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NAM Universal Traffic Plugin (new Simulator)

Started by cogeo, September 26, 2009, 04:09:19 AM

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cogeo

Hi ladies and gentlemen,

When I installed the newest NAM I was presented with a long list of Traffic "Simulators", and I was puzzled which one to choose. I know the traffic options plugin can gretaly affect gameplay and the cities' growth. So I examined their settings and compared them to the SC4 default ones. I soon found out that none of them suits my (own) needs.

It is also true that the average player is confused with all these options, and the information available in the NAM installer and the readme is furhter misleading. For example, as far as the C, D and E simulators are concerned a player might say "Why install these oldies?", or "Why install the standard or better pathfinding, when the PERFECT pathfinding is available?". Or for the A and B simulators, their classification as "Easy", "Medium" and "Hard" actually means high-, medium- and lower-capacity respectively, but this is not clearly mentioned in the installer and the readme. As for the "Park-and-ride" ones, players might think that this feature somehow enables the ingame Park-and-ride feature which was not utilised in the "vanilla" version, a false impression, as actually this is a more "restrictive" feature instead. As for the Z simulators, the "Low", "High" etc indeed corresponds to capacities, but the user still doesn't know this, and might "of course" choose the "Ultra" version (esp with Park-and-ride "enabled"), which would supposedly make the game take-off! This sounds as the "Ultimate" simulator.

The idea is simple: Make a simulator that would be OK for most situations. It should really be an "upgrade" to the "vanilla" ones (incl C, D and E), but avoid extreme settings that would make the whole thing look like a "cheat". So I come up with a new simulator, featuring mostly "moderate" capacities and commute time settings. In some apsects it's a somewhat "conservative" one, while in some others it's more "featured". Also it does take special care of the RHW networks.

Pointing out it's "general-purpose", "reasonable" and "balanced" philosophy, I have named it the "Universal" NAM Traffic Simulator (or "Plugin" if you prefer so). It's purpose is to satisfy most players' needs, avoiding extremeties and presenting a reasonable degree of difficulty. With this simulator, your networks will face congestion if you overload them, but it will be significantly less compared to the original ones. Still, it's more challenging to cope with than the with the Easy and Medium versions of the A and B simulators or the Z Medium, High and Ultra ones.

One would wonder "Why another Traffic Simulator"? For the reasons I have explained above, I think it does make sense, and can be put into good use. The Universal NAM Traffic Simulator isn't a product of wishful thinking or ambitious aspirations, instead it invloves quite a few  compromises, which should result in a balanced and manageable gameplay.

I have attached the simulator in this therad. To install it, copy the file under your NAM (Network Addon Mod) folder and remove your current NetworkAddonMod_Traffic_Plugin_*.dat file.

I would welcome comments, ideas or suggestions.

More details about the settigns, are going to be presented in subsequent posts in this thread.

Hopefully, this simulator will be approved and included into future versions of NAM, becoming what it's name suggests, that is the "general-purpose" NAM Simulator, "suggested for most situations".

Have fun!

Tarkus

cogeo, thank you for sharing and explaining your rationale behind this.  I know this whole traffic plugin end of things has been a point of contention for awhile, and we've had quite a bit of discussion about how to make things a bit easier on the average user's end for awhile now.  (One of the proposed ideas involved eliminating the Park & Ride Simulators from the NAM and releasing them as a separate download.)

I do have one large concern here regarding some of the settings you've chosen, which will render the Universal Traffic Plugin incompatible with the RHW and future NWM and TuLEP mods.

-Network Capacities and Speeds
The capacities and speeds of the Road, Avenue and One-Way Road networks were equalized in Simulators A, B, and Z, due to the fact that the proposed wider NWM networks are Road-based.  As such, a 2-tile NWM network would have a disadvantage over a plain old Avenue.  The theoretical disparity between a 2-tile NWM network and an Avenue under the Universal Plugin would be 3000, 37.5% less.

-Congestion vs. Speed Curve
In order to facilitate the "spreading" effect, necessary for even distribution across a multi-tile one-way network (the RHW-8 is a prime example), the first "speed" value must be greater than 1 (it's set to 1 in the Universal Plugin).  Otherwise, traffic will simply use one of the tiles, and only begin using the rest of the network once the other tile is completely red in the CongestionView.  Not enabling spreading also can also cause strange automata behavior on these networks.  Simulators A and Z have the first data couplet set to (0,1.3) while Simulator B has it set to (0,1.4).

-Intersection and Turn Capacity Effect
Any network with crossover paths as part of the base network will be affected by the first value in this property.  As such, if this first value is set to a number less than 1, it will decrease the capacity of the override network below the standard per-tile for the base network (it's set to 0.75 in the Universal Plugin).  Simulators B and Z have this value set to 1.0, Simulator A has it set to 1.5.

-Alex

Jonathan

#2
tbh, I think if there's only going to be one traffic simulator in the next NAMs. Then it should be one of the existing ones, not a new one. 1 Because they have been tested and tried for a while now, and 2 because says 1000 people use the NAM, then say 250 use Simulator W , 250 use X, 250 use Y and 250 use Z. And the chosen simulator is W then only 750 people have to switch. If a new one is made then all 1000 people have to change.


It's on the public board ?!?
Jonathan

jplumbley

After all that has happened, and all that has been discussed.  I think this probably should have been posted in the NAM Private Boards and discussed there before making a public post about his.  Especially, since you are trying to create a "Universal Simulator" and you did not consult those who had worked on it in the past before posting this publically.  The first thing that would have happened would have happened is what Alex pointed out.
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Patricius Maximus

In response to the talk of making everyone switch, I like having many options to choose from to optimize my gameplay, and would oppose the elimination of the A, B, and Z simulators in favor of a "universal" simulator.

z

I have to agree with jplumbley that for an issue of this importance, and one which is really a NAM issue, this would be better discussed on the NAM private board.  I also agree with Jonathan that we are moving toward a single traffic simulator, and the results of the poll in the thread on the main NAM board below give a good indication of what it is.  Personally, I think that having the default be Simulator Z High would be a good choice for most novices; I don't think that the Park & Ride option will even be displayed in the main NAM installation from now on, although it will still be selectable from the NAM Tool.  I'll post a more extensive response in the "New Traffic Simulators" thread on the NAM private board in a few hours.