Newport
Alien head picking the ball up faster.
(Topic ID: 106728)
Linked Games
Alien (Heighway Pinball)
Heighway Pinball, 2017
Topic Gallery
Shepparton
Quoted from Kevlar:» YouTube video
It may be a few months short of when others begin claiming this game is awesome on many levels. But once HP gets beyond the circuit board and a/v issues, this game will have a lot going for it. It has a main screen in playfield and extra rules screen on playfield, a huge LCD in back box, color changing ramps, great art direction and theme integration. Over the top sounds, great rules, unique toys and beautiful art work.
Can hardly wait any longer. I'd love to be surprised to learn HP had 120 games built and waiting on boards to arrive. That is second only to learning 120 board sets had been delivered and tested at HP.
Ormond Beach, FL
Quoted from RobT:But I don't do preorders, and I see no reason to put money down on this pin until they are actually shipping.
i feel the sane way
Quoted from bigdaddy07:Rob's been around here for a while and knows the drill with this sort of thing. Hold every proposed title to a high degree of skepticism and then believe only half of what you see and none of what you hear. Anyone that has been around here long enough knows that. Lets face it, even Stern drops the ball these days. Once the title is shipping and you've had a chance to play one, only then is it safe (mostly) to put you cash down. For some crazy reason I put cash on this one without the benefit of playing it, and that is a first for me. I guess the theme and what I had seen up to that point was enough to take a risk, though I should certainly know better.
Don't get me wrong....I'm an early, early LE preorder. Don't regret it for a second. But that is simply my choice for this title. Got to play it at expo, and Impressed, even with the glitches. Guess the point being to each their own, but not too quick on jumping to conclusions, regarding reasoning to preorder ( may not have anything to do with desire to own the title)....
Can't wait to see an LE with the lit up ramps, love the spinners, the sound and main music is just something special, I need it in my house. 
Quoted from Kevlar:» YouTube video
3:15 shows that there will likely be some cool light shows.
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 sound wasn't very good on this video, but I can assure you that the ramps and return lanes have distinctive sound effects... David Thiel is doing audio and he doesn't miss a beat.
Quoted from Ferret:The sound wasn't very good on this video, but I can assure you that the ramps and return lanes have distinctive sound effects... David Thiel is doing audio and he doesn't miss a beat.
Yeah all the other sounds were great but I didn't want the ramps to get overlooked. Nothing like hitting a ramp and getting a good blast of sound for some feedback.
Your ferret pic looks like my daughter's... it's a sweet animal and nice pet.
Port-des-barques
Quoted from Manic:it's a sweet animal and nice pet.
Your daughter? 
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
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the gameplay video (not sure if this is the one we've been waiting for)
At around 3:40 in the video we see balls being "locked" (through shots on the playfield) and hypersleep multiball starts. Is this the actual final gameplay behavior?
Quoted from jrawlinson_2000:A short video from EAG 2017 UK
Nice.
Regarding sub-flipper-gate. I think Andrew mentioned they were changing that to black beneath the flippers but seems like it'd be relatively easy to take Aurich's art file and have an almost seamless decal go there...unless it's so dark that black will blend. Maybe Aurich can sell those post production
Quoted from Wickerman2:Nice.
Regarding sub-flipper-gate. I think Andrew mentioned they were changing that to black beneath the flippers but seems like it'd be relatively easy to take Aurich's art file and have an almost seamless decal go there...unless it's so dark that black will blend. Maybe Aurich can sell those post production
Three out of four flippers look like the art would be completely black under them. The top right looks like it'd just be dark blue under it. Black for all 4 sounds good. Any way they come though, it'd be a super easy cosmetic fix if one wasn't happy with 'em.
Quoted from Wickerman2:Nice.
Regarding sub-flipper-gate. I think Andrew mentioned they were changing that to black beneath the flippers but seems like it'd be relatively easy to take Aurich's art file and have an almost seamless decal go there...unless it's so dark that black will blend. Maybe Aurich can sell those post production
If nothing else I'm happy to provide art files for anyone who wants to try printing their own at a bare minimum. I just don't think it's an issue people need to worry about.
Quoted from whatchapopo:Your daughter?
lol
All the vids I saw, the lcd in the head has a lot of unused black screen area. That is the way it will look??? Cause right now, it looks better without the tv in the head if that is final
Quoted from splitskull:All the vids I saw, the lcd in the head has a lot of unused black screen area. That is the way it will look??? Cause right now, it looks better without the tv in the head if that is final
Screen just wasn't showing full screen size.
A slight technical fix was needed that's all.
I believe it's been rectified now.
Quoted from splitskull:That is the way it will look???
No, software issue or boards or something temporary
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.
Quoted from Pinstein:I think being upset about those white flipper markers on the playfield is totally appropriate.
It's already been said they'll be black instead of white, and I offered anyone who wants art for it to provide it if they don't like the black.
So no, being upset still seems stupid. You spent all this time photoshopping up things instead of reading I guess.
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
Quoted from Aurich:It's already been said they'll be black instead of white, and I offered anyone who wants art for it to provide it if they don't like the black.
So no, being upset still seems stupid. You spent all this time photoshopping up things instead of reading I guess.
I think he post was also pretty stupid but I upvoted him because he it made me laugh. Such effort.
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.
Jeez dude at least educate yourself before embarrassing yourself with misplaced outrage. It's not an "art layer".
And then you go to the trouble of making silly pictures to show how "shameful" it is. Too funny.
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.
Always great when someone makes an ass of themselves trying so hard to make someone else look like an ass.
Quoted from Cheeks:Always great when someone makes an ass of themselves trying so hard to make someone else look like an ass.
maybe the username is meant to be ironic?
Quoted from Aurich:It's already been said they'll be black instead of white, and I offered anyone who wants art for it to provide it if they don't like the black.
So no, being upset still seems stupid. You spent all this time photoshopping up things instead of reading I guess.
I will be interested in the art Aurich thanks for that offer to everyone! Curious though is there any reason games aren't using the art you have instead of standard black?
Even if they where an additional mod for a few quid I would still be interested, the more art the better, art looks killer combined with the populated playfield 
Edmonton, AB
Quoted from HeighwayPinball: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
I actually meant to ask this quite a while back, and forgot about it, but does the flipper mechanism "auto-align", so to speak? What I mean is, on a normal flipper assembly you can loosen the flipper posts to change angles and such, does the mechanism work the same way here, or does it have built in "stops" to get them properly aligned? I have not seen the assemblies on a Full Throttle, so I don't really know how they work there either.
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.
lol. I see those photos you took all the time to photoshop and think... Man, sure would be nice if I could swap in a rebuilt flipper on any of those games in 30seconds flat. Or heck, just pull out the whole mech and make and adjustment on the bench so easily. Makes me wonder why nobody has stolen this genuine innovation in design that heighway came up with. It is a bloody genious idea.
Then I remember, that some around here dont even know how to rebuild a flipper. Guessing that includes you, lol
Quoted from Whysnow:Then I remember, that some around here dont even know how to rebuild a flipper.
So I really don't care about the LE artwork. Is it going to make or break this pin? Nope. The reasons why it's not approved? I don't care as long as Andrew starts shipping Standards.
In fact, ship me the pin and if I never get the LE artwork I don't care.
The theme? It could be an absolute home run, especially for the sub $8k crowd.
Rob is right of course, with any new pin you should wait and play before you buy. But we are fickle impatient m fers.
I waited a LONG f ing time for Woz. At the end of the day, I was extremely happy the day it showed up and still love that pin.
The wait it almost over for Alien shipping.
And at least I won't have to wait at the dock for the promise of TBL being on the next boat! 
Quoted from ezeltmann:At around 3:40 in the video we see balls being "locked" (through shots on the playfield) and hypersleep multiball starts. Is this the actual final gameplay behavior?
No, the Hypersleep locks were not functioning correctly in that gameplay video. Hypersleep ball locks (3rd lock = start Hypersleep MB) are supposed to be collected on the upper/center ramp, after qualifying the lock via the drop targets. (You hear Mother announcing that the Hypersleep locks are qualified at 3:35, after the drop target bank is completed.) Not sure why other playfield shots were spotting locks. Perhaps it has something to do with the missing ramp gates that Andrew mentioned.
Quoted from J85M:I will be interested in the art Aurich thanks for that offer to everyone! Curious though is there any reason games aren't using the art you have instead of standard black?
Read Andrew's post above, but the flipper mechs on Heighway games are all one piece, there's a flipper-sized cutout in the playfield wood, and the whole thing just pushes through from the bottom. Easy to swap is the idea.
So the white part, or black as the case may be, is plastic, part of the whole mech, and not something that gets printed. Ever see the light up flippers on a game like Medusa? Similar idea.
I don't know how a decal will work on it, but I have seamless art for the holes (if I turn off the masking in Photoshop) so it would be trivial to provide art for decal printing if people want to try that.
--
I recently redid the art for the right and left return ramps, got to see photos this morning of how they came out. I think they look much better now, fits the vision Dave had when he designed them. Now there's art on a clear 'ceiling' that the ball rolls under, and the bottom 'floor' is printed to look like the grating inside the colony, complete with acid burned holes that are clear in the printing, so you can see down through them. The middle layer 'guide rails' have a yellow and black hazard print to match the interior colony look. I don't think I've seen a game that uses this kind of 3D layered print technique before, not sure if it's the first or not though.
Don't want to post pics since I haven't asked permission, but sure Andrew will show it at some point. Photos I saw were a little blurry and out of focus, might need to wait for a better camera.
I just wish there was a flipper button for each flipper. We're at the point where many players are skilled enough to take advantage of this type of setup.
Honestly I think staging is a higher skill ceiling. Higher control for sure. How many times have you tried to stage the right flippers, go to make your shot from the left, and end up blocking it because as soon as you pressed the left button you also pressed the right in the rest of the way?
The way staging works now requires more skill than having more buttons.
Quoted from iceman44:So I really don't care about the LE artwork. Is it going to make or break this pin? Nope. The reasons why it's not approved? I don't care as long as Andrew starts shipping Standards.
In fact, ship me the pin and if I never get the LE artwork I don't care.
Just buy this Alien LE Ice and you will have it in two weeks!
Quoted from RobT:Just buy this Alien LE Ice and you will have it in two weeks!
Why would someone sell theirs when they could just get a refund at this point? 
Quoted from RobT:Just buy this Alien LE Ice and you will have it in two weeks!
https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/45175
Flawless plan. What could possibly go wrong? 
Quoted from Deadpin:So pardon the ignorance on my part, but have *any* of these shipped? Looks like a very cool pin, and I see they are still taking deposits.
These have not shipped. Personally I would wait until they actually start shipping before putting money down.
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