CAM - General Discussions

[Boerentoren]

Boerentoren, you could always ask to be a tester.  Not really sure if Ripplejet needs more, but it never hurts to ask.

Well I can't play/test on a daily basis so I wouldn't be very useful. I appreciate the offer though   

[Korot]

Well I can't play/test on a daily basis so I wouldn't be very useful. I appreciate the offer though   

Neither can I, I only have weekends. Rest of the time is consumed by homework, and checking all the SC4 sites.

Regards,
Korot

[Boerentoren]

Neither can I, I only have weekends. Rest of the time is consumed by homework, and checking all the SC4 sites.

Regards,
Korot

You mean homework for school? God I'm starting to feel old... (I'm 27 so not that old either ) cus I'm the one that gives homework being a teacher that is. 
Not that I do it a lot, cus the more homework I give, the more I need to correct...

[Korot]

You mean homework for school? God I'm starting to feel old... (I'm 27 so not that old either ) cus I'm the one that gives homework being a teacher that is. 
Not that I do it a lot, cus the more homework I give, the more I need to correct...

Well, they say practice makes perfect, and homework is practice, in a way.
What do you teach?

Regards,
Korot

[Boerentoren]

I teach English and Geography to 12 till 16 year olds. It's only my second year as a teacher, I was in Sales before but my last employer got bankrupt. I wasn't very happy as salesman and decided to change my profession when the unfortunate opportunity presented itself.

HOW OLD ARE YOU GUYS?

[z]

And will I be able to change from CAM 1.0 to 2.0 without difficulty or will I have to start a new region?

It depends a lot on how big your region is, and various of its characteristics.  Basically, the bigger your region, the more difficult such a transition is.  I have a region of 7.5 million Sims spread out over six cities, and the doubled residential population (which doesn't go away) has made it impossible for me to switch to CAM 2.0.  Instead, I'm going to build Chicago 2.0...    YMMV.

HOW OLD ARE YOU GUYS?

I'm OLD.  Old enough to be your father, anyway. 

[Korot]

Z: I won't call 57 old, that's my fathers age, and I don't think he's old. I myself am 16 BTW.

Regards,
Korot

[Boerentoren]

Tnx for the replies

About the 2.0 release, I understand that you say: 'it will be ready when its done', but can you give me an estimate?


a) within a few weeks

b) within 1 - 2 months

c) within 3-6 months

d) possibly 6 months or longer?

[rooker1]

Sorry Boerentoren, but it'll be done when it's done, just like all other projects.
I'm not trying to be rude to you, but Ripplejet is the modder for this project and he has a real life as well and you must understand it gets busy sometimes.

Robin

[xxdita]

There's still quite a bit of work to do on CAM 2.0, so this is going to take a while yet. Testing has shown that RippleJet is pretty close to a final version, but there are still a couple of issues to iron out. I'm not even going to attempt to estimate a release date. Because, actually, it won't be done when it's done... there will still be a lot to do once a final version is ready. And then more testing after that.

[Boerentoren]

Ok, thank you both for the info! 

[Boerentoren]

I found out the the (latest) NAM + CAM give (almost) no traffic problems.

For the moment (city: pop 80k) I only use standard double roads to handle traffic in my crowded CBD. It looks like I won't be needing mass transit at all, for a long time..

Will this change, cus I like to add light rail / subway / (rural) highways in my cities but will they be used? IMO, the (latest) NAM works a bit too well, no?

[rooker1]

I'm just about ready to break half a million and I need mass transit.

Robin

[xxdita]

There are several different Traffic Simulators included with the NAM release, as well as the outdated ones included in the CAM 1.0 installer. Could you specify which one you're using?

Also, each of the modern Traffic Sims have multiple capacity levels, for cities of different sizes. If you're using Z Ultra or A Easy for a city with only 80k pop, then yeah, it's going to be way too easy.

A general rule of thumb is to match up the capacity settings of the Traffic Simulator with the Density of your zones. A city with mostly Low Density, play on hard/low. A CBD that's all (or at least mostly) High Density will require Easy/Ultra.

This is why I strongly recommend downloading the MAC Version of the latest NAM, so that you can switch out traffic sims based on the city you're playing. There is no one-size-fits-all. If you're not sure how you want the city to develop, then start with the hard/low capacity, and switch to medium, then easy/ultra as you need to. It's much better to add capacity as you go along than to try to take it away.

Also, if you're using Simulator Z, check Z's Discussions & Theory thread for the latest version.

[Boerentoren]

I use the C_standard traffic plugin (I hope, because I had to find out to correctly use the latest census repository)

However, I'm not sure I understand all the other things you mentioned.

[z]

That's the original Maxis simulator, and for a small, compact city of 80K it works OK, although as you've noticed, the road traffic in your CBD is already getting awfully high.  As your city grows, the poor pathfinding in the original Maxis simulator is also going to give you real problems; specifically, you may build mass transit, but the Sims won't use it intelligently.  Simulator Z was mentioned by xxdita; you can find a description of it in this post.  To use it with the proper data view, simply rerun the NAM installer with all the same options as before, but on the page after the license, scroll down to the bottom of the box, and where it says "Click + to select Traffic Controller Files," click the plus sign, and you'll see all the traffic simulators.  As xxdita mentioned, for a small city, to have any real challenge from the traffic simulator, you should pick a low capacity one, such as Simulator Z (Low) (don't pick the Park& Ride version, though).  If you decide to use Simulator Z, and want the latest version (which I would recommend), then after you have done the above, download this file, and in your Network Addon Mod folder, replace the file NetworkAddonMod_Traffic_Plugin_Z_Low.dat with the identically named file from the download.

If you do download the Mac version of the NAM, you'll also have to pick a Data View whose name corresponds to the name of the traffic simulator you select.

[Boerentoren]

That's the original Maxis simulator, and for a small, compact city of 80K it works OK, although as you've noticed, the road traffic in your CBD is already getting awfully high.  As your city grows, the poor pathfinding in the original Maxis simulator is also going to give you real problems; specifically, you may build mass transit, but the Sims won't use it intelligently.  Simulator Z was mentioned by xxdita; you can find a description of it in this post.  To use it with the proper data view, simply rerun the NAM installer with all the same options as before, but on the page after the license, scroll down to the bottom of the box, and where it says "Click + to select Traffic Controller Files," click the plus sign, and you'll see all the traffic simulators.  As xxdita mentioned, for a small city, to have any real challenge from the traffic simulator, you should pick a low capacity one, such as Simulator Z (Low) (don't pick the Park& Ride version, though).  If you decide to use Simulator Z, and want the latest version (which I would recommend), then after you have done the above, download this file, and in your Network Addon Mod folder, replace the file NetworkAddonMod_Traffic_Plugin_Z_Low.dat with the identically named file from the download.

If you do download the Mac version of the NAM, you'll also have to pick a Data View whose name corresponds to the name of the traffic simulator you select.

Tnx a lot for your detailed info. Will try to install this tomorrow.

You mentioned that for a small 80k city, I need to select Plugin Z_low but what about a larger city? Do I have to reinstall NAM and reselect the options when my city grows? I don't get it, I just want a decent version for smaller, larger and big cities if possible?

[z]

You mentioned that for a small 80k city, I need to select Plugin Z_low but what about a larger city? Do I have to reinstall NAM and reselect the options when my city grows? I don't get it, I just want a decent version for smaller, larger and big cities if possible?

Many people like to just use a "set it and forget it" approach with the traffic simulator.  If you want to do this, and you're planning to build a big city, then I would recommend Simulator Z High.  You'll have excess capacity to start, but as your city gets big, you'll find that that capacity will gradually get used.

[Boerentoren]

Many people like to just use a "set it and forget it" approach with the traffic simulator.  If you want to do this, and you're planning to build a big city, then I would recommend Simulator Z High.  You'll have excess capacity to start, but as your city gets big, you'll find that that capacity will gradually get used.

Well I do want some challenge (it doesn't have to be too easy) Will my mass transit still be used when I install Simulator Z high (in a +200k city)? If not, then I prefer Simulator Z Low because it sounds more realistic..

During my switch from standard C to Simulator Z Low I also found an option for functional canals by simgoober, are they any decent? How do they work?
I already use 'eyecandy'-canals so I'm interested about the NAM's...

tnx again 

[deecee]

If you decide to use Simulator Z, and want the latest version (which I would recommend), then after you have done the above, download this file, and in your Network Addon Mod folder, replace the file NetworkAddonMod_Traffic_Plugin_Z_Low.dat with the identically named file from the download.

If you do download the Mac version of the NAM, you'll also have to pick a Data View whose name corresponds to the name of the traffic simulator you select.

hi there - i use simulator z high and installed on or around November 12-24 2009; do i need to download and install the file you have linked here?  also, does the nam mac version work on a pc?!