Just a little forum post to thank everyone who has supported me and my builds up to this point which I finally get gold! I'm happy everyone's been loving my submarines, and to have two of my submarines reach the front page! Along with having one on the first page of the 'submarine' tag!

Thinking I would also like to reflect on how I got to this point, in a bit of a ramble.

My very first post on this site was a mere question, wondering if Missiles ignore health points. I was building plenty of planes before I even signed up to this site, and those were some fun days. The game was new, I was building casually, and experimenting with what I could do. One of the first planes I built (not counting the tutorial plane in its tutorial) would be something I drew. I would build several others like it, all simple and much like many of the newbie's builds you see on here.

Eventually I would go on to discover something that would up my game beyond anything else....XML modding (through the overload mod)! The first thing I would experiment on was a simple thing I called 'battleship xml' which was a ship that I tried out Overload's different commands on. I was a bit leery at first, scared I might break the build or even my game. Little did I know all I would end up doing with it.

This all happened while I browsed the site with no account. That would change however, and soon after making my account I would upload my first plane...

My first detailed build, using fuselage pieces for the wings and trying to add little details to my little mid-fuselage-prop plane. It wasn't much, but it was a start. I would go on to build a few more planes (and an armed car).

The next phase of my humble SP career would be relatively short lived, the time I made use of bjac0's Man - Part. This first build would use a gun and gyroscope to make a guy who can move a sword around and damage things with it. After that I would have my first smash hit in the form of the man with a shotgun. A brief experiment in ornithoptors would come about, and I do mean brief, but ultimately making men with guns would be my main focus.

I would gain some experience working with FineTuner and XML modding, though it would mainly be me just taking other people's stuff and modifying it. I would upload waaaay too often then, thank you bjac0 for pointing that out then.

My phase with those builds would end fittingly as it started, with a man using a sword. This time around I would perfect the concept, letting him change the direction of his swings. The next thing I would build would be a ponified take on bjaco's concept, along with a fictional replica and a couple experimental planes.

I would first get into Submarines as concept when I started watching MagsTV's series on a little known game known as 'Cold Waters'. A submarine sim light which would show me just how awesome submarines are! After downloading a few on here and learning the 'piston method' I would go on to find KerlonceauxIndustries' static model of a submarine. Knowing how to make it work, I would not only do so but give it weapons as well. Including several custom ones of my own making.

This would mark the beginning of what would lead to where I am now. Building submarines! I would go on to build my very first replica, the legendary Gotland. I would go on to build several other scaled replicas, the Alfa, November, Los Angeles, even the Typhoon! After developing a weapon to combat submarines I would discover the build to inspire how I make submarine today.

The submarine that taught me that restricting a sub's movement to pistons was not the only way, that a submarine could steer through the water with control surfaces and dive as far as you can ever want. I've raved about this thing a couple times in comments, but I can't thank willy1111 enough for making this spectacular build.

This build would be the first to introduce me to the type of electric engine used in Toscio56's U-boat. The perfect engine for submarines, being not only functional but easy to place and modify.

Starting with My Gotland, I would make all my submarines with functioning bow planes and steering through gyro. Looking back on some builds, I find how much I've refined building these things. But between then and now would come my lowest moment.

My near quitting, the near end of my Simpleplanes career. I'll admit, I played the game for a bit of an unhealthy amount of time, and when you do that the game's more annoying flaws can build up quite the anger. I trapped myself between wanting to build things and loving what I could build yet hating the building system.

A little lesson for any newbies who might get enthralled with this game, be careful how much you build, take breaks every now and then and don't upload more than twice a week.

The response to that 'final post' was honestly better than I ever could have expected. A lot of my more irrational complaints were demolished, yet people were overall so nice about a long rant all but completely bashing the game! Ultimately, the community itself kept me around, and I would go on to continue. Thank you all for being such a great community, you are the reason I stuck around and reached gold!

After developing two submarine based weapons, a cruise missile and development on my guided torpedo concept I would go on to develop the ballast system I use now, two vtol nozzles put on a rotator to keep them level with the water with a seperate floating engine that remains detached. This would be the moment I would create my first full function submarine.

And from there it's recent history! I would go on to learn how to make rudders work properly without gyro authority and now I've made the kind of build I previous never thought I would! A scaled replica of a type 9 U-boat with fully working deck guns! One that would shoot me from 4500 points straight to gold!

And that concludes my little story, thought now was a good time to reflect on my time with SP and share that experience with everyone else. Many thanks for your support, it's thanks to your support from the highs of my new subs to the lows of my rants that you will continue to see submarines of the highest quality and function I can offer!

(also forgive the initial lack of pictures I often have trouble with that!)