NAM Traffic Simulator Help

[SC4BOY]

From your Network Addon Mod folder, remove any files named NetworkAddonMod_Traffic_Plugin_(whatever).dat.
Then in your z_CAM folder, remove NetworkAddonMod_Traffic_Plugin_BetterPathfinding_CAM_PromoteWalking.dat.
Then just install the new Simulator.

Hmm.. I note this information is not included in the simulator downloaded with the new LEX files. It is not included in the cleanitol file either. Does this mean this requirement is no longer a problem? The first part is included it looks like to me, but no CAM info is included.

Hmmm.. now I look at the doc's it seems the uninstall instructions are inadequate also:



I just thought of another item. We ran into it on the JP test thread. It probably should either be included or documented as it will not allow the simulator to properly run as installed. If anyone is using the HSRP (High Speed Rail) it also modifies some if not all of the transit settings (or maybe "resets" them is the proper phrase.. hehe)
I think JP is digging into this, but I think the file in question is the HSRP.dat file.

[xxdita]

The traffic plugin-ins available as options with the CAM installation were based on now outdated NAM traffic simulators. These files were almost certainly missed while making the Cleanitol because they were not included in an official NAM release, only packaged with CAM1.0.
However since it is installed into the z_CAM folder, will override any other traffic plugin you may have.

After testing the new traffic plugins, I would highly doubt the need for one to be one included with the next CAM release.

The uninstall directions are fairly clear. This of course will not re-install previous simulators, but that seems common sense. This is why the easiest way to remove outdated plugins is to Back Up using Cleanitol (copying the info I put on the previous page to a new text file and running it through) as the files are safely stored outside of your Plugins folder, just in case you need them.

[snorrelli]

Aha! So the CAM traffic plugin should go too! Makes sense, given the increase in capacities/distances here, which was the goal of the CAM file. Should have realized...

[SC4BOY]

The traffic plugin-ins available as options with the CAM installation were based on now outdated NAM traffic simulators. These files were almost certainly missed while making the Cleanitol because they were not included in an official NAM release, only packaged with CAM1.0.
However since it is installed into the z_CAM folder, will override any other traffic plugin you may have.

Sounds very ..umm... succinct.. but the CAM 1.0 IS still the current CAM.. lest we forget. At least that is what I find in the CAM thread and on the LEX.

After testing the new traffic plugins, I would highly doubt the need for one to be one included with the next CAM release.

Good point.. but we aren't shipping the "next CAM release"

The uninstall directions are fairly clear. This of course will not re-install previous simulators, but that seems common sense. This is why the easiest way to remove outdated plugins is to Back Up using Cleanitol (copying the info I put on the previous page to a new text file and running it through) as the files are safely stored outside of your Plugins folder, just in case you need them.

Its pretty clear that it probably wasn't even looked at.. Looks like boiler plate to me. Course I could be wrong..

[xxdita]

CAM 1.1 is closer than you might think. 
Now that RippleJet is home from holiday, I will contact him regarding updating the CAM install directions on the download page and on the Welcome And Manual + Download thread, recommending that no traffic plugin is selected during the CAM install.
But repackaging the current version of CAM when it is bound to be locked in a matter of time seems a bit much, and would no doubt delay the release of 1.1.

And you seem to be missing the bottom of the ReadMe:
Feedback and Support
Please visit the NAM General Discussion forum for any feedback or support issues. We will attempt to answer them to the best of our knowledge, and as quickly as possible.

[SC4BOY]

Well you can always take two approaches.. make the docs wrong then put your manpower on the task of "setting it straight" .. or just make it right to the best of your ability the first time.. or at least take feedback willingly and in the spirit in which it was offered..

I have little interest in makng this a poiint of arguement.. I've made a simple observation of fact.. I assume it will be factored in by the folk who do the work and they can address it in whatever manner they find appropriate. I have nothing further to say on it..

[j-dub]

Does this mod require more reparing the roads, or is it just doing whats intended?

I've been spending a load, reparing every road, from a bump that turns into a pothole causing crashes all over my city. When I installed this mod, I noticed, number 1, I now have these weird ugly black smudgy things, we've been debating what they are, potholes, oil slicks, to dead flattened bodies? Its more noticable how these work in UDI. I noticed for example, when a semi goes over them, the trailer breaks off, and the cab breaks down, then CRASH! Cars drive over them, and seem to wreck. I understand there was going to be some sort of automatic traffic flow determination, where this new simulator would limit semis, and pick a spot where it would do it. But it doesn't make sense why I now get these on train tracks. All I know is I never have had to repair all my networks until I dl-ed this mod. Number 2, this is weird, the games more strict with how my networks are laid out. I've actually had to now use more Roads than Streets. For example, I made some new dead end streets, that later had to be roads, but I'm only talking about a 4 tile long network. The house that was on the end of the road, stays forever, and says commute: short, but the 3 out of 4 houses, closer to the main road, say commute: long, this doesn't make any sense, their closer to the exit point to the main road, and then they just abandon. It would seem it takes really long now for the game to recognize changes in the network now, it finally gets it on tripple speed. I actually had to get rid of a hwy ramp junction, and replace it with a plain avenue intersection, just so people noticed to take the hwy to exit the city. I notice building R$1 is harder now. It doesn't want to do it, even when using the building plop cheat. Clearly C$1 still builds and so does industry, but it still says long commute for residential. The very least, I am getting alot of busses up the wazoo, and I have never seen my trains so clogged up before.  I clearly installed the easy version of this mod, wether or not its easy. 

[RippleJet]

Potholes appear if you underfund your network.

I really think you should read the manual that came with the game, and which you can also download here:
http://simcity.ea.com/coolstuff/manuals/index.php

The following is an extract from said manual:

If you lower funding too far, though, your lovely network may end up in dispair and trains tend to derail, which can adversely affect traffic conditions. Look around. If you notice a sudden epidemic of potholes, you may want to increase your road maintenance funding. In fact, if you have let things really deteriorate, better increase funding above 100% to cover for the costs of repairs. That hurts!

The NAM traffic simulators have absolutely nothing to do with budget funding and potholes.

[Haljackey]

I thought I should re-post my results after installing another traffic plugin.  I tried Simulator "B" this time, on "easy".
Other important notes:
-City size: Large
-City population: over 3 million residents and 2 million jobs
-"Park and ride" not installed
-CAM not installed

Traffic congestion views:

Standard NAM traffic plugin.


Simulator "B", on easy.


Simulator "B" on hard.


As you can see, congestion has reached a more realistic level, with some areas and arteries very congested, while others are in good shape.  I think I will continue to use Simulator B on hard unless anyone thinks a better one will be more beneficial.

Again, thanks for all the hard work put into this.  Anything that helps the good old traffic jam is appreciated!

Best,
-Haljackey

[j-dub]

@RippleJet, so thats what they are. I don't know why though, I have the funding for that to the right of white line, it only goes so far to the right. Good to know its not this doing that.

[jplumbley]

Does this mod require more reparing the roads, or is it just doing whats intended?

I've been spending a load, reparing every road, from a bump that turns into a pothole causing crashes all over my city. When I installed this mod, I noticed, number 1, I now have these weird ugly black smudgy things, we've been debating what they are, potholes, oil slicks, to dead flattened bodies? Its more noticable how these work in UDI. I noticed for example, when a semi goes over them, the trailer breaks off, and the cab breaks down, then CRASH! Cars drive over them, and seem to wreck. I understand there was going to be some sort of automatic traffic flow determination, where this new simulator would limit semis, and pick a spot where it would do it. But it doesn't make sense why I now get these on train tracks. All I know is I never have had to repair all my networks until I dl-ed this mod. 

The Simulator has absolutely nothing to do with your roads becoming potholed.  There are two properties in the Simulator that deals with degradation of your networks, that are both left at the MAXIS Vanilla Values...  So I have no clue what you did.

Number 2, this is weird, the games more strict with how my networks are laid out. I've actually had to now use more Roads than Streets. For example, I made some new dead end streets, that later had to be roads, but I'm only talking about a 4 tile long network. The house that was on the end of the road, stays forever, and says commute: short, but the 3 out of 4 houses, closer to the main road, say commute: long, this doesn't make any sense, their closer to the exit point to the main road, and then they just abandon. It would seem it takes really long now for the game to recognize changes in the network now, it finally gets it on tripple speed. I actually had to get rid of a hwy ramp junction, and replace it with a plain avenue intersection, just so people noticed to take the hwy to exit the city. I notice building R$1 is harder now. It doesn't want to do it, even when using the building plop cheat. Clearly C$1 still builds and so does industry, but it still says long commute for residential. The very least, I am getting alot of busses up the wazoo, and I have never seen my trains so clogged up before.  I clearly installed the easy version of this mod, wether or not its easy. 

I cannot comment on this without pictures or know what Simulator you have installed.  But I know the Simulator does as intended and actually can work much better than most may think, as Haljackey has shown with a City of over 3 Million Sims and a fairly green network on "HARD"...

For streets, both Simulators have a Capacities equal to what I have stated, which on "HARD" are 10x the MAXIS Vanilla Value at 1000 cars.  So, IF, you have "HARD" installed your streets will be able to handle 500 cars there and 500 cars back before they start having Congestion Issues.

Maybe, you are using Mott's Simulator "B" which bases commute distances off of the MAXIS Vanilla game.  IF, you had any of the old NAM Traffic Plugins and had 10x Speed, 10x Commute or any other combination of those you maybe have designed your network system so that your trips were further away than what the Vanilla game "allowed" for.  Which means, your Sims are going to report long commutes and abandon due to the physical distance they must travel.  If this is the case I suggest using Simulator "A" which allows your Sims to drive much further for thier commute.

A problem with most people is when they build a highway, they build it in a "bypass" type situation.  Meaning it is not the phyiscal shortest distance to the city core.  This is one of the physical limits of the Simulator, which I have attempted to give some flexibility to, but it still occurs.  The mathematical basis of the Simulator will find the shortest physical distance is generally the shortest mathematical path.  There is no physical way for me to say Roads are preferred over Streets, Avenues are preferred over Roads, etc.  This means, you have to be aware and make your streets have a longer path than roads, road have a longer path than avenues and avenues have a longer path than highways... Its all in your physical layout.  The Simulator is very smart, but in your eyes it will still act dumb in certain circumstances.  You have to realize that there are limitations of what it can do, and what we have done with our research and implementation into this is provided the best usage of all the properties we could within the Simualtor.

[Starmanw402007]

Hey Jp, the refence guide is very helpful, good work on it.

[Crissa]

Too bad it doesn't count 'distance' by counting tiles, with each tile having a different value, than all having the same value...

-Crissa

[SC4BOY]

Hmm.. the more I use the simulator, the more I think that STREETS should be proportionately lower capacity than roads (and possibly roads vs avenue and ave vs highways) .. but for sure the streets.. I think the current ratio (I realize this was carried over from SC4 and not "your thing") is just too close.. What the exact amount should be I don't know.. Maybe others have thoughts on this

[Diggis]

They are already less that half the capacity of a road.  What more to you want? 

And as for road vs highway, an avenue carries twice as much as it is 2 lanes in each direction.  Makes sense to me.

[SC4BOY]

.. if the street in front of my house carried half the traffic of the road a block away, then entire neighborhood would be gridlocked.. and similarly if it carried the traffic of the larger road about 4 blocks away, it too would be totally gridlocked.. My opinion is that the streets are something of a special case intended for neighborhoods, not for arteries of any sort.. but again, opinions are like  *holes .. everyone has one..

I've simply observed that in light of the exploratory work of using the "congestion factor" in helping guide pathfinding, that a lower capacity would be beneficial. As it stands, the streets run pretty much like roads.. with a major path tending to be the rule, not the exception.. just like in the "old days"

[jplumbley]

.. if the street in front of my house carried half the traffic of the road a block away, then entire neighborhood would be gridlocked.. and similarly if it carried the traffic of the larger road about 4 blocks away, it too would be totally gridlocked.. My opinion is that the streets are something of a special case intended for neighborhoods, not for arteries of any sort.. but again, opinions are like  *holes .. everyone has one..

Well, DUH!  Thats RL.

But, this is a semi-compromise for those who want it at Standard settings and those who want it higher.  I cant please everyone with everything all the time.  This is something that will make streets still usable in high density areas (allowing for use of SAM )...  But it will also keep the traffic in check to some extent.  If you dont want sims to use Streets as arteries design them so they are a longer route than the main routes you want.

[Andreas]

... and after all, it's not that hard to use Traffic Cop, SC4Config or another modding program to change the values yourself.

[SC4BOY]

Sounds great.. got a link to a "how to" on NAM "adjustments"?

[xxdita]

I'd suggest sc4config. Try playing around with the settings a little. It's much less complcated than Reader. Though you'll still need Reader to trim the excess baggage.