Anne Westfall

Anne Westfall is an influential game programmer of the 1980s. She is the wife of fellow game programmer, game designer and entrepreneur Jon Freeman.[1]

Career

Westfall began computer programming at the age of 30.[2] In 1981, Westfall and her husband, Jon, left Epyx, the video game developer and publisher her husband co-founded just three years earlier. Westfall cited a desire to learn assembly language and to work on the Atari 800 as one reason for their departure from Epyx.[1]

Together with game designer Paul Reiche III, they started Free Fall Associates to make computer games free of the politics existing at the now larger Epyx.[1] Together with Jon and Reiche, she helped develop the two award-winning and highly acclaimed games Archon and Archon II, handling the brunt of the programming work.

For several years, Westfall was on the board of directors of the Computer Game Developers Conference. [3]

Personal

Westfall met Jon at the West Coast Computer Faire in 1980 while demonstrating her surveying program she wrote for the TRS-80. Her booth was next to Automated Simulations' booth—later Epyx—where Jon was working. After dating for about six months, Freeman convinced Westfall to move closer and come to work at his company.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Interview with Jon Freeman and Anne Westfall from Halcyon Days
  2. ↑ Bateman, Selby (1984-11). "Free Fall Associates: The Designers Behind Archon and Archon II: Adept". Compute!'s Gazette. p. 54. Retrieved 6 July 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ↑ Ross, Heather E. "Celebrating Computing Women Part IX, Anne Westfall" National Women's History Museum. Ret. Mar 2014.

External links