A few moderators including myself seem to be having to address this issue more and more.

It's a bit petty for me to make a post on this but since there seems to be a surge in users asking about the topic, I thought I'd throw in my 2 pence.

Firstly, this is a game of my skills. To make a good build it has to be original, functional and good looking.

For example, check the all time highest rated builds. The AN-225. It's big, it's detailed (I mean it has a full blown cockpit, what's not to like?) and it can function as a legitimate transport plane (the nose opens). And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Everything in that list on the first page falls into at least 2 of those categories and if it's in 1 it's on that page because it excels really damn well in that one category.

The thing is. When you upload a build, you have to catch the player's eye.

Here's an example of a bad image:

The aircraft is blocky, it's dark in colour (not contrasted enough against the background), it doesn't fill the frame and there's not a whole lot going on with it besides a bad choice of colour and the most generic image one could possibly take of a creation.

This from the hottest page on the other hand is a sweet 10/10:

Okay, it's not perfect. But it's a damn sight better than the first one. For a start it's contrasted nicely with the background. The angle of the image shows off the curves really well too and it fills the majority of the frame, leaving only a small border around the edges.

What this leads to is a image that catches your eye and draws you into the creation by it showing off its best features. Having the generic 45 degree angle from the front and a black border that spans 3 quarters of a mile, leaving your creation as a mess of pixels isn't going to do you any favours.

If you want them sweet sweet upvotes, you're going to need to put the effort into not only making your creation look nice, but to get an image that shows off it's best features.

But remember, a nice build isn't always synonymous with a high part count. I've been on multiplayer games in planes with less than 100 parts and people have told me they look nice.

proceeds to stroke ego

If you've made it that far, you've already won 75% of the battle.

A lot of users on here are window shoppers that are looking for some damn fine tasty artwork.

Obviously, if you want top marks you need some functionality. Otherwise, you'll probably end up with a lot of constructive criticism on the build and as evident in recent times, probably annoy a few people.

Which is understandable. Nobody wants a big fancy cake that's 75% hollow in the middle. That's how you ruin people's birthdays... Or just my birthday...

traumatic flashbacks ensue

Make sure your build handles realistically well and flies in a straight line. Think to yourself:

"Would I fly this in real life"

If you're asking that question while your creation is falling out the sky to have an unfortunate accident on a hillside at Wright, the answer is probably no.

Likewise, if you find yourself asking that question while doing uncontrollable backflips, you should probably see a doctor and then play SimplePlanes once you've got your reflexes sorted.

BUT

And it's a big but... literally.

Anyway...

This is a game with an international community. Time zones are a thing as are peak traffic times. Time it too early and nobody will see your creation because... well... there's nobody to see it. Likewise, if you time it too late, people might not see it because it's too busy.

And sometimes you just don't get lucky. More often than not, your creations may not make the cut. It's probably not your fault. Maybe you don't have any followers to get the crucial boost onto the hot list or maybe you had an off day. In reality there are lots of factors at play. Not all of them good and certainly not all of them bad.

But it's worth bearing in mind that if you want to get your best shot at a few upvotes, put a smidge more effort in and you might be surprised.

P.S. It's not all about upvotes and I don't follow any of the rules I stated in the beginning. So this wall of text you spent 5 minutes reading was probably a waste of time.