Rumors, speculation, and wishful thinking without a single ounce of proof. NO PROOF AT ALL.

Do not hold your breath. Save up $13.5K, and buy the one FS right now if you want one.

I already have the money; I also previously prepaid a deposit. Didn’t get my agreed number 149. I will not pay an inflated price, so I’m now out until a new, more reliable version is (possibly) remade. If this doesn’t happen, I won’t own an Alien, and won’t lose any sleep.

It is a fun pin though, so I’m happy those who have one are fortunate to be able to enjoy the game.

Then its not for you. Stop asking if unfounded rumors are suddenly true so you can land a cheaper game.

Nah, I’m still asking.

I need some advice regarding grounding of the Backbox.

I have renewed several crimp connections and I noticed that the Backbox is grounded on the lower right only.
But why?
No metal part inside or outside is continuously connected.
Also the metal frame of the Backbox is not connected to the metal angles from the inside.
But the retaining plate at the back of the Backbox is not earthed, where voltage could break through from the inside to the outside due to a switching error.
Is it possible that the grounding has to be mounted on one of the three bolts for the mounting plate?

Unbenannt (resized).JPG

regards
Averell

Still looking for the illuminated side panels if anyone is holding/selling. Have a brand new lcd and led color dmds I could trade.

Last source you should hurry up !!

RUN, RUN ....

https://www.pinballlife.com/alien-interior-panel-plastic-set.html

Those are just the plastics unfort....

Isn´t there just El-Foil under ?!

But of course , very expensive for only the plastics ...
Sorry I thought its plug and play ... maybe ask this guys here selling artblades for several pins as a modding for the illumination part !

The side panel lighting is just LED strips inside the channel lighting the plastic from the edge. Then a transformer inside the cabinet that powers them. I believe all Alien cabinets have the cut outs for the wire/LED strip, so it can be added.

Now here's my suggestion to make the translite better lighted by the given LED-Stripe in the Backbox.
An exact reproduction of the speaker panel made in acrylic glass interchangeable with the original parts.
The first prototype pair is in delivery and I can check the result on wednesday this week.
If it works I will start a very small limited series.

IMG_4910 (resized).jpg

IMG_4911 (resized).jpg

regards
Averell

Good idea. I always hated how those speaker mounts messed with the back lighting.

This was my first impression when I saw the ALIEN translite... only these eggs in the middle were visible, but the rest of the brilliant art was lost.

Def interested!

I’m looking for the full side kits with the electronics inside, not just the plastic sides. I know there is a diy solution posted here I haven’t looked into too deep as I assumed it was beyond my skill set. Will give it a full look through with a more electronically competent friend.

Looks cool I’d be in for a set.

that's great!
Could you post a pic of how it looks like once installed?

These plates are not inexpensive because the manufacturing process is complex.
First all parts are lasered and then three parts are glued together.
The adhesive used is a special adhesive and absolutely invisible.
There is no other way to make the panels and the assembly is done by hand.
In addition, holes must be drilled for the pins at the end so that the parts can really be replaced and nothing has to be changed on the device.
These parts are something unique like the ALIEN Pinball is for sure.

I will post some picture if I have installed the parts.

In for a set if you make a run...Should I send a pm

Am I the only one thinking.. There is a company selling Alien playfields.. hmm... Cabinet over there, a P-roc.. here..

Yes there are some companys outside and they bought a whole bunch of parts.
It's possible to get cabinet, playfield and other spare, but it's impossible to rebirth a complete ALIEN again.

Cost would be prohibitively expensive. Wiring would be a nightmare. At this point i dont think you could get all the parts. A few months ago, maybe.

Why would wiring be a nightmare? If using a programmable stand alone unit the wiring can be anything you want it to be. You could discard all heighweigh pcb, etc. I'm not suggesting trying to clone an Alien pin from scratch down to the same detail as the original.

Hah. An Alien pinball playfield in a Space Invaders cabinet, that would be cool.

Because then you have to reprogram the game from scratch? At that point its not really an alien anymore.

Other games have been reprogrammed from scratch, there really isn't anything from preventing someone from doing the same here. The biggest issue I see would be some of the mechs in the ball snatcher Alien head.

Idle thoughts of course, but in the realm of possible by a talented individual.

As a software dev, the amount of work for just programming the game from scratch is no small feat. You also won't perfectly replicate it. There will be some differences regardless due to timing on the different hardware. Chicago coin remakes are emulating the original hardware and unlike arcade emulation pinball isn't as specific to its output. So no, this is a very easy armchair exercise to think about but the reality is, no one is going to do it.

Have fun writing the p-roc drivers to interface with the Heighway I/O boards. Also, many things that should have been handled by those I/O boards are hacked into the game code. That should be fun too.

Maybe, use P-Roc and make more standardized boards that can be used in the game and also mass produced so we will forever have working aliens available.

Nice thought, but that will never happen. Best hope is to find one for sale and buy it and enjoy it!

You get it. Why would you limit yourself to the original boards?

I have a serious inquiry for this community. I was an early buyer who owned a Alien around Christmas before most people got their games from CT. Anywho, I am contemplating trying again with the game currently posted on the market in CO. With that said, I would like to hear about the most recent updates in the community regarding support for the game.

The issues I had with my game were As follows: 1. Ball trough would kick out more than the appropriate number of balls. 2. The balls eventually stopped kicking out of the ball trough properly, I believe due to the metal sheet right where the pf starts. 3 the gears for the xeno mech slipped and the tongue would slowly fall down against the back of the xeno head and then after pickup would get stuck in the middle of the closing mouth. 4. The airlockscoop didn’t shoot the ball out properly and eventually damaged the pf.

Would you say these issues are common in most of the machines? Are these types of problems known and able to be fixed now?

How many games would you all say are in the country and actually functioning 100%. Is this game, in your opinion relatively stable to own and use as a huo game? What parts are available from community members to help keep it running? What are the largest concerns regarding failure of parts in your minds?

Thanks for the info. Have to seriously consider all sides on this before going in for a second time.

I appreciate the update and help.
Oh, has the community also released more updated code? I know ferret has been helping this group.

I personally don't have answers for all of these but to share my experience with you (as we were in a similar boat during the initial run of these) - ensure that you buy a later run of these games. My original was first batch and although it didn't have as many issues as yours, it did have a few in the beginning. I understand the later runs of these games were improved in a number of areas which is why you see a lot of the earlier ones being "converted" to the new equipment.

The game I have now is a later run and after owning it for 4 months, I haven't had one issue. Not 1. If you're looking for the least headache, wait or pay more for a later build.

As for parts, they pop up here and there. Many of us just buy them all when available (at least me - prob bought 2k worth of parts) but I literally have everything that is alien specific which was a little expensive but has given me piece of mind over a game I value as my favorite of all time. GL!

CO Alien appears to be sold?...

Yup, was just messaged about it. So much for that. :shrugs: well, I will be on the lookout. Would still love to know about the previous posts inquires if possible.

+1
Seems there are still some software issues even in last rev. Mine is pretty stable but after factory setting and seems there was an issue with the coin setting. (Mine has none)

Don't think Alien could be made PROC compatible without ditching some of the lamp usage like in the light-up targets; you'd need more than an 8x8 matrix, I believe.

P3-ROC can drive serial lamps.

Anyone know the size and type of legs used on Alien? Trying to find new legs that fit my Heighway cab. Can't find any manual or find anything on Google.

1. Can’t remember seeing this on mine. Having that problem sometimes on GB and ST.
2. people modified the sheet, solved
3. two screws to remove the head, one to tighten the rod. Solved
4. there is a nylon block inserted to the scoop on the production machines. Solved

Mine sometimes has problems to get the balls out of the scoop if more than one ball is in the Airlock.

As far as #3, arent people replacing the gear?

Expanding on @jwilson's response...

The P3-ROC talks to a Multimorphic PD-LED board, and each PD-LED board can drive up to 84 parallel-driven LEDs and/or up to 682 serial RGB LEDs (and also servos and stepper motors). I believe Alien uses serial RGB LEDs and way less than 682. So that's not a problem.

Very few modern pinball games use a traditional lamp matrix; the PD-8x8 board is old news (we can make it if somebody needs it, but we don't stock it as a standard product anymore). All commercial machines using the P-ROC/P3-ROC use LEDs. Some use parallel-driven LEDs, some use serial LEDs, and some use both.

If anybody wants to work out what a conversion would entail or perhaps how to wire a new Alien playfield with our boards, feel free to PM me. I'm happy to advise. That said, if the game's source code isn't made available, then it'd have to be rewritten. If the code is available, then there are probably a number of people who could port it. If the hardware is abstractly nicely in the original implementation, getting it to run on P-ROC hardware would be easy.

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

Now this is the good stuff. Thanks Gerry. So guys, who would we be talking to that was working with Heighway that might have access to said Source code.

I find all this need to make a new Alien strange.Why?Is it all like the Hollywood style of making remakes because they have no new ideas?Classics,like Alien should remain just that IMO.

Because boards don’t exist. So if they can be remade using proc ones, then you have future proofed your game.

Classic? The game has been out for what 2 years? Words having meaning, little early to be labeling it a classic.

Infamous maybe fits a touch better.

There is no source code for this game available, no one is recreating it from scratch either. The game is what it is. I dunno if it will ever be remade, I sure wouldn't put any money on a bet either way. But any fantasies about fans recreating it are just that, fantasies, it's 100% never gonna happen.

What Aurich said. The code is not open source and probably never will be. The idea of anyone attempting this is laughable.

I don't think anyone said Open Source. The source exists though, multiple people have a copy. Just throw up a torrent, BOOM.

What people have in their games isn't source.. What people have is compiled code, libraries, and media.

I think he was suggesting one of the game devs could leak the source code if they wanted.