The Commodore 64 is a powerful personal computer. Its graphics and sound capabilities are among the best. But these features haven’t always been the easiest to use. Sometimes they seem so complicated that you give up before you start.

That all changes as soon as you have All About the Commodore 64, Volume Two in hand. Its three major utilities can transform your computer into a machine you won’t recognize. Bitmap graphics, synthesized music, and animated sprites are now easy to use—and to insert into your own BASIC programs.

You needn't have read Volume One, though it may help you to better understand BASIC. In fact, Part 1, “Advanced BASIC,” picks up where Volume One left off. You'll learn about numbers and mathematics, functions, file input/output, and the powerful WAIT statement. But the heart of this book is its extraordinary machine language utilities. With the convenience of BASIC, but with the speed and power of machine language, you'll quickly be enhancing your own programs with dazzling graphics displays and fascinating sound and rusic.

Part of what All About the Commodore 64, Volume Two can do for your computer includes:

• Give you powerful new graphics commands that allow you to draw on and fill the bitmap screen.
• Simplify shape creation. “Shapedit,” an easy-to-use shape editor, lets you create even the most complex drawing.
• Turn your 64 into a sophisticated music machine. “Sidplayer” and an elaborate Editor let you create, or copy from sheet music, the most detailed scores.
• Play music without slowing a BASIC program down.
• Create sprites with the Editor, save them to disk or tape, even merge them with BASIC programs.
• Achieve continuous sprite motion, whether controlled by the computer, or by you, that keeps going while BASIC is doing something else.

Each utility, by itself, can make your computer do impressive things. The programs are integrated, too, so you can use all three together.