[img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/c576d4ee5f6b3faeabd586d4b262f4c76e9a5f90.png[/img] [h1]ːHPBlackHoleːHappy 2-year anniversary, hellspawns!ːHPBlackHoleː[/h1] [i][b]Hellpoint[/b][/i] was released exactly two years ago. What a journey it has been for our team here at Cradle Games! There have been good times and we've obviously had some really tough times, but it is a journey that will forever be in our hearts. The journey that clearly would not mean much without all of you, hellspawns. Last week, we decided to start the celebration of this occasion with the [url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/628670/view/3383909822381359546]"Tell your story" contest[/url]. Many great tales were shared, but we had to choose only one. It was not easy, yet here we are, announcing that one Triumphant Hellspawn. [h3]The winner is: [b]MONAD[/b]. Here is their captivating and extremely well-written story about an encounter with Undisturbed Defas Nemundis:[/h3] [quote][quote]"[i][b]I had been scoffed at by the Ministry for voicing my will to commune with the Undisturbed Defas Nemundis. To them, I was little more than a prideful underling born from a bio-capsule. A whelp, with no chance of surviving an encounter with a Cosmic God. Perhaps, to an extent, they were right. Beneath my suit and Preterhuman exoskeleton, I was still just flesh and blood. Nonetheless, I wouldn't give up my aspiration to become so much more... I eventually convinced that court of dogmatic charlatans to open the door to the Undisturbed's chamber. I entered without fear, confronting the immense, otherworldly being with firm resolve. The plasma torch of my Heater Spear flared to life as I charged forward, landing a decisive first blow on the entity. I dodged out of the way of a sweeping counterattack, keeping my distance as the Undisturbed slowly floated forward. The heavy impacts of my spear worked well enough against its corporeal manifestation, but the weapon I relied on the most lay in my other hand. The Artillery OTX prototype proved its worth in this fight, laying waste to the Undisturbed with its azure volleys of radioactive plasma. Perhaps, in the realm it originated from, the Cosmic God would have been immune to such trifling energies, but here, in the corporeal world, radiation burned through its form just as quickly as any other unnatural beast I had come across. But the Undisturbed was no pushover. Far from it. Neither the heat of the Ashen Born, nor the demented antics of the Master of Puppets, could compare to the threat posed by this entity. The bulk of my weapons and exoskeleton hampered my agility, making it easy for the entity to land hits when my greediness got the better of me. My cybernetic armor offered little protection as its violent projections ripped through me at the atomic level, boiling my insides with a rapid accumulation of radioactive particles. As the damage grew more intense, I threw out clouds of nanobots to keep my body intact. Those steadfast little machines had saved me plenty of times before, but even they struggled to heal the festering wounds I was suffering. Our battle dragged on, and my resilience was put to the ultimate test. Our bodies seethed with neutron emissions as radiation rapidly sapped away our strength, and soon enough, my ability to heal had run dry. A distressing click from my cannon indicated I had run out of energy, too, leaving me with hardly any options against my foe. The Undisturbed hovered before me stoically, unabated by the radiation coursing through its form. I dared not risk another close-range strike. I wouldn't survive another hit, myself! Luckily, at that moment, fate chose to intervene. The defeat of the Undisturbed Defas Nemundis came not from a final blow, but the simple and unwavering effects of the debilitating energies I had built up in it. The Cosmic God assumed a meditative pose as its body disintegrated, returning to the reality from whence it came. I stumbled towards the nearby Breach as it opened, healing myself just as the grip of death had nearly closed around me. My cells were still roiling with radiation, but I would now survive long enough to recover from it. A wealth of otherworldly knowledge poured into my mind, joining that which I had already gleaned from the other two Cosmic Gods. The voice of the Author echoed in my mind one last time, cutting its connection as the "corruption" of the data I had gathered grew too great. I chuckled at this, finding it rather ironic that such an immensely-powerful machine could not grasp the nature of the knowledge I had accumulated. Perhaps it was finally time to meet my maker... The Order of the Prying Eye was right. AI would take its rightful place as God, and I would gladly assist it. For I knew there would be no greater pleasure than slaying a God of my own design.[/b][/i]" ːHPBlackHoleːMONAD, [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/628670/eventcomments/3475107714835092568/#c3475107714837636537]Steam[/url][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/a50a6d0a4efa42c80cb7d185b9a90e468e1350de.png[/img][/quote][/quote] Congratulations, MONAD! We have contacted you to award the prize—digital versions of Hellpoint and Blue Sun DLC (one (1) of each) for the platform of your choosing. We also decided to award MONAD with an extra prize: [b]a USB key and a poster signed by our team[/b]. [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/3c3f87c36ad45e2aa72bc481aaaf9385b8831e6c.png][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/cb8cf3d6a4a7ae328b0c0538d1e16538178bef6b.png[/img][/url][url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/9da2737dfa3a1f2665be60953ef629f52f0a1017.png][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/7c0af83bbb7c9d1d2c96b63b6a29f3507be191f3.png[/img][/url] Here are some honorable mentions: [quote]"[i][b]The Great Pvp Tournament, and the Infamous Goku Fights We Had to Suffer Through[/b] Times were tough, we had people trying to participate in the tournament from multiple time zones, but somehow, this beam spamming, shield using turtle of death, was always there. Always. Without hesitation, he would be there just to ruin our day. And it was great. Those of us who had a better understanding of the game suddenly turned it into a game to beat this "goku" guy (it wasn't his name but we kept calling him that for his constant beam attacks). Suddenly, all of the tournament participants started to 'awaken' and it became a casual bashing of this random player. Did he ruin the tournament at times? Oh most definitely. But because of him, that tournament became special. It no longer was just a random meet and beat, now it had a story. It had a purpose. It had a journey. To kill this one person, as a group. And sometimes one of the mods would join in forgetting to shave (if you know, you know). 10/10 memory of this game and would definitely do it again. (exclude me from the prize distribution, I already have both the game and the dlc)[/i]" ːHPBlackHoleːArgenteus, [url=https://discord.com/channels/295246629101895682/1000073029293973574/1000074906567987261]Discord[/url][/quote][quote]"[i]A good story: I had a long day at work, it was a cloudy day. People were looking to just punish me for saying anything so I tried to just do body language all day (a node or a disapproval). I could not wait to escape reality to only jump into a reality full of void and absolute order. The AI was being extra careful with my attacks oddly enough this day. So I had to buckle down on my skills. I ended up fighting Mr. Many Hands and I had to hand it to him: he was EVERYTHING and more of annoyance of a boss. I would get stun locked by the mini's, I would attack and he was low life about to kill him but he luckily jumped back and clutched and killed me. I finally took a small break to reflect on the day. Started to think how similar the boss was to BONGO BONGO from "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time". I watched a video of the fight: it got me all hyped up to try and beat the handsome boss (pun intended). Clearly the dev was a fan of zelda and so was I. It was time my ladies and gents to slay this grew some dark spider jumpy hand boss. I ended up using the demon staff weapon and started to stun lock him with the power at certain moves. I ended up getting way ahead of the boss in damage. I started to sweat profusely, my hands started trembling, my butt-cheeks clenched on the final swing. I had won! The hand had lost to my hands skill of game play so I decided to see if any other games had hand or feet bosses. I started to scour the Internet to find other feel or hand boss or any body part enlarged. I started to draw hands and feet on my walls. I started freakishly take pictures of my feet and hands and over-enlarge them at photo labs at nearby printing stores and putting them everywhere! The mall, police station, corner stores, hospitals, etc. I began to get a cult following that would do the same. We started to dress up as hands and feet and jump around at work and other public places till people recognized us. We became top 10 on FBI most wanted organized crime group. But then I woke up and realized it had all been a dream. I passed out on my keyboard with drool all over. My face was all sweaty and the image burn had ruined my LCD screen. Then I logged back into the game and jumped into that dark hole just to see if I had dreamed that I beat the boss. Sure enough... HE WAS THERE JUMPING AROUND, he did not even attack me he just taunted me. JUMP JUMP DOUBLE JUMP. The little ones created a jump rope and a new game had been set. The boss started rapping and jumping and I just could not take it anymore. Uninstalled the game sat on my couch thinking of what I could of been had I beat the boss... We will never know if I will ever be able to HANDle him again.[/i]" ːHPBlackHoleːMr. D, [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/628670/eventcomments/3475107714835092568/?ctp=2#c3475107714843580000]Steam[/url][/quote][quote]"[i][b]My Personal Story With Hellpoint and Its Dissection[/b] Hellpoint is a game that has revolutionized my perception of what it means to be a Souls-like and helped me realize why I love the Soulsborne series so much. To understand why Hellpoint stands out, we must first understand what it means to be "Souls-like". "Souls-like" is not just about dodge rolling nor stamina management nor big grandeur boss fights or Metroidvania level designs, it is about all of them combined. Most players after finishing Dark Souls wish to forget and be able to experience it again. It is one of the main reasons why the fans are so eager to jump into another Soulsborne game even though they may seem identical to the previous. Many Souls-like games have tried to recapture this spark but only very few succeed. it excels at world designs and level designs. With a sprawling interconnected world that spreads out like a cobweb, Hellpoint presents the player with many choices to approach the game which gives a great range of replayability. Irid Novo is no ordinary space station either, it is a derelict vessel that was taken over by cosmic gods, all the while orbiting a black hole. The interesting premise contributes to helping to motivate you to explore and discover the story further. It's a giant puzzle that once put together can never be experienced the same again. Hellpoint's ability to capture this aspect is what makes it the best Souls-like there is currently.[/i]" Rhyen, [url=https://discord.com/channels/295246629101895682/1000073029293973574/1000101149568942173]Discord[/url] | Read the full story [url=https://discord.com/channels/295246629101895682/1000073029293973574/1000101137459978370]here[/url][/quote][quote]"[i]Well, the night before I got to the final boss I had Taco Bell's Cantina Crispy Chicken Deluxe Box™. It's a medium sized box of Taco Bells iconic Cantina Crispy Chicken Tacos™ with a side and a drink. The Taco Bell Employee who prepared my meal must have not properly washed the chicken before assembling the tacos, and rushed through the cooking process because my Taco Bell Cantina Crispy Chicken™ wasn't really crispy as promised (but that's okay because I love Taco Bell as a restaurant) and the meat was a tiny bit pink but I've had chicken that was slightly pink before and was okay. Either way, the next morning I fired up Hellpoint™ and was fighting the final boss. As you know, because you made the game, the final boss is a real puckering event, and the stress caused me to spray the back wall of my basement with Taco Bell's Cantina Crispy Chicken Deluxe™ as if I was a pressure washer. Beat the boss though.[/i]" ːHPBlackHoleːJimmy the Neck, [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/628670/eventcomments/3475107714835092568/#c3475107714835260799]Steam[/url][/quote][quote]"[i]When I was first getting into this game I was struggling a bit. Despite having familiarity with souls like games and getting how to play generalistically, I struggled with how weapon scaling worked and how to properly beef myself up to take on the threats I was encountering. Hitting a wall with some bosses, I turned to the community for advice. I was blown away by how fantastic this community is. Not only did people offer to help me out with getting through tough areas and co oping bosses, but they also gave advice on how weapon upgrading works and how to handle getting stronger. But the biggest one, the one that sticks out to me to this day, is the guy who not only helped me with some bosses, but also went so far as to help show me how to recognize illusionary walls and took me on a long platforming trip to the secret area where devs put their names and some funny quips along with some really good upgrade materials. I never would have found this on my own for sure and I'm so grateful to have such an amazing community to go to with this game and to help get new people into it. Best experience I've ever had with a souls like game.[/i]" ːHPBlackHoleːEainix, [url=https://discord.com/channels/295246629101895682/1000073029293973574/1000075983015116891]Discord[/url][/quote] For our team, it was a great pleasure to read through your stories, Hellspawns. It was captivating, inspiring and, above all, very, very heartwarming 🖤. [hr][/hr] Ever since we launched our Kickstarter campaign back in 2017, the community of [b][i]Hellpoint[/i][/b] has been steadily growing, welcoming fans from all over the globe. We can confidently say that our title has established itself as a cult classic among hardcore action/RPG fans. [h3]So far, 300,000 unique users have played the game across all platforms.[/h3] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/1af6ecc01544670f3b023ea91e8a7319c8e8faa7.png[/img] [hr][/hr] On July 12th, we released the long-awaited [i][b]Blue Sun DLC[/b][/i]. It expanded the Hellpoint universe with a new story, three huge locations, gear and bosses to fight. Here are some never seen before concept arts that had been made for the DLC by the creative director and co-founder of Cradle Games Matt Boudreau. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/068c1a700b12901cbac8a63195ea48b8f7ca64c2.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/f3dcf9ef1fcf7c97bf63eb6c877d8deafc8bf133.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/17a3a918ce53ce0780a6189e3ad913bc5a4ee838.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/551b8581f11e9d2b933b83335334db0cc6eb1226.png[/img] [hr][/hr] Once again, let us express our gratitude to all of you who have played and supported our game throughout the years. The gratitude is unending, and the honor is ours. Walk forth with courage. [hr][/hr] [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/5903c3ed4190c9527c78ce667385235a1f093781.png][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/28587010/46b352179220a79eb1845f36c43265547ce2c665.png[/img][/url] [url=https://discord.gg/hellpoint]◦ Discord[/url] [url=https://www.reddit.com/r/Hellpoint/]◦ Reddit[/url] [url=https://twitter.com/CradleGames]◦ Twitter[/url] [url=https://www.facebook.com/CradleGames]◦ Facebook[/url] [url=https://www.instagram.com/cradlegames/]◦ Instagram[/url]