NWM (Network Widening Mod) - Development and Support

[areppon]

Also, there already is a Road-to-NMAVE-4 puzzle piece transition included.  Just TAB through the NWM Transitions ring--it's in there.

Here's a screenie of all of the pieces in the transitions tab. Road to NMAVE-4 is not among them

[Tarkus]

That's odd. 

But I've figured out why it's not showing up.  The piece was completed during NWM Version 1 development, but it was disabled/commented out in the RotationRing definition in the NAM Controller RUL0 file then, as the NMAVE-4 had been scrapped for that release.  Somehow, it didn't get re-enabled during NWM Version 2 development (and wasn't caught until 5 months after the release), so while the piece is otherwise there and finished, it can't be accessed.

Fixing it basically just requires me to delete a semicolon (";") in the Controller file.  But because it's a Controller file issue, it's not something where I can simply release a patch for it.  It'd require compiling and releasing an entirely new public controller build, something we usually don't do apart from new NAM release cycles.

-Alex

[shinkansen1]

Also, there already is a Road-to-NMAVE-4 puzzle piece transition included.  Just TAB through the NWM Transitions ring--it's in there.

Here's a screenie of all of the pieces in the transitions tab. Road to NMAVE-4 is not among them

I have no trouble getting a transition between road and NMAVE4. All that is required is to get the end stubs of both networks next to each other, and the transition will automatically appear. Also, from what I have read earlier, network transition puzzle pieces are only really required for transitions between networks of varying width. For the time being, unless the method I suggested does not work, you should be able to get the transition you wish.

[jdenm8]

Bam.

Resized to width 800. Click image to view full size (1366x768).

[Will12]

Great work. Im sure you know but it Needs shadowing doesn't it?

[jdenm8]

I'm not entirely sure of the shadowing process on those pieces, so I cannot add them myself.

[io_bg]

That's great! Will similar ones be made for wider NWM networks (RD-4, RD-6, AVE-6 and such)? And for tram-in-road/avenue?

[jdenm8]

RD-4 and TLA-5 certainly are on the list, AVE-6/8 is a possibility, but TLA-7/9 is undecided, it's a really long way to go without a pylon.

At the moment, I'm only doing NWM ones, others are currently outside the scope, but I may do them.

[noahclem]

Great work JD 

Since it's half NWM I'll post what I've been working on over here too:



This texture (which may yet be tweaked a bit) should work for RD2 TuLEPxTIA, ARD3xTIA, and OWR3xTIA. I'm hoping to end up with a set including most or all of the NWM networks interfacing with TIA and maybe TIR. This is just a texture so far with no paths or RULing, though I might take a stab at turning it into an actual puzzle piece. Otherwise it's been implied that someone else may be willing to do the work on that end for me.

[areppon]

I have no trouble getting a transition between road and NMAVE4. All that is required is to get the end stubs of both networks next to each other, and the transition will automatically appear. Also, from what I have read earlier, network transition puzzle pieces are only really required for transitions between networks of varying width. For the time being, unless the method I suggested does not work, you should be able to get the transition you wish.

I appreciate your suggestion, and in many situations you're correct. However in some situations, because of space requirements (refer to the screenshot on page 137) or other issues it is not always feasible to use that method. For example, in situation #1 (in the screenie), when dealing with tunnel entrance, because of the EXE's limit of only being able to have one tunnel entrance, conversion is necessary. In that place (#1) where there is an intersection immediately after the tunnel exit, the intersection interferes with the ability to convert between road + NMAVE-4 with the method, as the intersection will cause reversion to one style or the other. This is where the plop-able piece becomes necessary. My desire for that particular road is to have it be NMAVE-4 from around the GLR crossing all the way across the freeway into that neighborhood there. Since there is yet elevated NWM pieces I must convert somewhere between the intersection and the freeway. The required S-curve (because of the freeway's design) also interferes with the end-to-end conversion method.

@Tarkus:
Well that makes sense. Is it simple enough for me to be able edit myself by opening the file in notepad and uncommenting the required line? If so What is the file name, where do I find it, and how can I identify the correct line to edit?

[Tarkus]

@Tarkus:
Well that makes sense. Is it simple enough for me to be able edit myself by opening the file in notepad and uncommenting the required line? If so What is the file name, where do I find it, and how can I identify the correct line to edit?

The file's actually contained within another .dat file, so you'll need to use ilive's Reader in order to access it.  While the older Version 0.93 release that's on the LEX is more stable (and I still use it for most applications), the newer Version 1.x releases (including the current Version 1.4 release) added a "Find" feature that operates on RUL files, so for your purposes, I'd recommend picking up that version.  All the links are here, including the link to the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable that you might need if you haven't already picked it up.

You'd need to find the file called "NetworkAddonMod_Controller_RIGHT_HAND_VERSION.dat" in your Plugins\Network Addon Mod folder and open it up in the Reader.  You should see 5 "subfiles" listed in the .dat in the second pane from the left--a DIR file, an LTEXT file, and 3 RUL files.  You'll want to expand that second pane out--find the divider between the two (your cursor should change to two arrows) and drag right to be able to see more of it.

You'll want to find the file that is listed under the "Instance" column as "10000000"--when it opens shows up in the rightmost pane, it should say "[IntersectionOrdering]" at the very top.  Click the binocular icon, and type in "7B55".  This will take you to the "AddTypes" entry for that piece in the NWM Transitions RotationRing.  The line should look something like this:

Code Select Expand


;AddTypes     = 7B55, 17B55, 27B55, 37B55, 47B55, 57B55, 67B55, 77B55, 87B55, 97B55, A7B55, B7B55, C7B55, D7B55, E7B55, F7B55 ;Road-to-NMAVE-4 Transition


Delete the semicolon in front of the word AddTypes, and then hit the disk icon to save the RUL file.  This should enable the transition.  Be careful not to do anything else to the file, or else you could end up corrupting it, and breaking your NAM installation.

Hope that helps!

-Alex

[areppon]

Thank you Alex. Your instructions were concise and easily followed. I already have the reader (1.4) and normally use it to adjust the properties of lots I make, so the operation was painless. However uncommenting the xxB55 line removed all but Road->TLA-3, Road -> Ave-2, Road -> ARD-3, OWR-1 -> OWR-2, and OWR-2 -> OWR-3. NMAVE-4 did not appear.
The reader would not allow me to re-comment that line, so I did have to reinstall the main NAM component to revert it. Again, painless.
I know you're busy so if you don't have the time to spend on this I can wait and hopefully it'll make it with the next release.

Thank you
-Ryuji

[Shadow Assassin]

Thank you Alex. Your instructions were concise and easily followed. I already have the reader (1.4) and normally use it to adjust the properties of lots I make, so the operation was painless. However uncommenting the xxB55 line removed all but Road->TLA-3, Road -> Ave-2, Road -> ARD-3, OWR-1 -> OWR-2, and OWR-2 -> OWR-3. NMAVE-4 did not appear.
The reader would not allow me to re-comment that line, so I did have to reinstall the main NAM component to revert it. Again, painless.
I know you're busy so if you don't have the time to spend on this I can wait and hopefully it'll make it with the next release.

If you extract the file from the main .dat (right-click on RUL0, go to Save Decoded File...), open the file in Notepad or something similar, you can then modify it without losing anything.

[Original]

This may or may not be in NWM's locker, but is it possible that the OWR-2 have smooth curves? The OWR-2 has been a very useful asset for increasing traffic flow in crowded cities. I've seen the MAVE-4 & -6 have exceptional curves, and other road-ways such as the roads themselves have beautiful curves... So I wonder... Why hasn't there been any smooth curves created for OWR-2? If they are in production, will they be out in the next release?


Thanks,
   Original

[metarvo]

The good news is that Alex is in fact working on OWR-2 smooth curves once again.  More info can be found earlier in this thread[linkie].

[Tarkus]

Thank you Alex. Your instructions were concise and easily followed. I already have the reader (1.4) and normally use it to adjust the properties of lots I make, so the operation was painless. However uncommenting the xxB55 line removed all but Road->TLA-3, Road -> Ave-2, Road -> ARD-3, OWR-1 -> OWR-2, and OWR-2 -> OWR-3. NMAVE-4 did not appear.
The reader would not allow me to re-comment that line, so I did have to reinstall the main NAM component to revert it. Again, painless.
I know you're busy so if you don't have the time to spend on this I can wait and hopefully it'll make it with the next release.

If you extract the file from the main .dat (right-click on RUL0, go to Save Decoded File...), open the file in Notepad or something similar, you can then modify it without losing anything.

That's odd that it disabled the other stuff and still didn't enable the NMAVE-4 piece . . .

As far as why it didn't let you add stuff back in, that's because the Reader's RUL viewer actually has a character limit on it.  We actually exceeded that character limit in 2006, around the time of NAM Version 20.  It'll let you remove characters, but not add them, unless you export it externally as SA described.  I'd probably get a fresh install of the Controller before doing it, just in case.

This may or may not be in NWM's locker, but is it possible that the OWR-2 have smooth curves? The OWR-2 has been a very useful asset for increasing traffic flow in crowded cities. I've seen the MAVE-4 & -6 have exceptional curves, and other road-ways such as the roads themselves have beautiful curves... So I wonder... Why hasn't there been any smooth curves created for OWR-2? If they are in production, will they be out in the next release?

The good news is that Alex is in fact working on OWR-2 smooth curves once again.  More info can be found earlier in this thread[linkie].

Yes, the OWR-2 curves are being resurrected.  The main problem with them had been working out the OneWayDir flags on the stubs.  I haven't worked on them for a few days as Project 0E's been taking up my SC4 time lately, but I'm committed to finally finishing them (and the related NWM OWR curves) for the next NAM release.

-Alex

[rottenart]

Hi all. I'm currently participating in a multiplayer SC4 project and we're testing out in a sandbox before we go live with the big region. We have agreed on a number of mods and, obviously, NAM and NWM are essential.

So, I was dragging NWM, testing, when I discovered that for some reason, Residential zones will not access TLA-3. All the other NWM roads seem to work fine. It's like there is some glitch that is keeping the game from recognizing TLA-3 as a working road. And, as per many peoples' suggestions, I let the game run for close to two years and the "no car zots" never go away. Additionally, the route query shows no traffic using them, even after two years. Other zones develop on the roads, including civics and the like, but I was told that they will develop without road access so that doesn't really indicate anything...

Funnily enough, I also did a few TuLep intersections on a section of the TLA-3 and those work fine. I don't have draw-paths and can't easily install it because of the multi-player setup (not to mention that no one else can duplicate the problem). We have a ton of mods installed, but it doesn't explain why I'm the only one having the issue...

I hope you guys can give me some help! The multi-player region launches on Saturday and I'd like to have the kinks worked out before then!

Thanks sooooo much.

[jdenm8]

The Extra Cheats DLL is completely Non-Invasive when it comes to City Tiles (It adds data which isn't saved), you can have it on your machine and your fellow players needn't have it on theirs and they would be none the wiser. Now...

Do you play SimCity 4 in LHT (Cars drive on the left as they do in the UK/Japan/Australia/American Samoa) mode?
If you do, and your fellow players play in RHT (Cars drive on the right as they do in Continental Europe, Asia and America), they most likely haven't installed the LHD plugin necessary to allow the TLA networks to work in LHT.

[rottenart]

The Extra Cheats DLL is completely Non-Invasive when it comes to City Tiles (It adds data which isn't saved), you can have it on your machine and your fellow players needn't have it on theirs and they would be none the wiser. Now...

Do you play SimCity 4 in LHT (Cars drive on the left as they do in the UK/Japan/Australia/American Samoa) mode?
If you do, and your fellow players play in RHT (Cars drive on the right as they do in Continental Europe, Asia and America), they most likely haven't installed the LHD plugin necessary to allow the TLA networks to work in LHT.

I will ask about installing the Extra Cheats DLL (I'm assuming that's where draw paths is?). If it doesn't really affect city tiles or game play, it shouldn't be a big deal.

And, no one that I know of is using LHT in-game. If that were the case wouldn't effect more than just me and more than just TLA-3???

Thanks for the help!

[Tarkus]

I actually did a bit of testing last night in response to your post, rottenart.  It does indeed appear there are certain situations that can occur with single-tile networks with crossover paths that R zones simply don't like.  They won't actually fully abandon . . . instead, they seem to get stuck in a loop.  The no car zots show up, and they continuously act like they're going to abandon, get re-occupied and fluctuate in population, with no traffic coming out from them.  The same issue occurs when the center tile of the TLA-7 is used as a fake TLA-3, but full TLA-5s and full TLA-7s work fine.

If you have an intersection along the TLA-3 somewhere in the vicinity of the R zones, it should solve the problem, but a long, straight stretch will cause the zots.  It's a rather odd one I've not heard of before, but R zones have always been among the finickiest of zones.

-Alex