Looks great team! Very excited. Looking forward to seeing/hearing more later in the week.

Ok.
Why is it in 2 parts? On the pic, one seems to be lit but not the other?

Guess the game is in attract mode?

The image doesn't have high enough resolution to tell for sure but it looks to me like the two inserts of the hypersleep ball saver outlane are 'SCREAM' and 'AGAIN'. In the photo 'SCREAM' arrow is unlit because it has been claimed and so the 'SCREAM' insert above the outhole is lit.

I'm guessing you have to get both hypersleep inserts to fully light 'SCREAM AGAIN' in order to have the ball saver activate. I wonder if it is like a kickback where only balls down the left outline will be saved, or whether any drained balls will be saved?

The more I look at the pictures the more I get excited!

Maybe this was answered but what is the reason the ramps aren't clear like in Full Throttle? I feel the fiber optic lit ramps really give a futuristic vibe.

Scream Again is a normal ball saver, and when lit, any balls drained will be returned in the normal way. The left 'Revive' feature comes into play when physical balls are locked in the Hypersleep Chamber (left ramp). If you have a ball locked and a ball drains on the left side, 1 of the locked balls will be released into play - you are revived. You then have to lock that ball again.

But only 1 of the revive lanes will be lit (at random) so some furious nudging is required to get the ball into the correct lane for the revive.

i was just answering first about the shoot again insert that i couldn't located.

what is the link with the ball saver? what are the scream again inserts?

Is the final ball arch going to be off center from the flippers like that? Is Full Throttle that way? Maybe it's just because it's missing the final artwork, but it looks like the wrong size was put in.

Also, did the game lose a manual plunger as the original photos showed? Will the LE still have one? That would be a bummer as I far like that over pressing a button.

Finally, Aurich mentioned in another thread the LE artwork hasn't been done yet which to me sounds like FOX will still need to approve that separately? So does that mean LE's won't be in production shortly, just the regular models?

The apron isn't 'off-centre', it's the same size and shape as the Full Throttle apron. It's the flippers that are 'off-centre' and placed further to the right.

No manual plunger, autolaunch only on this game.

When should the video be available to view?

Added over 8 years ago:

http://www.heighwaypinball.com/

I see what you did there. Weller would be proud.

It wasn't a sarcastic pun, just common mode of phrase here.

mod cons
mɒdˈkɒnz/
nounBRITISHinformal
the amenities and appliances characteristic of a well-equipped modern house that contribute to an easier and more comfortable way of life.
"the property has all mod cons". modern conveniences.

No plunger is a major disappointment as that's one of the things that makes a pinball machine a pinball machine. The Heighway website still shows plungers on the standard and LE cabinets. I love the Alien movies and am excited by the potential but I want to see more of a finished product and get some impressions on how it plays before I put down any money.

So the various WPC games without a traditional plunger are not pinball machines in your opinion?

No. They are automated Bagatelle machines.

Make sure you write Robin to get them removed from the top 100 pinball list. That would be Bagatelles like MM, MB, AFM, IJ . . .

Sarcasm missed.

Indeed.

I'm interested in seeing what optic lighting will look like on metal ramps, could be great, in fact fits this theme much better than plastic.

I would not be so sure about that. Heighway has designed the cabinents to be very interchangable. Could be just photos? Would be easy to drop in a regular plunger mech with 3 bolts.

As i understood it, the fibre optic lighting will go dowm the ramp returns that run parallel to the left and right side of the cabinet. I don't think it'll be on the metal ramp entrances.

Dave already stated no plunger for Alien.

I think the ball always needs to be shot at the same way due to the path it must travel

thnks for confirmation.

Do you know if this is a 4 flipper button game or just 2 with staged flippers?

Hoping for the option in settings and ability to use 4 as I love that (i.e. SST with 2 independant buttons on right side)

The upper ramp return is definitely curious. Looks like they've designed the angle that's cut into the ramp return to dump the ball properly into the orbit while avoiding the plastics. Unless something else is missing from the picture.

ok...

Then go to EXPO and play it and decide. Certainly worth the trip.

I have only seen 2. But that is just an observation, I do not have insight information on that one.

Likely just 2, to be consistent with the Heighway standard cabinet with modular system.

could be 4 since the buttons on the side are also supposed to be modular, but the flyer only shows one on each side. If someone really wanted to they could probably get a module with two buttons and use it instead, assumed the games is programmed with staged flippers.

I dont know if this has been posted:
http://212.48.74.59/~heighwaypinball/

342432 (resized).PNG

I love that it is made in Europe. The prices are so temping

Oh my a company tries something else than the norm

I'm not saying it's a deal breaker for a machine, but yes, I prefer a manual plunger over the auto ball launch. It's one of the tactile elements of pinball that is part of the whole experience for me. Just my own opinion, and plenty will disagree. As I said, I'm excited about the potential of this machine and I may be buying one.

I see some playfield similarities with Timeshock. Not exactly Tron vs Funhouse, but an interesting comparison.

How dare they remove the manual plunger!

Screen Shot 2016-10-10 at 12.07.53 PM (resized).png

I personally don't mind the lack of manual plunger. Sure, they're nice, but TBH on Stern games they feel like throwaway elements for the most part because they usually just go straight into a pop nest anyway or hold the post down for a full skill shot — both don't make use of the manual plunger at all.

Just look at the shooter lane for Alien. There's nothing to be gained by having a manual plunger. The ball just shoots straight up a short wireform and drops onto the ramp return platform. Just like i500, for example. There would have to be significant layout tradeoffs that reduce the total shot possibilities of the playfield in order to make a manual plunger worthwhile. I think the design team knows what they're doing an they've made the right tradeoffs for he betterment of the game as a whole.

You guys find the dumbest stuff to pop in & bitch about. If you were following this thread or looking at the schmatics, you would know a plunger is not needed because the ball launches up a very short launch ramp habitrail...

It's all about choosing your skillshot from the RT flipper, so a manual plunger is pretty pointless.

I didn't realize that twilight zone didn't have a manual plunger
tz front (resized).jpg

TZ?

Eh.....it was a quick IPDB search...mostly correct. Point made.

There are 7 distinct skill shots that can be made from the right flipper. You don't have to select in advance, but the timer is short so you only have one chance to make the shot. Each shot awards some number of points (depending on the relative difficulty of the shot) as well as an associated award or power-up. (e.g. shooting the left orbit increases spinner value for the rest of the ball... shooting a weapon target instantly awards a weapon)

Additionally, making three different skill shots over the course of a game gives a large Super Skill point bonus.

The shadow has no plunger, I don't care. My Indy has the coolest gun ever. Love that shot.

Something tells me you would know, Joe

No its not. It's made in Britain. We're not in the euro gang anymore

Sounds awesome! If this is the kind of thinking you're applying to the whole game then I'm very excited.

While I get what you're saying, sometimes you strategically want the option to soft plunge to keep it out of the pops if you've got other modes and things running but that's hardly a deal breaker and is fine with me either way.

As far as I know the ball will never plunge to the pop bumpers but always to the right flipper

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/alien-pinball-official-game-thread/page/159#post-3388899

Straight from the horse's ... err.. ferret's mouth!

Totally agree.