"13 Dec 2015 14:58:33 Oslo - Shipment Received At Tnt Location!"

Wwwhhatt's Haaapppening......My tongue will not stay inside my mouth

Tomorrow "IS NOT" just another day. Ho,ho, freakin' hoo!

Hoping for a fun evening

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Yes, but unfortunately it wasn't ready in time so they will have to send it later.

Taking a small break right now. As you can (maybe) see from the pictures, I went with gloss black cabinet and a transparent apron with leds(not for sale, I got one of the prototype aprons because Andrew is a cool guy)

I figured that gloss black would work great for all future playfields, also

Sorry about the picture quality. It's pretty dark here in the winter
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It is an Le. I ordered a standard originally (that's why it says standard on the box)

No fiber lights yet, sorry.

I am an inpatient man, so when I got the option to get the machine now and the rest sent when ready, I jumped on.

Not even a goody bag or instructions yet, but that's not a huge deal.

It's exciting to explore a completely new system. Taking it slow. It looks like it is a pretty easy to understand and intuitive system.

The machine is also pretty light for a wide-body

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Damn I forgot about the back box

These things take time, you know.

I guess I will get the bezel for the big screen when the screen is ready. Until then it is just the playfield lcd and the small logo between
the speakers

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And we're off to the races. See you later. Much later

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PS! Yes there is a playfield lcd bezel now. No more bare wood.

Pinball Rulez asked me what I think of Full Throttle so far, so I thought I would share my impressions with the rest of you as well

To tell you the truth, I have not had the chance to play it as much as I would have liked to as of today. Hectic times right before Christmas and 3 other games entering the house at roughly the same time.

I am really happy with the game so far. Love the rules, the adrenaline, the speed and the overall package

I was really positively impressed by the cabinet, also.

The gameplay is fun, as expected. Really Nice with all the colorchanging leds, also The playfield lcd looks much better in real life than on clips. High-res and clear, but maybe add a few more animations to the code. You get all the information that you need at all times on it and that is big pluss.

Here is the only things I have to mention so far that could have been better:

-There is no cover over the shooter lane coil (that area needs something)
-The sound clips sometimes get cut a bit to quick after a call out when interrupted by another sound clip. Not a big thing, but it could use some refinement
- There is no sound when you hit standups or popbumpers. I hope they change that, because it sounds a bit weird.
-Valentino needs some more movement
- The right ramp is almost impossible to hit from the left flipper. It's doable, but really hard. I first thought that is was only the power of the flipper coils or my lack of skill, but it is back-handable and I have no problem with other shots, so that is not it. More likely the curve of the ramp. This is the only part of the playfield design that is not perfect for me.
- 50 % of the time when the ball comes down from the left orbit, it will go straight down the middle (but that could also be how I have set up the game.
- No level meter in the shooter lane, either.
- I think the Heighway logo on the speaker panel looks small and awkward in that huge black space, but from what I have seen, the logo with Full Throttle under the big screen looks a lot better, so this is only temporary for me, and not a problem for those who chose the small screen in the back, either.
-The playfield could use a spotlight or two, because it can be a bit dark. Not a huge problem for me, since I have the led strip on the apron, but I can see that this can be a problem for some.

I do love the simple but captivating rules regarding the challenges and the stacking opportunities for big points. Also the bronze, silver and gold cup towards the wizard mode is fun. ( I have not gotten to the race wizard mode or red mist yet, so can't comment on those but the races are fun and not too hard to finish)
Also love the gear opportunities for some big point that you can choose when to activate. Big pluss!

Some of the call-outs are a bit cheesy, but I have no problem with that. It suits the theme

Overall, I am really happy with the game so far. Most of the things mentioned above are small things that can easily be fixed.

Really happy that I went with the glossy cab. Looks great.

The game is fast as a shark The inner loop is wild and all the other shots feel great, also. (except the right ramp. The exit on that ramp is not perfect either. the ball can drible out to the playfield instead of going to the inlanes and a slow moving shot on the ramp will not always register the ramp switch)

You still get a few airballs if you miss your shots but not any more than on recent Sterns, so not a problem. Not many airballs from the green lock targets. (I heard that this was a problem in the beginning but works fine now)

It takes a bit of getting used to the new flipper mechs. They are not as tight as new Stern mechs, but they work just fine, have nice controll and you can still do all the usual tricks with them. When you get used to them, they really shine.

PS! Be ready to nudge if the ball travels towards the right outlane. It's easy to nudge it out of there but because there are almost no rubber over there, the ball will spin out the outlane even if you think it is safe, if you do nothing. Not hard to nudge it out of there, though.

The game is different, fun and a great first effort from Heighway so I am really happy with the machine so far And I have great, great hopes for Alien. All the groundwork with the system is there so Future games from this company is nothing to worry about when it comes
to the Heigway system.

PS! I did encounter a few bugs in the software, but nothing mayor. The code seems to be pretty solid at this stage. Maybe reduce the sound of the bike when plunging the ball, just a tad

As I said in the beginning of the post, I need to play it a lot more before final judgement.

So far, so good.

Thumbs up, Heigway!!!

The only temporary problem with Heighway at the moment is that they need to speed up their production line.

Since this is their first game and it takes time to oil those production wheels up to full speed, I think no-one will blame them for the slow production speed as of yet, but come Alien production, things need to move along a lot faster.

They have great communication, the groundwork done for a large production line and the capacity to improve this part greatly, so I am not worried about this yet.

Alien will be the true test to their ability to ramp up production and be a big factor in the pinball business.

They could soon be the nr 2 largest pinball company in the world if all goes well

Frolic, did you get a link for that update or did you receive it in the mail? I haven't heard anything from Heighway regarding the code yet.

Happy for you, PinballRulez.

Can't wait to hear what you think of it.

Have fun!

The shot layout and fun factor on Full Throttle is very good. So good in fact that I do not care so much about the quality of the toys.

But if I am gonna be brutally honest, non of the extra features(toys) do anything for me on this game.

The Wheels: not needed and a bit ugly. Everyone I have talked to also thinks that they are not needed
Valentino: I never look at him or take notice of him. He looks ok, though
The bike: Ok, but very cheaply made. (has there ever before been a toy on a playfield that are zip tied only?)

But luckily, this title does not need fancy toys to be fun . It's all about the shots on this game and I do not miss fancy toys

The standard Heighway features are extremely good, however. LCD integration, RGB Leds, new switch system, magnet, spinner, etc.

Alien will be a much more toy heavy game, so I think those two games together will be the perfect match

Totally agree. It gets the job done.

What I tried to say was that Full Throttle is a game that does not need any fancy toys to be fun. It is a great first title and the toys will only get better from now on.

What I said in the earlier post might have come out a little wrong and sound too negative. It was actually meant to be the opposite. It is a testament to a good game when it does not need fancy toys to be fun.

Same problem for me, regarding the plunger. Thanks for the tip regarding the board. (and also the wheels)