The Problem: I can't get new bridges to show in the "bridge-chooser" window.
I'm on a Mac but I have a PC that I can download and extract files to. Since I was having no luck getting things working with Mac downloads I downloaded the NAM and Essentials to my PC so I could let the installer do it's thing. Then I compared the PC's NAM files (after running the latest essentials) to the Mac NAM files. None of the PC files were newer. I was expecting at least the Additional_Bridges file to be newer.
Does the NAM Essentials just update existing NAM files or is it supposed to create new ones? Should I copy all the PC NAM files to the Mac, even thought they are older, in order to get the bridges to work? I have read the documentation by it doesn't give much in the way of detail.
EDIT: Well it turns out the bridge I downloaded was a rail bridge not a road bridge. It does show in the rail bridge window. ()sad() Unfortunately, I could not delete this post so my stupidity will remain here for all to see.
But I'd still like to know what exactly the NAM Essentials is supposed to do.
NAM essentials is a support file. Leave it alone.
And everyone makes mistakes sometimes.
I'm pretty sure the essentials file is only needed if you don't download the entire NAM. It will give you the controllers for the SAM, MIS RHW etc without the additional functions NAM adds like pathfinding, ped malls etc.
If you download the full NAM then you won't need the essentials file, although it shouldn't do any harm either.
This is correct. At the moment, you don't need to install the NAM Essentials if you have the latest NAM installed. However, if new bridges or other NAM plugins are being released, the NAM Essentials, which contain some "controller" files. They contain the RUL and INI files that control the behavior of all puzzle pieces, draggable items, bridges, interchanges and whatnot. There can be only one set of those files; we separated them from the NAM DATs for easier updating. If you only want to use the additional bridges, but not the NAM itself, you can also install the bridge controller that is contained in the NAM Essentials, and the bridge downloads - no need to install the entire NAM in this case.
Thanks all. Very helpful.