OP

Quoted from voodle:

Well for what it's worth, here are my mode ideas.
All from the first Alien movie.
Because I'm not sure on the exact toys/layout on the play-field I've made these assuming it has 3 pop bumpers, 3 drop targets and a few ramps, a ball capture. They're 'rough' ideas that could be expanded on enormously and refined a lot but I only thrashed them out in 20 minutes.
Planet Landing Mode:
Ball capture then video mode starts. Use flipper buttons to fly ship left and right through rectangular boxes on DMD to land ship on Alien planet. Timed Mode for 15 seconds. Points awarded for each box flown through. Buttons fire left/right rockets. Difficulty is that the longer you hold the flipper button down the more thrust is added in that direction. It's accumulative.
Derelict Ship Mode:
Ramp on machine is same shape as curved derelict ship arm. Ramp has grey 3D plastic over it to look like ball is going in to derelict ship. Just like the movie there are 3 holes the search team enter. The ball needs to be locked 3 times before you can enter the ship. Locking 3 balls starts 3-ball multi ball. Jackpot is to hit a target which shows you the dead alien soldier. Super jackpot is lit if you lock a ball and hit the soldier again.
Egg Mode:
Timed mode. Start mode by dropping 3 targets in order. Pop bumpers are now active in egg mode. The goal is to get the pop bumper hits to a certain level and once achieved shoot a ramp shot for the egg to open. If you don't get the required hits the mode must be entered again by hitting the drop targets. Number of hits continues from where it left off. It doesn't reset to zero each time. Face hugger jumps on to your face. Big points.
Face Hugger Mode:
You're back in the ship and the hugger is around your neck. It starts to tighten.
Timed mode for 30 seconds. Shoot the left ramp then right ramp. The face hugger detaches and you can move to chest burst mode. If you don't get it, the mode resets. You need to re-light this mode. Not sure how yet.
Chest Burst Mode:
Play-field bash toy. Yes, it comes up out of the play-field so you can belt it with the ball. Not sure what starts the mode. It's timed and when it drops down again you have limited time to re-light that mode. Say a ramp shot, and it pops up again.
Acid Drop Mode:
Shoot right orbit to add one acid drop level. The acid drips through the floor for 5 levels. As the crew you want to inspect each each level to asses the damage. The first orbit is worth 100k (Level 1), then 250k (Level 2), then 500k (Level 3), then 750k (Level 4), then 1 million (Level 5). Each subsequent shot is worth 1 million. The levels reset to level 1 on the next ball.
Ash Robot Kill Mode:
Knock robots head off. Hit a fire extinguiser target 5 times to knock is head off. Nice. Then to get the real story of why the Nostromo was sent to the planet, two ramp shots in order for big points.
Vent Search Mode:
Left orbit is vent. Blue beep tracker vision and sound as alien is coming towards you. The 4 sets of vertical lights in the play-field could all turn blue and flash in sequence from bottom to top during this mode, increasing in speed as the alien gets closer. You have to escape the vent without being killed. Combo shot to escape and get big points. Shoot alien toy to light flame thrower for points then lock ball for points. If you don't, you don't get the points.
Crew Kill Mode:
Not sure but 7 crew members end up being 1 in the end so it's a 'count backwards' mode as they die off. Morbid huh? At each kill the cat should be there and hiss.
Self Destruct Mode:
Play-field pop-up. Hit it during 30 seconds to get points. If you reach a certain level, 2 ball multi-ball starts.
Jonesy Mode:
Dodge the alien to get the cat in its box. Loops to chase the cat but if you hit a drop target the cat gets further away. Get the cat, big points. It purrs.
Wizard Mode:
You're in the escape pod with the Alien in your suit. You try random gasses to move the Alien to the air lock before the airlock opens. Each shot is a gas:
Iodine Pentflouride
Isobutane
Methly Chloride
Nitrosyl Chloride
Methyl Bromide
A ramp, target, hole, could be a gas. When you hit them multi-ball starts. The goal is to open the airlock. During multi-ball you need to complete all ramp shots to eject the alien. When the alien is ejected from the air lock you enter 60 second times mode where all switches are worth big points. Ball auto save is on. Flippers become inactive at end of 60 seconds and balls drain. The end.
Some other ideas. The nice thing about modern games is that you have re-lights. So, if you lose multi-ball mode quickly, you can re-start it with a ramp shot for example. Or, multi-ball mode has ball save active for 30 seconds. I think these two features of a pinball are really good.
The other thing is that it has to have light and shade. I think that's why the cat is good to incorporate. It can't all be about doom and destruction. That's why funny call outs work well in other machines. But, in this theme you can't have that. The cat is there to add a 'human' touch to it.
So, that's my 2 cents worth of idea. We should all chip in!!