NAM Issues Thread - PLEASE POST YOUR NAM QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS HERE

[Korot]

Use SC4 Tool to extract the textures, Fishman to convert them to a .jpg or something and then use a graphics program to modify them. Then (after converting them back to .fsh files) use SC4Tool to put them pack in a new .dat file and make sure to use the same TGI's. This will cause an immediate override of said texture. If you want those textures to be used like those in the SAM, you have to contact the NAM on how to do that.

Regards,
Korot

[choco]

Use SC4 Tool to extract the textures, Fishman to convert them to a .jpg or something and then use a graphics program to modify them. Then (after converting them back to .fsh files) use SC4Tool to put them pack in a new .dat file and make sure to use the same TGI's.

small notes:

- i'd suggest using FSHMan to convert the .fsh file to a .png, which is a loss-less format.  .jpg is horrible for this purpose.
- after editing the texture, you can use SC4Tool to import the .png file directly to a .dat, no need to back convert to .fsh.

everything else still applies..... 

[zakuten]

All righty then; thanks all for the help!

[z]

To optimize this procedure just a bit more, you don't even need FSHMan; you can use SC4 Tool to save the textures directly in PNG format.

[DMG-42]

I just installed the most recent NAM onto a clean copy of SC4. Ever since doing that my GLR-in-road networks don't show up under the Transportation view in the region. The pieces can be placed and the GLR-in-avenue networks show up in the regional view, but not the road versions. Is this something that was removed in this version, or am I just missing something?

[shaque]

Hello,

I returned to Sim City after a long absence and have noticed that there are many changes to NAM. I read up on the new simulators and have decided on Z High. I have CAM installed but I deleted the included traffic mod.

My problem is that my citizens always prefer work in another city. I build my cities with industries on the edges, residences in the center, and commerce in between. My cities are connected at the center of the map only, so I should not be facing eternal commuter problems. My citizens use every mode of transport to pass through the commercial and industrial zones to work in another city, despite many stops on the way. According to the route tool some of them even disembark at the stations and walk across the border! Sometimes they also zip through the next city and work yet the next city.

I don't think it has had any negative effects on my development but it is annoying. Does anyone have an idea why this is happening and how to solve?

Thanks,

[z]

First, try using the latest beta of Simulator Z.  It fixes some problems that sound somewhat like yours, so it may do the trick.  The file that you download contains all versions of Simulator Z; you should just extract the High version, which is the fifth one down, and use it to replace the file of the same name in your Network Addon Mod folder.

At this point, this version of Simulator Z is beta in name only, and will become standard in the next release of the NAM.  Please let us know how this works.

[shaque]

Thank you. I tried the update for about 15 mins and I can notice a larger percentage of my workforce working in their home cities. My citizens still pick very peculiar paths to work  (going the long way on a monorail circuit, switching MT at random, ...).

I'll test this update in a more scientific manner and let you the results.

Thanks again, big fan of both NAM and RTMT.

[z]

The paths that the Sims take may look strange, especially when dealing with high-speed mass transit, but I think that if you calculate the times spent in traveling, you'll find that they're actually taking the fastest routes, which often aren't the shortest.  I'll be looking forward to the results you find.

[shaque]

Transit overall is much better:

1) I no longer have sims walking to work despite many other options at their disposal.
2) Traffic on borders is less, but still significant, with migrations happening in both directions now.


However

3) In one particular instance (station query), my sims ride a circular monorail in the wrong direction, snipping the line works but as soon as I fix it they go back to taking the scenic route.
4) My sims still zip across entire cities for work, except now it happens in both directions. It doesn't bother me I just need to know if this is normal when there is plenty of available work on the way.

Also suddenly three of my five incorporated cities are crashing five mins into play, I'm sure I messed up my plugins folder so I will start with a clean install, new region.

Can you please tell me where to find information about the inner workings of transit in the game? I've gathered some information while reading about the new simulators but I feel if I had a more complete picture I'd have a much better idea of what's working and what's not (and perhaps stop me from declaring my sims lunatics).

Edit: found the network specs file.

Thanks

[puresim]

Hi guys,

I'm using the latest NAM and simulator Z. Take a look at these two images:




I noticed my rail passengers sometimes get off their trains at passenger stations and then jump back onto a train for the rest of their journey. For some this happens more than once a journey. This doesn't effect freight trains. I only noticed this because my Maxis passenger stations were reporting high traffic. The screenshots also show the gap only used by frieght trains, dispite more than 6500 passengers travel through those locations.

Are my sims just quickly frequenting the toilet facilities provided at passenger stations?

[z]

3) In one particular instance (station query), my sims ride a circular monorail in the wrong direction, snipping the line works but as soon as I fix it they go back to taking the scenic route.

First of all, you'll need to fix your crashing problem; it may have some effect on these issues.  If it doesn't, could you please post a picture of what you're describing in this point?

4) My sims still zip across entire cities for work, except now it happens in both directions. It doesn't bother me I just need to know if this is normal when there is plenty of available work on the way.

It depends.  First of all, what are you considering "available work"?  Are there actually open jobs available, and are they not taken by other Sims?  Do the wealth levels required for these jobs match up with the wealth levels of the Sims that are passing them by?  And is there a positive demand (as seen in the RCI Demand Graph) for this type of job?

If the answers to all of these questions are "yes," then did those jobs arise after the Sims passing them by already had jobs?  If the answer to this question is "yes," then the Sims will gradually migrate to these jobs, but it will typically take a number of years for this process to be complete. 

The final and most important question is, Are you experiencing long term residential abandonment by Sims who would be qualified to work at these unfilled jobs?  If the answer to this question is "yes," then there's a real problem.  Otherwise, this is a situation that can be explained by your answers to the above questions, or one that will work itself out over time.

I'm using the latest NAM and simulator Z. Take a look at these two images...

Are my sims just quickly frequenting the toilet facilities provided at passenger stations?

No, actually they're teleporting.    Really.  Many transit stations, including all the Maxis ones, allow Sims to travel from one end of the station to the other in no time at all.  This is clearly faster than just staying on the train, so the Sims get off the train at one end of the station, teleport to the other end, and then get back on the train.  It cuts a little time off their trip.

This is clearly undesirable behavior, although it doesn't have a big impact on game play.  At some point, the NAM Team will probably fix this, but first we've got to figure out what the best solution is.  And then there are all those stations to fix...

[zakuten]

I usually just fix it with an "express track" myself, but that's just my two cents

[z]

How does your express track fix it?

[joelyboy911]

Perhaps he puts the station on a siding from the main track?

[zakuten]

Right, precisely- a siding. Sorry for not making it clearer. Usually that gets the through traffic to keep on going rather than detour off and back on...

[z]

That will work as long as the siding exceeds the length of the corresponding express track by more than the length of the station.  (And as usual, diagonals count as two squares.)

[puresim]

No, actually they're teleporting.    Really.  Many transit stations, including all the Maxis ones, allow Sims to travel from one end of the station to the other in no time at all.  This is clearly faster than just staying on the train, so the Sims get off the train at one end of the station, teleport to the other end, and then get back on the train.  It cuts a little time off their trip.

Ok that makes sense

The high station usage is probably the most annoying part, especially since the Maxis station supports a maximum capacity of 5000. I have some user created stations available, although I've found some cause undesired bugs - might try downloading a few others.

For example passengers didn't appear to like traveling through the excellent large 'SemiTransparent' train station, instead choosing longer routes that didn't go through them. Freight however was passing through normally. Weird.

Any recommendations for custom stations?

[z]

My recommendation is to take whatever train stations you like and customize their capacity to what you want.  Normally I don't recommend casual use of Ilive's Reader, but I make an exception in this case because there are just too many stations that have their capacities set too low.  Using the Reader for something like this is really easy and trivial; for modifying the capacities of custom stations, it's intuitive enough that you can just figure it out.  You can also use it to modify the capacities of the Maxis stations, but that's a little trickier; you need to use the Patch facility to make a copy of the station's exemplar, as it's generally not a good idea to modify SimCity_1.dat directly.  (But now at least you know where all the Maxis stations are.)  Someday, when I have time , I am going to resume my quest to get the NAM Team to fix the capacities of all transit stations to have reasonable values.

But to answer your question, for small train stations, I really like RaphaelNinja's, which can be found on the STEX.  Of course, I've doubled their capacities.  If you download the versions from the STEX, you can get the doubled capacity plus lower, more realistic costs by downloading this file.  SimGoober also has a number of excellent train stations (of course!), and their capacities are quite reasonable.  And one of my personal favorites is the simple but very functional acreation Main Station, which services two tracks and has a capacity of 50,000, but takes up only a 3x5 space.

[Andreas]

Many of the newer SFBT stations include high capacity patches as well, which should work better with "high" and "ultra" traffic plugins.