I was selling computers in my mid-to-late-20s and became interesting in programming. I went on a 3-month full-time course to learn C on UNIX and subsequently picked it up on DOS as well, so I could write an assistant program for Star Fleet Battles. Somehow I got a job programming C++ on Windows 3.1 (I just read the C++ programmers guide - no google then). I was asked by my employer (Digital Equipment Corporation) to learn VB3, as I was writing VBX controls in C++ to be used in VB3.
To speed up learning VB3, I decided to write a simple system generator in my spare time for a pen and paper game called Starfire. I kept adding more and more features and that eventually become Starfire Asistant, which in turn inspired Aurora. So you could say I really started programming Aurora in 1993
I relatively quickly moved through team lead, project manager, programme director, etc. and ended up running one of the UK's largest IT departments from about 2001-2004. Then packed it all in to play poker for a living
Once I went down the management track, I didn't get chance to do much programming (apart from Starfire Assistant in my spare time). However, when I played poker I had a lot of free time so that is when Aurora really took off and I got back into programming in a major way.
Once I went back into a proper job again (in 2011), my free time dropped off quite a lot so development is slower now than the noughties. However, I did start to pick up C#, which eventually led to the decision to create C# Aurora.