Plugin:ANT
| Mod | |
|---|---|
| |
| Download Here | |
| Superseded | |
| General Information | |
| Credits | NAM team |
| Support | This mod has been replaced by the RHW, and thus no support is given to its users. |
| Languages | English |
The Additional Network Tool, better known as the ANT Plugin, was a former optional Plugin of the Network Addon Mod, superseded by the Rural Highway Mod.
Development History
The ANT was a unique Plugin, in that it actually added a new, draggable network to the game. This new network was technically the DirtRoad network that Maxis left unfinished, which Tropod, the7trumpets and other early Modd Squad (now NAM team) members had reintroduced to the game in 2004. It was a highway-style network which did not allow RCI Zones to grow along it.
The issue that the ANT faced for much of its existence, however, was one of use. The ANT by default looked identical to the Road network, but with twice the capacity and a higher speed, as per the NAM Traffic Plugins. A number of proposals and Alpha Plugins for alternate uses were created, including one that used the ANT to create Diagonal Streets, as well as attempts to use it to create GLR. A few wanted to see it returned to being a "dirt road". Others merely used it as a sloping tool. Some NAM Team members, like the7trumpets, actually considered the network "useless".
In 2005, qurlix started the Rural Highway Mod project (RHW), based on Teirusus ideas of override networks. The RHW created an Override Network on this Plugin, allowing for one to expand the ANT Plugin into a 4-lane, 2-tile network (now known as the RHW-4). As the other modding discoveries were made, which found better ways to implement some of the other proposals for using the ANT Plugin, including further advances in RUL Override technology, the RHW gained momentum with further development, and by and large became the only use of the ANT Plugin by 2007.
The installation process of the RHW, however, was complicated by the fact that the user had to install not only the RHW, but the ANT Plugin, an option in the main NAM installer that was not checked by default. As such, this caused a number of difficult technical support issues. Since the RHW had become the only use of the ANT, Tarkus decided to merge the ANT fully into the RHW to eliminate the confusion, which resulted in the ANT being discontinued with the release of RHW Version 2.0 on January 1, 2008.
