Namdoc:What is the NAM?

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NAM Documentation

What Is The NAM? Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How does the NAM fix issues with the base game and its traffic simulation?

A: The NAM contains several "flavors" of an updated version of the game's traffic simulator exemplar. The key difference between the NAM version and the base version is the fact that its pathfinding heuristic has been re-tuned, to make the transportation system operate in a manner more similar to what Maxis originally intended. In order to be able to accommodate lower minimum requirements for the game at launch, Maxis sharply downtuned the pathfinding heuristic. This created bizarre situations in which a nice wide, fast (and more expensive) Avenue may go unused, while one's sims instead crowd a residential street, simply because the Street route is a couple tiles shorter than using the Avenue. The NAM's re-tuning restores what was actually a solid traffic simulation engine, the sims to see that the Avenue is in fact much faster, and routes traffic accordingly.

Additionally, the NAM fixes pathing issues that may have prevented some intersections from working properly.

Q: What are the new transportation features that the NAM adds?

A: Too many to list :) But we'll try anyway to produce a partial listing:

  • New overpasses and viaducts
  • A ground light rail system
  • Turning lanes
  • Roundabouts
  • Wider roads and highways, through the Network Widening Mod (NWM) and RealHighway (RHW) packages
  • A modular means of building intersections with the RealHighway (RHW) system
  • High Speed Rail
  • Single-Track Rail and a variety of new switches
  • New and updated transit stations
  • Pedestrian Malls
  • Improved road and rail textures.

The list goes on . . .

Q: Who develops the NAM?

A: The NAM is developed by a small but dedicated team of developers who, appropriately enough, are known as the NAM Team. The membership has changed over the years, but the team has remained an active part of the SimCity 4 community since the very first NAM release on April 24, 2004.