Quoted from Aurich:

Just for fun, here are the modern Alien arcade games, you can see how they handled the art for these. May or may not be relevant! ( they even have toppers )

Aliens_42_large-716.png 749 KB

ALIENS-217.JPG 194 KB

Quoted from Join_The_Cirqus:

I see that Heighway will be at Free Play Florida after IAAPA in Orlando!!
How Many FullT's are you bringing?
Will Alien be on display and playable?

Quoted from Aurich:

Alien won't be at Florida I can tell you that.

Quoted from jazzmaster:

So, what happened at the reveal? Were the games completely DOA? I was expecting some actually meaningful video or at least some decent pics of the game from the event. Is Heighway still under the thumb of Fox and unable to release anything more than what we have seen? Heighway is knocking on the door for payment. I need to see more than a flyer and a marketing video. When will we see some actual straight-up, gameplay video with no added marketing hype or cutaways to movie scenes or 15 cuts a second to cray cutaway shots of the "balls eye view"?

Quoted from neverahighscore:

Anyone else holding off sending in the next payment. I pre ordered a LE from the start but would love to see a finished LE. Any reason besides moving up the list in terms of receiving the game sooner than later. Any thoughts on early games produced having issues with later games being more solid. Looking forward to having this beast in my game room this year!!!

Quoted from Whysnow:

I agree 100%. I can completely understand the hesitation and concern of anyone thinking of putting down a deposit given the delays and missed deadlines. I would say if you have concern then simply wait it out. There is no danger of missing out if you wait.
However, you would think most can see how very different this is from Jpop/SkitB. For cripes sake, the company has successfully produced 1 great game already, pushed forward the pinball industry with some innovative things, and has shown a huge factory being built up. To put them in the same category as the aforementioned just makes people look silly/spiteful and incapable of anything remotely positive in their life.
I agree that they need to deliver good playing games that are complete and rock in the near future. That is the only real answer that will satisfy many people. That is also the one thing that will bring in many more sales.
As things stand; the theme is great, Heighway has shown they can deliver and deliver a high quality production grade commercial quality machine, they have a great designer and fun flipping machine, and the code even at expo was super fun (the full ruleset looks amazing honestly. Toss on the full immersion of the lights and sound package and the only thing left to do is actually deliver.
I am still looking forward to the next time I get to flip one and hope there is one within driving distance for me to play.
For me personally it really comes down to the fact that we have a Full Throttle on route that has held up very well, people like it, i like it, and it is still leaps and bound above the quality of any ohter game I have bought in the past 4 years. That earns some degree of respect and goodwill for what Heighway has done.
People can be spiteful or hate on them if they like, but that is the reason I will give them more rope. I love pinball, plain and simple.

Quoted from Aurich:

The LE art is hopefully close to approval, but until it is I can't say more, because it would be foolish to promise something out of my control, if Fox wanted X Y or Z.

Quoted from maf-mi:

Why does is look like $1,700 difference. Could you explain your math. $6,450.00 vs $8,150.00

Quoted from NPO:

Fair question.
Didn't want shaker, fiber optic ramps, or powdercoated hardware.
I will probably - no joke - be the only owner in the Florida panhandle from Pensacola to Tallahassee. That makes it "limited" enough for me .

Quoted from NPO:

Two buyers within the Pensacola/Navarre area???? Wow, didn't know we had that many pin guys in the area.
South Florida is like an 10-14 hour drive. To put that into perspective, that was the time it took me to drive from Dayton to here. Needless to say, you can have the South area, and I'll take the Panhandle .
Either way, the more Alien machines the better. This game is going to be more than I think Stern is anticipating. For what we are paying, we are getting FAR more than what they charge for an LE.

Quoted from wcbrandes:

Hi Andrew, I was seriously looking at one of these, however it really was bothering me that they are trickling out and taking so long. Does it bother anyone else sitting on the fence? Andrew can you let me know if your company is strong and viable enough to get all ordered machines out in a timely fashion? Not looking to read your financials had the pleasure, Cough Cough, of reading Zidwares' however been stung so many times I would at least like your honest synopsis of the situation and a rough time line to delivery if ordered today. Cheers and keep up the good work, the machine is looking great!

Quoted from LoveNeverDiesGuy:

Been noticing a ton of Alien stuff lately. SF Bart just got scarier.
Can't wait to see this game at Pin a Go Go!

Quoted from PoMC:

DarthSinex summed up my thoughts and the opinions of others I was playing with yesterday and today. Just an underwhelming experience compared to all the other new pin choices. It's lacking one really fun and satisfying shot in my opinion.

Quoted from toasterman04:

Is this game another "beta testing game" that you worked out a deal with Andrew personally... knowing there are issues? Or is this part of the first run of machines for the masses?

Quoted from spfxted:

Does it have the Xeno Head?

Quoted from J85M:

Do you know what the changes/improvements to the mech are? If it was annouced I must have missed it but curious to know what's been changed/improved for production games, currently trying to lineup a SE for my lineup
BTW congrates on your game heading your way, you maybe one of the first Pinsiders to receive a production model.

Quoted from Whysnow:

mylay strip at kickout.
mylar donut around xeno mag on pf
mylar at ball drops
all good

Quoted from earflaps:

I think you might be pleasantly surprised as to the amount of bass you're going to get out of the stock speakers and Lepai Amp. I was surprised as to the quality of speakers they included in this little gem. Just note that the small dial by itself on the left of the amp controls the Sub volume. After tweaking my recently purchased Full Throttle, I actually have to turn the bass down or it rattles the crap out of everything. Unless they changed something in the newer releases of Alien, you might want to hold off on the external sub until you do some proper tweaking with the stock audio.

Quoted from Whysnow:

cut it out of a sheet yourself is what I did.
i think pinball restore is where I bought a roll of good mylar

Quoted from MikeS:

Congrats on the Alien! A lot of envious Pinsiders in this thread.
What version of code is your game running and does the Xeno head active? Have you noticed any new lighting effects or sound effects with the Xeno? thanks.

Quoted from ezeltmann:

What is connected between the sub and the machine?

Quoted from daudioguy:

At Aurich's encouragement I paid significant attention to the bottom octave of the Alien sound package. To this end I added a Daytona Audio sub to my studio. You can't adjust what you can't hear. There are a lot of moments when something dives down that dives down a little further with a Sub Woofer.
I have a background as a rock musician and know how to 'rock'.
I hope this is working for everybody.
ddt

Quoted from bobukcat:

I don't know, the sequence went so well with the "How did they cut the power" quote and the lights coming back on just as the ball is getting eaten, that was really almost more intense than having flashers popping off.

Quoted from woodworker:

That's what I did, but it turned out that your Alien machine has some problems you aren't disclosing here. Of the times I have played Alien at Alt Brew, you were only there once by coincidence. Because as I told you in person, I think you come off as a complete asshole on the forums.
When I was there the game looked really dark. I mentioned this and you explained that several of the RGB LED light boards were broken and that is why it looked so dim. So did they fix/improve the light boards on your machine, or send you replacements yet? Are new boards in development? Is anybody else's Alien having light board issues?
You also mentioned that the playfield holes for some of the LED's are too small and are causing failures. You said Heighway is going to have to make those holes larger to increase reliability. Do the current games being shipped out from Heighway have the original size holes, or the newer larger ones? It seems unlikely they would be new playfields as they probably haven't gone through 25 playfields yet, and Andrew has said he ordered hundreds. Maybe they're drilling them out or something.
And of course the Xeno head is still not working. You did cycle the machine off and on for me to see, and that made the mouth extend. It wasn't very fast, but it did move. During gameplay it didn't function or move at all.
I wasn't going to say anything about my visit or the state of your machine. I changed my mind after you tried to call out Ted by touting Heighway's design choices while simultaenously failing to mention that your machine has light board issues and other things that don't work properly. That doesn't seem very honest to me.

Quoted from kvan99:

When I was over a friend's house for the unboxing, there were a few issues out of the box, nothing major though. The backboard LEDs were not working. Also the xeno head locked up once or twice trying to grab the ball. A few times when the ball drained it did not register is right away so the game and music continued for about another 5 seconds. Again no big showstoppers to me, by that I mean it's probably a staple through the LED strip and the xeno head and ball drain malfunctioned because of early software..? The only nit picky thing that I didn't like however was the big screen's resolution seemed off. It basically duplicates the same image from the PF's smaller screen but it looked a little grainy. In other words, to me anyway, it looked the smaller image was upscaled to fit the big screen.

Quoted from ZMeny:

Cirqus why is the backglass so dark?

Quoted from Whysnow:

NICE! LE trim looks amazing!
Looks like this confirms First LEs shipped in May.

Quoted from robotron:

wow!!! friggin looks awesome.
please fill us in how you got the news your pin was ready!!

Quoted from stevevt:

Why/how did the trim color change?
Does it have fiber optic ramps?

Quoted from stevevt:

Why/how did the trim color change?
Does it have fiber optic ramps?

Quoted from FalconPunch:Deleted post

Quoted from luvthatapex2:

Wow the first LE delivered! I'd like to see more pictures of the game if you get a chance. This is great news indeed.

Quoted from frolic:

To be fair, since I've been first to receive a handful of LEs, or even Full Throttle, usually me posting about it is the first news of the games being delivered.

Quoted from FalconPunch:

It's the same game I believe. That he got last week... I think he just power coated it himself?

Quoted from FalconPunch:

Did Heighway send you the replacement armor? Or did you just do it yourself out of your own pocket?

Quoted from Join_The_Cirqus:

I only have an Alien LE
The powdercoating was changed out to Alien Green from Alien Black

Quoted from jonesjb:

So you powdercoated it yourself? Why request it black and then coat it green?
I've been very supportive of Heighway in this thread, but I can't help but think this DIY LE approach is a bit odd.

Quoted from Join_The_Cirqus:

I only have an Alien LE
The powdercoating was changed out to Alien Green from Alien Black

Quoted from bigdaddy07:

In that case, I do like the green color of your LE. That's the green I would want on mine.

Quoted from jonesjb:

I tend to agree. And the green wouldn't likely be the true LE Pantone. I mean isn't this just a standard, with LE art and a plaque? Wouldn't one be better off just paying for a standard and then adding on the beacons as an add on? For a LE with half the equipment missing, that's some expensive LE art.

Quoted from FalconPunch:

Out of pure curiosity.
Did Heighway give you the color to give to the powdercoaters?
Or did you just choose one you wanted and thought would be the most similar to the 'official' colour.
Some people might be looking at this thread and thinking their machine might look through same and it could look pretty different.

Quoted from Buzz:

That answer to me is the problem. Why have people paid in full and have not gotten a game let alone the 10 that were ordered. Someone comes in late in a time many are asking for refunds to try to keep the excitement alive while others are getting screwed that have paid seems a little off and wrong. Why not take care of the people that have already sent money and let them post pics to keep the excitement alive???

Quoted from jlm33:

So... let me summarize. Feel free to correct when necessary.
You received a "Black" Alien 10 days ago.
Advertise it.
Then accomplish a DIY green trim and install LE side panels.
Show the box as if it was just arrived. As if a second game arrived.
Call it a LE although it has no fiber ramps, no plaque and no specific trim.
Basically, what I see is a regular game with LE side panels, right?
Anything else LE specific?

Quoted from Join_The_Cirqus:

Quoted from FalconPunch:
It's the same game I believe. That he got last week... I think he just power coated it himself?
I only have an Alien LE
The powdercoating was changed out to Alien Green from Alien Black

Quoted from Astropin:

Yeah...he got the LE translite also. Plus they will be sending the plaque and optics.
He requested it be sent to him this way, so what's the big deal? If I was in on an LE and was given this option I would GRAB it!

Quoted from bigdaddy07:

Given you current collection, how would you rate Alien as it stands so far?

Quoted from Agent_Hero:

What's an average score for you?

Quoted from MK6PIN:

Side note ( too lazy to look back through the pages)...what is the total height of the LE w provided beacons? Ve got a spot picked, but might be vertically challenged....

Quoted from MK6PIN:

Thank you!!!...off to the game room now.....

Quoted from libtech:

sweet. and as soon as those molex connectors arrive, your beacons as well
Sure here are some pics of the mech, pretty simple, one limit switch on the tounge, one motor and a small motor for the jaw. Dont know what changes they made.

Quoted from ezeltmann:

While everyone is considering pricing and trim and options , you might might want to take a step back and ask :
Can Heighway pinball in it's current form provide fully functioning production machines on a consistent basis ?
Also , can they fix machine with flaws in a timely manner, diagnosing and sending parts when needed?
The Alien Std. at Pocketeers was a Hot Mess of multiple event resets and refusing to take coins. Owners are not happy at this point. 3 days of rebooting the game and waiting for your game to suddenly end had many people frustrated with the game.
One of the resets was tied to starting Ambush, so possibly magnet / head related. The tech had disabled the head , possibly due to discussions with the Heighway team. The owner also reported that he specifically asked them not to send the game unless previous reliability issues had been worked out. Other resets seemed to be tied to tilting.
Great design , great rules , but over and over we see this being rushed out without full testing of components. There are no extra parts lying around or history of problems to even figure out half of the issues that pop up. The owner lost a lot of potential earnings over the three days of the Buffalo Pinball Open and sent a lot of people away with a bad first impression. Not sure why they didn't put a sign on it stating it was hit or miss for a reset.
If you watch the stream that "Bro, do you even pinball" did the game was fully functional with a few odd problems and the head was working even when it should not have been. Wondering if the odd behavior (head grabbing ball during modes and Mother being triggered from a head shot) was linked to the eventual failure of hardware.
I was of the opinion before this to get a game fast instead of waiting and have changed my mind completely.
Of course i would like to have more data. Not sure where other production Alien games have landed , but it would be nice to see hear if there are any issues popping up consistently. The bad part is people are making final determinations of this game based on a flawed example.
On this particular example the playfield was very dark to the point where you could not see the upper flippers very well. Shots were awesome except the upper ramp was hard to hit, due to either upper flipper alignment or power. Pop buimpers are seemingly improved but lack the snappy power of a new stern. Same for slings, they are a bit clunky. Not sure of they gapped switches on this.
So maybe this is a case of one bad apple being put on display for many to gain a rotten attitude about it. I still come away with a feeling of a great game that needs the polish and reliability to become an all-time hit.
If people are out there with a recent game , please report here and i am hoping to see more cases of "I have no issues" instead of my unfortunate experience with the game at Pocketeers. By the time i got there , you would not risk playing multiple players , because you could reset away your money on one ball.
All that being said , i got multiple games (avoiding the head) and enjoyed myself the time that it lasted. It's all been said about being immersive to the theme and having great multiple flipper shots and using all of the playfield to progress through the story. Still we are at the point where the main features (head and magnet) seem to be the problem.
I will try and keep up on the progress of the Pocketeers machine (so we know what the issue was) ; unless someone official wants to pop on and let us know what happened and if this is an isolated incident.
Good luck Heighway.

Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

That's assuming they are shipped by sea. Andrew maintained he had an inexpensive air/truck delivery to US that was the same price as ship/truck. If new owners have something similar, shipping 50 games to one location should be a piece of cake.

Quoted from jonesjb:

How's your alien holding up, you've had it for a while now? And is it still getting as much attention compared to your other pins?

Quoted from budroosker:

1. How have you heard the update?
2. When is it conservatively scheduled for release if you know?

Quoted from delt31:

Thanks for posting this. I didn't notice that the backglass changes color during the game too when I played it in Buffalo. Did you buy an addon or is that part of the standard package? Pumped for this game - sound is sick.