Playfield completely after about 20 games, but the backbox is nice for multiplayer games.

that what i imagine... so i don't undersand the meaning of the 2nd screen.. it's kill backglass style and you don't use it in game :/
the LE Backglass art is realy cool, if you put a LCD on your LE, send me the "simple" LE backglass, it will be happy on my SE ^^

I got the 27" LCD mostly to preserve/help the games resale value if I ever sell it. I also got it to impress my fellow pinheads. Neither of which are good enough reasons in my book, so I also ordered the full backglass. I plan to watch the big screen as much as I can but believe that ultimately I'll end up watching the PF screen the most. If that proves to be the case I'll remove the 27" LCD, store it safely, and install Aurichs awesome backglass!

The 27" screen just makes for a better experience for everyone.

I wonder with the LE if they can encode the software to display the backglass image on the big LCD for LE owners.

For me its moot since I'll be buying a kit and my 27" will look great with the new game.

This is exactly what i want to see also.

Actually, this image is exactly what I think they could do. The art looks fine with the 27" in there, and they can fill it in during attract mode.

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I like the art & color scheme of the SE backglass better than the LE, but it's irrelevant because you need
that big screen!

Had my SE on order for a while and thinking of finding an ID4 to go next to it.

Just a thought....

You can just install the backglass and not turn the monitor on, saves you the trouble of uninstalling it.

However Heighway lays it out....will look great. No way I'm getting this machine without the 27" screen. some of these sequences way too intense to be experienced on the pf alone. I'll happily put the translite in a lightbox next to the machine, and have the best of both worlds when it's "Alientime"!!!!

I clicked on the buy button and the SE says at the top that it's £5,650 but it says down the bottom that it's £5,100. I'm not really buying, just curious.

Ditto (I chose #212 to match my TRONLE) ...have zero concerns of what is being provided for what price. Suggest anyone with concerns to contact the source (cointaker or heighway, wherever you ordered from).

Are there LE's still to be had? Curious, as it seems like a moot point if not.

Cointaker still had LEs available last week. I'm tempted to get a 2nd.......

ALIEN TWEAKS

I've been getting lots of questions from current/new/potential owners about the tweaks I've done to get Alien playing top notch. I've decided to go ahead and put a list here for everyone.

DISCLAIMER: My game is one of the very early production games from TPF, so your game may/may not need everything described below.

1) Playfield LCD - You MUST make sure the LCD is level in the playfield, as you risk playfield chipping on that edge if it is not. The issue I had was despite making the adjustment (just four screws holding the LCD), it would not hold it's position. After 20 or so plays, I'd lift the playfield, and one of the LCD mounting screws would have fallen out into the bottom of the cabinet. The easy fix was to use small lock-washers between the playfield and the LCD mounting bracket. My LCD has been level and stable since.

2) Pops and slings - As with any new machine, you will want to gap the leaf switches for the pops and slings.

3) Airlock scoop - This is a very important shot in the game, as it starts all of the modes. Mine was firing SDTM more than 50% of the time - not fun. There are several ways to adjust a scoop. I loosened the mounting screws and tried to 'twist' slightly - but there really wasn't much room to adjust, so I went overkill - removed the mech and used a drill to slightly enlarge the mounting holes. That gave it enough play to adjust the trajectory of the ball.

4) Shooter lane ball kickout - About 10% of the time, my game had some trouble getting the ball into the shooter lane. I found that the lane protector (mounted on the shooter lane with two screws) was slightly overhanging the ball trough launch. I didn't want to try re-mounting it farther back fearing I could mess up the shooter lane. Instead, I removed the protector and tested that indeed it was the issue. I then took a dremel and ground it down just a bit to remove the little bit that was overhanging. Re-mounted it, and haven't had an issue since.

5) Upper rt flipper - was not returning to rest position 100%. I installed a slightly stronger spring - fixed.

6) Playfield switches - My top rollover lanes were not registering. This was because one of the PCP's was not mounted completely flush to the playfield. The proximity switches that are under the playfield need to be completely inside their mounting holes. Tightened everything up - easy fix.

7) Ramp feeds to inlanes - I made a tweak to almost completely eliminate the frustrating 'ball hopping out' when it should feed cleanly from the ramp to the in-lane. ...getting a little long here, so will save that little nugget for another post.

Xeno mech - currently disabled...waiting on new Xeno board.

Hope that helps some of y'all~!

Wouldn't that require two sets of code, either for the SE & LE? Then with all the backglass/sideart combinations & with/without 27" monitor, the programmer wouldn't know what art is installed on the LE to make it look right. It's a decent idea but probably a waste of time. I happen to really like the current "tour through the Nostromo" attract mode, instead of looking at a static backglass image.

I really hope Heighway ditches all these multiple configurations on Game #3 & just standardizes the backbox monitor. Then you just have two sets of art for a game, and can program the video feeds for the backbox & playfield accordingly. It would have to be much simpler during development if the programmers/designers knew all games had the same exact hardware installed.

Keep the playfield upgrade options though (side art blades, toppers, fibre optics, etc) for SE owners. That's one of the best services Heighway offers, compared to their competitors.

A piece of mylar over the window/edges isn't a bad idea either.

I can second most of these adjustments on my game. Issues I'm still having is an overly sensitive switch at one of the three facehugger shots but I haven't been able to determine which one yet. I've had no shooter lane or upper right flipper issues, and only a handful of balls have gone down the middle from my scoop so I haven't adjusted yet.

My stand up targets to the left and right of the scoop were wired backwards, instead of undoing the wiring I simply undid the screws under the playfield and swapped them, and to be honest it took me 200+ games to realize these weren't registering correctly before I even noticed the issues.

LCD leveling has been my biggest issue as well. I also added lock washers and it has been much better although I did have one screw come out again yesterday. I have decided that I am going to add loctite to the screws the next time I have to adjust them in order for them to hold better. I've also had a lot of trouble getting the screen to be completely level almost to the point where I'm not actually convinced the screen itself is level as I get the corners to be perfect and then in the middle area it will be slightly higher than the playfield. I did mylar my edge of the screen as a precaution.

My only other issue is my right inlane sensor not always registering a switch hit. I'm planning to undo that board from the bottom of the playfield and attempt and adjustment on it this week, but to be honesty the right ramp is so easy to hit that I typically just do a pass over and shoot it again if it didn't register the first time.

Sheesh! After reading all these "tweaks", I'm not sure this game is ready for mass production yet. This is a bunch to get ironed out and tested IMO.

These are pretty normal for any new game, especially the first dozen or two off the line. If you've followed the Stern Ghostbusters threads, people have had to do a lot of tweaks to get them dialed in. And here's the thing, what may bug one person and make them want to tweak and adjust things, may not bug you at all. Some collectors really enjoy the process of tweaking and dialing in a game to make it play even better

A lifesize Alien Queen is for sale on eBay right now. 75k gets you the perfect match for your Alien pinball.
Note she's wearing high heels:

ebay.com link: QUEEN ALIEN LIFESIZE 1 1 BUST PROP STATUE ALIENS BEYOND RARE 1 OF 5 MADE IN 90 039 S

Want, but also want my LE.

I used to work for a Distortions haunted house named "Brutal Planet" in Denver when these were made. They had one of them out front and it was amazing! Still have contact with Distortions. Such awesome people...

Go away. Arent you just waiting for your next Scared Stiffy machine any ways? Youre not actually going to buy this.

So no one is worried at all this thing hasn't ramped up and shipped. LE art work and small fixes are the reason? Am I missing something?

It would be cool if the programmer could make an option for the backbox screen to work like a light board when the full translite is in. Could even program some interactive lighting like WPC games.

Probably not possible though with that screen tied to the playfield screen.

I'm not. Life's too short to stress about a friggin pinball machine. Many more important things.

A few (2 or 3) more Alien games will be in Edmonton at the Yegpin (http://www.yegpin.com/) show this weekend, and going home with customers afterwards. So there are games going out, just not hundreds.

I didn't really expect them to ramp to large quantities quickly, I've yet to see any pinball manufacturer achieve this without a significant amount of time to do so. Just the nature of the beast I think. Too many (literally) moving parts to expect mass production to be achieved quickly. It's one thing if you have an established operation already rolling, but something else to ramp up from a small number of games being made to a larger one.

Patience is the key. I'm sure more and more games will be going out over time, just not 0-60 in 8 weeks flat.

Theme and gameplay are keeping me here but its starting to get to the point I might back out and wait till things are moving, still I paid in full when our dollar was a 83 cents now its 73 so thats 1K another factor keeping me in, and then I watch this and know that I can't back out, what r the chances of the whole thing going downhill? I just don't see it happening. You know what they say "patience is a virgin"

I actually think it is "patience is a virtue" but if virgin works for you ... carry on.

rd

Nah...still have my " new fix" w my BM66LE, so when mine finally shows, it will be a great new toy!!! I'll have it for years, so plenty of time to enjoy it....

Lmao!!! Opened this thread and the first comment I saw.....Pinside breaks the stress of life yet again.....

Its an Archie Bunker quote, I'm a big All in the Family fan, love his english mistakes and sayings oh and who can forget bible quotes like this,

Yeah it's a classic show. I'm positively enruptured with it.

On another note the new Alien movie is spoiled for me... I don't want to see redneck funnyman 'Kenny Powers' in the Alien universe... sure he'll undoubtedly be eaten immediately but (here comes the hated word) "immersion" = GONE

It's been like this for so long. It has been pointed out many times , I have no idea why it hasn't been corrected Confusing for potential buyers

Please can some one explain, if you order an LE does this come with the extra led lights on the ramps and on the out side of the cabinet.?
Also if you pay extra for the 27" back box does this come with the LCD screen in it?

Sorry I ment fiber optic ramp lights.

The LE comes with the Fiber Optic ramps. It is an optional extra for the SE
The lit artwork on the outside of the cab is standard for both the LE and SE
The playfield LCD is standard on both the LE and SE. The 27" backbox is optional extra on both.

Hi Bryno
Thanks for clearing that up for me. So the 27" back box with the recently released art work doesn't come with any LCD incorporated?

The 27" doesn't refer to the size of the back box, it refers to the size of the LCD upgrade in the back box.

Ah right sorry for my stupidity, understood now. Thank you

Thanks for the update Andrew. You made my day and put a smile on my face!

It would be nice if you were 100% committed to customer service.

I know of 3 of us waiting for refunds and your company hasn't bothered to respond to a single one of us or acknowledge any of our requests for refunds. That's roughly $24,000 you are refusing to give back to customers.

.

Why don't YOU go away! Alien was on my short list. And we can only hope it's close to as good as Scared Stiff.

Thanks for the update Andrew. Looking forward to seeing these roll out (as I am sure you are as well)

May the 4th be with you.

Now we are talking. Thanks Andrew