I'm really excited about this game as a big Alien film series fan. While I won't preorder a game (yet!) I'm looking forward to reading about the game and seeing what is released next for it. The layouts shown a few pages back look great.

Agree. It's also nice to have actual skill slots using a plunger. Sure a lane skill shot is a skill shot but it isn't difficult to do. I'm sure game designers can come up with more ideas for tough skill shots.

Looks pretty cool and there seems to be a lot of modes in the game! I like how each film has it's own set of unique mode.

Does not having any of the films characters / actors represented on the playfield mean that we won't see them in video clips, audio call outs and on the cabinet artwork? I know that not having the actors represented on the playfield doesn't necessarily mean we won't see / hear them in the games videos + audio. Stern Star Trek and GOT don't have any of the themes actors on the playfield yet they are in the games animations, rules and audio call outs. Then there's TWD...

Really? I think the RZ playfield and the artwork on it are uninspiring. The entire RZ playfield has a cheap / cheezy look to it in my opinion and the artwork + lack of inserts in the bottom 1/3 of the game look terrible. I think Alien is much more impressive and the layout looks pretty slick with a ton of shots.

In terms of inserts between the flippers RZ has...1 (the "shoot again" insert) while there's 18 on Alien.

The playfield looks awesome! Lots of shots, and some cool toys.

Now I just hope that the code support for Alien is strong as that is part of the reason why I didn't buy a Full Throttle (same with a GB premium). Without solid and deep code any pinball machine regardless of how cool the playfield looks or how many toys it has is just a box of lights.

I hope that the ruleset being designed for Alien is intended to make the player feel like they are progressing through the first two films (seems to be based on inserts) while unlocking things along the way (multiballs, wizard modes, rewards).

Yeah, I hear ya about the magnets. I would recommend just putting a 1" or 2" square piece of mylar around the entire magnet core and then with a sharp hobby knife cut out the center around the magnet core.

The "Alien Pinball Game Kit" is listed here for $4350

http://www.heighwaypinball.com/product/alien-pinball-game-kit/

Alien is really looking promising. I plan to get one NIB game within the next year and thought that was going to be Ghostbusters but after all of the QC issues and lack of code updates I'm holding off on the game. The playfield design on Alien really seems unique and loaded up. I also like that the game has a mission based ruleset that incorporates both films (it's a bummer GB didn't do the same with it's modes).

Few questions

1. I noticed in one gameplay video that the ball hangs up / slows down a bit when the left ramp shot is made. Will this same behavior exist in production games or was it due to a pre-production game?

2. Will there be callouts in the game from Sigourney Weaver's character? Same with animations that feature her in it.

3. Does the standard edition include the backbox LCD?

I think I may have found my next pin Awesome changes!

The deep mode based ruleset that covers both the first and second films, multiple ramps, 4 flippers, some cool interactive toys and a lot shots makes this a game I would like to have. I was thinking about getting a Ghostbusters premium but Alien is a few hundred less and seems to offer a lot more (especially in terms of rules).

That's by only concern about the game, no Ripley It would be like doing a Star Wars pin and having no mention of Luke Skywalker. Other then that the game looks pretty darn cool.

I'm glad to see that Heighway is having dedicated modes for Aliens in addition to those for the first film. Being able to play through modes from both films sounds like a lot of fun and is a big draw more me as I'm a fan of deep mission based rulesets.

I think Stern dropped the ball with Ghostbusters by not featuring the second film in the games scene modes. As a result players are not only limited to playing modes based off of scenes from only the first movie but also having to play those modes in the same order over and over again...ugh.

If Ghostbusters incorporated both films into the games scene modes, each in their own ladder (like Alien), and had them all player selectable the game would be way better and more fun.

Can someone please post or PM me the going rate shipped (US) with all fees for a standard and LE? Leaning towards buying a standard.

Is Mirco making the playfields for Alien or are they made in house?

Has anyone heard what type of finish the powder coating will be on Alien LE? I've been really impressed with the metallic looking powder coat job on WOZ. A metallic green or blue would really pop on Alien versus a regular baked on look.

Yeah, that would be pretty cool. I wonder how a hammered texture look would come out using the green or blue. That effect is awesome on The Hobbit LE and SE armor.

Where does the ball exit from the middle ramp? Back down the left rail (same as left ramp) or somewhere else?

Thanks! That could very well be a physical ball lock. I believe I see optos in there which would make sense if its being used for a ball lock.

Good to hear, thanks for posting. Do shots to the middle ramp (from upper right flipper) go into a ball lock now and / or get diverted back to the left flipper? It looks like a sleep chamber ball lock toy has been added to the game?

Awesome, thanks for the explanation, that is very helpful!

I think custom speech with pinball vibe call outs ("Shoot the ramp", "Ball locked", etc) are critically important to most games, especially modern games that are based off of movie themes. I think some custom speech is bad (Walking Dead for example) but I still rather have it in the game then hear nothing but music and sound effects. With David Thiels wife providing custom speech for "mother" hopefully custom speech for jackpot, ball locks, etc were also recorded.

Custom speech recorded by someone who is actually part of the theme (for example Ernie Hudson for GB, Elijah Wood for LOTR) can really make a game stand out and make that "world under glass" feeling even better.

I would personally not buy a NIB or modern game today without there being custom speech for callout in the game.

I rather see Highway take all the time they need to resolve any issues and deliver games with no issues (besides the usual minor tweaking). It's either that or get a game sooner and risk having problems like Stern is with Ghostbusters and Batman 66.

There is a thread just for Ghostbusters issues that has nearly 2,500 posts in it! We don't want a similar thread for Alien issues because the game was rushed out while quality issues were brushed aside and / or proper testing didn't occur.

Haste makes waste as my grandmother once told me, lol. It's true.

The game is looking great! Thank you for the video update. I think an Alien standard may be my next NIB purchase.

That's awesome. I really like the ruleset you are designing for Alien as its objective based, covers both films, and the rules work the entire playfield. Some games only have "hit ramps 10x", "hit orbits 10x" type modes and those get old quickly in my opinion, especially in a home environment.

I tend to gravitate towards Keith Johnson titles due to his ruleset design and find myself wanting an Alien as the game is offering something similar in terms of rules offering depth and uniqueness...the game being loaded up with some cool toys and features helps too

Yup. Thank goodness Highway is using Mirco (like JJP) as their playfield manufacturer. Stern has a mess on their hands with playfield issues and to make matters worse is communicating poorly about it.

The Mirco playfield on my Hobbit has held up great. I have at least a few hundred games on it, no Cliffy protectors (yet) and the shooter lane still looks perfect. Heck, I saw a distributors Hobbit a couple months ago that gets a ton of plays at shows and the wear in the shooter lane was very minimal. Stern playfield shooter lanes are chipping after 100-200 plays...

I'm also doing a STTNG playfield swap with a Mirco reproduction playfield. The playfield is extremely nice. Alien owners will be in good hands with a Mirco playfield.

Congrats to Highway! I'm thinking an Alien standard is in my future.

Damn, that video just sold me on the game! Deep and unique rules that cover both films, lots of toys, tons of shots and great audio. I'm in.

Dumb because I question Stern's poor playfield quality when they are charging upwards of $15k for games? lol Thankfully with Alien we won't have to worry about playfield issues, gotta love Mirco made playfields

I'm glad you are liking your Batman. I'm hoping to play one soon that was just recently put on location locally, looking forward to playing it.

Yeah, Alien is really looking slick. Out of all the newer higher priced games I think Alien is offering a lot of value due to its feature set and deep rules offering.

In regards to music is all the of the music recorded for the game currently in the game? My only critique of the game (it looks really good) is that the game seems to possibly be missing a general upbeat ass kicking main audio track that I think would fit theme. I may not have heard the main track very well yet either. Does the main audio track change depending on which film mode is being played?

I can understand a main track for Alien based modes being a bit more subdued but the one for Aliens should be more of the ass kicking vibe variety, lol.

Interested in knowing as well if the ball lock can indeed lock 3 balls or if its a virtual type ball lock.

Great to hear, thank you very much for the information David!

FYI. I was told 2-3 weeks for Alien standards from Melissa the other day.

Hi Andrew,

Are the light boards being used a new design or are they based on the same design as the ones in Full Throttle?

Basically I'm wondering if there's a benefit to waiting a few months to get a game versus an early one. I just don't want to end up having to make major tweaks / fixes to the game a couple months down the road. Has a lot of reliability testing been done such as burn in testing for the light boards and for the Alien toy mech?

Thank you

Thank you. That is good to know.

I switched my order from a standard to an LE (blue). Price difference is about $900 between a standard an an LE. I was already planning on buying the topper and shaker motor, that is $380 right there. I figured I might as well spend $500 more and get the EL blade lighting system, fiber optic ramp lighting, power coated armor and the other LE goodies.

Thank you to Heighway for offering value at the LE level. Looking forward to seeing the full LE reveal. I think you guys have a hit on your hands.

Going off of shipped quote prices from Cointaker with both the standard and LE including the 27" backbox LCD. I would contact Cointaker for exact numbers.

Same here. Ultimately I need to see them both to make a final decision. The green does seem like it would blend in well with some of the green featured on the playfield.

Yup, I'm really glad to see Heighway offering a lot of value at the LE level. I think Stern LE's look cool but I've been passing on recent Stern LE's as for the extra cost ($2200-$2400) over a premium there is very little value being offered in my opinion. I wish Stern would make an LE the way they did Star Trek LE, now there's an LE that really stood out and offered a good amount of features for the extra cost.

I'm also glad to see that Heighway is including LE numbered plaques that are actually readable from more then a foot away...

Looks like Andrew said a couple weeks ago that LE artwork should be able to be shown within 2 weeks. Has their been a delay due to approval or is the reveal being delayed for an upcoming show?

The layout does look cool and is one of the most unique pinball layouts created in recent years. Alien offers a lot of shot variety yet at the same time can play very fast offering the best of shooter and flow pin playfield world's.

Looking forward to the full LE reveal!

Uploading to YouTube is an option. You would need to create a free Google Account first. Facebook is probably the easiest of the two options.

Thanks for the unboxing videos!

Damn does Alien look great. What a loaded and cool looking game. Can't wait to get mine.

Wow, so Alien has 10 shots that either drop into a hole, pass through an area, or go into a ramp. That could be a record. Really digging the layout.

Good points Ezeltmann. It would be nice to have some tutorials being played in attract mode. Maybe Heighway could add a mode status screen as well that is played during attract mode and can be accessed during the game. It's always been cool in a game like WOZ for example to see the two cool status screens and where you are at in terms of beating the game.

I hope the Xeno toy is used for multiple modes and multiballs. It's such a cool toy and unique toy.

Sad to hear about Bill Paxton Only 61 too, wow. He was great in Aliens, Twister, Titanic, and Apollo 13.

Hopefully there is a lot of "Hudson" in Heighways game, including video clips from Aliens.

Edit: I saw a post earlier from David Thiel that so far there's 121 callouts for Bill Paxton's character Hudson in the game

Here's a cool video of the cast of Aliens reuniting after 30 years, Bill Paxton is there.

So many good lines in that scene from Bill Paxton as Hudson. I hope they are all in the game!

Heck, if anyone from Heighway is reading this it would be amazing to just have a special Hudson mode of him wasting Aliens

It could be a pretty darn awesome mode. With Alien offering color changing GI and color changing inserts the entire game could be made to have a red glow to resemble that scene. Certain shots, maybe in white or green, could be the alien kills from Hudson. It could be a timed mode where a player has to kill as many Aliens as they can as Hudson in 30 seconds. Wasting aliens with Hudson yelling at that things and swearing. Damn does that sounds like fun.

The plaque comes with the LE model but I'm not sure where it's being mounted to. Here's a picture of the LE plaques for a Full Throttle LE. I'm not sure if Full Throttle shipped with both plaques or just one of them.

39d432272bb7837d434927c844536d2727c469b7 (resized).jpg

Lol, nice. I saw them on Pinside. Where do the plaques mount on the game?

All depends on how the LE artwork looks. I'm thinking green may be the way to go through considering that that green is used in the Alien logo, there's green rubbers in the game, the aliens acid is green and hell a lot of people think aliens are green, lol.

The second film, Aliens, has more blue tones on its official poster and at times there is a blue cool tone to some scenes in the film. I think that is why Heighway offered blue as another trim option. If the LE artwork has a blue Aliens vibe to it then blue may be the way to go.

Yeah, good point. I hope the blue powder coat is not XMEN LE blue, same with the green not being like Ghostbusters LE.

Just need to see the final LE cabinet options before making a final decesion.

For the LE I see there is a black powder coat option. So on the black armor on a standard and black armor on an LE is different?

A pin based off of the greatest band of all time.

lol. Its "Wrath of Olympus" pinball.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wrath-of-olympus-play-it-at-expo

I hope all 3 LE options (black, green, blue) will be shown by TPF, if not before.

Will need to find out my number from Cointaker. I have an invoice for an LE but there's no number on it.

Interested in knowing as well. I wonder if all 3 LE trims will be revealed at The Texas Pinball Festival later this month?

The LCD monitor that Heighway uses is commerical grade according to the Pinball News Full Thorttle review.

The picture below shows that the monitor being used isn't a thin consumer grade LCD.

"The monitor is a commercial-grade one, with a metal case and mounting brackets top and bottom. It has to be said that the image quality is great on the monitor, with good black levels which is an important feature when the design of the graphics contains large areas of black."

206a (resized).jpg

The rules for Alien are looking great. I was wondering what others think of the idea of the game offering different difficulty options for the rules.

For example "normal" mode would have a player play through modes as they are written today which means not requiring them to be completed before moving into the next. A "pro" mode would require players to have beaten a mode before moving on to the next one.

I suppose this could also just be setting.

Fingers crossed that the LE will be revealed at or before The Texas Pinball festival

I don't know, just wondering. Seems like a good event for a reveal.

I think Ghostbusters Premium looks cool and is fun to play yet also find its code to be a bit shallow. Also, with Alien you are getting far more value in terms of features, animation, rules and audio work in my opinion.

It's from one of the official Heighway videos posted to their YouTube channel. I think the clear plastic is only used during the assembly process, possibly for lining up items and for drilling?

I've seen some posted close up pics of the playfield and do not see any type of full plastic protector installed. Maybe I missed it.

Metal

I wonder where the fiber optic ramp lighting will run on Alien. Will it only be on the plastic return areas or can we expect it to extended along the entire ramp, including the metal ramp itself?

Awesome! Sounds like production should be ramping up soon if the wait will only be a few weeks.

Hi Andrew,

Do the games in Italy now have the planned flasher installed for the Alien head? Also, do you think we will see LE's revealed by or at the Texas Pinball Festival?

Thank you

Absolutely! It would be awesome to have a "Hudson Final Stand" stage to the ambush mode where everything is red expect green shots that kill aliens. Having it play along side video clips from that scene and audio from Hudson in full swearing glory sounds awesome.

Correct, just the translite artwork is displayed if the 27" backbox LCD option is not purchased.

I think a month or so back Andrew said they were a couple weeks out from the artwork being approved. It's been a while since then. Would be nice to hear an update about the LE and when it will be shown.

Is LE artwork still waiting for approval? Is the artwork approved but now waiting to be shown along side a complete powder coated LE?

That's what I'm hoping for. It would be great if a full LE reveal occurs at TPF.

Just a heads up, all LE numbers under 100 are spoken for according to CoinTaker. I think orders must have really picked up over the past few weeks after the gameplay videos came out.

Just an FYI. Heighway is speaking tomorrow at 4pm at The Texas Pinball Festival. Hopefully we hear some good things about Alien.

Cool. Did Heighway also show the LE backbox artwork?

Are 10 standards still heading to CoinTaker this week? I asked them the other day how long to get a standard if I paid in full today and was told 30-40 days.

Well, Andrew said they made a pretty big offer to Sigourney. Yes Stern got the rights to use Sigourney's likeness and audio lines for Ghostbusters but she had a fairly small role in both of the films. Alien and Aliens on the other hand are Sigourney Weavers two biggest films of her career and as a result I'm sure licensing her likeness and audio lines from those films costs much more then for Ghostbusters 1 and 2.

I have a chance to get a standard model Alien on the next CoinTaker shipment as a spot has opened up. Would you guys say wait or go ahead and get the game? I assume, should probably confirm with Heighway, that no more production changes are planned if games are going to a distributor? Still, an LE does sound nice, damn it I can't decide, lol.

It would certainly be a bit cheaper but the difference in price isn't terrible. I think the LE would be about $900-$1100 more for me versus a standard.

Haha, yeah that is true! I think the LE is going to be awesome for Alien. Lots of extra being offered for a reasonable price and with 500 being made it seems more limited compared to other LE titles out there.

Hi Andrew,

Can you please comment on if the first batch of production run games going out to CoinTaker will have all of the latest production boards / fixes? Are there other changes that will not be on those games?

Thank you

Quick question. Do all standards come with the exterior lit cabinet art or is that part of the Blade EL lighting system?

Thanks!

Has anyone heard if David Thiel got his game? I recall him posting that he would be working on tweaking a bunch of sounds once he got his game.

I think part of the delay with more SE's going out is that the LED and xeno boards changed. It's entirely possible that Heighway had more SE's ready to go out and then had to open them back up to swap out the boards. Have to factor in testing time of the new boards as well.

Day isn't over yet!

Yes but this "stay tuned" update doesn't mean waiting a year...or never, lol.

I think the LE artwork looks cool (not sure how it will look with 27" LCD). Personally I think that the fiber optic ramp lighting seems more appropriate for Full Throttle but I don't know how well its going to work here just from the quick look. Will need to see more video to make a final decision between an LE and standard.

Glad to hear that the Heighway team is taking the time to ensure production light and xeno boards are working correctly before sending out more games. Haste makes waste and it's good to hear that Heighway is taking the time to make things right.

The wait sucks but Heighway is doing it right by making sure the light boards and xeno boards are working correctly. The last thing any of us should want with a new game is having to diagnose board problems, request new boards, get new boards sent from half away around the world and then have to swap them out.

Decided to hold off on getting one of the first games from CoinTakers initial order. Would rather wait a few months or more so any bugs are worked out and any fixes are implemented.

Until then I'll be playing some fake Alien pinball on Pinball FX2, lol.

20170507_210629 (resized).jpg

It's a custom emulator pedestal. I had the cabinet itself prebuilt locally and then added all the hardware and painted it. I use it mainly for VR pinball but also use it for Pinball FX2 and Pinball Arcade.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vr-pinball-mame-cabinet

752e65f7d683128704edf83adc77d274a089468f (resized).jpg

Maybe Heighway is forging an alliance with JJP and with one fell swoop they will crush the competition and restore order to the pinball marketplace?!

Mylar is definitely a must in high wear areas. Great suggestion.

For the pops you can make a template out of paper, get it sized right, and then trace the edge over a sheet of mylar before applying it. For anyone attempting this apply some wax to the area first and buff it out as it makes removal of the mylar much easier if needed.

I'm surprised that in 2017 Heighway is not putting mylar down in high wear areas. At these prices it should be installed at the factory. JJP originally didn't put any mylar down either during the first year of WOZ production and as a result some games had severe playfield wear in the pops and state fair areas. To be fair it was JJP's first game ever made and they later sent out mylar kits free of charge. With Alien being Heighways second game and knowing (I hope) of JJP's early issue one would think they would be applying mylar at the factory.

I had a chance to play an Alien last night. I think it was an early made game as it didn't have the xenomorph head, I assume the owner is waiting on a replacement. Overall the game is really cool. My only knock against the game is that it's too dark with not 1 spotlight on the playfield. However, the animations, shots, lighting effects, rules, and audio are all excellent. The cabinet felt very solid and well made. If Highway can the get the bugs worked out and offer consistent build quality + support for customers I think they will sell a lot of these games.

I like this quote that a fellow pinball friend said the other day about Alien while we were playing "Its like an evil WOZ", lol.

Something I noticed with the LE's is that the powder coated armor looks very durable with a texture look. Other then JJP I can't think of another company (until now with Heighway) that is offer high quality powder coated armor out of the box. Stern LE's and their after market armor look nice but its only baked on enamel and scratches very easily...

Is there any chance at this point of completed games getting in the hands of at least paid in full customers? Could a court or someone still at Heighway say in the insolvency "these games go to customers that have paid in full"? I hope so.

I really hope something can be done for customers with money tied up over there.

Hopefully the schematics for the light boards and other proprietary boards can be sold to some involved involved in pinball. If the latest boards are solid then maybe they can still be ordered from whoever is making them. Who knows how many are on hand as well from existing stock. There's a good chance that someone may just buy the entire stock of parts that are leftover.

Oddly enough we are discussing this situation on the 426 page of this thread...weird.

If Johnny Depp wanted $100k to use his voices from all 5 films JJP should have paid it in my opinion, sounds like a "deal" considering the importance of the character. Over 2,000 games that's only $50 per game and would have added heavily to immersing the player in the POTC world.

JJP is likely saving at least $50 per game now by switching to a single disk on POTC and the trunk remaining open...

If it was $100k to use audio lines and video featuring the character from all 5 films then that seems "cheap" considering Jack Sparrow is the main character across all 5 films.

Great points David, very interesting. Thank you.

Pinball News posted an article about the liquidation and financials of Heighway.

Theres a section in the article regarding company creditors with money owed to the creditors totaling nearly $2 million! CoinTaker is on there for $80k That sounds like they had paid $80k for games they then never received.

https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2018/05/10/heighway-pinball-by-the-numbers/