Andy Halma

Andy Halma graduated from the Computer Programmer/Analyst program at Conestoga College, Kitchener in 1984. While attending the college, he frequently neglected his business-related studies in favour of experimenting with graphics and games on the then-new IBM Personal Computer.

One project whose genesis originated at the college was a computerized version of "Battleship", entitled "Sea Hunt". This was released as a shareware title some years later and was to become the only computer game that Andy ever formally released to the public, although he did experiment with a number of smaller, simpler game concepts.

Soon after graduating from Conestoga, Andy was hired as a computer programmer by Mindflight Technology, a fledgling educational software company based in Dunnville, Ontario. Andy created several educational programs for Apple II computers while at Mindflight and he also designed and programmed an educational game called "Rhymo" for the IBM PCjr. although this was, unfortunately, never released. During his spare time, Andy continued work on his personal project, Sea Hunt, while at Mindflight.

Unfortunately, Mindflight Technology ultimately failed and Andy moved on to more conventional work when he was hired as an RPG programmer by the W.C. Wood Company in Guelph, Ontario. Here, Andy mostly abandoned his more creative tendencies in favour of writing standard business programs for the appliance manufacturer. However, he did continue his work on Sea Hunt in his spare time and it was while still employed by W.C. Wood's that Andy finally released Sea Hunt via CompuServe in 1986.

Sea Hunt was relatively well received at the time of its release and Andy received letters from all over North America and even overseas, some of which actually contained money. By this time, however, Andy had married and started a family, and therefore decided to stick with the more secure (and boring) career path of business programming.

Andy left W.C. Wood Company in late 1989, after which he worked for a number of different companies, always in the field of information technology. In 1999, he returned to W.C. Wood's and he remains there to this day.

Aside from his career as a business programmer/analyst, Andy remains an avid gamer and a wannabe pilot who spends a fair amount of time flying simulators on his home PC. He lives in Kitchener with his wife, Judy and his daughter, Jessica and has been a MobyGames member since 2003.