History VideoGame / Settlemoon

** [[spoiler: Blind Keeper wants you to set up a radio station and tune it at specific constellations, one of each element. The constellations appear in the sky when you attune the town towards certain elements, but the radio requires a certain lack of "white noise" from other elements. One of the constellations is of the Moon element, so you will have to finish this during the Endgame.]]

** [[spoiler: Rose lets her version of Settlemoon shut down after a painful attempt to extend it; unlike with Sunny's sudden departure and Luna's abrupt half-abandonment, however, the players get to celebrate completing the game beforehand. Rose then goes on to start a new life, either meeting their best Settlemoon friends in real life or making new friends, and leaves something new for Catalyst [[NewGamePlus in-game]].]]

** [[spoiler: Rose lets her version of Settlemoon shut down after a painful attempt to extend it; unlike with Sunny's sudden departure and Luna's abrupt half-abandonment, however, the players get to celebrate completing the game beforehand. Rose then goes on to start a new life, either meeting their best Settlemoon friends in real life or making new friends, and leaves new something for Catalyst [[NewGamePlus in-game]].]]

** [[spoiler: Getting to the Sunrise for the second and subsequent times still causes Settlemoon to shut down, but this time we see it from Luna's perspective. The world of Settlemoon still exists while the Sun is up; it's not very different from how it was at night, and the decorations Luna surrounds herself with aren't very colorful, but it's all still there. Regardless, under a lit sky, and not one with a Moon or a Rune, [[GoToSleepEnding Luna can finally get good sleep]] before Catalyst starts things up again.]]

** [[spoiler: Forgotten Guardian wants you to make a Moon altar. When you make it, [[CharacterDeath he crumbles away while trying to step through an invisible portal atop it]], removing all instances of him from the game. How do you get him back?]] [[spoiler: Well, you can make the other side of the portal visible by sacrificing three different Moons, but only for a bit; doing so gives a new cocoon type that seems strange...]]

* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler: Sunny for Luna. The sorrowful split is pervasive in-game, much like how the Moon only shines because of the Sun, and the biggest example is that the game's Sun portion (along with the Forgotten Guardian) was left incomplete. NewGamePlus now touches on this; one of the sidequests required for the GoldenEnding reveals that the white dragon Settlemoon used to have is Diamondback's mate, and that the two were made for each other by Luna and Sunny, with hints that Sunny made Diamondback and was preserved for that reason.]]

* BizarroElements: Aside from the NaturalElements, there's [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower Life]], Death, Melee, Ranged, [[spoiler: and Moon]]. Death is represented as a purple fire instead of a skull. On top of that, each element draws its own kind of Moth to Settlemoon, which gives a special event Moon for the player to show off:

** Death: A green Moon [[DetonationMoon that has hatched]] and released swarms of hungry insects.

** Life: A cross between a [[BadMoonRising Blood Moon]] and a [[{{Pun}} Harvest]] Moon, beckoning October vibes.

* ElementalPowers: Most bosses have one or more associated elements, such as Life for Count Cerise, Death for Blind Stalker, and Air for Magnum Spark. [[spoiler:Learning to manipulate the elements is an important part of progression, as well.]]

** NewGamePlus [[spoiler:and its new Keeper are first symbolized by an overgrown beetle, representing that Settlemoon is now dead but can be the start of something new.]] However, in the New Moon update, [[spoiler:this Keeper asks if you may give new life to Settlemoon itself through doing something personal with each of the other Keepers; doing so changes it into a bee, a creature who spreads life in pursuit of feeding itself with honey.]]

* AnimalMotifs: The Moons are provided by moths, who are heavily drawn to light. Luna, in trying to finish Settlemoon's Sun Gate [[spoiler:and ultimately [[IcarusAllusion bringing Settlemoon too close to the Sun]]]], also matches this. And lastly, [[spoiler:Sunny and the Sunrise he put into Settlemoon are represented by Monarch Butterflies, diurnal moths [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth who fly far from their birthplace and often never return]].]]

** Count Cerise [[spoiler: plagues visiting adventurers with [[BadHairDay poofy wigs of leaves]] that disable their classes, requiring a potion (or shampoo) of three specific ingredients to cure. Finding the correct recipe is treated like a game of ''Mastermind''.]]
** The Blind Stalker [[spoiler: sets up a dojo where he bonks adventurers as some sort of {{Superboss}} parody. Adventurers need to be at the level cap to even damage him, and come out from the fight two levels higher. He also fights only one class at a time, starting with Warriors.]]
** Magnum Spark [[spoiler: doesn't actually have a challenge to offer, but its kobold creators want to expand their amusement park to the town. The attractions are expensive to set up, but don't need restocking and can always sell tickets, which you need five-thousand of.]]
** [[spoiler: Blind Keeper wants you to set up a radio station and tune it at specific constellations, one of each element. The constellations appear in the sky when you attune the town towards certain elements, but the radio requires a certain lack of "white noise" from other elements.]]
** [[spoiler: Diamondback misses their mate, and wants you to send adventurers on excavations in the world map, hoping to find something about them. The serpent adds a shovel to the quest menu, which lets you send adventurers on treasure hunts. There are twelve things to find.]]
** [[spoiler: Forgotten Guardian wants you to make a Moon altar. When you make it, [[CharacterDeath he crumbles away while trying to step through an invisible portal atop it]], removing all instances of him from the game. How do you get him back?]]

* ElementalPowers: Most bosses have one or more associated elements. [[spoiler:Learning to manipulate the elements is an important part of progression, as well.]]

** [[Sprouted Acolyte starts all of these, actually, but the overgrown bug shell have a request of its own...]]

** [[Forgotten Guardian wants you to make a Moon altar. When you make it, [[CharacterDeath he crumbles away while trying to step through an invisible portal atop it]], removing all instances of him from the game. How do you get him back?]]

* MoneySink: A crow visitor [[spoiler:implied to be another veteran player]] may offer stacks of a Boss's [[OrganDrops Item Drop]], for eyebrow-raising prices. [[spoiler:In NewGame+, for instance, he can sell stacks of Sunrise Sprouts for ''ten thousand silver''.]]

* AnAesop: [[spoiler: Rose eventually accepts that while Settlemoon may still exist, both they and it have changed and they'll never be able to experience it like they once did. On a brighter note, Rose eventually finds the friends she made in Settlemoon in the real world, having started something real out of their memories.]]

* BeingGodIsHard: The story card for beating the fifth Keeper reveals [[spoiler:why Luna brought Settlemoon down; she ultimately became BetterWithNonHumanCompany after Sunny's departure, due to constant complaints and requests about her game, and couldn't handle all of the various stresses of being the sole person to keep the game up ([[TheLastStraw at least at the same time]]). Whenever Catalyst starts a [[NewGamePlus new Settlemoon town]], they find Luna already inside the world, in quiet contemplation.]]

** [[spoiler: The Blind Keeper is Settlemoon's steward of sorts, running [[DevelopersRoom Luna's palace]] in her absence and "authoring" the game's technical manual. Formerly a FlunkyBoss with a lower position, Luna repurposed his ability for spawning players and objects into the game [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds after she destroyed Settlemoon's Sun Gate in response to losing Sunny]]. Supposedly, witnessing a recording of the incident made the Blind Keeper blind himself, [[{{Conlang}} learn English]], and wish to nudge you out of the game; it's more likely [[SubvertedTrope that Luna edited him to be this way]], however.]]

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: [[spoiler:Rose's understanding of Settlemoon, as a player/[[GodModder moderator]] and not as a developer/administrator, gradually forms a schism between them and Luna. They don't understand why Luna changed elements of Settlemoon (especially while it was down, without any feedback from the community), and they don't get why Luna and the player would want to bring on the Sunrise if it would possibly mean the game's crashing. When they wrest control of their Settlemoon from Luna, they convert the Keepers into [[UpgradedBoss tougher bosses]] and add [[LastDiscMagic additional equipment to collect]], [[EarlyGameHell pulling up the base of the ladder]] because they think that adding an extra challenge for hardcore fans like themselves will keep the game alive for longer. That the game has Sunrise Sprouts and still has Rose's bosses [[NewGamePlus after Rose's departure]] implies they made some amends with Luna [[MayThisNeverHappenAgain before leaving]], but they don't show any guilt towards the player in their farewell.]]

* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Though she works on Settlemoon while Catalyst is around, [[spoiler:Luna reveals to Rose that she [[WeWereYourTeam simply cannot bring herself to finish the game without Sunny]], and isn't nearly as bothered as they are about [[ResetButton what Sunrise brings]]. Rose fails to get Luna to agree with them.]]

* DigitalAbomination: Two Keepers are [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] examples:

** [[spoiler: The Forgotten Guardian, "Keeper of all that never came to be", is an unfinished boss that barely even exists within Settlemoon. It fails to spawn in all-the-way whenever even pictures of it appear; aside from in its story card, anyway, which details why it came into such a sorry state. Its equipment is turning to Dust Flakes upon it, such Flakes create equipment that's useless due to an OverflowError in its element types, and Rose is unable to modify it in her [[WorldWreckingWave remodeling of Settlemoon]]; Sunny was working on the Guardian as a surprise for Luna, after all, and Luna hadn't put any work into it for Rose to latch onto. Rose did take [[InfinityPlusOneElement an unused element]] and make upgraded versions of the Dust stuff that use it, however.]]

* AnAesop: [[spoiler: Rose eventually accepts that while Settlemoon may still exist, both they and it have changed and they'll never be able to experience it like they once did.]]

* {{Conlang}}: Most of Settlemoon's text uses one of these, in the same spirit as the different languages in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. The only major spoiler you'll get from solving it, though, is [[spoiler:a four-letter acronym next to the unfinished Sun Gate that reveals its purpose: "'''T'''o '''C'''lose '''Y'''our '''G'''ame"]].

* DigitalAbomination: Two Keepers:

* FetchQuest: The quests you send adventurers on are implied to be this.
* GameWithinAGame: Settlemoon is framed as an real-world 90's MMO that the player is helping to revive.

* NewGamePlus: [[spoiler:After beating the game you have the option to "re-live Settlemoon". New Game Plus introduces a new boss with a new material, and new decor. Only the Achievement statues remain, but you receive a quantity of Sunrise Sprouts equal to the monetary worth of everything you had at the end of the game, Moons included. The only major difficulty-change (other than an added {{Superboss}}) is that [[WhenTreesAttack the endgame portion]] won't affect the regular Quests, slowing the portion down somewhat by limiting your [[TheTragicRose Rememberance Rose]] intake.]]

** Just going off of Rose's catalogued memories, [[spoiler:the [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil Keeper order]] was significantly different, Luna replaced a dragon boss with Magnum Spark and a purple slime boss with Diamondback while the game was down, and Blind Keeper once dropped spools of string instead of Broken Tomes. One of the replaced bosses even had more info on than Magnum Spark, in the game's wiki.]]

* MeasuringTheMarigolds:
** Defeating the Blind Keeper [[spoiler:gives some of Luna's insights to the player, permanently revealing what each boss's weaknesses and resistances are, and what damage multiplier they've built up through selling items of those elements. This persists across runs, indicating that that element of the game has been demystified to the player character.]]
** [[spoiler:Catalyst]], the [[SilentProtagonist player character]], already has some level of apathy towards Settlemoon's flavor. [[spoiler:You can duplicate Catalyst's account by copying them onto their friend list, allowing them to play the game separate of you as something the game calls an "Echo"; they generally buy either random stuff or whatever's new, not caring about any of the classes and/or knowing that their own equipment doesn't matter much [[VideoGameRaids against the Keepers]], and they dive-bomb into quests without much care for specifics.]]

* NotInThisForYourRevolution: [[spoiler:Luna reveals to Rose that she [[WeWereYourTeam simply cannot bring herself to finish Settlemoon without Sunny]], which means the game will crash upon Sunrise. We aren't told whether this was a last-second change of heart on Luna's part, if Luna just wanted to see the Sun in-game [[TheMourningAfter one more time]], or if she was trying to bring Rose's Settlemoon down to [[ThePowerOfLegacy let her and Sunny's work rest as it was]].]]

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Numerous [[InUniverse in-game]] examples, representing the various changes Settlemoon went through in its stunted life-cycle.
** Just going off of Rose's catalogued memories, [[spoiler:the [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil Keeper order]] was significantly different, Luna replaced a dragon boss with Magnum Spark and a purple slime boss with Diamondback while the game was down, and Blind Keeper once dropped spools of string instead of Broken Tomes]]. Given how little is shared in-game, though, [[UnreliableNarrator we don't know]] how much was what Rose experienced and how much was stuff [[ObviousBeta beta-testers]] told them about.

* WorldWreckingWave: [[spoiler: When the Sun touches the Sun Gate, Settlemoon shuts down and [[ResetButton wipes itself]]. This is [[AmbiguousSituation possibly]] [[{{Dramatization}} dramatized]] in the story card for the Blind Keeper, where Sunny exits through the Sun Gate (for presumably the first and last time) and most of Settlemoon is rapidly deleted by the closing rune, but the Forgotten Guardian's story card indicates that it was far-less-violent and [[LookOnMyWorksYeMightyAndDespair far-more-gradual]].]]

** Melee, Ranged, [[spoiler:and Moon]]: [[{{Zonk}} A regular old Moon]], showing the current lunar phase.

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: [[spoiler:Rose's understanding of Settlemoon, as a player/[[GodModder moderator]] and not as a developer/administrator, gradually forms a schism between them and Luna. They don't understand why Luna changed elements of Settlemoon (especially while it was down, without any feedback from the community), and they don't get why Luna and the player would want to bring on the Sunrise if it would possibly mean the game's crashing. When they wrest control of their Settlemoon from Luna, they convert the Keepers into [[UpgradedBoss tougher bosses]] and add [[LastDiscMagic additional equipment to collect]], [[EarlyGameHell pulling up the base of the ladder]] because they think that adding an extra challenge for hardcore fans like themselves will keep the game alive for longer. That the game has Sunrise Sprouts [[NewGamePlus after Rose's departure]] implies they made some amends with Luna [[MayThisNeverHappenAgain before leaving]], but they don't show any guilt towards the player in their farewell.]]

* MayItNeverHappenAgain: [[spoiler:Rose never returns after the end of your first Settlemoon town; not apologizing for her actions, but accepting that they wouldn't get what they wanted from Settlemoon ever again. Luna takes up her role.]]

* NewGamePlus: [[spoiler:After beating the game you have the option to "re-live Settlemoon". New Game Plus introduces a new boss with a new material, and new decor. Only the Achievement statues remain, but you receive a quantity of Sunrise Sprouts equal to the monetary worth of everything you had at the end of the game, Moons included.]]

* OutOfFocus: The actual setting and story of Settlemoon (aside from the "meta-narrative" of its collapse and rebirth) is not revealed to you, though [[DummiedOut unused]] monster loot descriptions suggest various things.

* AnimalMotifs: The Moons are provided by moths, who are heavily drawn to light. Luna, in trying to finish Settlemoon's Sun Gate [[spoiler:and ultimately [[IcarusAllusion bringing Settlemoon too close to the Sun]]]], also matches this. And lastly, [[spoiler:Sunny and the Sunrise he put into Settlemoon are represented by Monarch Butterflies, diurnal moths who fly far from their birthplace and often never return.]]