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Anne Westfall is an American
game programmer A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebases for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines, all of which f ...
and software developer, known for 1983's '' Archon: The Light and the Dark'', originally written for the Atari 8-bit family. She is married to fellow game developer Jon Freeman. Both are founders of
Free Fall Associates Free Fall Associates was a video game developer of the 1980s and early 1990s founded in 1981 by game designer Jon Freeman, game programmer Anne Westfall, and game designer Paul Reiche III. Westfall and Freeman are married. To start the new compa ...
.


Career

Westfall began computer programming at the age of 30. Before moving into the video game industry, Westfall worked as a programmer for a civil engineering firm Morton Technology, where she developed the first microcomputer-based program designed to help lay out subdivisions. In 1981, Westfall and her husband, Jon, left
Epyx Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher active in the late 1970s and 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before ren ...
, the video game developer and
publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
her husband co-founded just three years earlier. Westfall cited a desire to learn assembly language and to work on the
Atari 800 The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE ...
as one reason for their departure from Epyx. Together with game designer
Paul Reiche III Paul Reiche III ( ) is an American game designer, particularly known for his work on video games. Reiche is best known for being the co-creator, together with Fred Ford, of the '' Star Control'' universe. Career Pen and paper RPGs Reiche was ...
, they started
Free Fall Associates Free Fall Associates was a video game developer of the 1980s and early 1990s founded in 1981 by game designer Jon Freeman, game programmer Anne Westfall, and game designer Paul Reiche III. Westfall and Freeman are married. To start the new compa ...
to make computer games free of the politics existing at the now larger Epyx. 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 six years, Westfall was on the board of directors of the
Computer Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutori ...
.


Personal

Westfall met Jon at the
West Coast Computer Faire The West Coast Computer Faire was an annual computer industry conference and exposition most often associated with San Francisco, its first and most frequent venue. The first fair was held in 1977 and was organized by Jim Warren and Bob Reil ...
in 1980 while demonstrating her surveying program she wrote for the
TRS-80 The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of '' ...
. Her booth was next to that of Automated Simulations—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.


See also

*
List of women in the video game industry This is a list of notable women in the video game industry. Notable women in the video game industry * Mabel Addis wrote the mainframe game ''The Sumerian Game'' (1964), becoming the first female video game designer. * Anna Anthropy, ...
*
Women and video games The relationship between women and video games has received extensive academic and media attention. Since the 1990s, female gamers have commonly been regarded as a minority. However, industry surveys have shown that over time, the gender ratio h ...
*
Women in computing Women in computing were among the first programmers in the early 20th century, and contributed substantially to the industry. As technology and practices altered, the role of women as programmers has changed, and the recorded history of the fiel ...


References


External links


MobyGames' entry on Westfall

Free Fall Associates chapter of Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westfall, Anne American computer programmers Video game programmers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Women video game programmers Computer programmers