The Software Package is Amazing, Hands Down!
So glad to see more Games shipping from Heighway, lets hope production has ramped up and the Next Load is ready to ship by the End of October!

If that is still the way to start a mode, perhaps the programmer would consider adding an EASY option to the service menu for novices:
EASY MODE START:
Hi Left or Right loop to light scoop. Hit scoop to start mode.

Certainly make the EASY MODE default to OFF, but this would allow the home user to adjust for various skills.

I've seen novices and kids play for many years and they sometimes lack the ability to hit a ramp, let alone 2 ramps. This would put them in standard gameplay and not allow them to enjoy all of the modes added. Its pretty easy to hit an orbit no matter your skill level. This way everyone could have fun.

you don't need to hit two ramps - I think either one would do it as it's all about triggering the inlane switches.... it's not that hard...this game is scary, loud and vulgar - not sure it's meant for the little kids.

There is already an adjustment to make the mode start easier (or harder) if you desire. We already made it easier by default, by not requiring you to qualify the first mode - it's ready at the start of the game.

The orbits are harder to hit than the ramps, so your suggestion would have a negative effect. Also technically you only need the inlanes, not the ramps.

Madison Pinball game is old code. Still easy to start modes, but with lights out any novice player has no clue on what to do on the game.

Looking forward to our replacement game. Helmut/Morgan say that it is on the second shipment of produciton machines whenever that happens.

Reminder of the rulesheet . For people who have rules questions and want to get an idea of the depth of code.

See quoted post .

we would hit the green icon shots, but nothing was going on. Seems stuff was lit but didn't do much. We felt cheated out of the $1. I like aliens layout and look. But I think things need to be a little more self explanatory. more direction on how to get things going, and easier way to see some of the cool features the game has to offer. Because as of right now, it's not a good route game to pull in the casual person off the street. Couldn't even pull me in, and I liked the game and know pinball.

Thanks for the explanation, Brian. Well then, I see no reason why a player shouldn't be able to start modes. Well done. I just watched a clip of gameplay and a player shortplunged to the inlane and started combat zone. Easy peezy.

??? there is no short plunge? Just a launch button for the same result every time.

Watch the first minute of this. The first player plunged, it dropped right into the right inlane. Did it hit something?

In the pipe baby!

a6f79e1afa34d0e6ab1ed0ea7273a540--the-pipe-pipes (resized).jpg

Can't wait man. I'm excited to come over for the unboxing! So happy this is coming together for you.

That's just how plunge works on Alien. Ball always feeds the right flipper. It's like Theatre of Magic (but autoplunger instead of manual).

ok, so basically plunge and shoot the scoop with the right flipper and you can start your first mode? Thanks, Its been a year since I played it. Maybe I will get a chance to play an older model this weekend at the York show?

Yup, with default (medium) settings on current code.

There are also several (7, I think) skill shot opportunities on the plunge if you prefer.

I was gonna say it reminds me of the X-Files launcher.

ok that def is diff. Def easier b/c one I played would complain if I hit scoop before lighting the other two. Nice to have option. Not sure which I like better....i liked earning that mode! Like DI.

Glad to see some games are shipping now.

I think it's safe to assume that one of these new production machines will be set up at Cointaker's Expo booth in a few weeks. This is "New HP" time to shine.

I really want to hear that the pin was up & running at Expo for 12+ hours a day, with no mechanical issues (like flawed alien head mech, weak pops, etc), random computer resets, etc. These are not Andrew's flawed pre-production units, so the build issues of the past should be behind them. Show us that they are capable of making a solid reliable product. Every time I've been to a show, eventually the Heighway pin is turned off or pulled from the floor due to issues. More of the same old stuff with these new builds isn't going to help matters.

With Expo & home owner reviews coming up, October is going to be interesting month for New Heighway. Hope they pull it off.

Pedantic: if I remember right (haven't played X-Files in a lonnnnng time), that game plunges the ball straight (flat) into a scoop, and then a ball popper kicks it up onto the right ramp return. On Alien, it plunges up a short ramp, then falls through a hole to the right ramp, which is more or less identical to ToM. The end result is the same either way, ball is delivered to the right flipper, although on Alien (and ToM) it's always in view during the plunge, which is nice IMHO.

Yeah, that's one of those little changes we made based on watching livestreams and listening to player feedback. Want to make sure that players of all skill levels have a good chance of experiencing cool stuff. The "Start Scene Difficulty" adjustment now ranges from Extra Easy (Airlock always lit to start a mode, when mode start is allowed) to Extra Hard (must relight the Airlock each time, and turns off at start of each ball).

There are also more specific callouts from Mother now to guide a player who shoots an unlit Airlock (e.g. "complete left inlane to qualify mission").

Im actually getting excited to read this thread with some positive pics!

Cant wait to hear from the owners, and see this repeated!!

Well let's see if they're holding their word on LEs shipping October....meaning the next batch...which also means those cabs in their latest pics should be LE cabs.

You mean these labeled Full Throttle cabs?

cabs1233 (resized).jpg

Could be because they are the old style cabs without the routed space for the inner cab lighted side blades.

I was talking about these.....but now that I noticed the legs which are not LE colors I am taking back what I was hoping. Another lie from Heighway per usual....unless they are adding the colored legs later, which I doubt.

4d7a5a241e5155a6042f8ee1c830fc2db8c38e8d (resized).jpg

Black trim is an option on LE. Which is what I'm going with. No blue or green for me.

But the legs are still colored right? Not the silver as shown in the pics? Also, I am sure there are not 21 black and silver LE's lol, someone (me) chose green. I was debating on doing a galaxy sparkle black but still havent decided lol.

You know what.....I am taking back what I took back hahahahahhaha!!!!! They still very well could be LE's as they dont ship them with the legs on and they wouldnt use the real legs that come with as it would mar them up. So they could be using those legs in the pics just to assemble the cabs and then ship them with the unused legs. So they could be LE's.......here is my optimism getting the best of me LMAO

Like it!!! I think I counted around 21 cabs w legs on them....another container.....this would make a lot of LE people happy!!!
Anxious to see a true look at the green vs blue armor...I was 100% green, but then the pics shown looked like a pretty bright shade. May have to go blue....

This happens with every new Stern game too. There's people with lots of money that don't know a lot about pinball or that they can buy it directly from a distributor, so they overpay via Ebay.

does anyone know exactly how many LE'S are being made? and how many are sold to date? Mine has been paid in full since last sept
just curious

Id like to know this also. I'm in the same boat as well.
I thought if you were paid in full, you would game quicker. Not sure the point of taking on all this exposure if you can put down a deposit and get a game 2 weeks later. What is cointaker thinking? Aren't their people out there that have had deposits down for years? I will call cointaker tomorrow and find out unless someone knows the answer to this already.

Are you aware of this thread, probably changed somewhat.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/alienle-are-you-in-whats-your

Big distinction bw LE and standard. I'm buying a standard if that helps....no interest in the "new" LE.

Well hell, I'll just ask Melissa to switch me to a standard and bump you to the "next shipment". I'm sure you'd be cool with that right? Anybody else, that's fully paid for an LE want to join me?

That will cost you more.
You will have to pay the new price.

You sure about that? I'm assuming Cointaker had a contract price with HP. So if I ask Melissa to switch to a standard and just refund me the difference, why would she care. My money isn't with HP, it's with Cointaker no?

I'm just trying to make a point delt31. It kind of irks me that people that have been waiting a long ass time aren't getting their machine before you. What is HP and Cointaker thinking?
Yeh I get it. You ordered a Standard. Why the hell is HP shipping Standards first? It seems like the dudes on this thread that have been waiting for years ordered LEs. Why not take care of your most loyal customers. Not some dude who just dropped a deposit two weeks ago. No offense DELT31, I'm glad you're getting a machine. Just seems like not the most smart business practice.

It depends on how long ago you pre ordered I guess.
People who pre ordered long ago got a good price on the LE.
But since then heighway of new have hiked up the prices.
The new standard is worth more than the old LE price and heighway won't discount the people who have had previous orders in for the LE.
It was bought up a while ago in this thread.

kklank - your post certainly came off as being a dick but I don't take offense. You seem like you've been on these boards for awhile so you know that standards are usually made and shipped first (stern is the same way - my GB prem was NIB and I had to wait for Pro and then LE to be made first). Enjoy your LE when you receive it or if you want to drop to standard, good luck with that as well.

No worries. I felt you came off as a dick too earlier in your posts but I realized it was me that was just bummed these machines aren't completed by now for everyone on this thread and you were just excited to announce to everyone that machines were being shipped.

Not always the case.
Stern built AC DC LE's first. So everyone that ordered a LE got a cloudy window.
I think stern learnt from that.

Since day one a group of standards were being made first.
How would you feel if the LE's were made in the first batch like the standards already out there. Some have issues with them.id rather they get it spot on, then ship the LE's.

Good point.

My apologies if I offended you. Again, just very frustrated with the process of getting a game. This takes a lot of patience.

From Morgan this morning:

"Hi Mark,
Thank you for contacting us today and thank you for your kind words surrounding the production of the machines. As you have seen we are hard at work to get these machines produced and shipped out to customers as soon as possible. We are producing large amounts of the standard editions at this moment in time and will be continuing this. The limited editions of the machine will start to be produced soon and we will then be shipping them out to customers as soon as possible.

We are hoping to have the LE’s out to the customers soon as the production ramps up, you will see more details surrounding this as we move forward.

Thank you for all of your enthusiasm and excitement around the build of these machines.

Thank you for your time as always and I hope to be in contact soon with more information. If you have any additional questions or queries please feel free to contact me."

Pretty safe to believe LE's won't be out for awhile.....

However, see the followup:

"Hi Mark,
Thank you for contacting us today about the production of the machines. I would say that we should have the LE’s in customers hands by Christmas if not before then. I don’t have a date to share with you today unfortunately but our aim is to get these machines out as soon as possible. We have just completed a large consignment of the standard editions and with our current pace we should really have LE’s out to customers shortly.

I hope that this information was useful to you today. Thank you as always for your time and I hope to be in contact shortly. If you have any additional questions or queries please feel free to contact me. "

In the end, it seems these Aliens are shipping in about the same time table as Full Throttle did back in the day. Full Throttle was shown as "complete" at Expo 2014, I had mine (first customer) August 2015. Mine was "2 weeks" away from shipping for 9 months.

Look at Dialed In, shown at Expo last year, and customers have only started getting them a few months back and obviously JJP is in a far better position in every way.

Ramping up for production just seems difficult, costly and always takes longer than expected.

Glad to see the machines are starting to roll out, hopefully these final production models will prove reliable and all of this will be put behind us.

Have never been more excited about a new pin release as I am for Alien. Great to hear they are being made and shipped, albeit way too slowly. Hope to get one from Cointaker next year, after reading all the posts confirming the game plays reliably and inventory is available. No need to make a deposit now.

Thanks for the video PinballRulez . IMO the sound package is best implementation to date - ever. The sound effects are outstanding and are sprinkled in with so much variety that they practically become another character in the cast. They set an eerie mood and combine to resonate a frequency that rattles the nerves. Thanks daudioguy

For what it's worth, i recently asked heighway whether i would have to pay the new standard pricing if i chose to downgrade my long-time LE order. Morgan's response was basically "i can't guarantee that and would have to ask." I'm assuming I'll have to officially request a downgrade to press the issue further, but I'm waiting to see what concessions they have for the LE preorders first.