Network Addon Mod for SimCity 4

2 comments by TarkusSC4 on Apr 19th, 2013

The NAM Team is pleased to announce the release of NAM Version 31.1.  NAM 31.1 is a full package, which improves upon the initial "open beta" that was NAM 31, and succeeds NAM 30.  It fixes about 100 issues that had been reported since the NAM 31 release in March 2013, improving overall stability and performance.

It includes the following features, new to the NAM since the last release on ModDB (NAM 30):

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  • New "Monolithic" package--all previous separate download plugins now included in the main package, including
    • RealHighway Mod (RHW)
    • Network Widening Mod (NWM)
    • Railway Addon Mod (RAM)
    • High Speed Rail Project (HSRP)
    • Street Addon Mod (SAM)
    • Rural Roads Plugin
    • NAM Retexture and Cosmetic Mods (North American and Euro)
    • Virtually all previously released bridges
  • RealHighway Mod now updated to "Project 57" specs, with Multi-Height networking, and Wider RHW Bridges.
  • New Draggable Fractional Angle Road system.
  • Maxis Highway Override ("Project Symphony") by MandelSoft and jdenm8
  • For the first time ever, transit stations and hole-digger/raiser lots are included.
  • Disappearing construction lots, making the use of starter pieces vastly simpler and less cumbersome.
  • A few odds and ends for the Network Widening Mod.
  • Two new styles of SAM Streets: Klinker Streets by squidi and jplumbley (Set 6) and Moonlight Japanese Streets (Set 10)
  • Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool (TSCT) updated.

It also includes the following fixes since the initial NAM 31 release.

• Crash-to-desktop (CTD) on save and related performance issues from NAM 31 are largely solved: A number of users, particularly those with newer Intel Core
  Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs (e.g. i7, etc.) had experienced issues with the game crashing to desktop (CTDing) when trying to save, with NAM 31 in their plugins.  This was
  tied to the much larger NAM Controller build that was contained in NAM 31, which also caused the game to use considerably more memory.  The increase in size was
  largely due an attempt to "ultra-stabilize" some NAM override networks, including some RealHighway widths/heights and the Street Addon Mod variants (SAM ultra-stability
  had been in place in NAM 30).  The code on these override networks has been whittled down for this release, eliminating stability for situations that users were much less likely to build.  In order to address a wide variety of possible scenarios, the NAM Team is now providing two different controller packages--the smaller "standard" (or "s-series") package, and the larger "extreme" (or "e-series").

  The difference between the s-series and e-series is that the s-series disables SAM ultra-stability, and the higher elevated RealHighway networks (Level 3/22.5m and Level 4/30m).
  The s-series is installed by default.  Users who desire the larger e-series controller can select the option from the installer, using the Custom Installation option.  It is recommended that if you are using the e-series controller on one of the crash-prone processors, such as a Sandy Bridge Core i7, and especially if you have a large plugins folder (at least 3GB), that you should patch your SimCity 4.exe file to be Large Address Aware.  A suitable Large Access Aware patch can be found here.  You should have more than 4GB of RAM if using Large Access Aware mode.

• Road Turning Lanes: As with NAM 31, the Road Turning Lanes are no longer automatically generated when a Road x Road intersection is built.  The
  auto-build functionality was causing considerable complications with the functionality of the Network Widening Mod and new Draggable Fractional Angle Roads, and as
  the NWM and Draggable FAR have a greater impact on game functionality (adding capacity and new build angles, as opposed to mere eyecandy), the Road Turning Lanes Plugin has
  been redesigned to function in an "optional" manner, which doesn't interfere with other features and allows the user more freedom in turn lane placement, without resorting
  to Turn Lane Extension Pieces (TuLEPs).  To add turn lanes to a Road x Road intersection, simply click the intersection with the Rail tool.  As with all previous releases,
  the Road Turning Lanes only apply to Road x Road intersections.  If you desire turning lanes on Road x Avenue intersections, you will need to use Turn Lane Extension Pieces
  (TuLEPs).
• Transit stations: After the first release of transit stations in NAM 31, a number of bug reports were received about these stations.  As a result, all of the stations
  included with the NAM have gone through extensive retesting, and have been modified when necessary.  Many of the modifications fix major bugs, while some of them simply improve the performance of the station.  For PC users, any stations plopped in your cities from NAM 31 will automatically be upgraded when you install NAM 31.1.For Mac users, the replacement set of basic Maxis stations had to be modified, along with the Modern El Train Station by Brenda Xne.  These fixes were necessary due to a bug in the Mac version of SC4.  If you're a Mac user and you plopped any of these stations from the NAM using version 31, you will have to bulldoze them and replop them once you have installed NAM 31.1.NAM 31.1 also includes a number of new stations, which have gone through the same extensive testing as the stations listed above.  Most of the new stations are optional, meaning that they are not automatically installed with the Complete Standard Installation; instead, you must select the Custom Installation and select these new stations on the Components page.
• New Street network functionality: Some new draggable wide-radius curves, and intersections along wide-radius curves, are now possible with the Street network.
  Credit for this new feature goes to Swordmaster from the NAM Team.
• RealHighway Filler Pieces: The RHW Fillers have been, at long last, restored and expanded for NAM 31.1.  They were previously in such a broken state, that
  they had been disabled for NAM 31.
• Mac users: The separate NAM for Mac OS package has been discontinued as of NAM 31.  It is recommended that you access a Windows machine or Windows installation (or use WINE), run the installer, and transfer the two installation directories (Plugins\Network Addon Mod and Plugins\z___NAM) to your Mac system.  Alternatively, use Keka (Kekaosx.com) to open the executable like a .zip file.  If you are planning on using cosmetic additions, like the Euro Textures or the Maxis Highway Override (AKA "Project Symphony"), they are contained in the "$[65]" folder, which you should rename to "z____NAM" upon extraction.  Please also note that the NAM--and most other Plugins--have compatibility issues with OS 10.7 (Lion) and later, due to the removal of Rosetta and the requirement to use the Aspyr Universal Binary patch to play SimCity 4 Deluxe in those OSes, which make the game prone to crashing.
• Installing over previous versions: NAM 31.1 may be installed directly over top of any previous NAM releases.  It is a full release, not a patch or a hotfix.  All
  future updates are planned to be in full package form, and there are no plans to issue patches or hotfixes in the future.  Please also note that the NAM Team only provides
  technical support for the most recent version, which, as of this document, is NAM 31.1.  We cannot assist users of the original NAM 31 release, or NAM 30 (or earlier).
• Special Thanks: The NAM Team would like to thank the following members of the community, who have tested the penultimate build of the NAM 31.1 controller and given their feedback on its stability, and/or assisted with other controller-related tests after the NAM 31 release, in an effort to nail down the game stability issues: A Nonny Moose, dyoungyn, Joe 90, mgarcia, mneonnew, shanghai kid, spot, and txrailcat74.