear. Instead, what's happened is that each of the other items in the highway and street menus appears double.  So, the interchanges for the highways, for example, appears twice in the menu.  Anyone have any idea what the issue might be? This time, btw, the problem occurs only when the plugin folder is full.

Shadow Assassin

You've got an old controller file or an older version of the NAM sitting in your plugins folder.

You should search for anything to do with the NAM and delete it from your plugins folder... then reinstall a clean copy of the NAM. It should fix your problem.
New Horizons Productions
Berethor ♦ beskhu3epnm ♦ blade2k5 ♦ dedgren ♦ dmscopio ♦ Ennedi
emilin ♦ Heblem ♦ jplumbley ♦ moganite ♦ M4346 ♦ papab2000
Shadow Assassin ♦ Tarkus ♦ wouanagaine
See my uploads on the LEX!

simbox

Thanks Shadow Assassin!

The issue with the avenue/monorail/el rail has returned though.  Is this still connected to some controller file in the plugins folder? I deleted an older version of NAM, ran the cleanitol files once again, and re-installed NAM. I'm not sure what else to remove from the folder.  Could you recommend some specific things to look for?

Swamper77

Quote from: eljacko on May 17, 2008, 06:17:02 PM
I have a serious issue with the new NAM, one that concerns me particularly because I have not seen anyone else mention it here.

The problem comes down to the simple fact that my elevated rails no longer work.  At all.  In fact, any tile that has el rail on it is "dead".  If a road passes underneath the el rail, no cars can use that road.  This is running the NAM with little more than the el rail double decker option installed, in a brand city with no other plugins (aside from the NAM).

El Jacko,

When you were installing the NAM, did you select the Left Hand Drive Plugin as one of the options during the install? If not, you may want to re-run the installer and select that option. Most of the NAM's left hand paths are stored in a separate file for ease of updating/isolating pathing problems.

The game uses two sets of pathfiles, one for right hand drive and another for left hand drive. The game handles the switch of its own paths just fine, but will not do it for custom content unless the left hand path files for that content is present.

-Swamper
You can call me Jan, if you want to.
Pagan and Proud!

Tropod

Quote from: Cosmic on May 12, 2008, 03:25:32 PM
Ok. This is my first major NAM question since ... well, since I got it. Here's my question:

There's apparently a Raised Avenue bridge, yes? It seems that it *bugs* avenue bridges so that they can only be one tile shorter than the raised bridge, thus, when you select it, there's only one end you can connect, and the other ends as part of the bridge, which you can't drag out from. You can't make it 1 tile longer to give it the other end, and it can only be this one length that it doesn't have a second end (i'll post some screenies below showing what I mean)

1:
(image in previous post)
2:
(image in previous post)
(I drew the avenue tool over the bridge in this picture to show how long the bridge is)
I can't get it any longer than shown in the screenies otherwise it turns up an "Unsuitable area to build network" message... It's driving me nuts!!  :bomb:

This is also the only length it appears in the menu at, no more, no less, only this length...


hhmm....I am aware of this issue (I had forgotten about it though when it was released), but from the testing I did it only occurred in certain set ups/situations, such as this, so it's by no means common (well, least from what I could see from testing). From what I recall, I believe this particular issue is triggered if the initial bridge on the view is not a raised bridge, and it's not long enough....so when/if you select the raised bridge from the menu, it causes a problem since it's (not) the same (bridge) length.

Anyone experiencing this issue; I'd suggest trying experimenting with it a bit, get a feel for it. In mean time I'll see whether or not this can be resolved though.
Cheers~

EDIT:
Same issues occurs in original Maxis Road Raised Bridge, again similar trigger as the avenue one (as explained in paragraph above);


So whether it can be fixed or not, in either case, well I can't say really at this point. But as I said, I'll take a look into it.

eljacko

Quote from: Swamper77 on May 20, 2008, 01:22:25 PM
El Jacko,

When you were installing the NAM, did you select the Left Hand Drive Plugin as one of the options during the install? If not, you may want to re-run the installer and select that option. Most of the NAM's left hand paths are stored in a separate file for ease of updating/isolating pathing problems.

The game uses two sets of pathfiles, one for right hand drive and another for left hand drive. The game handles the switch of its own paths just fine, but will not do it for custom content unless the left hand path files for that content is present.

-Swamper

Not only did this solve the problem, but it sped up the game considerably.  Thank you very much!
- el jacko and such

Tropod

Quote from: Tropod on May 21, 2008, 02:13:59 AM

Quote from: Cosmic on May 12, 2008, 05:25:32 PM
Ok. This is my first major NAM question since ... well, since I got it. Here's my question:

There's apparently a Raised Avenue bridge, yes? It seems that it *bugs* avenue bridges so that they can only be one tile shorter than the raised bridge, thus, when you select it, there's only one end you can connect, and the other ends as part of the bridge, which you can't drag out from. You can't make it 1 tile longer to give it the other end, and it can only be this one length that it doesn't have a second end (i'll post some screenies below showing what I mean)

1:
(image in previous post)
2:
(image in previous post)
(I drew the avenue tool over the bridge in this picture to show how long the bridge is)
I can't get it any longer than shown in the screenies otherwise it turns up an "Unsuitable area to build network" message... It's driving me nuts!!  bomb

This is also the only length it appears in the menu at, no more, no less, only this length...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hhmm....I am aware of this issue (I had forgotten about it though when it was released), but from the testing I did it only occurred in certain set ups/situations, such as this, so it's by no means common (well, least from what I could see from testing). From what I recall, I believe this particular issue is triggered if the initial bridge on the view is not a raised bridge, and it's not long enough....so when/if you select the raised bridge from the menu, it causes a problem since it's (not) the same (bridge) length.

Anyone experiencing this issue; I'd suggest trying experimenting with it a bit, get a feel for it. In mean time I'll see whether or not this can be resolved though.
Cheers~

EDIT:
Same issues occurs in original Maxis Road Raised Bridge, again similar trigger as the avenue one (as explained in paragraph above);
(image previous post)

So whether it can be fixed or not, in either case, well I can't say really at this point. But as I said, I'll take a look into it.




After having had a (quick) look into it, it does appear as though it's (probably) non-fixable & an issue most likely within the exe. If it is (fixable), it'd most likely need to be addressed via the specific BridgeRULs (which means having to add these whole particular bridges to the BridgeRUL-personally, I don't think it's worth it given the nature of the problem because>), and even then there's no guarantee it'll fix the issue properly (though it's possible). As can see by the following picture, it perhaps explains the issue best more than words can describe;

Onewayroad raised bridge; in this particular issue, if I draw/drag from left to right, trigger a normal (level) bridge, with a OWR stub on each end of the bridge, & then select the raised bridge from the menu, this (is more likely to) occurs.

If I ensure there's at least 2+ stubs/network pieces on each end of the bridge before selecting raised bridge, there's less likelihood of this happening.


Adjusting the (minimum) bridge length via BridgeExemplar doesn't appear to properly resolve the problem either. For whatever reason, the exe just doesn't always handle the switch well/properly from other bridges to the raised bridges.



For those who experience this issue:
Suggestions to minimize the occurrence of this happening:
1. Try dragging from left to right, or right to left across the river (there's actually a right<>left network draw/drag issue with the game, that can make a difference with this [& other similar] aspects).
2. Be sure to drag in/on-land far enough on the one side, and then into/onto the land far enough on the opposite side.
3. If all else fails, experiment. Including adjusting the terrain.


EDIT:
Quote
I can't get it any longer than shown in the screenies otherwise it turns up an "Unsuitable area to build network" message... It's driving me nuts!!  :bomb:
This is also the only length it appears in the menu at, no more, no less, only this length...

As for the length;


Bridges can be quite fickle, if it/game doesn't like the terrain. Again, experiment.

FrankU

I feel a bit stupid, but cannot find an answer anywhere.

In the NAM are a lot of on- and off-ramps to and from Highways (ground and elevated).
There are several versions that look the same. Another thing is that some are called "reverse" although they look non-reverse (how do you say this?), are they made by left-hand drivers?

My question is: is there somewhere a list that shows and explains the use of all these different on- and off-ramps?

Cosmic

If you are asking about the OWR ramps, then that's because they're just that: one way. If you only had on-ramps (and no off-ramps) for the OWR (I believe it's the non-reverse one. I could be wrong, though.), then there would be no way to get off the freeway without either changing to avenue via transition, or by using a different ramp (i.e, a road ramp).

This would, in essence, make OWR ramps useless.

If, on the other hand, you are talking about the normal road ramps, it's  because it needs one direction for one side, and the other for the opposite side. If there was only one, you'd only be able to make half of the ramps...

(If anyone has a clearer answer on this, feel free to post it. This is just how I've experienced the on/off-ramps.)

wes.janson

I bought a copy of SC4 online and it just so happened to be the British Version. I have used the regedit method to change it a right hand drive version and everything worked fine. Upon installing the new NAM and finally having an avenue/avenue intersection, I noticed that the avenue turning lanes are what should appear if I had chosen the left-hand drive version of NAM. Thinking I was an idiot and had accidently selected that option; I uninstalled and reinstalled NAM (Making sure that the left hand drive option was NOT selected) and yet when I draw an avenue/avenue intersection the left hand drive textures still turn up for the turning lanes.


Henrik Sedin: 82gp 29g 83a 112p - 2009/2010 Art Ross/Hart Trophy winner!

nerdly_dood

Make sure you look at ALL the options when you install the NAM - the turning lanes, the extra onramps, the menu reorganization, the PED mall puzzle pieces... EVERYTHING.  (I have the American version, so i probably couldn't replicate your problem)
My days here are numbered. It's been great and I've had a lot of fun, but I've moved on to bigger and better things.
—   EGO  VOBIS  VADELICO   —
Glory be unto the modder and unto the fun and unto the city game!

wes.janson

I took your advice. I practically crawled through that install, just to reassure myself that I did infact make the proper selections.

Edit: The problem still exists. The road turning lanes appear as they should, but avenues still seem to want to appear as left-hand drive. It's more of a visual annoyance because the pathing works as it should.


Henrik Sedin: 82gp 29g 83a 112p - 2009/2010 Art Ross/Hart Trophy winner!

Dargor

Hello guys,

I have a weird problem with the NAM Road Top Mass Transit-pieces (the Utils_RT-files so to say), and I hope you can help me out... I recently started to play the game again because of the NAM, but I have brown boxes (or red/green/blue markers with Peg's mod) on most of the pieces for bus/subway that seem to tell me I have either a missing dependency or missing prop... I have no pic now, but if I use the bus stop for roads, I see the coloured marker on the side. The pedestrian mall-pieces that have a standard subway station, appear almost blank with the same marker. I have uninstalled the NAM, re-installed it, same problem.

I cleaned all my plugins recently, and two weeks ago I downloaded a lot of stuff again... so there is not a single file from an old NAM-version instaled. There is no problem with the functionallity of all pieces.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I can provide pics on request. But I thought it's easy to visualize a brown box over a road top bus station that came with the last NAM  ;)

thanks in advance.

Swamper77

The NAM does not contain lots, so the problem is not caused by the NAM.

The boxes/colored patches mean you are missing the models for the lots. Re-read the readme file(s) for that set of lots to see what you need to download to get the models.

-Swamper
You can call me Jan, if you want to.
Pagan and Proud!

Dargor

Quote from: Swamper77 on May 25, 2008, 12:05:39 PM
The NAM does not contain lots, so the problem is not caused by the NAM.

The boxes/colored patches mean you are missing the models for the lots. Re-read the readme file(s) for that set of lots to see what you need to download to get the models.

-Swamper

Thanks for your response...  :) I am hoping to tackle the problem. I have found I am not missing any prop files or models on the road pieces, so the conflict can be caused by something else in my plugins-folder probably? I opened some road bus station/GLR stations in the LOT editor to see how they look like there... The NAM also comes with no dependencies of course, so I have to look elsewhere for a solution I guess.

EDIT: A new found taught me those RTMT-files aren't even included with the NAM  :D So please excuse me for posting it here... As soon as Simtropolis is up and running again, I will go hunting for my missing files ;)

Sorry for posting it here.

tcx

I have this problem and I think is because of NAM, maybe with textures, I don´t know, as you can see in the next images. It only happen in the closest zoom and in only one view it may be south or nost or east or west. It has happened with other BAT's, one from goofyguytpa and one from SFBT.