Quoted from chadderack:

He's quoting something that Andrew used to say, but doesn't say much anymore

Quoted from Tsskinne:

Just pulled the audits from my machine and thought some of you may find this data interesting, especially the drains as many people seem to complain about the left outlane.
"13 LEFT DRAINS 1763
14 RIGHT DRAINS 1020
15 CENTER DRAINS 4820"

Quoted from Join_The_Cirqus:

Boom!!!! ( As The Pinball Amigos Say, lol) I just got the word (and photos)
My Alien pinball has been shipped today!
Very excited to add this to my collection.
Andrew and Morgan have been a pleasure to work with and have always responded quickly.
Can't wait to get flipping on this next week!
Thanks again to Heighway Pinball!
I will be a return customer for sure for game #3

Quoted from sed6:

I too crapped on the ramps many pages ago and got lots of thumbs down. I just accept that's the way they are supposed to look and if the majority likes them I'll get used to them.

Quoted from Whysnow:

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

Quoted from toasterman04:

what a ball drop??

Quoted from OLDPINGUY:

+10, yes, please others do consider doing this.
If concerned about the visual of the display, then cut the mylar to a picture frame.
Even a hair of raised or lower on the window can cause edge wear fast.
(If you run your hand over and its perfectly smooth, you could be OK)

Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

I think early adopters would be doing everyone a HUGE service by starting a new thread for...
ALIEN: RECOMMENDED TWEAKS, ADJUSTMENTS & UPGRADES
These helpful hints/photos are going to get buried in this thread, and I think it would be awesome to have all these tweaks listed in one thread.
Thanks in advance

Quoted from EalaDubhSidhe:

There is a cliffy that has been designed for the scoop now.

Quoted from libtech:

Any voltage/color $15each shipped
ebay.com link » Rotating Beacon Warning Light Lamp Spiral Fixed Abs 12vdc 220vac Lte 1101

Quoted from sed6:

Do either of you know the voltage going to the flashers? Did I miss it?

Quoted from CubeSnake:

I think it would be prudent at this time for either Andrew or Cointaker to chime in. People are getting antsy and other's are bailing out to buy other pins. Not good. Just a very simple update stating, "we're building X machines daily and shipping out the same". Right now, if one was to place an order, there is NO IDEA on when to expect it. Not good business form, IMO.

Quoted from chrisnack:

Sorry you see it that way, as i stated before, i posted so that people would know what they are getting into. If they are comfortable with the delays, more power to them, but I feel you should have all the facts if you want to get in on a preorder.
I was actually responding to someones post regarding the business, and i stated it was my opinion/thoughts.
I have stated before that I do like Alien and I do want Heighway to ship games. So that whole conspiracy theory that people are buying in and then backing out to try and tank the company is just f'n ridiculous. I would sure hope people have better things to do with their time.
I'm sorry, but you cannot tell me a single person thinks 30+ days for a refund is acceptable, what other transaction or purchase have you ever made in your life where that was ok. The obvious dodging of people asking for refunds and clearly not having the money to refund, if that isn't alarming to people, then i guess it is what it is. Not to mention the publicly available financial status of the company. Whatever.
There are a number of other people in the same boat as me, but they aren't posting. As i said before, my inbox got flooded with stories and messages regarding a lot of things once i posted that i asked for a refund. However, most of them are not posting, and i'm starting to see why they don't bother. If you say anything bad about Heighway, you get attacked. Fun.
Life is short, i have better things to do with my time than argue with asshats on PinSide regarding Heighway. I've tried to make information available for people thinking about getting in. I'm done with this thread. I'll post when/if i get my refund, but other than that, I'm moving on.
I wish Andrew/Heighway the best of luck and I do sincerely hope people actually get their games regardless of whether i agree or disagree with how the business is run. I really do.

Quoted from Dano:

I saw it last night and I give it a 6.5

Quoted from lamihh:

Thanks!
Now I tried to play. When I shoot the ball into the airlock scoop the ball stays in there. No mode starts. Ball doesn't come out. Flipper buttons, start button and everything not working
What to do???

Quoted from j_m_:

I played a brand new pro alien this past weekend and here are my thoughts
the good
- the build of the cabinet and backbox are very nice. I'm not too keen on the playfield glass set up (it's damn heavy) but on the plus side, doesn't take a ton of space in front of the game to remove
- I wasn't a fan of the backbox until I actually saw it. it really is a nice design and a leap forward from the wooden and metal backboxes of the stern and jjp games
- the quality of both the 25" backbox display and the one under the playfield is fantastic. the coders have done an excellent job of integrating the films' footage and game modes
- I love the fact that both the outer side panels and interior [blades] light up
the indifferent
- code version on the machine that I played was 0.97 and had some issues (like scoring getting all messed up with a 4-player game
(granted, this will be addressed with future code updates, it's kind of disappointing that this far after the game being showcased at expo last year, that they are still having issues of this nature. additionally, with a 4-player game, multi-ball modes would start randomly at the beginning of ball one for player no. 4
- the drop out flipper mechanisms are an interesting change from what we're used to. it will be very interesting further down the road, just how available (and how expensive) replacement parts are
the bad
- the scalloped edge on the left ramp was very sharp to the touch (just an FYI for all you new and potential owners) where the cut ended near the top before the loop back
- the metal ramp was filthy with residue from the welds. initially, I thought that it was an effect of an old weather starship that they were trying to achieve, but it was quickly pointed [to me] that on the ramp, the pattern of the ramp's filth matched that of the welds
- the same goes for all of the lamp boards underneath the playfield. apparently, heighway hasn't heard of running the boards through a wash cycle after applying all of the components. fingerprints and flux residue covered every one of the strangely cut boards.
- the ball kick out cut-out of the apron is too large and causes the ball to get "hung" to the left of the shooter lane almost 50% or more of the time. we had to fashion a make-shift plastic shim to close up the hole to prevent this from happening
the ugly
- half of the rubber rings were dry rotted straight out of the box and needed to be replaced. (just how long ago were the rings purchased and have they not been stored properly?
- changing out the rubber rings led to accidentally breaking one of the acrylic (not PETG) playfield protectors while trying to free it from the posts. acrylic was NOT a good choice
- the game that we received did not include the xenomorph head [at all]. we were told that it would ship at a later time, but only after inquiring (and we were not given a date at which it would ship
looking above, one might get the feeling that I do not like the game. that's far from the truth. even with all of its shortcomings, we had a lot of fun playing it for about 4+ hours, but truth be told, I really have the feeling that machines are only being shipped to placate the people who paid in full and have been waiting too long.
it's quite obvious that the game still needs some major tweaks (straight out of the box no less) which shouldn't be the case for something that you're paying north of $7K for
just my .02

Quoted from nwpinball:

The way to get one there is to get one of the distributors to bring one, so invite Nitro or Cointaker.

Quoted from Yipykya:

I know. My response was about with the success of the Alien title, being what it's expected to be, you shouldn't have to worry about parts availability. So much has been "over engineered" on the Heighway platform with modularity in mind that fixes should be easy. And Alien production is probably going to go on for such a long long time that availability of parts shouldn't be an issue.

Quoted from 3pinballs:

is there a problem with Heighway? Are they having financial problems?

Quoted from PanzerFreak:

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?!

Quoted from Yoko2una:

f Heighway doesn't have a definitive (non-PR B.S.) answer as to the lack of communication and clear direction of the company by Tuesday, I'd say F-it, this company is now at DP levels and do whatever you have to get your money back or your game sitting 2 steps away from the final

Quoted from Toads:

Don't you need to get a refund back before you invest in other places?

Quoted from nwpinball:

mainly operators

Quoted from Astropin:

I sure hope you're not calling/emailing Cointaker everyday.

Quoted from Waldo:

Ship to US?