Old 3d program I found here long ago...

[Kojiro]

Many years ago someone posted some artwork/models from a very simple 3d program that came with pre created parts. It had many parts that looked suitable for star ships, with thrusters, turrets, hulls, wings etc. It didn't let you do any actual creation (so far as I know) but more to just recombine parts from the list that could be scaled, stretched or otherwise messed with. For the life of me I cannot remember what it used to be called.

I used to have a copy of this program but it went missing long ago with a computer upgrade. Now I've started to get back into 3d models and it's a nice, easy start point. If anyone can remember the name of the program or has link to what they think might be the one I'm talking about I would be most appreciative.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

I can't say, but I have had decent results with something similar, called Anim8tor.

[Kojiro]

I figured it was a long shot but thanks for that.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Any time. Good luck getting back into 3D modelling and/or finding that old program.

[salm]

Not specifically what you´re looking for but you could try one of the Autodesk 123d programs. The 123d series are a couple of different free programms for beginners. 123d Design could be interesting for you. Or Tinkercad.
http://www.123dapp.com/

If you want to invest some more time I´d recommend Blender as it is not from an asshole company like Autodesk. But it is probably too complex for your needs.
http://www.blender.org

[Kojiro]

Thanks for those suggestions. I'm already familiar with some Blender features. Here is a few of the mods I've done for Tabletop Simulator. But I want something simpler where I don't need to do quite so much work due to the scale of what needs doing and my complete lack of actual training.

[salm]

I am not familiar with Tabletop Simulator.
If you tell me precisely what you want to do, perhaps I can help with finding a good solution in form of a program or a plugin for Blender.

[Jub]

Could it have been SketchUp?

[Kojiro]

Tabletop Simulator is exactly what it's name says- a virtual tabletop. It's on Steam and gets used for everything from poker to 40k to monopoly. Lots of people playing board games on there and lots of people uploading content.

The game allows you to import 3d objects as playing pieces. While this started out as monopoly houses and chess pieces it's escalated to entire space marine forces (ripped from Dawn of War I believe). A friend of mine is making a custom game, a sort of space empires type thing and he needs spaceships. He'd prefer to not simply steal them from somewhere but neither of us possesses the skills (well I might, but the time...) to do a decent job. Something like the program I originally mentioned would be perfect- slap a bunch of parts together and export the custom ship. That way you can make the tech tree properly and have the various races aesthetics intact as you progress.

As a rule though I'd like to make custom content without having to invest more than the 140 hours I've already put into Blender.

Incidentally, if you are a board game fan, TTS is regularly on sale for $10. It's well worth it if that's your kind of thing.

@Jub- it wasn't Sketch up. It ran in a windowed mode, with a graded blue background. For the life of me I can't recall what it was. People on here were posting cruisers and other ships they'd made but my search fu is weak.

[salm]

Hmm... so you not only need 3D models but you need 3D models optimized for gaming, i.e. lowpoly and shaders that use textures.

My best guess would be to get a modular Spaceship kit like the following and import and arrange the parts in Blender. Check if you´re allowed to use these models in the way you intend, though.
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/27673

I know of no 3D program that could do something like this out of the box in a way as easy as you are looking for and the only spaceships regurarily posted here I can remember (for exampel by Einhander Snowman) were 2D spaceships.

[Marko Dash]

one of my first threads here was exactly like what you are describing. if so the program is DoGA.

and you can find it here

[Kojiro]

Marko Dash thank you! That is precisely the program.