Funny you should mention that... It's in there!

WTF....nice outside the box thinking

Wow. Really! 1: because it's in there. And 2. Because it's unprecedented.

FUCK tilt ! It's my nemesis!

While I'm not aware of another game that has a "Reset Tilt Warnings" award, Dr. Dude comes close, with a "Add 1 Tilt Warning" mystery award.

Nice review on TWIP!

About dislike #5: "The example TWIP played showed some wear and scratches on the playfield screen. Granted this example had over 1,000 plays." I'll be putting this on location, and "over 1,000 plays" will hopefully be reached quite quickly. Maybe this has been covered before, but:

1) Is the screen cover easy to replace?
2) Has anyone considered or tried putting mylar on the screen area? Cheaper to replace a mylar sheet than a screen cover, is my thought here.

we had to put mylar over the screen from day one. the way that the LCD panel is installed, there's not a lot off wiggle room for getting the panel leveled with the playfield surface. (it would have been nicer if they would have used something similar to the grommet type setup that CftBL and Congo use to secure and level the window

consequently, we weren't sure how well that the LCD panel's screen would hold up, so the mylar served double duty as both protection and helping to keep the playfield edges from getting chipped from the balls

I am not sure why the screen would have any scratches. More than likely just needs a cleaning. Reality is that the screen is very durable, but if you were concerned then just do the mylar sheet like JM suggests (nice way to ensire it stays level more than anything). If the screen they are discussion actually has scratches then it is due to a bad ball being in the game that is pitted.

completely agree, but you can swap out for a locking screw and then it holds pretty steady I have found.

yes

Nice touch.

-added MUTHUR mystery section to the latest rules revision.

Thats awesome, good idea!

Just a quick question, on the new code coming soon, did you get a shaker in your game by chance and program for it?

Can you share more details on the locking screws you used?

I'm expecting a care package from Wales with both shaker motor and beacons in the coming days, so both of those accessories should be getting some code love soon.

This gets me thinking. Ferret is it possible to add weapons in future code updates or is the pin locked to 5. This reset tilt warnings to zero could be a great 'proximity mine' weapon.

It's not locked per se, but there's a lot more than you might expect to adding a weapon: each weapon has unique callouts and appropriate video clips from the movies, the weapon icons are all sized for having 5 weapons in their Dashboard region, etc.

The game rules are unlikely to change at this point, except perhaps for trivial tweaks like adjusting point values to improve scoring balance. There's always "just one more cool thing" that can be added, but at some point you gotta draw the line and say we're done, write the ideas in a notebook for future games. (This isn't unique to pinball, pretty much any software designer deals with feature creep...)

Thanks, yes that definitely makes sense. Just curious

I'd also imagine that adding entire new features at this point could easily unbalance the game (which would then require further revisions and tweaks to correct).

Annnnd the follow up email came in today for the remainder of my balance. I'll let you all know when I get a shipping notice but certainly looks like things are starting to ramp up.

for someone new and looking into aliens, whats the verdict? It looks good on the latest buffalo stream but cost wise and are they really shipping?

If I were you I'd wait a little bit until dummies like me let you know how it turns out. It's looking a lot better but they still have a little ways to go.

WOZ and (I think TH) have that too.

Do they? I didn't know that. I have minimal time on WOZ... somewhat more on Hobbit, but I never noticed that award. Should've figured Keefer would come up with that.

Does LE still have the great looking backglass? If you get the SE, can you buy a translite of same design?

If so that does make the LE version almost obsolete as the unique art and the powder coating are most probably the only unique LE features for now as far as I know. Or maybe Heighway will get a surprise for the LE version but I cannot think of anything that great. Maybe an unique playfield plastic set and unique backboard art?

My thoughts exactly.....If there is nothing different or unique about an LE than a plaque, I'll be changing my order...

Definitely 2 camps on this topic, discussed in other threads....

I've never understood the problem with offering features ( including gameplay) that would be exclusively found on an LE ( it would further validate price hike, and actually make it Limited in nature). Happens all the time in virtually every other luxury market I can think of.

Even in Sternland, for example, a pro is different than a Premium in several areas, not just art ( lower pf on AC/DC for an example). Core is the same, but a Pro could never be a Premium, without extensive changes. People buy the one they like, and move on.

Why an LE is not allowed to follow suit (gameplay wise) is beyond me.

Yes, I hope the difference isn't purely art. Heighway should want to keep the SE / LE model as it allows more margin and seems to be standard in the pin community, but they will need to offer something of value to make it worthwhile.

I think if you rewound the clock and did not announce Alien so early, and developed the game and THEN figured out what an LE should have before the big reveal, you could probably come up with a compelling LE.

Many of the LE features were announced before a game existed, which never made sense.

There's been a lot that didnt make sense.

Any word at all when they are going to start showing machines on a production line?

I think they announced they would be shipping en masse from August 14.

Not the "reset warnings", but the "add a warning" like Dr Dude. I don't know of any reset ones.

"Stern does it, so others should too" is completely flawed logic. I get wanting to differentiate an LE, but gameplay should not be how that's done.

First of all, companies, Stern in particular, have enough code issues regarding timing and completeness. Splitting the codebase for different gameplay features only compounds this issue. Make a kickass game and charge more for it if it's warranted. Fine!

Even if you wanted to copy Stern, then make the entry point similar to the Pro, don't gimp a Premium priced game.

The other issue I have with splitting gameplay is it was the single biggest ploy Stern used to originally jack up pin prices. It didn't take long for the "normal" Stern level game to become the Premium. Pros typically have gimped gameplay, and LE is the bling. There are a few examples where people like the Pro better than Prem/LE, but those are typically cases where Stern pooched the "upgrades" and didn't make them worthwhile.

While prices still increase slowly, the introduction of the Premium concept jumped the price several thousand dollars to get Stern's full featured game.

I own a couple Sterns, and there are a couple more I want, but I hope none of the other companies go down most of the roads Stern has chosen to go down.

I am out!! Moved on...

Agree w your post, and the Stern " Model" is flawed ( obviously). My only point is make an LE truly limited, allow it to have art, features, whatever makes it limited, charge for those extras, then stick a # on it. Having an extra killer gameplay mode on an LE shouldn't be a sin. If it's only art and a plaque that separate them, then get rid of the "LE" and call it " limited art package" or something.

Many manufacturers outside of pinball offer limited editions of popular items, add custom art, features, etc. and charge a premium for it. Nothing wrong with that

If any machine can be transformed into an LE w add on's, the # and designation is pointless....

IMHO: LEs can be blinged out to whatever extent, but I hate seeing actual gameplay changes between "standard" and LE. Custom art, toppers, shaker, fog machine, etc... sure, go for it.

But have you?! haha

I emailed Heighway last week and got the following reply.

Hi Scott,

I am so sorry that we have not been contact sooner. We are very busy here at the moment getting Alien Pinball into full production. The full production of the standard editions of Alien Pinball will be ramping up this month. The full production of the limited edition of Alien Pinball will be throughout September.  We will be therefore shipping these machines a short time after these time frames.

 

We are also changing the way that we sell machines to our customer and the way that they are shipped. Moving forward we will not be selling directly to customers anymore and will instead be shipping our products to distributors. This factors in to the way that we are shipping out customers current orders. This is to say that we will be shipping customers orders along with the distributors stock. This will mean that your machine will be shipped to the USA and then distributed to you from CoinTaker. This will not directly affect you or your order other than it should be more cost effective in terms of the taxes.  

 

I hope that this information is useful to you. If you do have any additional questions or queries please feel free to contact me.

 

Thank you again for your time and I hope to hear from you again soon.

 

 

Morgan Potter | Customer Services Executive 

So I called Melissa to confirm everything. As expected she was a wealth of info. It seems I'm going to have to pay about $250 to CT to get my pin from them to me. This despite the fact I've already paid Heighway $350 to ship it straight to me. Once I get my pin I'll hammer Heighway for a mini-refund of my shipping. Wouldn't that be a great problem to have, pin in hand and just $350 floating in the HP coffers that's owed to me? Melissa explained that HP hasn't passed a dime of that shipping money on to CT so she's forced to collect from us. She also asked for a copy of my invoice from HP and said she'd contact them herself to make sure mine was in the next container she received! Hurray for Melissa and CT, saving my butt and looking after me even though I ordered straight from HP.

you mean like some of those dream add-on features Nordman had outlined, that we don't have today??

Nordman's LE concepts would have enhanced standard gameplay considerably. see below from post number 91.

Exactly what I was trying to convey....I see nothing wrong at all with this approach...in fact makes sense....if you pay more for a machine , you should get more ( I know, I know)......

If an "LE artpackage" is the only difference, it better be exclusive to that machine only, or it's not Limited.

This is one thing Stern does right....try buying a BM66LE topper, wait for a TRONLE VE....not gonna happen. There has to be something to make it limited. Doesn't mean either is better or worse, but at least the term " limited" is being used correctly.

Sorry for straying off topic here...lets see some unboxings!!!

Good luck getting your $350 back from Heighway.

If games are shipping, he should have no trouble...

100%

$10K by next ALIEN day...

Latest info I received on the dropping of the fiber optics and the compensation for the LE customers:

"We are indeed removing the fibre optic ramps from the limited edition of Alien Pinball. You are correct that there would be a disparity between the price and the features originally stated. We do not have a substitution for the removal of this feature to announce at this point in time but we will be informing customers of the relevant replacement for this feature. This could take the form of replacement parts or indeed a financial discount. We have not settled on a final decision for this issue but as stated we will inform you once a decision is made."

Down vote this post if you want replacement parts over that sweet coin

The Heighway facebook page mentioned that Standard pins would ship in numbers starting on the 14th onwards. Has anyone heard anything else?

Replacement parts? Like extra plastics or flipper mechs? I'd rather have a meaningful feature added or discount. At this point I think a discount makes the most sense since added features just means further delays.

Exactly, why not just take the discount and purchase the replacement parts at a later point in time?

They should throw in an option of xxxxx amount off a playfield kit. $500 (or whatever) credit towards FullTh or any future kit. Keep people coming back.