ill answer all your question in my tutorial but since making that takes more time then i thought...
1] When you import ships into Blender why are all the parts cut up according to materials and do you have separate them according to materials before exporting?
that one is answered. also adding new materials to x4 is kind of tricky. talk to Forleyor on egosoft discord.
https://discord.gg/qHqdEZ
2] Whats the easiest way to find accurate coordinates and orientation for the ship modules to put into the XML file?
create a small cube in blender, move it to the desired position and press N. Copy the coods. Rotation is a bit tricky and a hassle to be honest. but instead of quaternion you can also use rotation as shown in my screenshot.
you need to add quite some XML connections by hand. bridge for example. again, come egosoft discord and talk to me if u want my help.
[ external image ]
3] Ship engines are counted as 1 module, does this mean I have to create a new engine since my ship has them positioned differently?
no they are not. in the XML every engine is one connection. and you need to add them to the same group. if not grouped they act super strange. i didnt group them in my screenshot and honestly dont know why they work. but since they do i didnt bother.
this is how my engines on my split raptor/gangrene chaser something port from X:R to X4 looks
Code: Select all
<connection name="con_engine_01" group="group_back_engine " tags="engine large ">
<offset>
<position x="0" y="45.5" z="-1355"/>
</offset>
</connection>
<connection name="con_engine_02" group="group_back_engine " tags="engine large ">
<offset>
<position x="0" y="150" z="-1355"/>
</offset>
</connection>
<connection name="con_engine_03" group="group_back_engine " tags="engine large ">
<offset>
<position x="0" y="96" z="-1355"/>
</offset>
</connection>