Okay, I know you'll read this thread title and say "how about Starbound" What I want/need is a game or program where you can build a 3D starship of some sort. It does not have to be a starship simulator, as anything where you make 3D environments will do. Minecraft is currently my best option, I can lay some blocks around, say "this is a star ship" and explore it in a 3D environment. The problem is the blocks are "too big", and I can't add fine details to said ship. I've tried a little online lego simulator, as a possible alternative, but it didn't pan out either. I've also tried the sims games, making my "ship" in the guise of a house. In that respect, any 3D simulator will do. I've even debated getting a hold of some kind of autoCAD program; the thing engineers use on the job because it allows you to build 3D environments. In short, I have some ideas for space ships that I'd love to explore in 3D, but I'm not able to do that in any "game" or "program" that I know of to exist. I've taken a look at a lot of different games that people have suggested when I've asked this question before, and many of them, like Starbound, are games where the "focus" is not on building a starship, building a starship is just something you can also do while playing the game. Ideally, the game/program I find would let me build on the very small scale. Anyway, I thought maybe I'd ask this question here as people may know where I can find an answer.
I think Space Engineers is a good game for ship-making, but it may be ressource-consuming for an average computer.
The Kingdom Hearts games have a ship building part, you can make them block-by-block and battle it out in a classic style shooter (I like the original Kingdom Hearts version of this, since you can unlock all the parts and build extremely powerful gunships that mow down everything in their way and take almost no damage.) Also if you are looking for something to build stuff in 3D, I suggest the virtual world Second Life, you can make anything you want and script them for any purpose (I made several fully functional vehicles there, plus I collected a bunch form other people), or try Garry's Mod, with the right combination of addons you can also build fully operational vehicles (I also have working cars and spacecraft there, just as a warning Gmod is more complicated when building things though).
Space Engineers maybe? I can't think of anything else. If you want the "space" part more than the "ship" part, take a look at Kerbal Space Program
Ah, yes. Space ship building. As already mentioned - Space Engineers is the ultimate game for this with many basic blocks to play around with but with several layers of complex blocks to use if you like. There are survival and creative modes to try. The game is very tasking for an average PC though. As already mentioned - Kerbal Space Program, but with pre-defined parts only and heavily anchored in hard science. StarMade is another game you might look up. It is dubbed 'Minecraft in Space' and still in Early Access, but worth checking out. S.P.A.Z. 2 - Space Pirates and Zombies 2, it's more of a glorified RTS game with naval-like battles (but in space) and shipbuilding using pre-defined modules, not usually on a list of a space explorer, I know. Very colourful. There is also Starship Corporation, but this is more of a space tycoon and it's not 3D. I think that's it. Hope it helps.
From The Depths might be helpful. It's a sandbox game that has a quite extensive system for building vehicles of sea and sky, which might take some getting used to, but the complexity leads to some cool builds. Also, whatever you build is going to be pretty big, as it has some very large blocks for things like thrusters and engines and whatnot.
Surprised Starmade isn't here. It has a similar build style to Minecraft, but its got some pretty in-depth construction. It's still in alpha, so there's bound to be bugs and performance issues, but the game's a bunch of fun with other people. (and while its in alpha, its free too.)
Simple rockets,i havent really played but if its on par with simple planes it should work well enouGh
StarMade is a great game, imo. It's far underrated. It's absolutely amazing and has so many fun features! That is, if you can get it to run. The demo is the full game, anyways, so the game is technically free.
Spore. Once you've got through the cell, beast, tribe and civilization phases (which also includes a bit of building and creating things, like creatures and tanks or whatever) you'll get to build your very own starship that you'll be able to go out into space with, fight the groxes, communicate with other life-forms and even destory planets with.
I've not found too much fun in the Space Stage without GA, but spore is still my favorite game of all time. It has a certain charm that I love about it.
Well, it's still in early access but I find Starmade to be the best "3d full custom ship simulator" out there. I've built ships from several other franchises, my own designs and faction styling, etc. There isn't a huge amount of things to do there yet aside from ship building though. The game comes with several colors with symmetry axis's, moving parts as a rail system, slabs and wedges, colored lights and a logic system. So it's not as fleshed out as Starbound yet, but it's really focused on building possibilities. It's hard to get used to at first but you can build some neat things. This is old but I was really impressed with this Star Wars Munificent-class frigate: As for me, I tend to overuse purple and make big black obelisks. I made a clear-wing moth in here too, so here's that.
GA really stepped it up a notch. Only problem is that it showers you with strange quests (Just like you got odd creatures everytime you logged in on the main game)
There is a game called reassembly, but it's pretty old by today's standard. But atleast you can create unstoppable ships and fractions.
