(Topic ID: 106728)

ALIEN PINBALL - Game Over, Man, Game Over

By HeighwayPinball

9 years ago


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Topic index (key posts)

53 key posts have been marked in this topic, showing the first 10 items.

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Post #9151 Insight from Alien's programmer on tournament mode Posted by Ferret (7 years ago)

Post #9234 Update on distribution Posted by HeighwayPinball (7 years ago)

Post #9660 Here we show you a short clip from the 'Ambush Multiball' mode Posted by HeighwayPinball (7 years ago)

Post #10128 Photo of Alien at UK Trade Show Posted by unigroove (7 years ago)

Post #10230 game play video from EAG UK tradeshow Posted by Join_The_Cirqus (7 years ago)

Post #10231 game play video from EAG UK tradeshow Posted by Join_The_Cirqus (7 years ago)

Post #10914 Alien ships Posted by ZenTron (7 years ago)

Post #10916 Alien ships Posted by HeighwayPinball (7 years ago)

Post #11230 Key posted, but no summary given Posted by ezeltmann (7 years ago)


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#1 9 years ago

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the huge amount of interest in our second game - Alien Pinball.

We are as excited to make this game as you are and believe us when we say that we want this game to be every bit as good as you do.

Both 'Alien' and 'Aliens' are all-time classics and the potential for a pinball machine has always been huge. Over the coming months, we want to share with you as much information as we can, and when we are permitted to do so by our licensor.

With pre-orders going very well and to make things fair for people who want to know more about the game before ordering, we are going to show you the basic game layout as it stands now.

We must emphasise that this layout should not be considered as final at this point, and is subject to change. With regards to the toys and their positions, it should be assumed that not everything is present and what is, is also subject to change. The whitewood will be built within the next 2-3 weeks, and then testing will begin.

Within this thread, and via our Facebook and Twitter feeds, we will aim to bring you the latest info as soon as we can, and answer any questions you may have.

We have been busy at Pinball Expo over the last 4 days and have not been able to reply to all of the many emails we have received about this game. Please bear with us for another 24 hours and we will endeavour to have replied to everyone individually

Thanks for reading.

Heighway Pinball

60
#2 9 years ago

So, here is the basic playfield layout, with shot descriptions:

Heighway Alien 05 09 14 Model (1)-page-001-184.jpgHeighway Alien 05 09 14 Model (1)-page-001-184.jpg
#80 9 years ago

Hi everyone.

We will do our best to answer as many questions as possible, thread by thread

With the screen, it's difficult to lock down the screen design to any one style because you restrict the usage and impact of the screen. For example, someone suggested (Aurich I believe) that there could be a 'Mother' decal for the screen. This would be great for all 'Mother' type messages, but would be unsuitable for a full screen motion tracker. We believe the best and most versatile solution is to let the screen itself provide the surround graphics

14
#252 9 years ago

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the delay in getting you upgrade info.

So, here is the pricing info:

Full Throttle - Standard Edition Upgrade

2 x Cabinet Sideart
1 x Printed Backbox Artwork Panel
1 x Fully Populated Playfield
1 x Game Software

Prices:

UK: £2,800 (including 20% VAT) + Delivery
Europe: €3,600 (including 20% sales tax - this may vary depending on country) + shipping
USA/Canada: $3,750 (net - no sales tax added, but may be applicable) + shipping from USA warehouse

Alien Pinball - Standard Edition Upgrade

2 x Cabinet Sideart
1 x Printed Backbox Artwork Panel
1 x Fully Populated Playfield
1 x Game Software
1 x Shooter Rod Plate Assembly (if this appears on the finished game)

Prices:

UK: £2,900 (including 20% VAT) + Delivery
Europe: €3,700 (including 20% sales tax - this may vary depending on country) + shipping
USA/Canada: $3,900 (net - no sales tax added, but may be applicable) + shipping from USA warehouse

Ordering for SE Upgrades will be available via our website next week

Limited Edition Upgrades, for both games, are a little more complicated as there are different options depending on trim, hardware, etc...

We will post more information, including pricing, on LE upgrades next week

#254 9 years ago

An important question that was asked recently - will settings and scores be retained when playfields are swapped over?

The answer to this is "yes they will be"

#255 9 years ago
Quoted from PinPatch:

How much to Australia? Is there an Australian distributor?

We are due to announce Australian pricing and distribution next week

#282 9 years ago

Hi,

Just an update about our cabinet dimensions. It seems I made a mistake when answering a question about the height of our machines.

I stated before that the height of our game, without topper is 2000mm but it is in fact 1900mm. The Alien topper is expected to be 150mm, so the overall height, including topper, should be 2050mm, although it could go as high as 2100 depending on the size of the beacons that we finally use.

Apologies for any misunderstanding

1 week later
17
#362 9 years ago
Quoted from PinBalt:

Hi Andrew and Heighway Pinball. Any idea of when we can expect another significant update; e.g. Whitewood status? I thought that Preorders might be getting access to a Aliens LE development blog. Has anyone heard if that is still happening?
-PinBalt (057)

We are planning an update for the first week of December.

We are also looking to have a pre-owners forum set up within the next 10 days

2 weeks later
13
#369 9 years ago
Quoted from PinBalt:

I noticed that it's been 10 days Any update on the preowners forum? Not trying to be prodding but just excited for the table.
PinBalt (57)

Our forum is now up and running for pre-owners. We will be emailing all pre-owners tomorrow with details of how to join

19
#397 9 years ago

Hi everyone,

To give you an update on our progress...

We have a load of material submitted to Fox right now, including the Standard Edition artwork package (translite and sideart), a draft version of the playfield art, a 2.5 minute video of gameplay (from the playable version of Alien Pinball - which currently concentrates on Aliens, but will soon include Alien) and draft versions of most of the toys.

In the meantime, the playfield files have been modified for a new insert type that we are testing (which holds the mechanisms onto the underside of the playfield). We are exploring new ways of building prototype ramps for this game, and a new way to prototype ball guides. All in, we believe we are still on course to be testing the Alien Pinball whitewood by around the end of the first week in December.

As mentioned in a previous post, we are hoping to post an update on the game within the first 10 days of December - the content of which will depend on what is approved, or not, by our licensor

The video version of the game plays really well and the few people that have played it, love it.

We will be participating in questions both here and on our own forums. We will do our best to answer any questions as quickly as possible, but if there is sometimes a delay of a few days, then please do not be offended.

21
#434 9 years ago
Quoted from ZenTron:

Let them ship some games and let them be good, until then I see a pic of an empty warehouse.

We understand that some people may see us as 'boutique' because we are new, but we have set ourselves up to be a mass producer of games. As well as having Full Throttle and Alien Pinball in development, we have an additional 3 games also in development, including one game from John Trudeau.

As for shipping games - we would like to respectfully point out that we have already designed, built and shipped out 251 games globally, for Bacardi.

But if you would like to see full blown pinball games on a production line then we respect that. We are ramping up our operations and are still targeting the beginning of 'Full Throttle' production in January 2015 - so you should not have long to wait

#437 9 years ago
Quoted from Wamprat:

Will there be a distributor in Australia?

Yes, and sorry for the delay in announcing it.

We are putting a number of distribution deals together at the moment and we are hoping to announce Australia before this weekend

#449 9 years ago
Quoted from Captain_Kirk:

Trudeau, huh? So Gary is letting him moonlight with you guys?

No, John designed a game for us before he joined Stern

2 weeks later
12
#488 9 years ago

Hi all,

I replied in Dennis's thread directly.

Dennis has chosen to move on but it changes nothing as the game layout design is completed. Will it change by the time we reach production? Probably - but only after it has gone through the normal development process. We have other game designers at our company who have already stepped in and will continue to be involved in this process until we reach production.

Basic rules for this game were discussed by all parties involved at an early stage and already feature on our fully playable digital version of this game.

There will be more news and updates before Christmas but if anyone has any questions that need answering, we are more than happy to answer them

22
#516 9 years ago

As we are still awaiting some approvals and we want to give you an update now, we would like to share with you a basic 3-D image of the playfield design.

This is a very basic render, without any artwork, and missing some features and toys - but it gives you a better look at how the playfield should look from the player's perspective.

The toys shown are just model mock-ups at this stage.

Please note that all aspects of this playfield are subject to change.

AlienPinball_Whitewood.JPGAlienPinball_Whitewood.JPG
17
#531 9 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

I'm curious how much a normal pinball is refined and refined again during development?
That seems to be the crux of the problem with Dennis' involvement. I'm guessing Andrew thinks they can turn games faster by having a virtual pinball first and then creating a real world one and knocking it out. That is certainly possible but the entire model hasn't been proven yet, and Full Throttle sure saw its share of tweaks from real world testing.

That is a very accurate statement.

By having a virtual game first, we can test shots initially to see if they work in principle. Although this only gives guidelines, it has proven fairly accurate when it comes to building the real thing.

The biggest advantage, though, is to develop rules very quickly - as well as lighting effects, sound effects, voice call outs, video animations and dashboard workings.

With the rules testing, it allows us to have a very good idea about hardware aspects such as switch placements

Essentially, the virtual game allows us to speed up the development process very quickly. This is why we believe that an April production start date is achievable.

The biggest potential delay is the approval process with our licensor. However, at this point we are happy with progress.

We intend to show you pictures of the bare whitewood by next week and will keep the updates coming to you as quickly as possible

19
#543 9 years ago

Hi everyone,

We just wanted to give you an update on where we are at the moment.

Artwork - playfield concept art is still awaiting approval. Artwork package "A" is also awaiting approval, including translite and sideart. Individual elements have been submitted, as well as videos showing gameplay, rules, some working toys and shotmaps. We have had very positive feedback from our licensor, but no approvals on these specifics yet. Please trust us that we would LOVE to show you material now - but we simply cannot do this until we have official approvals

Whitewood - whitewood playfield is being cut this week. We have some delays on ball guides and the ramps due to us needing to change out prototyping processes. Once we have firmed these, then it will make prototyping games far easier and quicker in the future. We still hope to show you the whitewood before Christmas, and maybe before the end of this week. The ball guides and ramp will, realistically now, not be ready until the first 10 days of January. From here, once we are into whitewood testing, then we can make changes needed and look to have a second playfield flipping before the end of January- depending of course, on how many modifications will need to be made to the existing design.

Assets - we have a HUGE wishlist of assets, including many video segments from both movies. These have now been compiled and will be submitted for approval this week. We would assume that we will get approval for what we are allowed to use, before the end of January. These assets can then be dropped into our software for this game. Work on assets that we will create, such as the screen dashboard, will begin in January - and continue until the the game is complete.

Gameplay - we will continue to develop the game's rules in our virtual game sim. It's already playing very well, but there is still much work to be done to make this game as good as can be. Our sim currently concentrates on 'Aliens' and much of the work over the next few months will be developing the 'Alien' ruleset.

So, we apologise for not being able to show you any more images right now, other than some more close up renders. Again, please note that the material depicted in these renders is subject to change.

We would also dearly love to show gameplay videos, but they feature artwork and concepts that are not approved yet.

As soon as we get approvals, then we will show you a lot more. As soon as the whitewood is flipping in early January, then we will show you videos too.

Thanks for reading.

Alien Pinball 1.pngAlien Pinball 1.png Alien Pinball 2.pngAlien Pinball 2.png Alien Pinball 3.pngAlien Pinball 3.png Alien Pinball 4.pngAlien Pinball 4.png Alien Pinball 5.pngAlien Pinball 5.png Alien Pinball 6.pngAlien Pinball 6.png Alien Pinball 7.pngAlien Pinball 7.png Alien Pinball 8.pngAlien Pinball 8.png Alien Pinball 9.pngAlien Pinball 9.png
19
#561 9 years ago
Quoted from AloneMordakai:

Andrew - This is one pin incorporating two different movies, I guess I hadn't really thought about it, but are the modes for the movies going to be completely intertwined? If I'm working on or have completed one mode from 'Alien,' can I immediately move on to a mode from 'Aliens?'
For example, if I'm tasked to destroy the Nostromo for a mode in 'Alien' (note to Pinsiders: this is a completely fabricated example, I obviously have no knowledge of the game modes or any rules), could I then immediately move on to an 'Aliens' mode where I have to get Bishop to remote pilot a ship down? Or will they be completely separate where I choose if I'm playing 'Alien only' modes or 'Aliens only' modes?
I hope this hasn't been asked and answered, but I've been keeping a pretty close eye on the updates and don't recall seeing anything about it.
Thanks!

There are two story arcs for this game - one for each movie.

We are experimenting with two different options here.

One option is that you select which movie you want to play in, before you start the game. When you complete all of the modes, and the final wizard mode for that movie, then you automatically start the other movie.

The second option is that you compete in modes at random, probably selected by pop bumper hits, and then you access a movie's wizard mode when you complete that movie's modes.

Both options could even be present in the final game - with the default setting being able to be changed in game adjustments.

Or, as we get deeper into rules testing and development, then we may come up with another solution.

18
#570 9 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

Andrew, you took the bad news announcement from earlier this week and pushed it away by keeping the communication open and continuing to post information and progress on the game.

Thank for your comments Chris.

Watch out for a major announcement from us later this week...

Now I am off to get an Alien whitewood playfield cut!

33
#574 9 years ago

Some more news 'hot off the press' - we have official concept approval for our game. Specifics approvals should follow in the coming weeks.

11
#588 9 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

What does this mean, Andrew? I don't know what that entails.

First a company secures the license. Next they give a plan of action, including a rough concept of the game they want to make, and a schedule to make it all happen - this can include sketches, drawings, etc...

Then the company offically submits the concept of the game they want to make. This is what we did roughly 6 weeks ago. Today we officially got approval for the game concept we want to make.

Of course, the concept can change organically during the development process - but that's all part of building a pinball machine

The next step is for official approval of specifics, such as artwork elements, logos, etc... These were submitted at the same time and approval could be days or weeks - depending on our licensor and the number of people who are involved in various aspects of the approval process. You would be surprised at just how many different people need to get involved for different aspects of a license.

23
#610 9 years ago

The 'Alien Pinball' bare whitewood playfield is revealed in today's YouTube video update:

15
#612 9 years ago

And here is a photo of the bare 'Alien Pinball' whitewood playfield...

Alien Whitewood - Bare.JPGAlien Whitewood - Bare.JPG
2 weeks later
17
#651 9 years ago
Quoted from RandomGuyOffCL:

is this a case of no news being good news?

Everything is going well, and according to plan.

Ball guides are about to be made, The ramps are being profiled now.

We will be busy for the next 10 days preparing for the EAG trade show, and our Launch Event and Launch Party at the end of next week. Alien development will continue during this time.

We are aiming to have all parts assembled, and to begin whitewood testing, around 23rd January.

We will keep you updated that week as to our progress.

3 weeks later
39
#668 9 years ago

Hi everyone,

We want to give you an update as to where we are with Alien Pinball development.

The whitewood is built up, as you can see from the photos, and is just awaiting the ball guides - which will be finished by next week. Once installed, we can switch it on and start flipping it. We have printed the ball guides and mechanisms onto the wood surface, so you can see where many of the major parts will go.

There have been some modifications to the ramp files, so prototype ramps will not feature on this whitewood, as they will change significantly by the next prototype playfield.

We are working on a possible major new toy at the moment, featuring a xenomorph, which will really enhance the game, if it appears. More news on this later.

We are nearly at the stage where we can show you some backglass art and sideart - and as soon as we get official approval, we will post images here.

We will report back shortly with more photos showing the ball guides installed, and hopefully a short video showing the whitewood being flipped.

20150127_175259251_iOS.jpg20150127_175259251_iOS.jpg 20150127_174719304_iOS.jpg20150127_174719304_iOS.jpg 20150127_174732954_iOS.jpg20150127_174732954_iOS.jpg 20150127_174749828_iOS.jpg20150127_174749828_iOS.jpg 20150127_174757976_iOS.jpg20150127_174757976_iOS.jpg 20150127_174842341_iOS.jpg20150127_174842341_iOS.jpg 20150127_174902497_iOS.jpg20150127_174902497_iOS.jpg 20150127_175014192_iOS.jpg20150127_175014192_iOS.jpg 20150127_175103938_iOS.jpg20150127_175103938_iOS.jpg
2 weeks later
29
#754 9 years ago

Hi everyone,

A quick update for you - Alien whitewood guides arrived late Friday afternoon.

We are just wiring it up now and expect to be flipping this afternoon, or the morning.

Will give you more updates as soon as we are flipping

23
#762 9 years ago

Hi everyone,

Ball guides installed - electronics hooked up ... game flipping at 17.00 today, UK time

We took some video and will edit it in the morning and then post it here later in the day Friday.

It will be very basic footage of course, but you can get an idea of how some of the shots play out.

Already though, there are some really fun shots

41
#775 9 years ago

Hi everyone,

Here is the very first test of the first Alien Pinball whitewood - as promised.

This whitewood is used primarily for testing shots.

Lessons learnt from this playfield will be applied to the second whitewood - which will represent a much more advanced layout of the game.

When watching this video, please factor in the following:

* There are no rules programmed into this version
* The playfield LCD is not present on this version
* Some shots do not exist on this version yet
* There are no toys present yet
* There are no ramps on this version. The only ramp present is to help keep the ball in play while testing
* Mechanisms are not properly adjusted at this point, so some mechanisms may appear to be too weak or too strong

2 weeks later
40
#820 9 years ago

LE's will have rotating beacons. Flashing beacons would betray the films.

2 weeks later
16
#902 9 years ago
Quoted from bemmett:

I feel this is a big issue and needs to be addressed to make everything interchangeable possibly including trim? I want the LE features but seems silly if it doesn't allow me to transition it to the next game(s) well then seems standard is the way to go. Curious to see how this all plays out.

You raise a very interesting point, and it also allows me to explain a part of our system that very few people know about.

We have all seen how tatty cabinets can become over time. Worse still, vandalism can make a game look very poor. Nobody likes to see "I LOVE MY MOM" etched into a cabinet side! So, it's a good time to report that even the cabinet side panels, cabinet front panel and backbox front frame are all interchangable too. This means that should a panel ever become damaged, for example, then it can be easily replaced. In the future, new trims will be available to allow customers to fully customise their machines. For example, your sitting room may have a lot of pine in it. So, you will be able to purchase a pine-effect trim package for your cabinet in the future to allow your game to really blend into its environment. Such a changeover should take no more than 10 minutes.

So, back to the metal trim and Bemmett's question. The LE's are meant to be 'collectable' items, so customers will likely not want to swap other games in and out of their LE cabinet. However, this is a question of preference only because there is nothing to stop any other HP game being switched in and out of an LE cabinet.

The question then becomes one of metal trim. Currently we do not offer LE 'upgrades' because this becomes very complicated from a hardware perspective. However, we do intend to sell SE metal trim packages. Therefore, an LE owner could buy an SE cabinet and/or metal trim package to convert their LE cabinet back to an SE cabinet - should they wish to.

We will go into more details about pricing on these different scenarios closer to the release of our second game.

#904 9 years ago
Quoted from Yipykya:

So no matter what version pin you buy, if you convert it to the next released playfield you either keep the trim you started with or optionally replace with an SE trim. So nice to have options.

Yes.

The SE trim will always remain the same

32
#928 9 years ago

Just to confirm - our games are fully swappable between cabinets, whether they are SE's or LE's

We will have a full 'Alien Pinball' update for you this coming Friday

55
#951 8 years ago

As promised, we are giving you an update on the progress of our ‘Alien Pinball’ game.

We admit that we certainly underestimated the approvals process with the licensors that we are working with on our current games in development. We are not criticising any of the licensors we are working with, but clearly there are many departments that deal with all aspects of a license – and it can take a lot of time to get the approvals and direction from a number of key people – particularly at the conceptual stages

Also, with the ‘Alien’ license it is clearly one of the biggest licenses in existence – and 36 years after the first film was released, it is still very current – with Alien 5 and Prometheus 2 both in development. Therefore, it is to be expected that FOX would want to take their time with such a prized asset.

After a number of delays, we are definitely back on track again. Here is an update on the individual elements of this game:

• Backglass Artwork – approved in principle for the SE edition. Being amended for officlal approval
• Sideart Artwork – approved in principle for the SE edition. Being amended for official approval
• Playfield 3-D models – work begins on models this week and will be submitted week-by-week for approval
• Playfield Artwork – overview and elements approved in principle – high res versions being drawn now, and will be submitted for approval accordingly
• Playfield Toys – a lot of work has been spent on this over the last few months. We felt that the current toys did not do enough justice to the license and so we have reviewed this. New toys are being worked on now. In particular, we have a very exciting xenomorph toy that is intended to become the main toy for this game
• Playfield layout – with the lessons learnt from the first whitewood, the playfield is now being re-worked and the next version will be much closer to the finished game. We expect to be making the second whitewood within the next 2-3 weeks

Now that most of the conceptual issues have been approved, and many of the draft element concepts too, from this point onwards we are expecting the approvals process to be much faster. We also expect to be able to show you substantial developments on a much more regular basis from now – including key artwork elements.

We are hoping to show you some of these key developments in our next major update – which is planned for a month from now.

Clearly we have learnt some lessons about the licensing process. So what does this mean for the timeline of this game? Everyone involved with this game is in agreement that we are going to target the UK Pinball Party, on 21st-23rd August 2015 (at Heighway Pinball’s factory in Merthyr Tydfil, UK) as the global launch of this game.

We have some exciting new additions to our team that will be announced very shortly.

To anyone who was expecting artwork or specific reveals in this update, then we apologise that this has not happened. We must make sure that we only reveal elements of this game when our licensor has approved them. Please believe us that the minute we are able to show them to you, we will do so.

Everyone involved with this game is determined to make this the best possible ‘Alien’ licensed game that it is possible to make and we thank you for your patience.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew Heighway
MD/CEO

#962 8 years ago
Quoted from Cheeks:

Sorry to ask this in an Alien thread, but will a production Full Throttle be showing up at any US shows coming up? I'm really interested in getting a base game and multiple playfields to put in it, but I have some concerns over the FT that was at expo, so I'd like to play the revised version before committing.

We are trying to get to the New England show in the Summer, followed by Expo in October and IAAPA in November. We will look at other shows as well if it's possible for us to do them

2 months later
#1054 8 years ago
Quoted from Star_Gazer:

I want this in your game.

alien.jpg

This would indeed be a truly awesome toy!

30
#1056 8 years ago

Time to give you an update as to where we are with Alien Pinball development.

We have been quiet for a while, but we have been very busy with development.

Our progress over the last few months includes:

1. Playfield re-design, to incorporate what we learned from the first whitewood (new playfield about to be cut and built)
2. New toys - including interactive ones
3. Models - some built, others in development
4. Feature development, including rotating beacon testing
5. Rules development
6. LCD screen animations development
7. Artwork development
8. Sound development

So why aren't we showing you any of this? Our licensor wants us to keep a lid on publicity for the time being. We, of course, will abide by their request - even though we would love to show you our progress now. However, it won't be long, I'm sure, before we can show you a 'big reveal' soon.

We are still pushing hard to show working prototypes at the UK Pinball Party at our factory on 21st-23rd August.

18
#1059 8 years ago
Quoted from thewool:

Hi Andrew, thanks for the update!
Am curious to know what the re-design entails, any major changes or just tweaks here and there?
Also I'm signed up for an LE. Just to help me plan the remaining balance, please can you estimate when you'll be shipping final machines? I'm not going to hopld you to this date it's just to make sure the finances are in order at my end.
Cheers, Kris

Well, we weren't happy with the toys as they were. We wanted more toys and better toys.

In particular we have one major new toy, which interacts with the ball - and this requires more space.

So, the re-design takes into account lessons learned on shot geometry, and also incorporates spacing needed for all of the toys and mechanisms, as they are now.

Regarding timelines, we want working prototypes by the end of August and finished games by October. Production should therefore start September/October with the first games being shipped by the end of October

2 weeks later
#1100 8 years ago
Quoted from jasonvhsp:

Sorry for the stupid question, and if previously addressed, but isn't the UK on a different electrical system than the US? Would we need a special outlet or something in our house to play this, or is there a US version?

As with all pinball games, small changes are needed for different voltages. We do this at the factory so all games that arrive in the U.S., or countries with different voltages, are already set up by the time they arrive

2 weeks later
12
#1202 8 years ago
Quoted from RobT:

Wasn't it originally slated for release in April (which led to Nordman leaving as he knew that was an impossible target)?
PF and LCD art isn't even approved yet? This is quite a way from being ready is the way it sounds..

Just to clarify two points here...

1. Yes Dennis left, but as has been stated previously, there were a number of reasons why we parted ways - which I can't and won't be going into details about

2. The art is an ongoing process. The Standard Edition sideart and backglass are effectively approved. The playfield layout has changed and evolved, which means the artwork naturally does too. The LCD animations are a work in progress, and are being submitted regularly to FOX

I hope this clears up points a little. We are very happy with our relationship with FOX. Could it be a faster process - yes it could - but that's just the way licensing works, for better or for worse

37
#1216 8 years ago
Quoted from Yipykya:

For Aliens? Nothing shown on any posted videos I've seen. The Alien pop bumper caps were going to be egg pods, right?

I was going to show them, but decided against it - so as to not risk upsetting FOX.

They are translucent, molded eggs that sit on top of the pop bumpers.

We have 5 strong LEDs in each pop bumper body - so we can have a whole range of lighting effects inside the eggs. Initial lighting tests have gone very well. Glowing ... pulsing eggs - we think they look great!

#1274 8 years ago
Quoted from Zampinator:

I laughed out loud on that one! Can we confirm that the fog machine can be swapped out with an acid machine?
Welcome to the club!

When I read your post, I imagined a hose mod spraying out Mountain Dew!!

10
#1320 8 years ago

The question about the price increase is a valid one.

Generally speaking, our €EUR and $USD prices are subject to fluctuation on a weekly basis depending on a number of factors - mainly currency exchange rates. We do state this clearly on our Store page. Other factors like shipping rates also factor in.

Our €EUR prices have gone up and down a lot over the last 6 months because of large currency fluctuations, but the $USD price hasn't moved until recently.

The reason for the recent price change, which affected both Standard Edition and Limited Edition variants of both Full Throttle and Alien Pinball, comes down to the cost of producing these machines. As well as the features and innovations packed into our machines, we refuse to compromise on quality. This means that we have expensive machines to produce. Costs of parts can go up which means that we must raise our prices as well, unfortunately.

Saying that, our prices 'could' come down in the future as we buy more parts for less, and more processes are moved in-house.

We want to bring both quality and value to pinball, but it may take a while for costs and prices to settle down. We will always do our best to keep our prices as low as possible.

Regarding the screen upgrades, we announced these here, with links to our store. It's true that some of our Full Throttle customers are only receiving their upgrade option emails now - and we apologise for this delay.

Customers can order and pay for their screen upgrade at any time before shipping, by visiting http://heighwaypinball.com/screen/

1 week later
13
#1453 8 years ago

We will be hosting a seminar at 1pm Eastern on Sunday in room 407 at Replay FX

As well as giving updates to attendees, we will also be revealing the latest Alien Pinball layout and shot map, and discussing some of the game's toys

We are not sure if anyone else is filming or streaming the seminar, but we will be filming it and posting it and a later date

We will also be posting the shot layout on Pinside after the seminar

#1455 8 years ago

Sorry - that was meant to say Sunday

56
#1463 8 years ago

Hi everyone, as promised - here is the revised layout and shot map. I will post again tomorrow with more details, and answer any questions you may have...

Alien_Shot_Map_280715.jpgAlien_Shot_Map_280715.jpg

#1622 8 years ago
Quoted from dannunz:

Is anyone going to answer my question?

Hi Gabe - some have been approved and some are ongoing. This is all part of the licensing approvals process

#1626 8 years ago
Quoted from dannunz:

Hello Andrew....will we be in store for any surprises in a few week at the U.K pinball party?

We can only answer this closer to the time

19
#1629 8 years ago
Quoted from Pinballpal:

Will their be a traditional knocker. If not could make it easy to add one thanks.

Our games are currently shipping out with real knockers in them

1 week later
17
#1670 8 years ago

As the UK Pinball Party is fast approaching this weekend, we wanted to give an update.

This will not be the global launch for Alien Pinball as the game is not ready yet. Up till last week, we were hoping to show a flipping whitewood - but suppliers have let us down and the whitewood won't be ready now until next week.

However, we are still looking to reveal some aspects of the game this weekend. Whether these are public reveals, or 'closed room' reveals, will be made clearer either just before, or at, the event and are dependent on our licensor's wishes.

We apologise if this disappoints some people - the game's development is moving forwards very nicely, but we are still restricted as to what we can/can't show by our licensor and we must respect their wishes. Delays in approvals causes delays in development.

Realistically, we are targeting UK and USA events in October as launch events.

2 weeks later
19
#1834 8 years ago
Quoted from wcbrandes:

Lets hope they have chrome or metallic black as LE options

We are looking at being able to offer a number of different trim options to LE customers

#1927 8 years ago
Quoted from thewool:

I asked the same thing when I was at the factory for the HP pinball party. The screen was a concept for their very first machine (Circe's Animal House which was later shelved) but Andrew said the technology was not quite there at the time. However he did say the technoclogy is better now...

That's absolutely right.

For pinball to remain "current" - it has to embrace the latest technologies available, to keep giving the "wow" factor.

When this technology is available, and at the right price, then we will start adding it to our games

#1929 8 years ago
Quoted from ledge:

yeah there is a bit of space at the back there...

The Facehugger toy is due to be located in that general area..

40
#2021 8 years ago

One bit of trivia for you ...

We had a lot of fun in the studio doing the sound recordings. We also recorded an x-rated sound package - which was a lot of fun. By the end of the set, Alex (Valentino) had descended in to Scarface's Tony Montana. It was hilarious.

One day soon, we'd like to release the package as an unlockable extra (with a child safe code, or similar, to unlock it!)

13
#2048 8 years ago
Quoted from jlm33:

Correct me if I am wrong, but Heighway will ship the game to the US at their own expenses, and you need to pay for domestic transport only.

That is correct. But there are also other delivery options.

Let's say we allow $100 to ship each game to the USA by sea. Heighway pays for that. The customer then just pays to have the game shipped from the U.S. port, or our U.S. warehouse, to their door. This often costs $250-300 for the customer.

However, we also offer an air freight option to customers - and contribute $100 towards this option. We are getting amazing air freight options at the moment which, in some cases, means that the customer only pay an extra $100 or so to have their game shipped by air. That's 7-10 days for delivery, in most cases, as opposed to 4 weeks by sea.

11
#2129 8 years ago
Quoted from underlord:

Andrew, any news on availability of Chrome or polished chrome rails and lock down bar? Any new news at all? Expo next month ya know.

I have my supplier looking into this now.

I'm looking into chrome and polished chrome. Polished chrome would look amazing, IMO, but would be a more expensive option.

I'm evaluating all finish options at the moment and will report back as soon as I have more news.

19
#2169 8 years ago
Quoted from HighVoltage:

When I played FT recently, I didn't think it would be a good choice for an operator. Although the machine had a solid / quality feel there were a few problems. The ball got stuck in the center start race hole. I thought it just got stuck or hung up and tried to dislodge it by nudging. But bystanders who seemed familiar with the machine commented, "Oh yeah, that will happen", "You have to switch it off", "You may need to switch it on and off twice". What is that about?
The control system seemed slow: long delay times between balls / players. I was wondering if it was getting lost in its state machine, or too liberal time delays in the code, or just slow processing.
I hope those might just be code updates, but it didn't feel ready for prime time to me.
As long as I'm talking about it, my thoughts on the game play... After all the talk with how fast it feels and flows I was let down in that regard. On making the plunge skill shot, over 50% of the time, the ball drained SDTM, which got tedious. I would think that would be easily tuned? But wondered why it was just set up like that at a promotional event. Then it seemed like the ball lost too much energy going up the ramps and traveled slowly around the curves. I played multiple times and made plenty of clean shots up the ramps. Maybe flipper power adjustment could help, but they didn't feel weak. But worse at the end of the ramp the drop to the inlane was an awkward transition: more of a stop, then drop in which the ball lost lots of energy again. I think that's a flawed design in the drop out of the ramp, it should be a more seamless transition where the ball shouldn't lose that much energy. Anyway, I felt like I was just waiting and waiting for the ball to get back to the flipper, and you couldn't chain ramp shots in a satisfying manner like ST or AC/DC. The fast lap loop was a lot more satisfying though.
As a location player, I was underwhelmed by FT.

We respect your opinions, and many of them were addressed just now on our official Heighway Pinball thread:

1. Valentino - The software that controls him is not complete, but will be so shortly, and available in a future update

2. Slingshots - it is simply an adjustment issue because the slingshot sits marginally further back than it should do at the moment. We will send this out to customers as a Service Bulletin. Essentially the front high leaf should be bent to touch the rubber and the smaller activation leaf behind it should be bent forwards until there is a distance of approximately 1mm between both leafs. Doing this will make the slingshots ultra responsive - and yes, they are very strong

3. During playfield printing, the recess gets painted too, continuing the artwork until the the edge of the wood. We had some issues with the plastic panels fitting on the first batches of playfields, so had to sand this area down slightly - and this meant losing the artwork there. We are also working on something for the future - a protective film to overlap the edges of the window - a bit like mobile phone screen protectors. If we bring these to market, then it could be possible for customers to print their own bezels on the plastic film - or we might offer these with printed artwork ourselves

4. Animations - we are looking to add more animations to the software in the future

5. Strong/Weak coils - the strength of all coils is adjustable

6. Ramp return balls - we are looking into this. The general consensus seems to be that the balls do not need to be delivered to the flippers any quicker, as the game is already very fast, and quicker balls here could be uncontrollable - but we are looking into this anyway

7. Side art - a comment was made that operators may fear these getting "kicked in" - ie: cash box security issues. However, there is solid wood behind the side panels so nobody will be able to kick these in. The worst they will do is crack the plastic panels themselves.

8. Player score Visibility - especially during multiplayer games. This is being addressed for a future software update

9. Skipping 'end-of-ball' bonus screens - these can be skipped by pressing both flippers at the beginning of each end-of-ball sequence only, at this point. We are looking to update this so they can be skipped at any point during the sequence.

3 weeks later
32
#2307 8 years ago
Quoted from jayhawkai:

I hope they can release the backglass art for Alien soon just so we can link the correct game to this thread.

Not long to go now...

#2332 8 years ago
Quoted from kaneda:

Is the deposit refundable?

Yes it is, minus any applicable fees - up to the point we start manufacturing your game

16
#2521 8 years ago

Thanks to everyone for all their feedback - both at Expo, and here on Pinside.

To clarify our hardware situation - we can currently support two separate HDMI feeds from our motherboard. We are also investigating a third separate feed via USB which may or may not be available by the time Alien Pinball gets to market.

Currently, the two backbox screen options both mirror the playfield display. We do not have any immediate plans for separate feeds here. We plan to make this happen at some point in the future, but we can't confirm if it will be available by Alien Pinball's release, a later software update or our third title.

We truly believe in our playfield-located LCD screen. The player's focus is above the flipper area and it does not take long to get used to this new screen location. The backbox screens are available to enhance the experience for the player or ambient watchers near the machine.

We have been amazed by the number of people who have been blown over by the 27" screen option. Many people have commented that it brings a "wow factor" to our system. When we tested this option for the first time last week, this was out own conclusion.

As a company looking to make pinball mainstream again, we now believe that this new screen option can help to attract new players to our games, and enhance the overall pinball experience.

1 month later
23
#2949 8 years ago

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the radio silence for a while. A long run of summer shows saw me and a lot of my team crossing timezones every week.

Nevertheless, we continue to make very good progress with Alien Pinball.

The reality of this title is that FOX have said all along that they do not want everything to be revealed publicly until the game is as good as finished. As a company and a partner with FOX, we must respect their wishes - even though we would love to show you much more than we have done up to this point.

It is true that I have showed certain elements of the game to people in private, and these people have reported back here, and in forums around the world, as to what they have seen and what they thought of it.

So what can I tell you? I have two meetings with FOX over the next 2 weeks. The schedule we are working to is as follows:

We want to show a working version of Alien within the first quarter of 2016 - and this could even be in January.

Full Throttle will be running on our production line exclusively until the end of March, at which point Alien is scheduled to start running on the line as well.

All team members are working to these goals.

The reality is that we may not be able to show you much more until the game is nearly finished - but we can promise you that we will show you as much as possible as soon as possible.

To answer someone else's question - yes we will be at Texas in March.

One final point about the large LCD screen - it takes seconds to change over the translite panel - so to those who love seeing the backglass art at all times when the game is switched off, there's nothing stopping customers swapping the backglass panels over whenever needed.

18
#2963 8 years ago
Quoted from rai:

Andrew, would it be allowed to show some white wood at least some shots of the ramps? I mean that's not Fox specific.

The ramps are being looked at right now. They should be some of the next features that we can show

2 weeks later
15
#3015 8 years ago

As some have pointed out, it's a common misconception that narrow body = fast and flow, wide body = slow with no flow.

It is all about how you use the space, and place mechs like slingshots

Some have commented that Full Throttle is the fastest game in pinball. Whether this is true or not, Full Throttle does prove that a widebody can have both speed and flow

3 weeks later
12
#3343 8 years ago
Quoted from rubberducks:

I wish they had gone with a system where you could screw or attach new sidepanels to the entire side of the cabinet though .. rather than a little window, or at least given the option. Maybe it's something they can do in future. It'd make it look like a much more cohesive package imo. I guess they or potential customers felt compactness was better though.

In principle, there is nothing stopping us doing this in the future.

The foil wrapped side panels are bolted onto the ply carcass as it is. In the future, if there is enough demand, then we could also sell/provide panels with no windows.

35
#3344 8 years ago

Apologies for being absent for a while.

In general, I am against the 'pre-order' model. However, back in October 2014, I decided to make an exception to this because the pinball landscape was very different then. Back then, for example, there were many new games planned for 2015, including Predator - and we felt that consumers would want to know about 'Alien Pinball' before making a choice.

Of course, many of these games, including Predator, will not come to fruition now. As Predator is also a FOX license, and our licensor has had their fingers burned with Predator, then FOX are taking a much more cautious approach and have asked us not to publicly reveal most aspects of the game until it is almost finished. This is as frustrating for us, as it is for all of our customers, because we want to show you our progress. But it would be irresponsible and cavalier of us to ignore our licensor's wishes.

So again we apologise for not being able to show you more publicly, at this stage, but please rest assured that we continue to make significant progress in all departments.

As for Dennis backing out solely because of unrealistic timeframes - this isn't entirely true. I will not talk about details of our parting but will state that I continue to hold the utmost respect for Dennis and he remains a friend of mine.

As for the backbox displays - for the time being these remain as mirroring the playfield screen - for now. At any point in the future, this is planned to change, and to offer unique programming between the 2 screens.

No backbox screen/10.1" screen/27" screen - it all comes down to personal choice. My own personal opinion is that the 27" screen brings a real 'wow factor' to the gameplay experience - and the majority of people who give me direct feedback, say the same after seeing and playing it.

To those that are worried about it being blank when switched off - then please remember that you could swap a full panel backglass (with full art) in only seconds when you switch off the game - instantly solving this problem.

#3361 8 years ago
Quoted from Hazoff:

When can I upgrade from the 10 inch back box display to the 27" for my LE?

Whenever you like. Drop me an email and I'll get it sorted for you

63
#3363 8 years ago

Another update for everyone.

We have had no less than 27 submissions approved by FOX within the last 24 hours - including the playfield art.

This represents a huge step forwards for the game.

It *may* be possible to show you playfield art next week. We are pushing hard for this.

I will update you as soon as we have more news.

74
#3380 8 years ago

Ok - just confirmed ...

We WILL be showing you the playfield art next week

#3408 8 years ago
Quoted from nonik:

sure? i sent an email the last day 2 of January, im still waiting a response, im not in a hurry, but, if im thinking to buy a pinball, its very very much money, and, i want a good service.
Now, i have doubts about it.

Apologies, I have just found your email in our junk box. I will email you now.

Please feel free to email me directly at [email protected] in the future

1 week later
17
#4264 8 years ago
Quoted from PACMAN:

Uh... No images of actors, no video of actors, no call outs from actors. That's going to be a deal breaker. Without the cast there's no movie, just an alien, random ships and weapons.

There are two issues here.

We wouldn't necessarily want various actors placed all over the playfield. Because we are representing both movies, we want the playfield art to sit "neutrally" between both movies. Obviously that isn't always possible - with "APC" for example. But I personally think that Aurich has struck a very good balance between both movies here. Aurich has stated that he couldn't use Ripley at the time he was doing the playfield art - that is also true.

Secondly, we will officially announce what the situation is regarding actors/callouts/music etc... closer to the release. The reason for this is that it is an ongoing process with our licensor and therefore it is not something that we can comment on at this point.

What I can tell you is that we want what you want. Whether we get all of it or some of it is the real issue, and one that we will clarify at a later date.

1 week later
48
#4569 8 years ago

Here's something for the weekend...

Mechanism testing for Alien Pinball - here we see an up/down post divert a ball at different speeds into the Chestburster magnet

40
#4587 8 years ago
Quoted from Expletive:

So Heighway is still testing game mech's at this late stage? Pin still seems to be a long way from being done. Originally the game was supposed to ship in April 2015, and it was that unrealistic release date that caused the original designer, Dennis Nordman, to leave.
Obviously this pin will be at least a year behind the original estimate. Man, I'm rooting for these new companies, but none of them can get their pins done anywhere close to their original estimates.

Mechs are often some of the last things to be tested on a game - but the development of one game can be different from another. The whitewood is there as a test bed - and it is being used as such.

As discussed earlier, we are pushing hard to show something at the Texas Pinball Festival in March.

5 printed and lacquered playfields will be ready within 2 weeks. We will show you pictures when they arrive.

There are some features to this game that we have kept tightly under wraps. We will reveal them closer to the release date and we hope you think they will have been worth the wait.

We will keep you posted.

10
#4591 8 years ago
Quoted from bigbadmiker:

Heighway Pinball - Any chance you will be attending the Northwest Pinball and Arcade (Seattle /Tacoma) show in June?

We are still finalising our USA show plans for the year - but this show is possible.

We hope to announce our show schedule soon

1 week later
30
#4678 8 years ago
Quoted from Toads:

Andrew c'mon were dying here, show us the
5 printed and lacquered playfields.

Last coat of lacquer going on today. We expect to have them ready by early next week

35
#4684 8 years ago

Alien Pinball playfield photos will be posted within hours...

67
#4711 8 years ago

Here are the photos, as promised.

We are very happy with the results and hope you like the photos too.

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1 week later
73
#4885 8 years ago

Today ... a heartbeat

IMG_8962_(resized).JPGIMG_8962_(resized).JPG

11
#4910 8 years ago

USB for now. New game software will be released on new USB sticks.

Software updates in the future will be available via wifi download

10
#4922 8 years ago
Quoted from TimeBandit:

No, he said the potential is starting to be realised. That is clearly beyond potential and into the realisation OF that potential.

This is exactly right. Much of the game is already programmed and running on simulators.

Now is the time that everything is being tested on an actual table.

23
#4951 8 years ago
Quoted from iceman44:

So everything seems to be moving along nicely
Is there an updated timeline yet as to when we might see production and then shipping?
What is the goal/expectation for Alien?
Are we even gonna be in the ballpark of those guys?

Everyone not involved with Full Throttle production is working flat out on Alien.

As each day goes by, we have more and more being played and tested on the prototype.

Realistically, production before or by the summer is achievable.

#4969 8 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

I agree Andrew never promised anything like the final machine, but it's evolved in expectations so he might want to get ahead of this and be more clear as the show approaches.

It's a fair point Chris.

We are not trying to raise or lower any expectations - the situation changes on a daily basis.

The questions from our side are: should we show what we have, can we show what we have and will we show what we have.

I'm not trying to talk in riddles but I can't say myself right now if the game will make it to Texas. It will be a last minute decision that I will have to make based on a number of factors at the time.

Current deadline for being able to send a game is next Tuesday.

4 weeks later
27
#5276 7 years ago

Apologies for the long delay in posting. It has been a crazy month for shows and traveling.

Quoted from bane:

Come on Heighway. You have folks with thousands of dollars commited to this game. Not all of us can attend trade shows. Throw us a bone. We deserve it. We are financing this project. Show us what you have. Stop being coy.

If we could have done so, then we would have done so. We fight to show everything we can.

We feel your frustration and apologise that we can't show more. As soon as we can show more, you guys will be the first to see it.

Quoted from zeddex:

The Heighway pin is not going to be ready for 'Alien Day' (not even for a reveal), so cross-promoting it makes no sense for Fox - even if, as pointed out above, they feel its relevant enough to push and they may not for a variety of reasons....and quite frankly doesn't look like its going to be ready this summer/fall either.

We are aware of Alien Day. If the game was 100% finished a few months ago then we would have been part of the official announcements recently made. We clearly missed that date as the game is still deep in development.. There is still a chance that we can reveal something significant on this day. We will keep you up-to-date closer to the time.

Development is definitely at an advanced stage and we believe we are absolutely still on course for summer 2016 production

12
#5279 7 years ago
Quoted from RandomGuyOffCL:

Is it possible to go from deep in development to production in a few months?

Technically, yes.

Many of the same parts and mechanisms are used on different games.

Suppliers are then 'tested' during the development process, with a view to them making production quantities of game-specific parts and mechanisms.

The game is tested daily with new rules and tweaks, and then reported back to the whole development team.

2 weeks later
36
#5389 7 years ago

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update for you.

As you know, we showed an exclusive Alien gameplay video at the Texas Pinball Festival last month.

The game has moved forwards significantly since then. We are currently finishing a NEW video and will be shortly submitting it to FOX for approval to show this in public.

If we can show this on 'Alien Day' then we will. If not, then we will push for it to be shown as soon after as possible.

We will keep you updated as to our progress.

24
#5425 7 years ago

To give you all an update - we have submitted a gameplay video to FOX for release on Alien Day.

I must emphasise that timings are tight and that there's every chance it won't be approved in time. But there's also a chance that it will.

If it's not approved for Alien Day then hopefully it will be approved soon after.

We will keep you all updated

22
#5487 7 years ago

Hi everyone,

Alas - the video hasn't been approved yet. It's still in the (submission) system so hopefully i will have some news in the next few days.

Apologies - I was hoping to show it to you all today

2 weeks later
25
#5688 7 years ago

Hi everyone,

I want to give you all an update.

The official line from Fox is that we can't publicly show videos until the game has been approved as a whole. I will continue to show teasers, privately, at shows until then.

There's a chance we will be at 2 U.S. shows next month so I'll let you all know if that happens. Alien won't (can't) be shown until it is finished.

At our last team meeting, we all agreed on a schedule that should see Alien Pinball complete by mid August. Pending approval by Fox of the finished game, then we expect to start production in September.

We all love what we are doing with this game and it's frustrating not to be able to show you our progress. There is another argument that when you all see the finished promo video, then it will be exactly what we want to show you - rather than prototype videos at various stages of development.

We apologise if this disappoints anyone but we are nearly there now. All should become clear within a few months

38
#5781 7 years ago
Quoted from bane:

I am quoting Heighway's post. Look at it again. I'm not in the future. I'm taking him at his word that he is going to show something at a trade show.
What confounds me is why they cannot show something about the game to those invested, who cannot attend trade shows.

I have personally debated this very point on a number of occasions - setting up an NDA with customers and revealing info. But the problem is this - John Popadiuk did the same, and info was leaked out onto the net.

Fox have given me clear instructions about this. This is a very sensitive license - movies are still being made in this 'universe'.

If I show somebody a private showing on my iPad, then I can control if they video it with their smart phone or not. If I show it to a group on Skype then all it takes is one person to video it and then leak it onto the web.

Then I risk breaking my license agreement and the whole project could be at risk.

So yes - I would LOVE to show paying customers the videos right now. Today. But there is too much at risk to do that.

I hope you understand our position.

However, if you find yourself in South Wales, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Florida or one of several other locations, then you can meet up with one of our team members who will be more than happy to show you the latest material.

As I stated in my update, we are pushing to have the game finished mid August. Then it is submitted for approval. At the same time, we will more than likely have an official promo video submitted for approval.

The end result being that we would hope to have the finished promo video released by the end of August.

3 weeks later
31
#6440 7 years ago

Hi all,

Just to clarify about the playfield/video reveal issue, the playfield art is an approved 'element' where the video is a 'composition'

To speak in general licensing terms, you could have all elements approved but the composition could be rejected - because the right's holders might feel that the combned elements do not represent their IP in a way that they are happy with.

This is why the promo video will not be approved until the game, as a 'composition' has been approved.

Quoted from Sonny_Jim:

Personally, I just don't trust him when he says "It's Foxs fault we can't show anything" and I have strong reason to believe that.

In general I won't comment on disgruntled ex-employees with axes to grind, but clearly Ewan Meadows' comments are false because the video exists and people on this thread have seen it. What possible reason would we have NOT to show it?

Anyway, I will be at the Rocky Mountain Show this weekend and will show the video to anyone who wants to see it.

2 weeks later
29
#6544 7 years ago
Quoted from bane:

Requested refund (original deposit almost 1 year ago) over 1 month ago. Couldn't stomach delays and top secret video status any longer. Supposed to have been processed already; email confirmation that cancellation received, yet refund not processed. Emailed Heighway Pinball about this. No response yet.

Apologies - I have been overseas for the best part of 2 weeks and am just catching up now. Oti, my chief administrator, is on holiday for 2 weeks at the moment, which doesn't help.

I'll look into this tomorrow and push it forward.

Apologies for the delay.

Andrew

1 week later
34
#6659 7 years ago

Brexit shouldn't affect anything for overseas buyers for at least 2 years. Even then, the likelihood is that nothing will change for the USA.

We have done our best to maintain pricing over the last few years. We were due to have a small price increase shortly - but this is on hold for now.

We buy many parts overseas in $USD. Where we might make more profit on selling games in $USD, it costs us more money to build them. So it's a catch 22.

Those who have pre-ordered the game do not need to worry about the uncertainty of currencies, as their prices are locked in. If exchange rates go the other way, then we are the ones who will lose out.

We must keep U.S. and Canadian prices in $USD. North America shipping and support costs are incorporated into our margins.

24
#6662 7 years ago
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

Andrew,
You still on track for revealing a production game by end of August?

Hi Jeff - yes, we believe we are

1 month later
68
#6924 7 years ago

Hi everyone.

Ok, it's time to give you all an update.

I stated a few months ago that we were aiming to have the bulk of the game finished in August, and to work at the big reveal.

Essentially, nothing has changed, and we feel we are on schedule.

Our latest Alien playfields, which we are calling our pre-production playfields, will be ready to ship to us in days. The latest parts, such as ball guides, wireform ramps, modelled toys, etc... are all being manufactured now.

Everything is tied in to build these 3 games in the middle of the month. 2 games will go to members of our development team and 1 remains with us here.

The game coding is already at an advanced stage - so will simply migrate from our existing prototype to the pre-production models later in the month.

Once at least one of the games is completed then we will be shooting the official promo video. The plan is still to submit both the finished game and the official game promo video to FOX for approval at the same time and by the end of the month. At that point, we must wait for the approval. However, we are not expecting big delays because at this point, we will be dealing directly with FOX in Los Angeles, as opposed to FOX Europe first. Also, at this point, a lot of the core material has already been approved by FOX so it will be case of approving a finished, or nearly-finished, composition.

Once the official promo video is approved, we will show this publicly as soon as possible. Once the game itself has been officially approved then we will immediately begin production. Subject to a speedy approval, we still intend to start manufacturing games in September this year, with the first games shipping out by the end of October 2016. We want as many of our customers as possible to be playing their games by Christmas 2016.

Are these timeframes realistic? I am sure you are asking yourselves this question. We can't deny the delays we have experienced up to this point - but many of the delays have been down to stabilising our hardware and software platforms, and dealing with suppliers for the first time. We believe that we are now at a position where we can shortly mass produce reliable pinball machines. We have learnt a lot over the last few years.

So when will you be able to play this game in person? The official global launch of this game will likely take place in London in September, or early October. The official North American launch is scheduled for Pinball Expo in October.

Thanks for reading and I'll try to answer any questions you have.

Andrew

22
#6961 7 years ago
Quoted from Gov:

I was really hoping they would drop the light strip at the top of the playfield. I really washes out the upper playfield on FT and makes for some harsh shadows on the front of the figures etc. Still excited to play the game but that really bugged me on FT.

We agree. We are looking for this to disappear on Alien. We have some lighting solutions being tested now. In particular, I have never been happy with our GI, so we are developing a much brighter design that can still be toned down. All will become clear about this soon.

Quoted from Jarbyjibbo:

Very exited for my day one order to arrive. Will we be contacted to choose options or should we reach out to Heighway? Screen size, maybe chrome option like on FTH, Etc?

There's no rush about this. We will contact you closer to the time in any case. You can upgrade at any time, but we will be offering more options closer to the time.

#6972 7 years ago
Quoted from Bryno:

Cheers. Assumed you can remove the head if needed though? So 73cm's is about 29". Think I have 30" frame so might be ok. Thanks.

The main cabinet will easily go through a 26" opening - so you are more than fine with 30"

#6974 7 years ago
Quoted from FalconPunch:

Hey Andrew,
Asked for a direct shipping quote a while ago since there is no AU distro yet. Still waiting.

Hi,

Apologies if that slipped through our net. Shipping prices to Australia vary considerably month-to-month.

Almost certainly it will be cheaper to group-ship Australian orders together - to keep the costs to a minimum.

We would look at the whole picture closer to the time and give you the cheapest possible options.

I'm sorry I can't be more specific right now. At a push, I would estimate that it would probably be around £450-500 factory-to-door by airfreight. Grouped shipping - either by sea or by air - should work out cheaper

18
#6977 7 years ago
Quoted from jazzmaster:

I would also like an answer to this. IIRC, I believe the FT standards shipped first. I would like to see the Alien LE's go out first. I would imagine that most of the pre-orders are for the LE. It would only make sense for the people with money tied up in the game get theirs first, especially given the lengthy delays.

At this point, that's the plan. LEs are absolutely our priority.

However, a small number of SEs could roll out first - depending on a number of factors such as LE-material approval, LE parts, etc...

We will update you as to the situation closer to the time.

1 week later
42
#7021 7 years ago
Quoted from Mr68:

Hi Andrew
A simple Google search of you and your business history over multiple years is quite revealing. I'm wondering if you can explain all of this. Also, can you explain why on June 4th, 2015 Heighway Pinball's credit rating was downgraded from A to D and it remains there.

We were a Research & Development company for 3.5 years. R&D companies lose money.

We started shipping games last summer.

58
#7023 7 years ago
Quoted from Mr68:

And could you please explain all of the dissolved company's from your past going back to 1995 with Heighway Leisure LTD?
Those website don't show anything successful.

To you, sorry - no, I'm not going to explain my life story.

FYI - a dissolved company does not automatically mean the company has failed. An unused or dormant company also gets dissolved at some point.

55
#7029 7 years ago
Quoted from Mr68:

That's your prerogative but it's more than just me you'd be explaining to. I'm not the only one with concerns here. And I think these unanswered questions will linger for you and create doubt. What a pity.

Ok. I'll answer you, even though you clearly have an alterior motive.

Andrew Heighway Racing - I used to race cars. I stopped. Company closed down as it was inactive.

Twenty Twenty - I was a self employed sales executive, then manager, then director. I moved to Ireland and the company closed down for being inactive.

The other companies I was Company Secretary only - for my employers at the time - who were pushing through an IPO. That's a public listing, if you're not familiar with UK company workings.

Is that enough of an explanation for you?

45
#7075 7 years ago
Quoted from libtech:

Lets keep this on track
I know you cant show us Andrew but hows the build going of the first production machines?

Very well. The race is on to get the first 2 pre-production games built by a week today. It was meant to be 3, but one playfield got damaged. The third playfield is still due to arrive by the end of next week.

The ball guides should be ready by Mon/Tue.

The wireform ramps should be ready by mid-week

The new pop bumper eggs and Queen models arrived 2 days ago.

The new Xeno mech model and jumping facehuggers are due to arrive by mid week.

Most sub-assemblies are complete.

The electronics are already being wired in.

The left ramp (metal), reverso and shooter bracket are due Tue/Wed. The middle ramp is tight, but is being pushed for Friday.

There's some other stuff that will be bolted on by next week, tested and then revealed later. This amounts to 3 key features that are secret at this point.

23
#7078 7 years ago
Quoted from txstargazer3:

Exciting news! Thank you.
How are things going on the FOX approvals?

Once the build is complete, and the game is working - still scheduled for the end of this month - then it will be submitted immediately to FOX for approval

35
#7127 7 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

Do you have any plans to film your Expo 2016 presentation & post it to your official YouTube channel yourself? With a title like "Alien Pinball, The Official North American Launch”, there's going to be a lot of anticipation
Just curious.

I will definitely video it, yes

Quoted from frolic:

Andrew, please have a strategy in place to have a staffer press "Send post" the MOMENT you start talking at Expo, and post online all the media/images/video you want, so you can control the message.

Yes, that's a valid point. I will look into the possibilities of live streaming it. In any case, I will have somebody to press the button at the same time

We may well have a UK/Global launch the week before - so by the time of Expo, you may already have news

22
#7131 7 years ago
Quoted from PinBalt:

Hi Andrew. Is the goal to have the Alien game also flippable for attendees at the booth? I'll be there and am pumped for the reveal!
PinBalt (#57)

The game should be flippable by this Friday again - so there shouldn't be any issues by Expo.

The question will be, how many games can we get there

Games won't be flippable until after the launch

72
#7149 7 years ago

Here is an update for you.

Alien pre-production builds still going well. One game fully wired underneath and the other half a day behind.

Pre Production Aliens (resized).jpgPre Production Aliens (resized).jpg

32
#7173 7 years ago
Quoted from PinballRulez:

Yes, I guess these are pre-production models. I would expect the production models to have the big PCBs (that would cause a great decrease of wires needed) as in Full Throttle.

You are absolutely right.

We use invididual PCBs for switches and LEDs on prototypes and pre-production units. These will always have way more wire than the production units that have switches and LEDs mounted on large PCBs.

There is virtually no soldering on production games. There is some soldering on prototypes and pre production games.

Look how tidy the wiring is on production Full Throttles. This is what you can expect on production Alien machines.

41
#7176 7 years ago

Some more manufactured parts to show you - reversos and shooter lane brackets

Reversos & Shooter Bracket Lowres (resized).jpgReversos & Shooter Bracket Lowres (resized).jpg

Reverso lowres (resized).jpgReverso lowres (resized).jpg

28
#7220 7 years ago
Quoted from flynnibus:

I'm curious why these 'pre-production' units would not be the shakedown phase for your wiring and electronics? You stated previously you plan to go right from these three (now 2) games in August to building production games in Sept. This looks like your first full fitting of the manufactured parts, but no proto/sample builds of the wiring/PCBs before you plan to start building production games?

We have had a working prototype for quite a while now, and many things are already bolted on to the game.

These pre production units will have everything on them that should be there. We are making three of these games now.

Following this, we will probably build another 10 games in September - and these will include the mapped circuit boards. These games will be used for testing and promotional purposes.

Quoted from rcbrown316:

any recent updates when this will be shipping? I need to time of a few sales properly to fund it.

As soon as we receive approval from FOX, we begin production immediately. Parts orders will be waiting for that green light.

The plan is to begin production in September and to begin shipping games by the end of October

1 week later
23
#7302 7 years ago
Quoted from schwarz:

Once production starts how many games are they planning on shipping a month?

We want to quickly build up to 100 games a month, and take it from there

20
#7306 7 years ago
Quoted from Wickerman2:

What about the playfield kits? What's the ETA on ordering those? Any new info?

Within 2 weeks, we are looking to announce all add-ons available, including prices, as well as game kits

16
#7317 7 years ago
Quoted from nephasth:

Meh. No email here. I ordered through Heighway, and back then was told my machine would be amongst the first set shipped over to the States...

Fear not - our new Customer Services Manager Aimee is just working through all the emails. She didn't get a chance to send them all out today because she is emailing everyone individually, rather than a mass email to all customers.

Emails have not been sent out in any particular order so everyone should receive their emails by the end of tomorrow

28
#7379 7 years ago
Quoted from thewool:

Good call!!! Andrew would this be an option??

I can certainly look into it

32
#7404 7 years ago
Quoted from Jvspin:

I am a little concerned that the lighting on FullT is daisy chained like WOZ so if an LED or board fails, everything downstream is taken out. For those with FullT, how robust has the lighting been? Can a bad LED or board be jumped to keep the game mostly operational?

All LEDs are push fit on our boards. When you have identified a faulty LED, then you simply pull it out and replace it with a new one. No soldering needed either

#7406 7 years ago
Quoted from kidchrisso:

Andrew,
Do you send these replacements with the game by chance?
Thanks

With LEs, yes. With SEs, no

2 weeks later
43
#7590 7 years ago

Hi everyone,

I have some updates for you.

We do not have an Australian distributer right now, but expect to have one soon. Until then, it is always possible to order directly through us.

We are working very hard with FOX to have everything approved on time. This includes not just the final game approval, but new marketing material and of course the promo video. We are in the middle of the final approvals process with FOX right now.

We fully intend to have playable games at Expo. Will they be 100% - no. But we will aim for them to be as playable as possible. All the main modes are currently playable at this point.

Once we get final game approval then production will begin immediately. Suppliers are standing by to start working on parts as soon as this happens.

We will be making further announcements closer to Expo

11
#7596 7 years ago
Quoted from flynnibus:

Have you been able to build your pre-production and sample 10 games that were your plan previously?

Ten games no but three games yes - or more accurately 2 games up to this point and a third next week - only delayed because of a defect in one of the playfields.

To all intents, these are pre-production games. The only real difference between these and production games is that we are using individual boards for switches and LEDs and not large purpose-built PCBs. Therefore there is a lot more wiring on these games. Other than this, they are complete.

That's not to say we won't refine and change certain things before production. We will always make changes if it betters our games.

25
#7614 7 years ago
Quoted from parabol420:

Wow, changing the architecture of the primary computer entirely.
Andrew, will this have any affect on us original Full Throttle owners looking to buy swap kits for future games?

We completely re-wrote our videoserver programme - which controls the graphics and animations. There is a good amount of real-time rendering needed on this game - for motion trackers, for example - and consequently we have had to upgrade our CPU (pc unit).

This does mean that existing customers will need to upgrade their CPU to allow new games to be fitted. We will write to each customer individually about this and they will be offered discounted CPU upgrade rates.

We have tried to make this new CPU future-proof for the forseeable future.

20
#7649 7 years ago

There are people out there with alterior motives and who have interests in us failing, or trying to cause trouble on the eve of Alien's reveal.

I would put this right in the hands of my lawyers - but unsurprisingly, the poster is anonymous

1 week later
20
#7759 7 years ago
Quoted from dannunz:

In the first video Andrew was showing the ramps were plastic correct? They are now metal?

That's correct Gabe - the two ramps are now steel

48
#7764 7 years ago

Twin Peaks Alien Launch Party Flyer (resized).pngTwin Peaks Alien Launch Party Flyer (resized).png

11
#7868 7 years ago

Thanks for all the positive messages.

Quoted from jonesjb:

Reposting this, hoping someone can answer. Does anyone know?

The Xeno model has changed a little - due to requests from FOX. But the same level of detail remains, and will be present on all games.

Hilton - we are having a brand new coin door design manufactured especially for us. The current 2-slot door can clash with our ball trough. The new design brings the 2 x coin mechs aligned to the left of the door. The note validator plate swaps to align on the bottom right of the door.

One of the reasons the engineer model was dropped is that we realised we couldn't give a good enough representation due to the height restraints at the front of the playfield. The turret, and its angle, simply wouldn't fit.

#7871 7 years ago
Quoted from MK6PIN:

Andrew,
Is this the Standard Art package? Appears so, as does the hardware(?)

Hi Mark,

Yes, this is the Standard Edition hardware package.

This is also the Standard Edition trim.

The topper, and the Blade EL Panel lighting kit, are optional extras

#7874 7 years ago
Quoted from Yipykya:

That would be fantastic if the zenomorph head is painted to look like the early released picture. In the flyer pics it appears the shiny wet shadowed look is a dry matt finish missing the color depth gradients. Is it the paint detail differences I see that Fox changed?

No, the changes have been made to the structure of the model itself. FOX wanted the model head narrower - which it is now

The paint finish has changed to this during the process. That's not to say that it can't or won't be changed during production.

20
#7891 7 years ago
Quoted from CaptK:

What's going on with the right inlane/outlane area? Is there no divider between the inlane and outlane? I see a post, but nothing else to separate them. Also, it looks like trapping a ball on the lower right flipper will be tricky. If the ball rolls right too far up the guide, it will fall into the gap and drain (sort of like Future Spa).

There's a one-way gate there that wasn't installed when this photo was taken

12
#7896 7 years ago
Quoted from tezting:

Sorry for my bad Paint skills, but dont you think it is more like the yellow?

Your yellow lines are correct

Super exclusive ad from the Pinside Marketplace!
38
#7964 7 years ago

Our cabinet system has been designed to accomodate different variations in the future. You will notice that the flipper buttons and the start/launch buttons all sit on plates.

These plates are removeable and swappable.

In the future, our system can allow multiple flipper buttons on either side of the cabinet, if needed, as well as a shooter...

If the game designer wants a shooter in the future - they shall have a shooter

#7974 7 years ago

Hi everyone,

I have a question to current pre-order customers.

At the weekend, Aimee sent an email with payment details for the next installment.

Over the weekend her email was hacked and an additional email was sent to at least one customer with bank details supposedly from us. These bank details are incorrect and somebody is trying to get our customers to make payments to a fraudulent account.

If you received an email with all payment details in the body of the email, and the Alien Pinball game flyer as an attachment - then this is correct.

If you then received a subsequent email with bank details as an attachment - then this was fraud.

We are emailing all of our customers about this tonight. However, if you received such an email, could you please either PM me here, or email me at [email protected] please?

Thanks in advance.

Andrew

32
#8297 7 years ago
Quoted from CaptainNemo:

Why would you send more money to Andrew Heighway at this point? Let's look at the facts.
1. Andrew hasn't fulfilled his full throttle orders. Ask him. Coin Taker hasn't even gotten their orders filled. Ask them.
2. The US Heighway team has NEVER seen a physical game yet. The first they saw it was at Expo. They've been designing the game virtually.
3. Denis Nordman said at Expo he was never paid.
4. Andrew has ex employees suing him for unpaid wages
5. His game is based on Ripley yet S.Weaver denied them permission....seriously...Zen Pinball got permission.
All you have to do is ask Andrew himself if he's shipped more than 100 Full Throttles and that's all you need to know. 4.5 years...4 factories. Countless employees. Does that sound like a man who has money to build you Alien pin. You're all fools and it's gonna be hysterical when you fail to see the truth.

So, I am supposed to defend myself against a coward who hides anonymously behind a keyboard?

Your comments are BS and specifically timed to do as much damage as possible to my company. You clearly have alterior motives - whoever you are.

No, I am not going to reply to your comments - unless you reveal your true identity.

Otherwise this is nothing more than slander.

20
#8307 7 years ago

We always said that production would officially start when we had full game approval from our licensor. That has now happened.

Our payment terms have always been 50% when we begin production and the balance prior to shipping.

We are now ordering parts to build real Alien games. Some parts are in stock now. Many of the games' parts are 'production-ready' now and will be delivered within weeks.

Some parts need to be tweaked. Some parts need more testing. Software will be enhanced and tweaked. It is all part of the process.

#8605 7 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

So now that we're getting closer to production & the LE artwork is getting created, can someone please comment if Andrew is still considering making a black nickel trim option? That option did have quite a bit of support in this thread a few weeks back.
I'm sure I'm not the only owner who plans on playfield swapping on their Alien LE, and that green trim is so specific to this theme that something more neutral like black nickel would work better with other titles. And while the chrome trim option looks beautiful, it's still pretty pricey. Perhaps their will be some type of mid-tier option, other than the green?
I know trim color is probably last on your priority list right now, but my fingers are crossed for another option

I did ask my platers the question, but they weren't optimisitic.

I haven't given up yet though - and will try some other suppliers.

The cost of the polished reflective chrome-type trim option may come down as well

23
#8606 7 years ago
Quoted from neverahighscore:

Great question as I agree 100% with you. Chrome is not a great choice for this title and I would like to have the black nickel as an option. I ordered my LE from the beginning and if I'm stuck with the green as the only option, I'll send the trim out for the black nickel treatment. Hoping Andrew comes thru with the nickel option. The darker the better on this game!

Black will also be an option at no extra cost for all LE customers

32
#8694 7 years ago

Apologies if email replies are slow. I'm just back from the USA today.

i have a mountain of emails to get through and will be doing it before the end of the weekend.

If anyone has any questions about anything, including payments, then email me directly please and I'll answer shortly.

I did video the whole seminar - and as soon as I get a chance, I will upload it to our YouTube channel and post it here

Andrew

36
#8813 7 years ago

Hi everyone,

Apologies for the radio silence - but we are just getting back to normal after Expo.

We have taken onboard any criticisms over the Expo period and reveal, and are working on a few key changes that can be implemented without delaying our production process.

Yes the production process has begun. Many parts have been ordered and some have already begun arriving. Production of the first games will be relatively slow - but this process will speed up dramatically as we get closer to Christmas.

Production of certain elements are happening now - the cabinets are virtually unchanged from Full Throttle - except for the EL blade panel recesses - and hence these can be built up first. Many sub assemblies will also be built in the coming weeks. This is how we can say that production has officially started. The more parts that are made now - the easier and quicker it will be finish the first games and get them shipped out to customers.

Part of this challenge is ramping up the production processes over the coming weeks to meet our target of producing 100 games a month by the end of this year. We have hired the necessary people with the knowledge and experience to make this happen.

We are significantly strengthening all areas of our company to meet the needs over the coming months. This includes extra personnel in all areas of the company. We know that there have been some delays in replying to customers over the last few weeks and for us, this is unacceptable. We will endeavour to deal with existing customers, and new enquiries, in a much faster manner in the coming days and weeks.

Many people have commented on the CPU and the need to upgrade it for existing Full Throttle owners. We chose the current Full Throttle CPU 2.5 years ago. It was a great CPU back then but 2.5 years is an eternity in the PC world.

As a company we want to constantly evolve our product and make it as new and relevant as possible. We tried to "cover all bases" in our original design concept, but inevitably some aspects of the system may need to be upgraded in the future. We could have kept the same CPU for Alien - but you, the customers, would suffer from not having the ultimate experience that we, the creators, can deliver to you now. So in choosing a new CPU, we have tried to make sure that it WON'T need changing over the next 2-3 years.

For existing customers, we will do our very best to look after them. It won't mean 'free' CPU upgrades, but it should mean substantial discounts for Full Throttle customers. When the time is right, we will announce such pricing and incentives.

I will try to stay as active here as possible, and to answer questions that you may have - and to give you regular updates over the coming weeks.

27
#8829 7 years ago
Quoted from TimeBandit:

Yeah, I seriously doubt Heighway would look to add any profit margin into a CPU upgrade. There may be a cost but it will be a pass through at most, and then just up to Andrew how much of it he wants to eat, as something like a goodwill exercise. He could always just charge that to the marketing budget.

I can guarantee you that we will not make a penny/cent from supplyling new replacement CPUs to FT customers. It will likely be part subsidised by us.

#9003 7 years ago
Quoted from calprog:

Anyone having trouble contacting Heighway Pinball? They are not returning any emails. Sent 4 emails in last two weeks. Trying to add items to my LE order. Concerned.

Hi Calprog - sorry if you couldn't get through.

Please send me an email to [email protected] and I'll answer you directly.

#9017 7 years ago
Quoted from Hazoff:

Any idea when will get an in house video of the pin flipping just to see and hear it properly, I saw a little bit of the gameplay from expo and the promo but would like to see more, Andrew maybe you could let us know? By the way this is my favorite pinball pic of all time, amazing. Thanks

Our games are STILL on the way back from Chicago! They sat in a warehouse for more than a week!

Anyway, they should be back in days. We will look to do a few gameplay videos when they have returned. One is going straight back to one of our programmers and the other is staying here for now.

Believe it or not, but it's $400 cheaper to ship a game back to us and then ship it directly to one of our programmers than it was to ship it by road directly from Chicago.

22
#9084 7 years ago
Quoted from Hazoff:

Did anyone hear that music during Tunnel Escape, thats simply amazing, for me like Seige mode in TWD or Horde, those moments are super rare in pinball, I think this pin will do some serious blowing of minds in a home environment with darkness and good volume, how couldn't it, very excited.

This is exactly what happened on the Friday evening at Expo. I was interviewed with the game for a major TV documentary. Then I had to play the game for the cameras.

The private room had all the lights off. The sound was pumped up. The beacons were flashing continuously and bouncing off all the walls. Brian had put the very latest code on it so even I saw lots of new additions for the very first time.

It's not right for me to go into too much detail about my own feelings that night as it can be rightly argued that I can't be objective.

But I don't think I am speaking out of line when I say that others in the room felt they were very special moments.

#9102 7 years ago
Quoted from matt_adams:

4 emails so far and tried calling 3 times today, no one picking up!!!!

Our phone had an issue this morning but is working fine now.

I sent you a text Matt - did you receive it?

24
#9146 7 years ago
Quoted from RobT:

Is this the latest promise?
Because I'm having a hard time believing that Alien pins will be shipping to owners in less than 60 days from today.

I know the spotlight is on us.

At this point - we must deliver. Everyone on our team knows that.

We are pushing very hard at this point.

We have missed some deadlines in the past, and hit some deadlines in the past.

Shipping as many Alien games this year, as possible, is our number one objective.

We aim to give you regular updates over the coming days and weeks. This will include parts arriving, cabinets being assembled, playfields being assembled, etc...

Our prototypes arrived back this afternoon - finally. We will shoot some gameplay videos as soon as possible and then post them accordingly.

#9184 7 years ago
Quoted from Ferret:

My personal favorite might be David's work on Hypersleep Multiball. He's created this gradual build-up in the background music as you progress through the jackpot levels; I can't recall another game with a similar effect. (Closest thing that comes to mind would be the way Whitewater's background music gets more and more enthusiastic as you progress rafts.) It's very orchestral and wonderful.

I think the whole team agreed that David created an amazing piece here

20
#9185 7 years ago
Quoted from flynnibus:

There is less reward if the outcome isn't hard to get
Discovery is part of the journey... Don't like it, wait for others. But if Joe dumps it all, it's ruined for everyone.

I think you make very good points.

I believe it is a fine balance.

My own personal experience in playing WMS games is that in general, sometimes - no matter how many times I had played a game - I would see or hear something I hadn't experienced before. There lies some of the magic in pinball.

This is something that has often been discussed within my company.

For me, the game has to be simple enough to understand that anyone can play it and quickly understand the game. But then you can have a lot of depth in the programming where experienced players can get more satisfaction the deeper they get into the game. Our company is blessed to have a team working on Alien who are determined to achieve these goals.

So will we produce a gameplay tutorial video when the time is right? - absolutely. Will it give away all the game's secrets - definitely not.

There is also a lot more to come in Full Throttle's programming - including an "adult" mode. When we feel this programming is complete, a player will have to play the game a LOT before they hear and see everything in the game.

#9209 7 years ago
Quoted from Pinballgeek:

Hi Andrew,
One quick question; in 2012 during the Uk Pinball Party you unveiled the prototypes of circes animal house which became full throttle,there was one machine that had a transparent lcd screen that was used instead of playfield glass. Could we see this technology resurface on future games because as time goes on this technology will become more mainstream and prices will plummet ?
» YouTube video

Absolutely. We are always looking at new technologies.

When the products are available at the right price then we will look seriously into it again

16
#9234 7 years ago
Quoted from db666:

It may seem like a small thing but I've sent three emails to Heighway now asking about availability of Alien in Australia and had no response at all.
I understand they may not have a definitive answer but just ignoring the question leaves me wondering - if they can't be bothered to reply to a potential customer interested in handing over money to them, how would I fare if I eventually bought one and needed help or support or had a problem?
By contrast I sent a similar enquiry to Spooky Pinball and received a comprehensive response from KT the same day.
Despite my misgivings I like the theme and what I've seen of Alien so far.
I've signed up and posted this here because I can see Andrew does have time to post in forums.

Please accept our apologies for not getting back to you sooner.

We are overhauling many aspects of our business and are behind on emails. We are catching up - but not as quickly as we would like.

We do have an Australian distributer lined up, and will be announcing this shortly.

I will also personally respond to your email tomorrow.

Regards,

Andrew

#9270 7 years ago

We only charge sales tax on UK and European retail orders.

European distributors who are registered for their equivalent of VAT/Sales Tax also do not get charged sales tax.

Anyone outside of the EU does not get charged any sales tax by us.

27
#9278 7 years ago

Hi everyone.

An update post will follow within the next 24 hours.

Thanks for your patience.

Andrew

60
#9285 7 years ago

Hi everyone,

Here is the promised update.

Everyone in the company, and involved with the company, is working flat out to release the first 20 Alien Pinball Standard Edition games in early December. 10 more games are due to follow before our 2 week Christmas/New Year shutdown (16th December - 2nd January).
These 10 games may or may not be LEs - depending on progress in the coming weeks.

100 LE games are scheduled for January, and every month thereafter, as a minimum. This means that we will be able to deliver games much faster to our customers in the future.

Expo and Pinside have proved invaluable feedback for our game. We have listened and made a few key changes, without bringing big delays to our production schedule. This means that everyone has had to work twice as hard in order to make such changes without causing any big delays.

So what changes have been made? We have made some significant alterations to the left ramp. Previously, the ball ricocheted off the target at the top of the ramp, and then stopped by hitting the platform wall. We never liked this shot either, and now the ramp has been changed at the top to bring the ball quickly 180 degrees back down the platform and to the left flipper. This now brings flow to a shot that previously had little.

The unloved "Queen Chamber" has now been removed and replaced with something else. We will reveal this feature as we get closer to our release date. The Queen is still planned to appear eleswhere - but again, we will reveal details of this later

We have also made a number of changes based on extensive play over the Expo period - such as fixing software bugs and making some playfield alterations, where there were ball hang ups, for example.

We made the decision not to publish videos that show entire modes being played out, as we feel that removed the excitement for players that want to explore the game themselves. Instead, we will show a number of teaser videos for some of the modes in the game. These teaser videos are designed to show some highlights of the mode, but do not reflect the depth of rules that exist in these modes.

A lot of work has gone into making the modes easy to understand and play - but then give a lot of depth to experienced/returning players at the same time.

We will release more videos over the coming weeks. After games have begun shipping, we will release a tutorial video that will explain the basic rules of the game.

We have replaced some staff and increased staff numbers in key areas such as technical support and customer service. We are catching up in all areas and aim to give the correct levels of service and support over the coming days and weeks.

Thanks for reading. Here is the "Bug Hunt" teaser video:

#9317 7 years ago
Quoted from thewool:

Hi Andrew,
Please can you pm or email me regarding my refund?
Sent you a few mails on this, also tried to call the factory but the number is u/s.
Cheers, Kris

Quoted from kidchrisso:

Your not the only one having issues on getting a refund....it's ridiculous.

I am working through delays personally myself this weekend - apologies for any delays

#9376 7 years ago
Quoted from Wamprat:

Australian distributor?

This has been sorted now. We will be announcing them shortly

1 week later
27
#9406 7 years ago

We will be emailing updates, and posting an update here, tomorrow

21
#9428 7 years ago

Hi everyone,

Not the production update today - but a sneak preview of one of the 'Alien' modes.

In this short teaser video we show you the mood, and some of the shots, of the "Find Jonesy" mode.

This short video is just a teaser video, and does not reveal the true depth of this mode.

41
#9482 7 years ago

Hi everyone,

Here is the promised update - apologies for it being a few days later than we had intended.

We are working flat out building games at the moment, but we have suffered some delays. We rejected a batch of playfields, all PCB sets were rejected and some models are behind schedule. A few other parts are also delayed.

The 9th December goal for shipping 20 games has been missed. We break up for our Christmas break 2 weeks from Friday 16th and return on Monday 2nd January. We won't be able to ship these games before Friday 16th December.

We are running behind schedule - but not by much. The 20 Standard Edition games should now be ready to ship within 2 weeks of us returning on 2nd January. Huge quantities of parts were ordered weeks ago for full production and the plan is still very much to be making large numbers of LEs in January. We still intend shipping LEs to customers in January.

There's nothing we would have liked more than to show you pictures of games shipping before Christmas. Are we - or more importantly "I" - guilty of unrealsitic timeframes? Yes. For this I apologise. But we all care deeply about this game and are determined to give you what you want. We are very close to shipping games now but we ARE running a few weeks behind schedule.

Please find attached a variety of production photos taken over the last month. We will continue to update you with our progress.

Tomorrow we will release a production video on our YouTube channel - and will post it here accordingly. The following day we will post an "extended cut" of the 'Find Jonesy' teaser video. We mistakenly posted the "short edit" yesterday.

Thanks for reading this update and apologies to anyone who has felt that we have not been communicative recently.

Production Photos 2016-page-001 (resized).jpgProduction Photos 2016-page-001 (resized).jpg

Production Photos 2016-page-002 (resized).jpgProduction Photos 2016-page-002 (resized).jpg

Production Photos 2016-page-003 (resized).jpgProduction Photos 2016-page-003 (resized).jpg

Production Photos 2016-page-004 (resized).jpgProduction Photos 2016-page-004 (resized).jpg

Production Photos 2016-page-005 (resized).jpgProduction Photos 2016-page-005 (resized).jpg

Production Photos 2016-page-006 (resized).jpgProduction Photos 2016-page-006 (resized).jpg

Production Photos 2016-page-007 (resized).jpgProduction Photos 2016-page-007 (resized).jpg

Production Photos 2016-page-008 (resized).jpgProduction Photos 2016-page-008 (resized).jpg

12
#9487 7 years ago
Quoted from jonesjb:

Can you reveal what will appear in the pin where the alien chamber used to be?

We would rather show you - and that's not too far away

#9489 7 years ago
Quoted from bane:

How about an update on LE artwork?

It is being dealt with - that's all we can say.

Once it is finished, and FOX have approved it, then you guys will be the first to know. It's unlikely we will be revealing the artwork before January though.

At this stage, the approval won't take long once submitted.

22
#9497 7 years ago
Quoted from RobT:

Thanks for the update Andrew. But at this point, I really do think that you would be better served by saying that you are "running a few months behind schedule" rather than "a few weeks behind schedule" given the various issues that you list in your post. All PCB's were rejected? Do you have replacements yet? If not, when? What were the issues with the playfields that were rejected? Has the issue been resolved?
What were the "other few parts" that were delayed? Have they been received yet?
Just seems unlikely that these issues will result in only being "a few weeks behind schedule." Give yourself some breathing room.

I have no problem answering specifics.

All PCBs were rejected. 3 replacement sets leave China this Saturday. 23 more sets on Monday. If these check out ok, 100 more sets (for the LEs) will arrive in the first 10 days of January

The playfields had insert problems, believed to have been caused by mis-handling during shipping. Replacements, plus spares, are already on the line. These will arrive with us within 2 weeks. The first 100 playfields for the LEs are scheduled to arrive within the first 2 weeks of January

Other "delayed" parts include the Facehugger brackets - which we are working on right now. The knock on effect is the facehugger models that are molded onto the brackets are delayed. These will now be molded over the Christmas period. Other than this - it's some suppliers running 1-2 weeks late. We push them as hard as we can.

#9503 7 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Andrew is there any chance of a look at the backbox Beacons in action?
I am sure there are other people like me who are curious regarding the upgrades and since you posted a photo of the flyer with the beacons on top of the backbox it's impossible to resist asking, if we could see some sneak peaks of the various upgrades available specially over Xmas when people are in the spending mood

Of course Jon - we will make it happen

Quoted from spfxted:

With the new replacement toy...how fast can it go from design, test, approval, etc to production, delivery and re-test? Or is it pretty much done already?

It's as good as finished already. For production, there will be no delays with this.

#9513 7 years ago
Quoted from fxdwg:

ditto! as I am in the same boat for my LE. Sent deposit as soon as I saw the videos from expo, other than a confirmation and number of my LE, haven't received anything else requesting more $$$. don't want to be in the back of the line either if at all possible.
thanks for the updates and sneak peeks.

Morgan is working through sending a lot of emails. If you haven't received an email by lunchtime Friday UK time - feel free to email me directly at [email protected]

11
#9516 7 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Andrew just wanted to ask another quick question while your about. Have you had any thought at any point wirh regards to offering dedicated cabinets?
Say for someone who wants to always keep an Alien an Alien, would it be something that would be financially beneficial to you? To offer dedicated cabinets and decals? I know the swappable system is a key feature of your pins and I know if you keep dropping great titles (hint hint BTTF ) I will most definitely need to use it but I was just curious if it was something you had given any thought to providing there was demand and it would be financially beneficial first and foremost?

Hi Jon - it is something I am still seriously considering

#9520 7 years ago
Quoted from Manny65:

Hi Andrew. Thanks for all the recent updates and like how it's coming along - any indication as to when the Aussie distributor will be announced?
Thanks

Everything is arranged in principle. The final details just need to be sorted and then it can be announced. I want everything announced before we break up on the 16th December.

#9523 7 years ago
Quoted from GotAQuestion:

I would be instantly in on a Giger Edition LE if you were to do a fully sculpted cabinet honoring the late H.R. Giger. I know that's just words on a forum, but that would be some real art. His bars have a lot of unique architecture that could be drawn from.

We would LOVE to do that but unfortunately it will never happen with us. It's too far off the path that the licensor would want to go.

The best bet would be for a customer to commission a one-off cabinet themselves

38
#9543 7 years ago

As promised, our latest YouTube video shows various production processes during production of Alien Pinball over the last month

26
#9567 7 years ago

A few updates for you as to what you can expect from us shortly...

'Find Jonesy' Mode Teaser - the 'Extended Cut'

'Ambush Multiball' Mode teaser

News of the replacement for the Queen's Chamber

12
#9600 7 years ago
Quoted from pascal-pinball:

Are those optic fibre lightning ramps (Alien LE) the same as the tron LE ramps?
Can you order a 27" backbox LCD screen for an Alien standard edition?

Yes to both questions.

Quoted from bemmett:

I asked what manufacturer it was going to be for the non reflective glass and was given this answer below from Heighway like 2 days ago, so don't assume it is PDI, doesn't seem that is confirmed unless someone else knows something different.
"Unfortunately I don’t have any information about the brand of non-reflective glass at the moment because we currently have new supplier for the glass. I will keep you up to date in the near future."

Currently we only offer an un-branded non-reflective glass. However, we are about to offer a second alternative - PDI. Anyone who has purchased the non-branded one will also have the option to upgrade to PDI if they wish

13
#9615 7 years ago
Quoted from PACMAN:

SO WHAT'S REPLACING THE AIR LOCK CHAMBER??!!
Yes I'm yelling.

As soon as FOX officially approve it, we will show it.

#9626 7 years ago
Quoted from RTS:

So is production held up waiting for approval, or are games in production right now?

Production is going ahead right now and we are not being delayed by approvals at this point. There is only one element we are waiting on and this should come in any day now

#9627 7 years ago
Quoted from musketd:

Yes what is replacing the air lock chamber is it a cool interactive toy Andrew?

We would rather show you, rather than tell you Derek.

As soon as we can show you, we will

29
#9637 7 years ago

A few weeks ago we showed you a teaser video for the 'Find Jonesy' mode in 'Alien Pinball'

This is the extended cut of this video.

Coming Friday 23rd December - 'Ambush Multiball' mode teaser video and a sneak preview of the replacement for the Queen's Chamber

28
#9660 7 years ago

As promised, here is the latest teaser video for Alien Pinball

Here we show you a short clip from the 'Ambush Multiball' mode

33
#9673 7 years ago

As promised, here is a sneek preview of the replacement for the Queen's Chamber.

The original concept was to have a 5" Airlock LCD screen on the rear of the rotating toy. The Airlock screen will now permanently replace the Queen's Chamber.

Featuring the next mode to collect, countdown timers and more - this is an independently-controlled LCD screen.

The photos show the prototype unit. Please ignore the cable at the top and the alignment/ratio of the screen. The positioning and angle of the screen is also subject to change.

This does not necessarily mean the end of the Queen model. She may yet appear elsewhere on the playfield - but likely as an official after-market add-on/mod.

LCD1 (resized).jpgLCD1 (resized).jpg

LCD2 (resized).jpgLCD2 (resized).jpg

LCD3 (resized).jpgLCD3 (resized).jpg

LCD4 (resized).jpgLCD4 (resized).jpg

11
#9675 7 years ago
Quoted from rlslick:

I'm partial to what I'm seeing only because it's so large which takes away from the aliens head. We never had a chance to see the rotating chamber with the LCD screen...was that idea dissolved and replaced with what is now replaced with the larger framed LCD screen?
I'm almost thinking had the public seen that prototype working it would have been received better than just the chamber with the toy alien inside.

The screen actually moves away to the left of (and therefore away from) the xeno head on the production game - giving the xeno head more space

10
#9680 7 years ago
Quoted from billycrna:

It will be interesting to see how this additional screen will be incorporated into the gameplay. However, if you bought the back box screen, you now have 3 screens to keep an eye on. Kind of feels like it may be overkill. But, I'll make that assessment when I see the finished product. It's still pretty cool!

The Airlock LCD will be used in such a way as to help the player. We aim to avoid 'sensory overload'

31
#9789 7 years ago

I personally think the Airlock bezel is too big as well.

We had a hardware restriction with this unit before Christmas, and this is one reason for the current size of the bezel. However this issue has now been fixed by our supplier. Essentially, we had a very short screen to driver board cable that restricted how, and where, we could mount the driver board. We now have a longer cable that removes this restriction.

We will address this on 3rd January - our first day back.

If possible, we will make the unit and bezel smaller to give the xenomorph as much space as possible to stand out.

29
#9804 7 years ago
Quoted from RandomGuyOffCL:

These heighway games have been stroked into American standards peice by piece. Their original concept was swappable everything, widebody, in playfield lcd, no backbox at all.
Now we have an afterthought-ish looking backbox (because it is), an indecisive push for a backbox screen (big one, small one), and now this new mini screen.
Will Andrews vision be continually filtered out over the next few titles?

That's an interesting post.

I think in some areas, the vision remains and in others, I like to think we have evolved.

The backbox is exactly as envisioned. It is meant to be modern, and a breakaway from traditional wedge-shaped backboxes. I think it is only unusual to traditional pinball fans and collectors. New players will hopefully identify with the design more. When you say 'no backbox at all' are you sure you're not thinking of P3 as we have always had a backbox?

However, as has been discussed here previously, we always want to listen to customers, and where appropriate, make changes. This is the reason why we are still currently considering releasing a 'classic' cabinet design - complete with wedge-head - if the demand is there.

A few people have mentioned that the Airlock screen is an afterthought - but the truth is that this concept was approved by FOX 2 years ago. We have just decided to bring it back.The Queen model may yet be available in the future for this game.

The 10.1" backbox LCD screen has now been dropped. It's now either 'no screen' or 27" backbox screen. The 'no screen' option is meant to be more of a 'budget option'. The minute we tested the 27" screen for the first time, it had a huge 'wow factor'. For a game like Alien, we believe the 27" screen is a must-have to enjoy the full A/V experience.

Is my last statement an admission that the 10.1" playfield screen has failed? Not at all. Feedback from players and game owners is that they love the playfield screen. My own personal opinion is that I love both screens being there. I love being able to refer to the playfield screen when the ball is in play, and for the big visual moments - especially when the ball is out of play - I like to stand back and look at the 27" screen.

22
#9830 7 years ago

We won't be making changes at this point that will delay this game any further.

The 5" Airlock screen is good to go and as Aurich has said, it will be used in such a way that it won't be overkill - instead, it will enhance the playing experience for the player. The scoop is THAT important in Alien Pinball that the Airlock Screen will become pivotal in the playing experience of this game.

Also, the more visual reference tools you can deliver to brand new players cannot be understated. A new player who actually understands what to do and where to shoot is potentially a repeat player. It's a fine line between telling a player too much, and not telling them enough. Nobody wants to hear "shoot this, shoot that" all the time. But having an additional visual reference tool, ie: screen, showing an animated mode clip that visually shows the player to "shoot here to start 'Acid Burn' mode, for example, seems a great idea to our development team.

As for the Queen - to everyone who misses her - we still hope to bring her back into the game, but will likely be an official after-market mod/add-on to be purchased separately. I can't go into detail about this, at this point, but if she makes it back onto the game then she will be a far better toy - and a much more relevant one.

#9836 7 years ago
Quoted from Toads:

it is on my invoice

I have sent you a PM - did you receive it?

If you have been charged sales tax by us on an invoice then that is incorrect.

Please forward the invoice to me at [email protected] and I will address it.

15
#9856 7 years ago
Quoted from jrawlinson_2000:

Andrew, I have a question regarding the LEDs you are using as it would appear in this clip the inserts under the playfield screen are showing signs of ghosting can you please explain what is causing this?

We have shot the videos using our prototypes. Our prototypes use individually wired LED boards. With the large amount of wiring, it causes interference and LED 'ghosting'.

The production versions use 3 large PCBs and this eliminates the ghosting

30
#9909 7 years ago
Quoted from RipleYYY:

ok, than is this case, why white ? couldnt it be (tainted) black ?
for the eyes, would be more integrated in the PF...

The nylon flipper infills will be black on Alien

Quoted from jonesjb:

Would any rubbers work (like Titan), or do you need the Heighway ones?

Any normal flipper rubbers will work

#9915 7 years ago
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

HeighwayPinball - Andrew
Now you've finalized the concept of using a third lcd screen at queen's chamber, is it SAFE to assume kits will start shipping by end of Feb and LE's will start flowing by April?

Hi Jeff. SEs will start shipping in January. Kits will definitely start shipping in February, but could still make the end of January. LE production starts January and will ship in February

#9936 7 years ago
Quoted from Bryno:

Heighway are on Stand 313 according to the Expo web site. Andrew has stated on The UK Pinballinfo forum that there will be 4 Aliens and also Full Throttle's available to play.

Yes, this is correct

1 week later
#9983 7 years ago
Quoted from j69:

It's missing the 2main toys and the sling toys?

Joe has everything he needs to do what he needs to do. We are taking care of the rest at the factory.

17
#10020 7 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Any update Andrew regarding how builds are coming along? Are you looking on track to meet/make January dates you set at the end of last year? Would just be great to know now things are going, cannot wait to see these start shipping.

23 Standards are on the line. Parts are arriving every day.

We are flat out finishing the first 3 games for EAG next week. This is the major European coin-op trade show in Europe.

We aim to have 3 x Aliens there and 3 x Full Throttles.

With heavy snowfall forecast over the next 24 hours, we are hoping the roads will be clear as more parts are due to be collected tomorrow.

Finishing off the other 20 SEs won't take long. Most parts are in stock. LEs still on course for next month.

29
#10021 7 years ago

We are often asked what the differences are between Standard Edition and Limited Edition models.

Here's our comparison chart, hot off the press...

comparison chart copy-page-001 (resized).jpgcomparison chart copy-page-001 (resized).jpg

14
#10056 7 years ago
Quoted from SunKing:

Will these be the same games you are bringing to TPF? I'm very excited to get a chance to play.

Honestly they won't last nearly that long. I have people wanting to take these games away from the show next week.

Getting brand new games to Texas won't be a problem

#10082 7 years ago
Quoted from underlord:

Well Andrew, despite the fact that I've been waiting for my refund since October, I still think the pin looks great and have recommended a friend talk to you about a potential purchase. He's got more expendable income than me right now.
Now...about that refund...

I'll chase up tomorrow for you and email you directly

21
#10093 7 years ago
Quoted from FalconPunch:

People stepping on egg shells around here.
I'll say it if no one wants to.
It's no acceptable to make someone wait 4 months for a refund. It does a lot more financial damage to the Heighway brand then the amount in their bank account. Why do people have to consistently post on pinside to get unanswered emails attended to?

I have spoken to Richard directly and apologised for the delay. The situation has been dealt with.

35
#10237 7 years ago

We sampled many beacons and this was the best of them by far. Many use LEDs now but that's not the look we wanted. They have to be rotating yellow beacons with an incandescent bulb - as in the films.

Funnily enough - I remember the first beacon I tested. It ran off a cigarette lighter. I went into my car, plugged it in ... and watched it catch fire on my lap. We decided not to run with this version!

I hear the comments about the neck of the beacon. I will say this though - the raised beacons rotating in a dark room were simply awesome in my own personal experience - the beams bounce all around the walls in your peripheral vision, when you're playing the game.

The screen alignment issues were down to software adjustments only. We needed an update just before the show and unfortunately I couldn't download a 1GB file at the show. It's a very quick fix - but shouldn't have happened.

The game is actually a lot more finished than it appeared to be.

22
#10240 7 years ago
Quoted from Dano:

The xeno head in the back looks all shiny and sexy in the back but it's sad not to see it doing something. Any chance of making do a random hiss here and there until it's ready eat balls for dinner?

That's exactly what the xeno will do. It's all programmed in - just the activation timings aren't all programmed in - which is again a quick and easy fix.

Xeno snarls ... hisses ... and of course, eats pinballs!

21
#10297 7 years ago

Next week, we will work on the video that you have asked us for

#10318 7 years ago
Quoted from RandomGuyOffCL:

Andrew, catching up on this thread makes me wonder why you have no PR manager.
Managing things such as refunds & timelines seems to be such a challenge.

No I dont, but that sounds like a very good idea. As we continue to grow, that will become a priority

Quoted from musketd:

Andrew just curios if the alien ball lock mechanism is working yet? Can't wait to see it in action

The mechanisms are built and the coding is complete. We have some testing to still to complete.

1 week later
#10437 7 years ago

We apologise for any delays in refunds. There are a couple oustanding and they will be all sorted this coming week

21
#10439 7 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Any ETA on the big gameplay video Andrew? Asking out of pure excitement

It should be released before the end of the week (Friday 3rd) and the first games should ship by then as well

35
#10523 7 years ago
Quoted from RobT:

Please quote a post where Andrew answered the specific question raised by Razorbak86 regarding the board issues. If he answered it and I missed it, I will apologize.

I did miss it - I apologise.

The board issue simply came down to Chinese New Year. Some Chinese companies require more than 3 months notice in the run up to holiday for orders. We missed the boat to have assembled PCBs (called PCBAs) in time for the EAG show, so bare PCBs arrived instead. We had to manually solder the first boards - and that led to unexpected problems on the eve of the show - which only got fixed on day 2.

Since then, new boards have been soldered professionally, and locally. Quantities of PCBA boards will arrive from China within 2 weeks once the factory we use reopens on Monday.

#10527 7 years ago
Quoted from whatchapopo:

the PCB's aren't the same between FT and Alien?

The main PCBs that hold the LEDs and switches, and control the coils, change from game to game. The main electronic hardware, like the power board, IO boards, etc... remain the same from game to game.

Quoted from Whysnow:

huge accolades for your team being able to not only solder up the proto boards in such short order but to also fixed them overnight at EAG between D1 and D2!

Thanks. The team worked tirelessly, day and night, to fix these issues which - at the time - were a nightmare

12
#10547 7 years ago
Quoted from RobT:

Thanks Andrew! I assume this means no Aliens will be shipped this week as you indicated previously?

I must learn to deal with deadlines better - I know.

We plan a video update from the floor tomorrow Rob

69
#10607 7 years ago

Our latest YouTube video was shot today from our production line.

The gameplay video is still in the pipeline, and will be released soon.

25
#10620 7 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

that xenomorph grabbing the ball is great! I hope it eventually is sped up for certain modes. Would be great to "WHAM!" and grab it or also sometimesto use the tongue/mine jaws thing to slam it off the magnet back down the pf.

The mechanism is set to 'slow' for this particular game while we are testing it. In production games, the 'ball eating' is a lot faster

20
#10712 7 years ago

We have been asked how the rotating beacons on Alien Pinball look in a dark room. This short video, taken at Pinball Expo in Chicago in October 2016, show them in action.

These beacons are standard on our Limited Edition model, and an optional extra on our Standard Edition model.

#10714 7 years ago
Quoted from FalconPunch:

Looks great!
But out of the loop with the 'LE' artwork... Is the playfield changing or just the translite and side art?

Just the translite and the sideart

13
#10716 7 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Look great Andrew!

Any ETA on LE artwork? I know some are getting restless, is there any issue with LE art or just licensor taking their time? Hopefully ease the minds of those concerned.

We expect to be able to show LE art within 2 weeks. If this date shifts, then I will report it here. Needless to say, we must have full approval before we can ship LE games - so we are going through due process, as a priority.

I hope that doesn't sound too vague.

It just so happens that the LE art is the last piece of this puzzle.

#10720 7 years ago
Quoted from Pale_Purple:

Beacons look great. Is the backbox wider than a Williams widebody backbox? Those barley fit through my doors as it.

The backbox is 28.94" wide.

However, you will have no problem fitting it through your door anyway, as the backbox can be removed or replaced in less than a minute

20
#10722 7 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

Andrew,
Has Ice requested his refund and is it being processed/completed. As you know, it is very important for people to have transparency and confidence around this.

Hi Hilton,

Due to customer confidentiality, I can't comment on this - sorry.

If you want to know if Ice has requested a refund or not, then you must ask him directly.

Thanks,

Andrew

13
#10741 7 years ago
Quoted from aeonblack:

Andrew, was there a reason why it took so long for this answer? Myself and others have been asking about this for months, was there more that was initially planned for the LE that ended up getting shelved?

There is nothing sinister involved - it's simply due process.

There have been a lot of tasks to fulfill with this game.

We have promised updates as and when we get them.

Also, I sometimes take long breaks away from Pinside. I will try and stay around here more often, to answer questions when they arise.

12
#10814 7 years ago
Quoted from Manic:

Seems to have one of my pet peeves... virtually no satisfying sounds or sound effect when hitting the left ramp or right return.

The ramp gates were not installed on this video - which explains why you heard no sound effects when balls were going up or down the ramps

45
#10828 7 years ago
Quoted from Pinstein:

I think being upset about those white flipper markers on the playfield is totally appropriate. This is an obvious oversight and flat out mistake that is trying to be glossed over. An undeleted layer and no one at a press check and boom you've got a bunch of misprinted playfields. Talk about QC. If games ship out like this its just shameful in my opinion. For everyone hoping to be immersed in this theme its really going to tear down that fourth wall every time you flip the flipper and flash back into reality. But to overlook the egregious error would only be par for the course in this thread. Imagine how a mistake like this could spoil the fun in some of your favorite games.

We have a modular system. The white area you see under the flippers is a nylon infill. This allows you to drop the entire flipper mechanism out of the playfield in seconds. Undo a few screws, unplug the mech and out it drops.

This is not an oversight or a QC issue. It is 'by design'.

In any case, as we have reported here previously - normal Alien Pinball production games will have 'black infills' instead of white ones

68
#10908 7 years ago

It's probably appropriate that I post my position here.

Should I, and Heighway Pinball, be held accountable? Definitely. Do we owe explanations to paying customers? Absolutely! How about observers? Yes I'm happy to explain ourselves to everyone.

Am I embarassed about delays? Yes to that as well.

When I formed this company, Alien was my dream theme. The deeper we got into this title, the greater was the responsibility to do this franchise justice. Remember - there's a reason we didn't exercise our option to include Alien 3 in this game.

This game needs to achieve so much. The deeper we got into development, the greater the possibilities were to go beyond our own expectations. For example, we originally planned on making renders of the trackers, and displaying them when needed. But we later felt that wasn't good enough, so we aimed for fully live rendering motion trackers. This led us to build a completely new video server ... and change the CPU unit. These aspects alone added MANY months of additional development work.

What I am trying to say is that yes - we have clearly missed a lot of deadlines along the way but hand on my heart I can say that I believe that we will be delivering ten times the game we would have done if we had rushed this before, and compromised on many aspects of this game.

That said - I know you want to all see serious progress. You will notice that I have intentionally set no deadlines over the last couple of weeks.

But I will promise you serious updates before the end of the week.

78
#10916 7 years ago

ALIEN PINBALL - NOW SHIPPING!!

It has been a long time coming, but we reached another huge milestone today when we shipped out our first customer Alien Pinball game.

It has taken us a long time to get to this point, but the whole team is immensely proud of the game that is now being shipped, and we can't wait for customers to start unboxing their machines and finally getting to play the game.

More games will be shipping this week and next week, as we start gearing up for mass production in the weeks ahead - and we will continue to post more shipping photos here.

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C1 (resized).jpgC1 (resized).jpg

11
#10940 7 years ago
Quoted from iceman44:

That's awesome Andrew. Congrats.
I see Kulek crossed the pond to work for you

That truly made me laugh!

10
#10944 7 years ago
Quoted from FalconPunch:

Where does the headbox ship?
Are Heighway pinballs foldable? Haven't seen an unboxing

No, the backboxes aren't foldable. But they remove in about 30 seconds. Much easier for transporting and definitely easier for fitting through tight door frames.

The backbox is sandwiched with cardboard and wrap for shipping.

#10948 7 years ago
Quoted from aeonblack:

That's awesome to hear! What is the assembled weight on an Alien?

115Kg without 27" backbox screen or 125Kg with it

10
#10952 7 years ago
Quoted from robotron:

andrew do you have the full throttle kits ready to ship with alien pin for those that are buying the ft kit?

We have Full Throttles already on the line, with more about to start - so that shouldn't be a problem

10
#10983 7 years ago
Quoted from redundor:

Didn't David Thiel say he was waiting for a machine to finalize the sounds? (maybe I saw that on Facebook) so perhaps it's going to him. Or even better, maybe it's going to a distributor, such as nitro which is just down the road from me! One can hope!

The game has gone to a customer.

The software is in a very good place right now, but we still work to improve on it. David will get a game shortly which will allow him to make more improvements

37
#10991 7 years ago
Quoted from Chitownpinball:

I know this is nit-picky, and I apologize if this has been addressed, but is the alien head's mouth agape or is that just me? Why doesnt it close when not in use? I think having it open and close when the screaming noise happens would be a nice touch.
Still looking sweet. Cant wait to see these in peoples hands and....dare I say...PLAY ONE ON LOCATION!?!?!

The jaw opens and closes. The xenomorph snarls, hisses and eats steel pinballs

18
#11008 7 years ago
Quoted from OLDPINGUY:

But Andrew, will it cook my dinner, and fend off trolls?

I'd hazard a guess that she can at least help crack some eggs!

Quoted from whatchapopo:

Andrew how many game did you planed to produce each week ? * realistically

We're starting off slow and building up to 100+ a month within the next few months

#11032 7 years ago
Quoted from Pale_Purple:

Maybe this has been answered but will a widebody PDI sheet of glass fit on Alien? Same dimensions?

Yes, it's the same size as normal 'widebody' glass

#11037 7 years ago
Quoted from Pale_Purple:

Maybe this has been answered but will a widebody PDI sheet of glass fit on Alien? Same dimensions?

Yes, it's the same size as normal 'widebody' glass

Quoted from Whysnow:

Andrew, when does the next game ship?

Tomorrow

#11039 7 years ago
Quoted from Wickerman2:

What's the plan/timetable/process for Alien kits and Full Throttle CPU upgrades?

Brian is currently testing Full Throttle on the new CPUs. We had a resolution issue that has just been fixed.

The kit box is designed and just needs to be prototyped. This should be complete within 2 weeks and at that point, game kits can ship when playfields and boxes have been built.

13
#11058 7 years ago
Quoted from PinballManiac40:

2nd game shipped today?

No. TNT screwed up and it won't be collected until Monday morning now.

Quoted from sed6:

How much does air freight add?

Currently $350 airfreight door-to-door to any U.S. address

Quoted from Hazoff:

Andrew any ideas on when we might get to see Alien LE artwork?

We are still working on it. No news to report yet, unfortunately

#11062 7 years ago
Quoted from DerGoetz:

That is ridiculously low. I would expect that to come to US $1000 fully insured. Easy.

When I started this company, I expected to ship most of our games in containers by sea.

However, I forged very close ties with TNT and negotiated amazingly low airfreight rates. I haven't shipped a single game by sea at this point.

At one point, I shipped 6 games to Texas last year for only $800 total. That was a one off.

21
#11063 7 years ago

If you ask me how long it will take to show a gameplay video, then my answer will be a LOT less than 2 weeks .....

#11069 7 years ago
Quoted from Toads:

Will we see ramp lighting?

No, not yet.

The ramp lighting and the LE art will be the very last things to be revealed, and will likely happen at the same time.

67
#11070 7 years ago

As promised, we are showing you a gameplay video where Alien Pinball is played continuously to illustrate the shots and flow of the game - along with various modes and features being activated.

19
#11103 7 years ago
Quoted from woodworker:

I watch these gameplay videos and I don't see or hear major moments with the actors. It looks and feels very generic to me. Where is Ripley? Hudson? Hicks? Vasquez? Gorman? Assholes and elbows? How do I get out of this chicken shit outfit?

The game is loaded with quotes from many of the actors. Not all of them, as we don't have carte blanche with all actors.

I'll let David give a running total of how many callouts are currently in the game.

Please bare in mind that we don't WANT to show every single aspect of this game in advance of owners receiving games. That would spoil it.

Can we show you more? Absolutely. We already have another gameplay video scheduled for this coming week.

#11108 7 years ago

Yes - back over to David

#11109 7 years ago
Quoted from SunKing:

Andrew, I wish you could bring a few extra Alien pins to TPF. I'd love nothing more than to hand you a fat stack of cash and bring one of these bad boys home with me. ...suspect I wouldn't be the only one too.

I can't confirm how many Aliens will be in Texas - only that there will be multiple games there

#11139 7 years ago
Quoted from chucksmith:

Is there a matrix showing the difference between Regular & LE ?
There have been many changes ( such as the Queen toy vs the LCD chamber) I'm not sure what is current, what is old, what is LE & what is regular.

Heighway Pinball Game Versions Comparison Chart (resized).jpgHeighway Pinball Game Versions Comparison Chart (resized).jpg

28
#11186 7 years ago

The next one left today. More later in the week

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#11242 7 years ago
Quoted from PACMAN:

Is this a production game? Still white under the flippers.

The first games are shipping out with the white infills. At some point soon that will change to the black infills and remain that way for production games

16
#11357 7 years ago
Quoted from chucksmith:

If its possible, please think about lighting and a mounted camera running in HD so we can really see what's going on. Many videos so far are shaky and dark which makes it hard to appreciate this beautiful looking machine.

We have done just this. I have a 10-minute video to release shortly that will answer many of your questions

#11361 7 years ago
Quoted from Aurich:

Removed completely, all new design.

That's not actually true. There 'is' a ball lock there - but it just locks a single ball, then releases it again

#11412 7 years ago

Here is the latest gameplay video we promised you that shows many of the shots, flow, combo opportunities, modes and features in the game

To follow shortly...

44
#11417 7 years ago

Here IS the latest gameplay video we promised you that shows many of the shots, flow, combo opportunities, modes and features in the game

26
#11465 7 years ago
Quoted from T-800:

Does anyone know if Heighway Pinball has a FAQ anywhere?

Please see answers below...

Q: How long will Heighway be offering the Alien pinball machine for? This is determined by our license end date. This is not public knowledge
Q: How long will Heighway be offering the Full Throttle machine for? As long as there is demand. We own the IP so there are no licensing restrictions, as such
Q: Is there final pricing on a "Game Unit" yet for either Alien or Full Throttle? http://www.heighwaypinball.com/store-2/ please click on either game
Q: What is the estimated shipping cost to the US for a full game and also for a game unit? We offer an airfreight option to customers for $350 to the door. Cointaker also have special delivery options.
edit (saw this on their website) A: Shipping is included into the US. Additional cost to move machine from distributor to your door.
Q: Are there discounts available if buying a complete game and one or more game units at the same time? We are about to release a special offer relating to this
Q: How is service handled for US customers? Either via our tech department, or via Cointaker, or both

#11518 7 years ago

Yes, but they need to be driven correctly by the software

11
#11519 7 years ago

On Friday, we are filming a short interview with Alien Pinball game designer, Dave Sanders.

Please post any questions you have for Dave here, and we will try and get as many answered on Friday as possible.

#11614 7 years ago
Quoted from PoMC:

If it has an HDMI input available, then a Kodi modded Firestick would be a must.

It runs from either a VGA or DVI cable.

There are plenty of HDMI adaptors available

#11643 7 years ago
Quoted from MikeS:

The bottom pop bumper light worked when they first got the game but has since flaked out.

That is a symptom of the board problem only

21
#11756 7 years ago

Martin Ayub, of Pinball News fame, visited our factory today. Our media producer, Russell Speak, asked Martin for his impressions of our new game, Alien Pinball

39
#11772 7 years ago
Quoted from tezting:

I wonder if the boards arrived from china and everything is good now?

Yes, to both points. They arrived last night and my guys worked till late last night to get boards assembled and onto games. This work will continue all weekend, as we push to ship 6 games out on Sunday

65
#11825 7 years ago

6 games leaving the factory today.

Huge effort by the Heighway team

6 Games120317 (resized).jpg6 Games120317 (resized).jpg

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42
#11910 7 years ago

ENADA show, Rimini, Italy.

All set up and ready to go for tomorrow with our Italian distributors

Rimini Setup (resized).jpgRimini Setup (resized).jpg

16
#11995 7 years ago

Robert I instructed my team to process your refund while I was away all week. I'm only just back tonight and will chase this up urgently for you.

12
#12000 7 years ago

I'm back. It wasn't taken care of. It has now been taken care of. I have apologised

#12002 7 years ago
Quoted from musketd:

Anyword on the Dave sanders interview?

I just have to review it and post it Derek. Internet was very bad in Italy so I couldn't deal with it - but I'll take care of it this weekend

#12003 7 years ago
Quoted from PanzerFreak:

Hi Andrew,
Do the games in Italy now have the planned flasher installed for the Alien head? Also, do you think we will see LE's revealed by or at the Texas Pinball Festival?
Thank you

No, they don't have the flashers installed yet.

Can we reveal anything about the LEs at TPF? We still aren't sure and I don't want to give any false hope. If we can then we will.

19
#12101 7 years ago

Time to answer your questions and concerns about the cabinets of existing Full Throttle customers.

The big challenge for us was to nail down a cabinet design, and its functionality, more than 3 years ago. Trying to future-proof a concept so long ago was a huge challenge. The commitment we had to give was that any Heighway game could fit into a Heighway cabinet.

Clearly, as a company, we want to make our products as good as they can be, and if we get the chance to make improvements along the way, then we will do our best to implement them.

This leaves us with a challenge if these changes give new customers a new experience and early adopters feel cheated. Clearly, we wnat all of our customers to be happy.

I have given this a lot of thought and as a company we will now consider 2 options:

1. We offer a vinyl or laminated Alien Pinball blade decal, or laminated graphic. It may, or may not, be possible to also light this with an EL panel kit.
2. We offer an inner cabinet ply carcass, with the recessed blade sides. I believe this could be flat packed (think Ikea) to save on shipping. The carcass would need to be assembled and everything related to the existing cabinet could then need to be swopped across to the new cabinet carcass, including the outer cabinet panels.

Both options are viable and the latter would also be financially viable, if customers are prepared to undertake the swap.

We will discuss both options and report back to you shortly.

#12108 7 years ago
Quoted from Toads:

Andrew,
An email was sent to you regarding this which you replied to on 28 of December 2016.
In your reply was "Jay and Morgan are CC'd in on this email and I will deal with this matter with them when our factory reopens on 3rd January. In any case, the VAT element will be deducted"
A follow up email was sent to yourself,Jay and Morgan a week ago with no outcome.
I'm still waiting on an updated invoice/order confirmation as this issue is not resolved.

Apologies, I have been away for the last week. Would you mind forwarding it to me again and I'll take care of it in the office in the morning?

#12253 7 years ago

70-80m of wiring on Full Throttle. 50m of wiring on Alien

10
#12254 7 years ago

Texas1 (resized).jpgTexas1 (resized).jpg

Texas2 (resized).jpgTexas2 (resized).jpg

36
#12275 7 years ago
Quoted from bigd1979:

Yes they are very weak on ft and the current aliens ..... hope they get this worked out. I believe its the type they use and the voltages.....

We are working on some major improvements relating to this right now

Quoted from NPO:

Kind of a bummer he didn't hit on the elephant in the room: timetable for shipping games. Then again, maybe he is keeping from forecasting such details in case a window gets missed. If that's the case, I genuinely don't blame him.

Yes, I've learnt the hard way that actions speak louder than words

28
#12423 6 years ago
Quoted from wcbrandes:

Hi Andrew, I was seriously looking at one of these, however it really was bothering me that they are trickling out and taking so long. Does it bother anyone else sitting on the fence? Andrew can you let me know if your company is strong and viable enough to get all ordered machines out in a timely fashion? Not looking to read your financials had the pleasure, Cough Cough, of reading Zidwares' however been stung so many times I would at least like your honest synopsis of the situation and a rough time line to delivery if ordered today. Cheers and keep up the good work, the machine is looking great!

Apologies for the delay in replying. I am way behind emails and Pinside having gone straight from Texas to Italy.

To answer your question - games are shipping out all the time at the moment - albeit in small numbers.

Everything is being done to seriously ramp up production to 100 games a month. All of the parts are on order to achieve this, and many are already in the factory. This will happen very soon - but I won't give any dates right now. I will, however, let everyone know as it happens.

We have a serious number of games to make this year and it's in our interests, as much as all of our customers', to be making large quantities of games ASAP.

16
#12430 6 years ago

I have been asked a lot of questions about the TPF machines, so would like to clarify what happened with them.

I had a lot of requests leading up to the show from potential customers who wanted to know if they could pick up machines at the show and pay cash. I said the same thing to everyone - the games at Texas belonged to Cointaker and were theirs to sell only. They ordered them a long long time ago - and they were their games to do with as they pleased.

Two new customers were sold games at the show by Cointaker.

I coulnd't be happier that Heighway has two new customers, but officially they are Cointaker customers.

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