Will the drop targets have decals on them or remain black?

Home Run!

Can't wait to own this with my full throttle . Love my full throttle .

Can't wait to play this! Looking forward to some video!

noticed that as well. I guess you have to leave some room for mods...

Surley the drop targets will have some kind of art work. Remember, what we are seeing isn't THE big reveal, these are just pics of the alien flyers sent out to pre order people. I'm thinking Heighway has held much back that we'll see after the launch party gets started. For example, there's a big plastic toy discussed previously in this thread in the back right corner that is absent on the flyer pics. And I don't see the small LCD air lock video screen that shows mode transitions or whatever it's going to be doing.

Hopefully there will be a more complete picture to see after the launch party next week.

The playfield looks awesome! Lots of shots, and some cool toys.

Now I just hope that the code support for Alien is strong as that is part of the reason why I didn't buy a Full Throttle (same with a GB premium). Without solid and deep code any pinball machine regardless of how cool the playfield looks or how many toys it has is just a box of lights.

I hope that the ruleset being designed for Alien is intended to make the player feel like they are progressing through the first two films (seems to be based on inserts) while unlocking things along the way (multiballs, wizard modes, rewards).

I think the code will get the attention it deserves, thats the difference in making one game every few years not 4 every year they can actually spend time making it great not rush off to the next.

My only concern is with the small mag cores, after owning ironman etc. Hopefully they are standard size so those mylar rings work or the cliffy metals.

Yeah, I hear ya about the magnets. I would recommend just putting a 1" or 2" square piece of mylar around the entire magnet core and then with a sharp hobby knife cut out the center around the magnet core.

Where's the Space Jockey/Engineer?

Decals, just one of the little detail things that didn't get done in time for the photo shoot. Same with the apron. This is the kind of stuff I meant when I said there was polish left to do, since I'm not in front of the game I can't just take some quick measurements, and everyone in Wales has been scrambling on bigger stuff to get things ready for the show.

Easy enough to apply before the party.

I was curious about that as well. I even recall seeing pictures of it early on.

Have you played Full T?

The current code is great and just needs minor polish/tweaks to make it finished. I am yet to complete the game and probably have 300 plays on it myself.

It was solid from the start, got some updates, and heighway has made clear that they are committed to finishing the polish after they get some breathing room post Aliens.

This is the game. I dunno what big plastic toy you're referring to, there are no missing toys that I'm aware of. The airlock LCD idea didn't pan out, it just didn't do anything useful, all the functionality needed is on the existing LCD screen(s). As far as I'm aware it's not happening.

As I mentioned in my above post there are still some things to polish up once we get some hands on time with the game, but what you're seeing is what's going to be shown at Expo, there are no secret LCD screens or anything. Just want to be clear so there isn't some persistent rumor.

But I'll let Andrew speak to anything further.

The revive ball saver is complete?

Where did this go? Did they decide to remove it? I'm referring to the space jockey ball saver.

alienpinrender (resized).jpg

You're probably thinking of the very early version of the game that Dennis Nordman did, where it was down at the bottom left, and was going to catch balls or something. That area has been redesigned (ages ago, not a new change) it's not part of the game anymore, it's been replaced by the Hypersleep Lock in the upper left. It never made sense to me that the space jockey represented hypersleep, so I'm glad that got changed.

This game was announced a long time ago in pinball terms, I think everyone agrees too early, and it's gone through all the normal changes that happen when you start testing things and refining and coming up with better ideas, etc. Things that didn't work were scrapped, new ideas that did were added. Random example: only semi recently was a second spinner added to the right orbit, so now there are two, was only one originally.

I'd recommend not mining the thread for old things and focusing on what the game looks like now.

Airlock is there, just the look changed.

Space Jockey was indeed missing from both the game I saw (probably the one in the flyer) and the flyer, and Andrew seemed to suggest the game was feature complete save for an incoming logic board. Assume it was canned.

Only difference is that they've added the (production) colour eggs ... neutral colour instead of proto green ones (ensures they can be properly lit by the rgb leds)

Just curious. Thanks for explaining. I thought it looked like a cool idea and that's why I was disappointed to see it go.

Too bad about the airlock LCD.

This is the toy I was referring to: "Space Jockey will stand as a large upright plastic"

Nice addition!

i am fine with it as it is. there are mods that can be added from the factory also, not sure about the chrome yet but i am gonna load mines up.

Ah, gotcha. Dave just meant a flat printed plastic, not a sculpted toy, to be clear. The design was changed, the balls don't eject to the upper right anymore, I think they come out of the airlock scoop now. I haven't played it, so don't quote me on that!

The space jockey might still appear on the back panel art, what's there now is something someone in Wales put together, not me. That back panel has been in flux because of waiting for approval on the big xenomorph head, which goes through it. Now that approvals are in and things are more locked down I can fix that. But doing it on a separate plastic doesn't make any sense with the way the design worked, there's really nowhere to put it that makes sense, I'd just try and print directly on the back panel. Then it's behind the eggs.

I know Andrew is saying the game is done, but I'd sure like to see it myself and figure out what needs adjusting. No radical changes, just dialing in that stuff.

I try to figure out the shots, where do the two left ramps end up? And the right spinner shot? Above there's is a piece of ramp? What does feed that ramp? For the rest, I really need to see this in real life, think it will be spectacular.

Looks very impressive! Can't wait to see the LE art and get some more specifics on the extra options.

Also, if I can just be blunt about this one: I'm glad it got axed. It just felt like a feature for feature's sake to me, "one more LCD"; we honestly didn't have anything particularly useful to do with it. There's a 10" screen embedded in the playfield, there's already a natural place for something like say a timer. At one point it was going to show what mode was up next, but that's obvious from the inserts in front of the flipper. A solution in search of a problem, as the saying goes. My opinion at least.

The evolution of this game feels solid to me. The Hypersleep Lock makes more sense now. The new shots and flow and less stop and go interest me a lot more than Dennis' original design (I love Dennis, and it was only his first pass). Dave really made the game his own.

I don't want to be a salesman too much for a game I haven't even played yet myself. But I guess I'm just saying next week we're all going to flip it. Let's judge it for what it is, and not worry overmuch about 2 years of talk that may no longer be relevant.

Is there any places to pre order or order from usa distributor ?

Cointaker is the US distributor.

I'm off to coach soccer, so gonna go silent now. I'll check in later if there are things I can answer.

Thx and the game looks pretty awesome i wish i could make expo this year but ill be awaiting pics/vids of it.

Looks phenomenal guys Super excited for Expo presentation!

You've mentioned there are some minor things that need to be polished up on the playfield, like adding some more plastics & decals to various areas.

So I was just curious about the hypersleep physical ball lock at the upper left playfield. I guess I always expected from that description that there would be a hypersleep chamber (or like a cover) where you could see the balls physically locked inside. But I don't see that in the photos. Is there plans to add something like that? Would be a nice touch

Again look amazing, I cannot wait to see how it looks lit up

image (resized).jpeg

Does anyone know is standard well have the big lcd and ramp lighting ?

negative

Looks amazing!! can't wait to see it in person next week! If you can't say something positive about this.....well, your an ass.

game looks nice.
aurich's artwork looks great, it all comes together nicely.

Yay finally congrats to all involved !

Looks great, also will all pins have this same level of detail in the xenomorph head (or was this just a preliminary one)?

Alien head (resized).jpg

It looks like a Sega machine from the 1990's.

It looks like a pinball machine.

And what does that symbolize?

Many Sega pins had great art and toys, it was just the gameplay code that suffered.

Yes its kind of x-filey while stealing the coffee can from TDK. Clever move to knock off one of the lamest toys of all time.

Alien looks jam packed with shots and features.

Well done Heighway team. I look forward to playing one!

rd

Received my email this morning....very excited to see and play this thing next week.

I suspect more clarity will be achieved on the " options" list, as the LE possesses all of the accessories except the big screen (?) Hardware choices (?), and rumored PDI.....

Regardless.....hooray!!!

I like Segas but have to disagree. This has its very own unique feel/look to it.

Really looking forward to checking it out in person. Looking forward to sipping some burbon and playing it with you Kim!

The pin looks great, but I have a feeling it's really going to pop with the lighting.

Agree big time!!!

I'm not a big fan of the LCD in the play field. It takes away from the playfield art, and we all probably look at display screens all day long too much as it is. I think it's going to either be a distraction from trying to make shots, or ignored to make shots. But at least it's in a hell of a lot better place than the stupid LCD in the back of that idiot JPoop's designs.
The placement of the upper flippers is intriguing, to say the least. I wonder about the upper right flipper possibly deflecting a lot of balls in weird directions when being shot up that way from the lower flippers. Could be interesting.
That all being said, I appreciate the effort behind this project, and having another manufacturer offering some variety and new things. Best of luck to the team, hopefully it's well received by those anticipating its arrival. I will try it if I see it in the wild, but there's really only one game coming from another manufacturer I have any interest at all - and it's certainly not a Stern either.

Added over 8 years ago: I take a lot of the above back after looking this one over more. I don't think the LCD is too big or takes away, it does work well in that location and I think it's a great idea to see what can be done with it there. (I don't remember much of the one on Full Throttle since I only got to play it once so far.)

I'm still curious about those upper flippers, looking that all over closer. Still think their placement is interesting as well.

I'm very much following the upcoming titles from all of the big players but the team at Heighway has been piquing my interest a lot more as of late, so I'm starting to come around.

I have found with Full throttle it is the perfect place for a feedback screen. Makes it easy to figure out where you are and where you are going. Also the screen art is good at times and integrates well with the physical pf art (guessing that will be even better on Alien give the theme and dark nature of the theme).

Just looking at the shooter does it go to the right return or will it jump and go to the flip ramp?