Not the snappiest title in the world but it does the job. If only the same were true of the content. There's a wealth of information in here but you can't help feeling that Mr. Roper has been overgenerous. Less breadth and more depth and the book would have benefited.

The first half of the book is a general discourse on writing programs, games in particular, with attention to design, charting coding and debugging. This is valuable stuff from a programmer of some experience.

It is from chapter nine onwards that problems appear. If you read the book (as opposed to using it) you will probably not spot the failings. Mr. Roper's style is eminently readable and he talks good sense. This second half is the meat of the title - the routines themselves - but they would be far more useful with fully detailed documentation. Sadly, Mr. Roper confines himself to general principles.

The book ends with a number of utility programs, and a game listing that incorporates many of the ideas expounded in the earlier chapters. But you're going to have to work hard to get as much from the book as the author promises.

On the whole I preferred Machine Code Graphics & Sound from Melbourne House (reviewed in Readout last week).

Peter Worlock