They'll have to shoehorn LEDs into the Alien slings... very little space left. Bulbs would be smashed quickly but maybe an LED can survive in there.

They need to release a video of some buddy playing full throttle who has played pinball more than once in their lives. Every video I see of this pin every buddy is just crushing the posts it makes the game look extremely hard with no flow what so ever. I have read that it has tons of flow and super fast. They have to release a video were the person is not bricking the shots so much you would think they were buliding a house.

I watched Josh Sharpe play it at Expo for what felt like 20 minutes. He had no problem rocking it.

Cool I wish some buddy would have filmed it. So perspective buyers can get a feel for it.

Frolic have heard anything on Full Throttle being done? Feb? March?

Has Heighway announced a price for Alien if you just wanted to do the playfield swap thing? Their website shows prices for the pins themselves but nothing about the conversion kits.

About a month ago I was told production "starting" end of Jan, with first batch of machines going out end of February. Today Andrew said the production is starting mid-Feb but they think they can still get the first batch out the door end of February. My machine is part of that first batch.

It feels like we're close, sort of like the very last of the MMR wait, where it was week-to-week checking if things were on the line at Stern. Obviously this being pinball, nothing is certain until there is a machine sitting at my house.

If the slight delay meant the cabinet had those changes to allow the additional lcd in the backbox (which I will get), then I'm good with it. We're talking weeks now, not months of delay.

If Heighway is successful getting the machines out by end of February, and the *original* release schedule was "November/December" (this is what was said at Expo), then that 3 month delay would be one of the best launch windows for a pinball startup holding onto their date.

I'm not including him talking about releasing a game last year or earlier, because he never took money then from anyone so that is his liberty to change/delay the game. He only took money this past Fall, so that is the point I'll hold his feet to the fire over release dates.

I am cool with that. Thanks!

If I recall, it's priced at $3900 US for the kit which is playfield, translite, cabinet art and software update.

I haven't pre-ordered Alien since I'm already in on Full Throttle and I'm drawing the line at 1 pre-order per company!

As soon as my Full Throttle arrives I'll send Heighway some more money

You can see from the photos that there are already SMD LEDs on stalks in the slingshots.

You have to look closely, but they are there!

Did you play the game at expo? Did you notice the airballs and such off the bent back stand-up targets? I made a comment here and Andrew acknowledged there were some proto parts in the game and they will make things more durable in the production version. I'm curious if you experienced this because I'd love to know from a user how differently things feel on the final game.

My basement is near full and I don't have anything I really want to get rid of, so I'm really excited about the swappable systems with Heighway and P3. I'm not into motorcycles, but I'm really considering both Full Throttle and Alien, but only if the quality is raised from what I experienced at expo.

Yea I see them now, behind the switch blades. I guess field testing will show how well that works out. Slings can get pretty violent. Are they designed the same on FT?

Haven't played it. But prototypes exist for a reason so I don't see why things like that wouldn't be addressed. Better that they get exposed while being played hard at expo than later on.

I am taking a risk by being an early buyer, but I like new technology pinball.

Pretty sure mine are going to have to be slime green, black, or blood red in color anyway....

I do as well, that's why I'm in on Alien, let's hope this doesn't go the way of Jpop, I have faith in Andrew.

First and only preorder for me......seems the business end is well in place.Andrew has been awesome, and I have zero concerns that this game happens...if it's a little behind schedule wise, no worries on my end...I want it to be amazing and complete as possible when it arrives, so if that takes a little more time, so be it....

I feel the same, too bad a certain someone was losing sleep over this...would have been nice to have that stamp on it...

I would have thought April would have been more realistic?

Not sure what would take that long, the game is finished, they're basically waiting for parts at this point.

A little off-topic (to the pinball anyways), but check out these new Alien posters by Tyler Stout that Mondo is going to be selling today.

AlienRed.jpg AlienGreen.jpg

I saw those. Im just pissed that i missed the 35mm screening downtown when these were released at the theater

--Jeff

Already sold out on both versions.

Yeah those were nice, but I wasn't tempted because I already have my favorite Mondo Alien print framed behind me:

ansin_aliens_archive_thumb_dd710f67-a974-4738-ac6e-2a41b7d534ea_1024x1024.jpeg

This is why I'm sad there's no possibility of hand drawn art, but let's see how the final results look, could still be awesome.

Yup, glad hubby has the one above too. It looks really nice on his Alien wall. Oh, here's a newer pic of that wall with his Big Chap head added finally.

image.jpg

I honestly just find it baffling why companies would refuse to hire on an artist to really make something special, something that stands out and is just as beautiful as a piece of art as it is a functional, fun machine. They put so much work into the code, the layout, design, toys, etc, and then it seems like they half-ass it with some seemingly thrown together photoshop art.

It's not that simple unfortunately. Greg Freres works for Stern now for instance. He's the artist behind some of the most beloved games out there. Think about how many people love the art on Fathom or Elvira ATPM and Scared Stiff.

But when you get in bed with a license your hands can often be tied. I believe there are creative solutions that Stern doesn't want to take the time and effort to pursue, and smart licenses can lead to more creative packages (see Metallica) but that's just the reality of so much of the photoshopped PR collages.

Good point. I guess I should say that I wish these pin manufacturers would take some risks and really push for creative use of the licenses. Barring that, try an original theme. It's been too damned long.

Ben Heck: AMH
Spooky: Zombies (upcoming)
Heighway: Full Throttle (upcoming)
Multimorphic P3: Lexy Lightspeed (upcoming)
Riot: WOOLY (on hold - didn't sell enough pre-orders)

Add:
Quetzal: Nemo (upcoming)

Yes, but as far as I'm concerned, only two of those are actually pin manufacturers (heighway ships FT right away, so I'll count them as one of the two), the others are just people with a dream. When people have the machines in their house that they ordered, then I'll consider those companies manufacturers.

But we haven't seen it yet. It could be amazing.

In most cases though you can get something illustrated approved even for liscensed product, the truck is in how you sell the idea. Usually a bit of background work is needed, find out whose in charge liscensing wise and who might be part of the approval process see what artists they dig (heck most of these guys all know the same people and its not hard to pin a few good known illustrators down) have two projects commissioned one with a favorite illustrator of the person or better yet someone above them, and the second one a not too good PS job. Chances are you'll sell them on the illustrated piece. Let's not forget that we see mondo doing amazing work in this field as well as many gaming companies with illustrated work. It's really all a manner of how you sell them the job.

Think the best news is that Andrew and Team are self professed "Alien" fanatics....surely the graphics and game will rock.....

Yes, let's be a little patient regarding the artwork.... the great thing is Heiway PB has been so transparent so far... licensing issues near being finalized so should get a taste of artwork soon!

At the end of the day, the artwork whatever it may be, will be attached to a new pinball game which is always a good thing

I'm not sure where the confusion came from, but I wasn't complaining about Heighway or Alien, just making a general comment on pinball art packages over the past decade or so. I'm very excited to see what Heighway puts together, regardless of what it ends up looking like. HOWEVER, the art is a big part of a pinball for me, and it could easily break my interest in this game. There is a ton of potential for the license, and the platform gives a lot of freedom to do really cool stuff...but if I don't get excited looking at it, that's a pretty big deal to me. Sound, art, shots, flow, etc, all of these factor in to what makes a machine great (for me), but the only one that factors in 100% of the time is art (meaning that even when the machine is off and just sitting there, I can still take in the artwork on the machine). That is FOR ME PERSONALLY. I don't really care how all these different aspects affect everyone else, I'm speaking only for myself.

Anyways, this is all derailing this thread. Until Heighway shows us what the art package is, we shouldn't even be commenting on it and I do apologize for steering the thread that way. Right now, I'm fucking excited for this pin, and that's all the matters!

Agreed. Eagerly awaiting the next update and hopefully we can see some newly approved art. Either way, I'm very excited with what Heighway has been doing so far with Alien as well as Full Throttle.

Aurich mentioned Greg Freres in his example and it reminded of Andrew being asked whether Greg might be doing the playfield art and he gave a no comment Does anyone else recall this? I know Greg works for Stern but I wonder if he still has freelance ability and was pulled on with Nordman's early involvement.

I would be really surprised if Greg was freelancing for other people. Remember what happened to David Thiel, he did music for JJP and Stern cut him off.

photo shopped, drawn, using water colours, who cares its Aliens. Tough to screw up and I'm just glad its being made.

Couldn't agree more!!!

But I suspect we will be pleasantly surprised....

Just for fun, here are the modern Alien arcade games, you can see how they handled the art for these. May or may not be relevant! ( they even have toppers )

ALIENS-217.JPGAliens_42_large-716.png

Well, may be not that tough... see above

Actual game #2 for you

image.jpg

That proves it, ()art can be a four letter word. I hope they can do better than that. In fact I am sure of it

That looks like a picture of Joystix in Houston.

Agreed. I'd be amazed if it didn't look good. The Heighway team seems like they've done a pretty good job of getting their ducks in a row so far.

It's been quiet and I'm sure you guys are cranking away. Excited for the Alien translite art. While not Alien (but very close), I thought I'd post the Backglass that is currently holding the space for inspiration. Good luck guys and keep up the great work.image.jpg

That sure sounds like one side of the story.