Touhou Puppet Play ("Touhoumon" for short) is a ROM hack of Pokemon Fire Red (and
Emerald in the case of some unofficial patches) which replaces the Pokemon with
puppets representing Touhou characters. Unlike Moemon which is a simple reskin,
Touhoumon modifies moves and stats to such an extent that it's an entirely new
experience.

Version/Generation Overview
1.0 (Generation 1)
1.0 was rather bare-bones but started the vicious downspiral. It has a large amount
of balance issues and most characters cannot reach EX form before obtaining the
National Dex, but the ones that can are usually so broken that you don't need other
characters for beating the game anyway. The cutoff point for characters is TH10.

1.5 (Generation 2)
1.5 was an entire revamp of 1.0, adding characters from TH11 and giving PC-98
characters Chibi and EX forms. Some characters still can't evolve to EX without the
National Dex, but the number is much smaller and this is generally limited to the
more powerful characters and PC-98s. It also added Last Word forms as Elite Four
rematch-exclusive puppets, which people later made obtainable in unofficial patches
causing a huge power creep.

This generation is easily the most popular generation for modding, and has a
numerous amount of hacks based off its mechanics.

1.8 versions (Generation 3)
1.8 was a radical shift for Touhoumon, introducing a Physical/Special split akin to
Diamond/Pearl, a new type chart, and streamlining evolutions. Instead of the old
Chibi > Base > EX, almost everything starts at Chibi and evolves once, either by
level or by using an evolutionary stone, which shift stat allocation and learnable
moves around. Base stat totals are balanced around 470 to 560, and everything is
viable in its own way. This is the generation being focused on by most people.



1.0 (Generation 1) Hacks:
> FeKa's 1.0 port
Playable, but nothing is edited past the Champion. Very incomplete, and mostly
distributed through ROM compilations nowadays.


1.5 (Generation 2) Hacks:
> Lobsterhime's 1.5 port
Vanilla Kanto. Playable, but incomplete and rough around the edges. Mostly
distributed through ROM compilations.

> Aqua+Yui (aka "Merry's Version" or "A+Y") [Aquamentis]
> http://taikotime.co.cc/forumdisplay.php?fid=29 -- Dedicated subforum
> http://www.mediafire.com/aquamentis -- Download location
Standard fare Kanto with a lean towards collection. BST among Last Words and Finals
is balanced with average EX form BST so you aren't punished for using characters
without said forms. "Weaker" characters such as PC-98s are buffed stat-wise.

> Blue Version [Blue]
> http://touhoumon.internetlantic.com/
Designed to be very casual. Vanilla Kanto with HM roadblocks removed, the only
things stopping your progress are your team's levels and your ability to avoid
trainers. HM moves are buffed, sometimes drastically. Gameplay becomes very
broken in the player's favor, but broken in an enjoyable way.

> World Link [Aichiya Sanae]
> http://animackid.wordpress.com/touhoumon-world-link/
An Emerald hack with extra content that constantly varies in quality. There are
random difficulty spikes, but the level curve mostly follows that of default Hoenn.
Almost all Gym Leader/Elite Four sets are based off those in Scarlet Emerald. Hoenn
routes have map edits ranging from simple ledges to full-on mazes which serve no
purpose but to hinder the player. Bonus content includes Kanto and an entirely new
region, but the player is given very few hints on where to go in order to progress
in the game. Postgame nearly demands Last Words, so team variety is a little stiff.

Aichiya recently announced he is going to re-make this hack to use 1.8 mechanics.
You can find the thread here: http://taikotime.co.cc/viewthread.php?tid=174

> Another World [Aichiya Sanae]
> http://animackid.wordpress.com/touhoumon-another-world/
A "port" and translation of the Japanese Gensokyo Scenario patch with increased
difficulty. Very grindy, and often punishes the player for not being clairvoyant.
After the main Gensokyo Scenario content, it's just afterthought Kanto with
shoehorned excuses to send the player to Gensokyo, and it's admitted in a prompt
that it's primarily for the purpose of completing the World Link dex. Postgame
nearly demands Last Words, so team variety is a little stiff.

> Marisa's Magic World [Aichiya Sanae]
> http://animackid.wordpress.com/touhoumon-mmw/
A game that focuses entirely on capturing puppets for the sake of completing the
World Link dex listing.

> Scarlet Emerald (aka "Emerald X" and "Touhoumon Emerald") [Anjirusensei]
The first 1.5-based Emerald hack released in English. Beyond grindy. Flooded with
memes and difficulty spikes, the level curve is mostly only increased on plot
trainers. Anjirusensei deleted his own downloads for it, but it is still
distributed in ROM compilations.

> Insane Version [Drakuaza]
> http://www.mediafire.com/?7tu20411t81bww7
A "high difficulty" version which focuses more on frustrating the player than
actually being difficult. Nearly every dungeon is a one-tile wide Flash maze with
false exits and wild encounters, and the grinding required is absurd. Endgame
degenerates to the same five or six enemy Dark Last Words on every team and the
only way to kill anything in a reasonable timeframe is to use Last Word Yukari
and Toxic stall while spamming Full Restores. Only recommended if you're bored or
interested in how not to design a Pokemon hack.

> Emerald AE [EXSariel]
> http://srpgp.supersanctuary.net/thmonemerrom11.zip
The third Emerald hack released in the 1.5 era. Was started by Agastya before being
abandonded, EXSariel picked it back up and made it playable. Starts out polite, but
the difficulty curve is erratic. Notable for having some 1.8 type conventions and
moves included while still using type-based physical/special damage calculations,
and for being one of the few 1.5 hacks that don't hand the player a bunch of extra
forms such as Last Words or Finals. Some lines are extremely broken.

> Cirno Version [Cirnokuun]
> http://taikotime.co.cc/viewthread.php?tid=153
An incomplete Ruby hack using Marisa's Magic World as a base. Enemy sets tend to
be nonsensical, and the map editing is usually only to force the player to run into
more trainers. The only thing this hack appears to have with Cirno is that she is a
starter choice and there are random flower patches that spell out "CIRNO!" and (9).

> Touhoumon Extra Version [Drakuaza, Anjirusensei]
A "high difficulty" hack that was abandonded rather early into its life cycle. Was
shaping up to be Insane 2.0, only with more memes. Is mostly distributed through
ROM compilation archives now.


1.8 (Generation 3) Hacks:
> 1.8 "vanilla" [Agastya]
> http://lkaexe.supersanctuary.net/thmn18eng/
An unfinished "port" of 1.8 without adding any huge bells and whistles. No player
sprites, and Elite Four teams may not actually be accurate. Only recommended if
you're allergic to the music porting/added puppets in Aichiya's version.

> Touhou Puppet Play Enhanced (1.8 Enchanced, Touhoumon Enhanced) [Aichiya Sanae]
> http://animackid.wordpress.com/category/touhou-puppet-play-enhanced/
A "port" of 1.8 JP that adds content from unofficial JP patches, including new
cries, Ten Desires characters, freely "sliding" bewteen evolutionary forms, and
Johto. Ten Desires characters do not show up until late in the postgame, and many
of them have awkward typing/stats that leave them mostly outclassed by other things
you can obtain far sooner. Stone forms are still locked away until postgame. Slide
evolutions snap game balance in half, allowing you to get moves on forms that can't
normally learn them. Johto drags on, and the battle with Red on Mt. Silver is a
13-trainer gauntlet with no chance to heal between battles.

> Touhou Puppet Play 1.812 Emerald (aka "Emerald 1.8") [Agastya]
> http://lkaexe.supersanctuary.net/thmnemer18/
An Emerald hack still being developed (but mostly finished) based on 1.8 mechanics.
You can use evolutionary stones from the start of the game and trade evolutions use
evolutionary stones instead, but you aren't allowed to "slide" between forms. The
difficulty and level curve is higher than that of default Emerald, but "doesn't ask
the impossible of the player like some hacks tend to do" according to the author.
As of the time of writing this, the Battle Frontier is being worked on.

> Shoddy Touhoumon 2
> http://thpp.supersanctuary.net/forum/index.php?topic=7.0
This is a Shoddy Battle 2 server created to emulate 1.8 battles without needing to
use VBALink. Has a small but friendly userbase, and is very open to new users.