Advance Communication Company (TG16 Driver)

Advance Communication Company

Released 1988-08-30 Programmers Unknown Formats Unknown (ASM?)

Advance Communication Company (TG16) is an unofficial name of the sound driver used by the game developer Advance Communication Company for their TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine titles.

It is unknown who programmed the sound driver, but Osamu Kasai and Masaaki Harada, the primary composers at the company, received programming credits in games, so they likely had something to do with it. In addition, it's very likely Hudson Soft helped with the creation of the sound driver, as the frequency table for the first version of the driver is exactly the same as Takayuki Iwabuchi's sound driver (used in the game J.J. & Jeff (TG16)), and is further supported because both games are tuned a microtone sharp, something very unusual for video game music back then. This can further be supported as the first game to use the driver, Keith Courage in Alpha Zones was published by Hudson, and Advance Communication Company also developed a game for them for the Famicom, Seirei Gari (FC).

Release History

The game was first used in the game Keith Courage in Alpha Zones. This version of the driver used a frequency table tuned at approximately A = 450 Hz. However, every other game that uses the driver uses a frequency table tuned approximately at the standard A = 440 Hz. Only two of the five games that used the sound engine were released in North America; Tiger Road, and Jack Nicklaus Turbo Golf. The last game to use the sound engine, Kattobi! Takuhai-kun was only released in Japan.

Output

The driver outputs to the HuC6280.

Games

Released	Title	Sample	Version
1988-08-30	Keith Courage in Alpha Zones (TG16) (魔神英雄伝ワタル)		1
1989-10-20	Tatsu no Ko Fighter (PCE) (竜の子ファイター)		2
1989-11-24	Jack Nicklaus Turbo Golf (TG16)		2
1990-02-23	Tiger Road (TG16) (虎への道)		2
1990-11-09	Kattobi! Takuhai-kun (PCE) (カットビ！宅配くん)		2

Technical

Frequency Registers

Version 1

B-6 = 1C
A#6 = 1D
A-6 = 1F
G#6 = 21
G-6 = 23
F#6 = 25
F-6 = 27
E-6 = 29
D#6 = 2C
D-6 = 2F
C#6 = 31
C-6 = 34
B-5 = 37
A#5 = 3B
A-5 = 3E
G#5 = 42
G-5 = 46
F#5 = 4A
F-5 = 4E
E-5 = 53
D#5 = 58
D-5 = 5D
C#5 = 63
C-5 = 69
B-4 = 6F
A#4 = 75
A-4 = 7C
G#4 = 84
G-4 = 8C
F#4 = 94
F-4 = 9D
E-4 = A6
D#4 = B0
D-4 = BA
C#4 = C5
C-4 = D1
B-3 = DD
A#3 = EB
A-3 = F9
G#3 = 107
G-3 = 117
F#3 = 128
F-3 = 139
E-3 = 14C
D#3 = 160
D-3 = 174
C#3 = 18B
C-3 = 1A2
B-2 = 1BB
A#2 = 1D5
A-2 = 1F1
G#2 = 20F
G-2 = 22E
F#2 = 24F
F-2 = 272
E-2 = 298
D#2 = 2BF
D-2 = 2E9
C#2 = 315
C-2 = 344
B-1 = 376
A#1 = 3AB
A-1 = 3E2
G#1 = 41D
G-1 = 45C
F#1 = 49E
F-1 = 4E5
E-1 = 52F
D#1 = 57E
D-1 = 5D2
C#1 = 62A
C-1 = 688
B-0 = 6EC
A#0 = 755
A-0 = 7C5
G#0 = 83B
G-0 = 8B8
F#0 = 93D
F-0 = 9CA
E-0 = A5E
D#0 = AFC
D-0 = BA4
C#0 = C55
C-0 = D10

Version 2

C-6 = 35
B-5 = 39
A#5 = 3C
A-5 = 40
G#5 = 43
G-5 = 46
F#5 = 4B
F-5 = 50
E-5 = 55
D#5 = 5A
D-5 = 5F
C#5 = 65
C-5 = 6B
B-4 = 71
A#4 = 78
A-4 = 7F
G#4 = 87
G-4 = 8F
F#4 = 97
F-4 = A0
E-4 = AA
D#4 = B4
D-4 = BE
C#4 = CA
C-4 = D6
B-3 = E3
A#3 = F0
A-3 = FE
G#3 = 10D
G-3 = 11D
F#3 = 12E
F-3 = 140
E-3 = 153
D#3 = 168
D-3 = 17D
C#3 = 193
C-3 = 1AC
B-2 = 1C5
A#2 = 1E0
A-2 = 1FC
G#2 = 21B
G-2 = 23B
F#2 = 25D
F-2 = 281
E-2 = 2A7
D#2 = 2CF
D-2 = 2FA
C#2 = 327
C-2 = 357
B-1 = 38A
A#1 = 3C0
A-1 = 3F9
G#1 = 435
G-1 = 476
F#1 = 4B9
F-1 = 502
E-1 = 54E
D#1 = 59E
D-1 = 5F4
C#1 = 64F
C-1 = 6AF
B-0 = 714
A#0 = 780
A-0 = 7F2
G#0 = 86A
G-0 = 8EB
F#0 = 973
F-0 = A03
E-0 = A9B
D#0 = B3D
D-0 = BE7
C#0 = C9D
C-0 = D5D

Addresses

Jack Nicklaus Golf: $CE4B-$CEF4 (J) / $83FE-$84A7 (U)
Kattobi! Takuhai-kun: $44D1-$457A
Keith Courage in Alpha Zones: $10E86-$10F2D
Tatsu no Ko Fighter: $1154D-$115F6
Tiger Road: $11C6F-$11D18