Paul Norman (born December 18, 1951) is an American game designer, musician, composer, and computer programmer. He has been active in the music scene since 1970 and has been involved with the development of computer entertainment and information since 1982, including the production of Forbidden Forest in 1983.
Norman spent fifteen years working as a professional touring and studio musician.
Norman programmed his first major computer program in the 1980s: a video game called Forbidden Forest. He has said his aim was to create a cinematic experience for its user. The game was programmed using the 6502 machine language. Forbidden Forest was originally developed for the company Synchro, which went out of business when the game was about three-quarters complete. However, the game was eventually bought out by American developer Cosmi and brought to completion. The finished game was described as a "technical masterpiece" by Retro Gamer. The game was released in 1983.
Norman's second title was a graphic adventure game named Aztec Challenge, which was released in 1983 for the Commodore 64. A game with the same title was released for the Atari 8-bit computers. Norman authored the game's music, programming, and game design. Like his previous game, Aztec Challenge received praise for its "high standard of graphics and sound" from the game magazine publication Your Commodore.
Following the release of Aztec Challenge, Norman developed another game titled Caverns of Khafka, inspired by an 8-bit Atari computer game of the same name by Robert Bonifacio. The game was released sometime between 1983 and 1984.
On the development of Super Huey (claimed to be the first helicopter simulator launched on the gaming market), Norman cites the television show Airwolf and the movie Blue Thunder as inspirations for its gameplay. The game went on to sell over two million copies. A Steam version of the game and its sequel were made available to the public in 2021.
In 1990, Norman joined a development team at Tiger Media, acting as a scriptwriter, audio and music producer, creator, and engineer. After two years as a design consultant for Sega, he was contracted to produce audio and video content for the Discovery Channel Software titled Carriers: Fortress at Sea.
Between 1995 and 1999, Norman became a consultant and contributor for internet projects, using Java programming to handle various responsibilities, from GUI to data processing.