We've seen the shot layout. We've seen some are work. We know the play-field toys. What we don't know is the rule set. It'd be great to see the rules. Combos, wizard modes, skill shots etc.

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!!

Better chest burster mode:
Actually, thinking about the Chest Burster Mode I wrote earlier, it would be better to copy what they did in Monster Bash for Dracula. The baby alien pops out the side of the play-field (from a human toy) and slides across the playfield backwards and forwards trying to run away and you have to hit it.

That would be fun.

Another new one. Flame thrower mode:
I'm also like the idea of having a single drop target, or Alien toy, blocking a ramp. In fact, have 2 aliens that pop out of the playfield that block the ramps. You have to knock one down to complete a ramp shot behind it. The ramp is the vent. It pops up again on the other side and again you knock it down for a ramp shot. When you ge both ramps it lights flame thrower mode (whatever that might be).

You could borrow a lot of ideas from Monster Bash and Medieval Madness. Monster Bash is a simple game but somehow really quite good.

So true. When is anything ever really finished. There always has to be a lock-off point. This is the company's only chance to launch in a big way. It has to be revolutionary. This is what will make their name.

Absolutely. Why dilute a theme?

Hmmm. Not a fan of two movies playing at the same time in the same theme. You're in the movie with a derelict ship, then you're in the second movie with an alien queen, then you're in back in the first movie with a chest burster, then you're in the second movie with an APC rescue. How confusing. Perhaps they should be releasing two separate machines. Double your revenue, maximise your theme.

So the rules aren't set in stone yet then?

However, innovation is what is really lacking here.

If you look at the playfield parts I, the queen, and J, the alien, both main characters are sitting next to each other. You have two toys, both firing the ball back at you from the same position, from different movies. It would have been better to put the alien someone else. You know where? Lower down the playfield on the side. Why? Because the whole idea of the alien being scary is that it looks the meanest from the side. That's most effective way to see its head. From the side. It could have been a canon short, like Terminator 2. Or, a scoop shot.

Then there's the innovation again. Imagine another mini playfield under this one which is Newt crawling through the drains trying to escape the alien. You have had a horizontal channel under the playfield that the ball entered. It rolled from left to right on a slight incline. In there was a board with pins and holes that could tilt using the flipper buttons. Think Indiana Jones top left playfield but underneath. The ball is Newt running from the alien. As the ball progresses past opto sensors, LEDs could light up behind it revealing pictures of the alien chasing her. She looses if the ball goes down one of the holes and it gest ejected through the alien's mouth on the lower playfield. If she wins, the ball ejects back to the right hand shooter lane for a skill shot. You also don't need the ball shooter lane to be the entire length of the machine. It wastes space at the top of the playfield. Make it half the size, like on Terminator 2. Ditch the LCD display in the playfield too! Then you could put Newt under the playfield. The LCD really does hinder a lot of possible features.

I still think they should have put a baby chest burster alien on a moving horizontal target, like drac attack in monster bash, coming of a chest to the side of the playfield.

Where are the targets that pop up out of the playfield like medieval maddness?

Then you have section A of the playfield which takes up SO much space, just to drain or save a ball. There's also the weird bit behind the left side flipper that also drains the ball adding to more wasted space.

Oh dear. Such an ordinary layout. Perhaps a lost opportunity with this game.

To the contrary, I see my points as positive. They only have one chance to listen to feedback before they build it. There is no spin. It's how I see it as a prospective customer. The machines I reference are all good designs, like medieval madness and monster bash, and are in the top 3 machines according to pinside. Good themes, well executed. Heighway has an opportunity here. I still feel trying to cram two story-lines in to one theme will be confusing and dilute the theme.

The two movies are fundamentally different. The first is a 'haunted house'. People trapped in a house with no way out with something trying to kill you that can't be killed. The second is a shoot-em-up war movie. Unlike the first, any alien can be killed by running them over or shooting them. Two movies, two themes.

I see your Wish List has Medieval Madness and Monster Bash. Seems like the machines I was referencing, and ideas in them, are exactly what you want. Let's see some of your constructive thoughts, and I said constructive.

I'm not at all oblivious to costs of production. Try producing a television series. You have no idea what has to be cut due to cost. But, you can still make an excellent TV show on a given budget with amazing sets.

Those games were the first to introduce those types of innovations. I'm saying that ramps, targets and toys only are not very innovative. The layout is very vanilla. There can be more to this game.

I actually do understand the technical, creative, licensing and business side of things. That's what I do. The problem with forums is that whenever anyone says they don't like something, people jump on them. I'm not concerned about what people think of my input, but I should be able to voice an opinion, good and bad, like everyone else. My posts are a discussion on how I view a product, regardless of what phase of the development it's in, and they're certainly not directed to an individual. Unfortunately, most negative comments here are directed at individuals. I'm always amazed when people jump in with brainless emoticons and ridiculous jpgs. Now that seems like a waste of time.