Pretty sure it was there. If I am not mistaken it is to feed the flipper after shooting the other hole.

Edit. Looks like it is there in the first drawing but in later pictures it looks like an upkicker from the other hole feeds the flipper so I am not so sure after all

That proves it, ()art can be a four letter word. I hope they can do better than that. In fact I am sure of it

Interesting point, frolic. I think the idea was a new game every 3-4 months and Full Throttle is 3 months behind the October, 2014 schedule. Still ok, going by pinball standards but no way are we seeing Alien in April, like you said.

June, perhaps (I am fine with that)

It will be much easier to set ca date for release when final whitewood have been approved. A lot of things can still happen.

But it is still nice to see great progress being made by Heighway every week and I have high hopes for them.

Well, I hope you are wrong there, Robotoes, since I have bought Full Throttle with an Alien playfield add-on, and paid for both of them in full already

This is the main reason why I went with Heighway pinball. The playfield swapping sounds really innovative and a perfect choice for me. If this turns out great (and I have a feeling it will) I will probably jump in on future tables no matter the theme of the machine.(well, almost)

Walking dead, Mustang and Wrestlemania is not themes I feel I must have and there is too many cutbacks on Stern's pro models. The price difference (at least in my part of the world) from a Stern Premium to a Heighway playfield is huge. If I could have had those 3 latest Stern games for half the price then sure, I would consider them.

Sorry to downvote you, underlord because I understand and agree to a point and they do still have something to prove in the pinball world, but to use the word "boutique" is way off when it comes to Heighway.

In fact, it is rather insulting to a company with a large factory, a staff, a contract with a company already finished,(Bacardi) a game in production, a license deal for the next game and 3(or more) other pinball machines in early stages of production to call them boutique.

Please look up what the word "boutique" really means. I am only reacting here, because I feel that the word has been used all over the place lately

Congrats, Aurich.

This is gonna be a fun ride for both you and us

Best of luck to you.

Great choice by Andrew Heighway. Now, go make us proud!

Same here. I emailed Andrew this week and I can say this much about Full Throttle, things are moving along nicely and the first games is almost finished. Not only that, I had a special request and Andrew came through for me on that also. What a great guy!

No worries whatsoever from me about Full Throttle. It will be in my home soon, very soon.

Stern games do have drop targets but only on premium/LE. Now, how annoying is that?

I love the fact that the le formula for all the other companies(Jersey Jack, Spooky, Dutch, Heighway) is cosmetics only, not game features.

I still like Stern games but not a fan of the way they handle the pro/le features

Sorry for going off topic on something that has probably been discussed to death already, but I am happy that Heighway pinball did not go down the Stern Route

That's pretty funny (no disrespect meant towards Aurich.)

About the price change. That is one of the few perks about pre-ordering early. You know what price you are paying.

Since no one knows why the price has gone up 200$ it is just silly to complain about it and it is unfair to criticize them for doing so.

I am sure there is a good reason and that we will know the reason soon enough. (but I do not feel that they owe us any explanation about it)

Prices go up and down (mostly up) all the time. Especially if the company is distributing the goods themselves. Currency is always a big factor and parts price could also go up. Ergo, could be lots of reasons for it.

Talking about the price going up without showing any pictures or info about the changes being done since the last price point seems peculiar and is a stance I do not follow at all.

Fair point. Of course it is ok to ask why and a reason is always preferable. What I meant is that it almost sounded like they had no right to change the price without giving a reason first.

PS! What is and is not ok to spend is up to each buyer to decide. I just aired my view on it.

Anyway, a reason has already been posted by Heighway so I better shut up about it now

I am hoping for a cad drawing of the new playfield design first. Can't imagine that the license crowd have any problems with that?

Since we have already seen the first drawing and many of us(at least me) bought this pin after seeing that first drawing of the playfield, it would be nice to see the changes since then.

New design looks fab. Is it just me or are those outlanes calling for me? They look hungry and mean but I am not afraid

Can't wait for more info on the game. So far, so good.

Only cosmetics. As it should be.

Yes you can.

I am not sure about Alien but with Full Throttle LE you can choose 2 different colors for the cabinet (black or red) If you go with black(I would guess that is an option for Alien also) it is pretty universal when it comes to theme, the only difference vs the pro is that the cabinet has a more glossy finish. I would Imagine The becons on top is easy to take off the machine. All the artwork is easily changeable so I see no reason to worry about this.

I went with the pro since I saw no reason to buy an LE when I can pick and choose what extras I would like for each playfield. Only thing I am missing out on is the glossy finish on the cab and if that becomes an issue in the future I guess I can order an empty LE cabinet later.

Edit: Sorry. I guess you were talking about the green trim on the glass frame etc.?

White-woods sounds like a good idea but many people is underwhelmed when seeing a white-wood and that first impression stays with them, so I am not sure bringing white-woods to expo is such a good idea. It is also a lot of extra work, bringing a white-wood all the way from the uk.

A prototype with finished toys and art, sure but not a white-wood.

I do not mean to be negative here but no chance in hell it will be finished in 2,5 weeks.

2,5 months, maybe. Even that timeline is doubtful. It is just the way of dealing with a big studio licensee.

Of course, I would love to be proven wrong.

Anyway, a couple of more months is peanuts compared to other announced machines and I have no problems with waiting a bit longer.

Since Full Throttle production has just barely started, they are still on track regarding the 4 months between games model

For me it was a no-brainer.

When I bought Full Throttle and Alien playfield 8 months ago I got both of them together for the same price I would pay here in Norway for a Stern Premium. Prices have since then gone up further for new Stern machines and for the same price I paid 8 months ago (for the both of them) I would now only get a Stern Pro machine. The difference is not that big in the US, but I still think Heighway is a really good alternative, especially if you plan on buying future playfields from them

I find it interesting that they will let you choose what movie to play and that each of them will have their own wizard mode but there deff should be one last wizard mode for those lucky few that are able to complete both of them (not that I expect to be one of them )

Good one

Been waiting for a video like this. Thanks for giving them a friendly push, Aurich

It looks even easier than I imagined. Development time well spent, Heighway

I would gladly have at least another dozen or more older Bally games from 79-82 if they would play/look new and be priced reasonably(not like Nellie )

Well, I bought the Alien/s playfield add-on package almost a year ago so I would guess you would have no problem getting a price quote for it if you ask them

Polished chrome would be excellent.

I volunteer to be a test-pilot on that option

Maybe a few Ripley custom lines to spice up the code, ey? I have heard that S Weaver is easy to work with

If she is not available, maybe Bill Paxton is?

PS! Egg or no Egg, I really dig the quality of both the side-art and the translite. The colors, the fonts, the details, all very nice.

Great work, Aurich

I was bored so I decided to look a bit closer at the Alien shot map

The amount of shots and features on this game is incredible. Just take a look at what you can hit from each flipper.
(A few of the shots is not 100% certain)

Lower left flipper:

1. Left ramp (perhaps),
2. Airlock and 2 weapon targets near the queen
3. 2 xenomorph targets and magnet
4. Right ramp and 2 weapon targets
5. Chest buster lane/drop target/magnet (perhaps)
6. Right orbit
7. Weapon target right above the shot to the shooter lane
8. 3 bank drop targets on the right

Upper left flipper:

1. Shot into the shooter lane and weapon target above it
2. Right orbit (perhaps)
3. Chest buster lane/drop target/magnet
4. Right ramp and 2 weapon targets
5. 3 bank drop target bank
6. Shot to the bumpers (perhaps?)

Lower right flipper:

1. Scoop/Air lock 1 on the far left
2. Shot under the upper left flipper when in up position (perhaps)
3. Left orbit with spinner
4. Left ramp
5. Airlock scoop and 2 weapon targets near the queen
6. 2 xenomorph targets and magnet
7. Right ramp and 2 weapon targets

Upper right flipper

1. Time target
2. Upper left ramp
3. Upper left lane/Airlock 3 with magnet/ loop possibilities
4. Airlock scoop and 2 weapon targets near the queen

Features:

1. Right outlane Space jockey feature
2. Rotating Queen toy feature (looking forward to seeing them fit this one in there )
3. Xenomorphic Toy, with a tongue to follow :O
4. 3-bank drop-target
5. Chestburster drop-target
6. 2 magnets. one for the xenomorph tongue and one for the chest burster
7. 3 ramps
8. 4 flippers
9. 5 small weapon stand-up targets, 1 small time target, 2 big xenomorph stand-up targets
10 At least one spinner
11. 3 Egg chamber pop-bumpers with 2 top-lanes
12. 2 scoops (left lane and queen airlock)

Choose to play either Alien or Aliens movie when you start the game and continue to the next movie when one is finished

Have I forgotten anything?

The only thing I am missing from the first cad drawings of importance is the upper middle lane to the bumpers,
but we got the xenomorph instead. Not a bad trade-off

That's very modest of you but fact is: Good art, a nice playfield and a helluva theme, makes the crowd go wild

Full Throttle is my first encounter with lcd screen vs dmd/color dmd, and let me tell you that even though Full Throttle does not have lots of fancy video clips and and also has pretty simple animations, just having all the info, animations, etc in sparkling HD makes a huge, huge difference. Not only the graphics but also the way that you can show much more info on the screen is just remarkable. All in Chrystal clear colors. (This is just with small lcd in the playfield) It truly is a gamechanger.

I would never have guessed that it would have such an impact on me. I have GOT pro standing side by side with Full Throttle and it's like going back in time, 20 years or more when I play that game right after Full Throttle. And you also have full spectrum rgb leds on every bulb on Full Throttle. It looks fantastic. Just think what those leds can do to the mood of a game like Alien, if used right.

It's not like I can't play with a dmd. When you have good, simple animations, like on TWD, where the red color dmd actually suits the theme, it is ok. But on GOT it is horrible, with the incredibly bad video clips being shown all the time.

Not being negative towards Got here. Still a fun game, but the difference is huge.

Just sayin'

I think you will see a lot more Full Throttlers pop up after Alien has arrived. Full Throttle will be available for a long time and buying the playfield later is a great option for Alien buyers to get another good pin for a great price.

Making Full Throttle before Alien was a smart move by Heighway. (As long as you can survive as a company with not having a smash hit as your first title)

Heigway Pinball seems to do a lot of things right, in my opinion.

After having seen all the delays from all the new companies I will be pleasantly surprised if we see Alien before summer. (Easter is creeping up on us pretty fast)

If I am proven wrong, nothing will please me more. But it looks like it takes forever to get anything approved by Fox and that is not
helping the situation.

Still a couple of small things yet to make Full Throttle fully complete, after all this time. So things do not go superfast in the pinball industry.

Even the second run of the add-on kit BOP 2.0 is more than 4 months delayed and that is a second run of only a add-on kit. (just to put things in perspective)

Not complaining here, and Heighway has the best opportunity of all the new companies to make a lot of games in a timely manner.

But no reason to be surprised if thing are a little delayed, is all that I am saying.

Andrew has been known to be extremely positive and also a great guy, but some of his time predictions have been a little too positive(just ask Dennis Nordman )

The glossy LE Cab will of course also fit all later standard and LE playfield addons, but if you are planning to have later playfields in the same cabinet, it might be wise to choose a conservative metal trim package, or just order a new trim package for later playfields.
Lots of options on the Heighway platform but they all makes perfect sense. (one of the big benefits to this system, if you ask me)

I love the communication of Spooky but you have to remember that this is not a small family company that almost only plan to sell games to pinside members in small quantities.

If you compare Andrew to Gary Stern, Jersey Jack or Dutch pinball, I think it is pretty clear who comes forward as the most pinside friendly of those. You can't expect him to drop in here every day to answer all the questions. The guy has a few pinballs to make, also. And running a new large company is no easy task.

When there is important news to tell, he is fast to let us know. He also frequently drops in, answering other questions.

He is always forthcoming and fast to answer e-mails (even though he could easily have delegated that task to other theme members)

He has also listened to requests from pinside members who have suggested new options or add-on features to the system.

What more do you want?

I have great hopes for Alien in this department. Happy that you prioritize the sounds.

The sounds is what I am looking the most forward to in The Hobbit, also. You have some tough competition there, but I am sure you will rise to the challenge

I would love to have some Sigourney original call outs. (I have heard she is easy and great to work with) But I also think that this is a pin that will do just fine using a ton of movie quotes. (easier and cheaper) So much material to work with when you have 2 movies (and a ton of one-liners in the second one )

You're thinking of "the horrendous smell of the awful Bellyburster". Different movie

Great teasers, Aurich. That's probably the best inserts I have ever seen.

Looking forward to the big reveal, soon.

Also hoping that there will be a picture with a render of the playfield toys. Or at least the ramps. Seeing a populated playfield (even a digital ver of it) makes it even more real

If you only glanse quickly at the flyer, it looks a bit like early 80' space theme pinball playfields. But things look a lot better when you start to zoom in
and look at the different parts.

I like it a lot.

I am sure that a high res image from Aurich will only enhance it further.

Much better. Didn't even see the Alien creature in the green, on the top of the playfield when looking at the flyer

Now on to all the other stuff that got approved by fox

Great stuff, Aurich!

Actors on the playfield is not such a big deal for me.

But if they are not allowed to use call-outs or clips from the movie with actors on the lcd, that would be a bummer

Does that mean that you will stop plugging Alien in the other game threads

Just a small playful jab, I know you can take it

I actually agree with you that we should try to stay on target, unless it is really relevant to Aliens.

Hoping for some new exciting info next week

What is the big hole in the playfield, below the upper right flipper for?

Alien Toy looks fantastic, but is there going to be room for that second(rotating?) toy to the left of it. I always thought that the space looked a bit tight in that region, so it will be interesting to see how everything will look when the playfield is populated.

Alien and The Big Lebowski is by far the most interesting new pins for me. (with Hobbit and Ghostbusters right behind)

This year could very well end up being the most splendid pinball year, ever

Hurry up, Heighway

No. There is a big round hole in the playfield, just above the lcd, right below the flipper

Nothing there in the cad, but it is there on the cut playfield. almost looks like a pop bumper cut-out

Last try

alien_playfiled_(resized).jpeg

I do feel a bit stupid now

The moon got the better of me. Tricked by the moon. etc

Because this is the official Alien thread and every time there is new activity, we need to check if there is anything relevant. There is no "meaningless babe post warning" on the front page.

Isn't this what the cellar was supposed to be for? I hate to be a downer, and I have nothing against pictures of women but that is not why I am checking this thread.

Nothing I get to upset about, but I can surly see why someone would be. Just sayin'

If the game really is shipping in September I have no problem at all waiting until then. In fact I did not and still do not expect this to happen by then.

Judging by experience, if the game really is finished in August, they will not start shipping in September.

Waiting for parts, small hiccups in the start of production etc, will always happen.

Full Throttle took much more than 1 month from when the game was finished until they started sending out games.

Granted, they have learned a lot since then and have much more in-house equipment now, but Alien looks to be a far more advanced layout, with much more stuff on it than Full Throttle.

I hope I am wrong, but if they say finished in August, I will choose to be a bit cautious and expect it to be finished in late September, sending out the first games from ca November.

This is just me setting the bar a little lower, so that I can be pleasantly surprised if I am totally off.

Please do not read to much into this. I could be totally wrong here. Progress seems to be shaping up nicely. A lot of pre-orders have just learned me to not set my expectations to high.

Do you mind sharing the name of the podcast? There is a few of them out there

Oh, it's that podcaster. Thanks for letting us know, but I think I will skip that one. It will only be drama talk, anyway. He loves that stuff

Andrew is still allowed to drop by and give us a quick update from time to time.

No stasis for me. Even the tiniest tidbits are of interest.

Tell me more, tell me more.

The more I see the cad/playfield, the more curios I get regarding how they are gonna fit everything at the top of the playfield.

You have the upper lane shot from the upper flipper, then there is 2 of the main toys right next to each other.

The distance from one feature to next looks really narrow.

Not saying they do not know what they are doing. Just very excited to see how they have handled it. The Alien toy looked pretty large.

I guess the rotating toy to the left of the queen must be pretty small to make it fit.

So many shots in this layout, so much potential. It looks like an extremely expensive pin to make, (on top of the license cost) going up against Full Throttle.

Toy in the left outlane
two toy in the middel top
4 flippers
cool pop bumper toys
3 ramps
magnets
3 drop targets
lots of small stand-up targets
scoop
2 different movie games in one
and much, much more. This pin has it all

I just hope that they are able to keep the drop targets inn there and do not have to change to stand-ups. drops are usually the first thing to be taken out when things becomes to expensive.

Fingers crossed

None that I can think of. I seems like forever since we even had a game with four large flippers in it. (Can't remember what the last one was)

I hereby confess my sins.

My post on the last page was a devious attempt to lure out some new info and try to get this thread back on track.

Great posts, Aurich, MK6PIN and PinballRulez. Thanks for the info

Would be cool to have an updated cad of the playfield.

A Cad drawing is perfect. It doesn't spoil to much, should be no problem with the license, and it gives us an indication of how it will turn out.

Sounds like the game has changed a good deal from the last drawings we saw.

It will also make it easier to not get too confused about the shot layout, because now we have people posting different old cad drawings here all the time when talking about the game. Both of those cads are different from each other but none up to date.

Since we already have had cad drawings of the game here, it would be great to continue this trend. (at least when it is pretty much final)

Much appreciated, Doctor Aurich.

Please hurry, the pain is bad

Newt midnight madness?

Actually, Full Throttle was also very late. If they had taken pre-orders from the day it was announced (they waited much longer than JJP before doing that though so smart move there) it would have been almost 3 years late.

You are not to blame here since you did not start the debate, so do not take this personally, but I am getting a bit tired of all the comparisons with all the new companies regarding time-lines. Especially on games that has already been out there for a while.

But who cares. This is happening to all new companies. (Even those with a factory set up early on has had a 2-3 year delay on every pin)

JJP, Dutch pinball, Silver castle pinball, Heighway, Homepin, Nemo, Etc.

I guess the only reason that JJP get mentioned so often is

a) they started pre-orders from day 1,
b) They were the first one,
c) they are the only American company of the new ones, so you get a lot of JJP vs Stern crap.

But I will repeat myself. Who cares? Those who have done the pre-order thing has also had a cancellation option(JJP, Heighway and Dutch) so if the wait is getting on people, they can always cancel. No one is late because they want to be late

PS! Seems like JJP, Heighway and Dutch have all learned their lesson, since they appear to be waiting until they are much closer to production with the announcement of their next titles. We know that both Heighway and JJP has been working on game nr. 3 for a while now.

We live and learn. Customers also. I will not do the same thing I did with The Hobbit, The Big Lebowski and Alien again. But done is done. (and all of them are looking awesome, so that helps)

Moral speech over

No Hobbit for me yet. Last I heard was that my game is shipping out in July.

TBL are also slowly but surely starting to ship out. I believe they have produced ca 35 so far, and they say that every pre-order will have the game before the end of the year. All good!

Finally got my Mystic pinball today, so I am all set for now

Sorry for going off topic but every new machine is a celebration

Wonder why no-one has talked about the snippets you see of the Alien populated playfield in the new video from Heighway? (when Dave is presented towards the end) You can't see much, but it is enough to whet my appetite for the game

Video can be found in the Heighway update thread and here:

Pretty decent seminar program on Thursday. (expo)

So, this means that they have finished the prototype machines?

We only saw a picture of a prototype in the building fase. If it is all in the hands of Fox now, I guess that the protos are finished?

If that is the case, then that is wonderful news.

Cool. Thanks for letting us know. I suppose we will hear about it when it is ready.

Can't wait

If the state of the game is anywhere near the condition that rubberducks describes and is missing several features and toys,
and has not been playtested enough before expo, I would not show it there at all.

Much better to just show videos of what it will look like and of the pre-production models.

It doesn't take much for people to get disappointed and underwhelmed in places like expo. Why take that chance when the game is so close to being finished and you can then show it in all its glory to the public?

I realize that Heighway is really keen on finally showing a game to the public and that expo is the best place for that, but it could also be the complete opposite. First impression matters. Just look at what happened to The Hobbit 2 years ago. (a totally different situation of course with the hobbit's then underwhelming playfield graphics, but still..)

Thanks for the clarification and the more detailed post a little later. I guess I read your first post a little fast and misunderstood some of what you wrote.

PS! My post was not meant as a complaint. More like I would want them to be sure it is ready before going public.

Anyway, it was stupid of me posting it. Of course Andrew knows what's best. I am really glad to hear that they are so close to the finish line. I have a strong feeling that I will love this one and I am very excited about the reveal.. whenever it comes.

Best of luck, Andrew

Just one more tiny advice. It would be a really smart move to release the Addon playfields first. Makes perfect sense to me at least

I only down vote when someone is saying something stupid, disrespectful or stating something for a fact when it is clearly wrong. And even in those circumstances I try to keep it at a minimum.

Down votes can affect people differently, some don't care, others will get hurt.

If I where to down vote everything I disagree with, I would not be doing much else

One week and two days.

Those who are complaining right now about not seeing stuff has an agenda. It's only one week until the reveal

Damn right! It's not the trolls that are the biggest problem. Those who believe/feed the trolls and keep asking Andrew to give comments to every absurd statement are the real problem on this forum.

The rules sound great. I have great confidence in those who handle that part of the game.

No concern at all, regarding the rules for Alien. I love the intelligent use of the popbumpers on Full Throttle. Also the innovative use of the challenges in that game.

Alien is looking really impressive in every department from the small sample I have seen.

To me, it looks like everyone has done a fantastic job with the licence. Art, Design, rules, Sound and lights, all look very promising.
Edit: I love the Alien inserts that Aurich did, I love that they show up on the screen when you hit them.

The only small concern I have is with the smoothness of the far left ramp. From what I could tell out of the few gameplay clips I have seen, the ball seems to be almost stopping and losing momentum, before the ramp turns downwards. This could of course just have been a coincidence or that the game was set up wrong. But it might be something to check into? No a very big concern, though.
Otherwise, all good. Looks like a fantastic machine to me

You can see what I am talking about in this video:

I want to remind you all that it is not just the armor that is different on the LE.

On my LE Cab I have standard black instead of the pro grey trim. It looks much better than the grey, but the biggest difference for me, is that you get a much glossier finish on the cabinet itself on the LE. The black on the trim is not that glossy but it looks much better than the grey standard. (heard rumors that the black will be standard going forward)

The glossy finish on the whole cabinet is really nice on the LE and almost worth the extra price by itself, in my view. I seldom see that part being talked about.

Chrome or black chrome would be really nice but not 800 extra nice

Especially if it's from the Dialed in cooperation

Rant mode on:

Why are some people so hung up on the swap system. If that is not your thing, then just buy complete machines instead.

Heighway is still reasonable prized. Nobody is forcing you to buy playfield kits. It's an option, and a very good option at that, for a lot of us.

If you don't care for the cabinet design, and that part of having a pinball machine is important to you, then buy another machine from a different company. It is what it is (for better or worse)

Every 3 months, the same discussions cycle back. (it wouldn't surprise me if it is the same people who keep bringing it up.)

If every company did it like Stern, with hardly any new innovations at all, we would be worse off. These new companies, with new ideas are what drives the hobby forward. They do this with a big risk to themselves. Charting the unknown and moving the hobby forward is dangerous territory. They should all be congratulated, not frowned upon!!!

The argument that if this was a smart solution, Stern would have done it long ago is silly, at best. Stern is never pioneers at anything.

Warning: Stern Rant incoming!

Would we even have LCD in Stern machines if not for these companies? No! They are all about cost cutting and squeezing as much out of customers as they can. Would we even have original cool artwork from new talent at Stern if it where not for the competition? I have my doubts.

If you don't like change,(or just small refinements added to what is a known and beloved formula) then stick with Stern and be happy. But for me, the only reason why I still buy Stern machines is because of the talent they brought to their company from Williams. That is the only difference to me, at least, from the Sega machines most of us do not care for and Stern. Just think of Stern machines without people like Steve R, George G, Lyman S, etc. And all of those talented creators have fought an uphill battle with Stern, all the way from the beginning.

But, hey, they have survived for a long time, doing it their way so that is fine, and I respect them for that.

In my view, there are mainly four factors that Stern should be very thankful for and these are the reason why they are doing so well at the moment. It all happened ca 2012

01. Those who were ca 20 years old and hung around in bars ca 1992 when machines like TAF made a big splash are now in their early 40's and are ripe and ready for nostalgia
02. The Pinball arcade App was launched. Mock it if you will, but this had a pretty huge impact on getting new people into the hobby (and old ones who had forgot how much fun pinball can be)
03. Jersey Jack
04. Stern had a Surprise big hit with their great title, Ac/Dc after rehiring Steve R. Perfect timing

Edit: I will tag along a fifth reason: 05. People not understanding that a premium = Standard and a Pro = Cost cutting, but with old standard sales prizes

You can disagree with a lot of what I have ranted about here, but if you disagree that all the new companies in the pinball industry is a good thing, (something it sounds like in some of the posts on pinside) you are out of touch with reality (in my humble opinion)

Happy flippin'

That is a great suggestion, JonM.

I would also love to see more creative thinking behind all the stuff that has become more or less window dressing in pinball machines, like top and bottom lanes, bumpers, end of ball bonus and especially spinners.

Love the simple but creative way that the bumpers in Full Throttle actually does something meaningful (works towards playfield multiplier)

Only modern Stern game that has a meaningful use of spinners (that I can think of right now) is World Poker Tour (either raise the value if you have a great hand or go for multiball)

Btw: I love spinners too

The standard lcd playfield on Full Throttle took a little time to get used to, but after a while I really liked it and couldn't imagine the game without it.

When you get used to it, it's a much better view for the player than looking up every time. Just takes a little time getting used to.

I love the new airlock lcd. The extra hobbit lcd did a great job with helping the player during modes and I love that Alien will have the same benefit.

quick information about what to shoot for during multiball and modes is some of the things that I think newer Sterns are lacking of.

Williams did this with sound. Stern uses lights only. It works in some places but are lacking in other moments. Interaction with the player is important and this new feature will greatly enhance that part of the experience.

Too much info on one screen is much more difficult to follow than having a second screen with rules info and countdown. The second screen can also be used to show clips to illustrate things happening in the airlock. I think it is a much better choice than to have 2 toys right next to each other.

Very impressed about how quickly Heighway was able to change this.

In the end, it's about what benefits the playing experience and I believe that this is a huge step up.

It will probably demand a huge extra load on the programmers, though. But I am betting they are up for the challenge

Well done, Andrew!!!

Game looks really good. Love the backboard graphics.

Thanks for all the info, ferret. Much appreciated.

One thing that is on my mind: I really hope that Alien has sounds when you hit targets (standups and drops etc)

This is one of the things I think I miss the most in Full Thr.

It sounds so naked and unsatisfying to hit targets when nothing is happening, sound wise.

A bit ironic, but I agree with you. Just the way it is.

Sad to hear this!

RIP, indeed. One fine actor has left us

He was one of my favorites

Why not send them a quick e-mail and check if that is possible. You never know until you try

Big congrats to Andrew and team.

Another milestone reached for Heighwey.

Now hurry up with the add-on packages

The best of both worlds would be to have a diverter (like the dragon lock on Hobbit)

The ball would go to the chamber when lock is lit, otherwise it would feed a return lane. But I guess, with all the stuff packed into this game, there was no room for that solution. The new solution sounds a lot better than the old one. and probably works just fine.

It really looks like a packed and fantastic playfield. But I feel that Aurich is giving too little credit to Nordmann. After all, this i all based on his idea. Changing a few bits here and there is not the same as a completely different layout. It is clearly an improvement but not a whole new playfield. like he says. I think that Nordmann should get credit for coming up with the idea in the first place

Great post Dave, and let me just say that I, in no way, was trying to say that he should be named co-designer. I only meant he should have some credit for his original playfield drawing. (and that is just what you gave him in your post)

There should be no doubt whatsoever that this is your playfield design all the way. And from what I can tell, you once again did an incredible job on it.

Aurich missed my point completely (or I explained myself poorly)

It really does not matter, either way. All that is important is that this thing sell like hot cakes and that I get my playfield package soon

PS! So sad to hear about Bill. At least, I will treasure my pin even more now

Here is an interesting look at an early prototype Alien playfield recreated in future pinball by slamtilt

Not again

again with the ramps?

October 29, 2014 here