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Installed NAM 46, cannot locate traffic simulator tool

Started by DanJaaL44, January 22, 2023, 10:32:08 AM

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DanJaaL44

Hi everybody.

I iinstalled NAM 46 and it seems to have been correctly done but I cannot locate my traffic simulator tool which allows to change settings etc.

What may my issue be?

Thanks in advance.

Tyberius06

Hi,

your issue is, that there isn't any traffic simulator tool provided anymore. If I recall correctly the provided pre-set traffic simulator with NAM v45+ is not compatible with the previously available traffic simulator tool which allowed the change of settings.
So you need to choose one of the pre-set traffic simulator when you install the mod.

- Tyberius
You may find updates about my ongoing projects into my development thread here at SimCity 4 Devotion: Tyberius Lotting Experiments
or over there on Simtropolis into the Tyberius (Heretic Projects) Lotting and Modding Experiments.
I'm also member of the STEX Custodian and working on different restoration projects on behalf of non-anymore-active custom content creators.
Current projects: WMP Restoration and SimCity Polska Restoration.
Member of the NAM Team and RTMT Team.

Tarkus

The Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool (TSCT) hasn't actually been "installed" since we switched installer packages back with NAM 37.  It was bundled into a folder with the NAM download between NAM 37 and NAM 44, but as @Tyberius06 noted, it was officially discontinued back with NAM 45.

NAM 45's release marked the debut of Simulator Z 3.0, the latest iteration of the NAM Traffic Simulator, which had been in development since September 2021, under the auspices of traffic simulator guru @z, who, along with our testing group, put thousands of test hours into the new version.  It was determined in testing for this new version of the simulator that changes to the preset parameters, along the lines of what the TSCT allowed, fundamentally altered the workings of the simulation in undesirable ways.

This, coupled with the fact that the TSCT would have required reprogramming--and its source code was in kind of a strange state where it was difficult for us to even reassemble it--led to its discontinuation.  Users with TSCT-built simulator plugins are not eligible for NAM Team technical support (since they are effectively a NAM 44 and earlier component).

Speaking from my own experience, Simulator Z 3.0 is such a massive step up from Simulator Z 2.6.2 (the previous version) that the loss of the TSCT customization is more than made up for by the new version's improvements.

-Alex

DanJaaL44

Quote from: Tyberius06 on January 22, 2023, 03:50:08 PMHi,

your issue is, that there isn't any traffic simulator tool provided anymore. If I recall correctly the provided pre-set traffic simulator with NAM v45+ is not compatible with the previously available traffic simulator tool which allowed the change of settings.
So you need to choose one of the pre-set traffic simulator when you install the mod.

- Tyberius


Thank you very much for clarifying to me what the concern is.

I appreciate it.

DanJaaL44

Quote from: Tarkus on January 23, 2023, 12:08:47 AMThe Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool (TSCT) hasn't actually been "installed" since we switched installer packages back with NAM 37.  It was bundled into a folder with the NAM download between NAM 37 and NAM 44, but as @Tyberius06 noted, it was officially discontinued back with NAM 45.

NAM 45's release marked the debut of Simulator Z 3.0, the latest iteration of the NAM Traffic Simulator, which had been in development since September 2021, under the auspices of traffic simulator guru @z, who, along with our testing group, put thousands of test hours into the new version.  It was determined in testing for this new version of the simulator that changes to the preset parameters, along the lines of what the TSCT allowed, fundamentally altered the workings of the simulation in undesirable ways.

This, coupled with the fact that the TSCT would have required reprogramming--and its source code was in kind of a strange state where it was difficult for us to even reassemble it--led to its discontinuation.  Users with TSCT-built simulator plugins are not eligible for NAM Team technical support (since they are effectively a NAM 44 and earlier component).

Speaking from my own experience, Simulator Z 3.0 is such a massive step up from Simulator Z 2.6.2 (the previous version) that the loss of the TSCT customization is more than made up for by the new version's improvements.

-Alex

What a thorough response from one of the insiders. Big time thank you for making me aware of the reality of the matter. 

I will now attempt to start back up Simcity 4. It crashed yesterday. I might attach my system specs and settings of game in order to get more insight on why crashing might be an issue now for me.

Once again, thank you for your response. I appreciate it greatly.

jeffryfisher

Quote from: Tarkus on January 23, 2023, 12:08:47 AMSimulator Z 3.0 is such a massive step up from Simulator Z 2.6.2 (the previous version) that the loss of the TSCT customization is more than made up for by the new version's improvements.
I'm okay with NAM tuning network speeds and capacities, but there are still a couple tweaks that I'll have to sort out in an exemplar editor. My cities are designed to be mostly funded by "gasoline" taxes (non-zero fares on automobile miles). They'll die if I allow the default zero back into the game.

I'm also quite fond of my wealth-based mass-transit percentages that force at least half of my low-wealth sims out of their cars. Their no-job zots are what tell me that I missed a neighborhood when plopping bus stops.

So I'll be one of those miscreants who hunts down the simulator exemplar after Z3 clobbers it so I can re-enter my customizations.
Modding PC games since 1993 (back when we needed hex-editors)