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As many on this forum now know, we really do listen to Pinsiders and their opinions, and in the past, we have even changed direction on a number of different aspects of our games.

Now we are months away from production, and now that Pre-Orders are open, we felt we should start an official Pinside thread where we will bring you our latest announcements when they happen, and where we can directly answer any questions you may have.

In case you missed our official 'Full Throttle' trailer, it's at the bottom of this post, along with the 8-minute gameplay video recently posted by Pinball News

Pinball News recently posted 2 major articles about us. They can both be found here:

Part 1: http://www.pinballnews.com/news/heighwaypinball.html
Part 2: http://www.pinballnews.com/games/fullthrottle/index8.html

To see all Pinball News articles about 'Full Throttle', please visit http://www.pinballnews.com/games/fullthrottle/

Our website has just been re-launched: www.heighwaypinball.com

We are now very active on social media:

• Weekly video updates every Friday, on our YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFrztZU8v9tMsaaTEkmrOBg
• Daily tweets on Twitter
• Weekly (minimum) updates on our Facebook page
• Newsletters every 2 weeks (please visit www.heighwaypinball.com and sign up to our newsletter)

To all those who have pre-ordered our games so far - thank you for your business

We look forward to communicating with everyone here in the future.

Thanks for reading,

The Heighway Pinball Team

Here is our latest YouTube video update - posted today.

This video introduces the Heighway Pinball Team

Thanks for your comments.

This cabinet is still a prototype cabinet - we have a final version on the way - and we are also looking at ways of having some game branding on the front/coin door area as well.

Interesting comments on the speaker space. We had toyed with the idea of having art on the whole panel, but we decided to have the translite art the same, proportionally, as on standard pinball games. As this is a single perspex sheet, there are cutouts for the speakers themselves. This left us with the choice of keeping the area between the speakers blank, or putting our company logo there. We have taken your comments on board and will discuss these internally

The other problem with a full artwork panel, is that it becomes very difficult to light it evenly over the entire panel, with support batons, speaker mounting panels, etc...

By keeping the speaker area blacked out/dark, we can focus the lighting on the artwork itself

We hope to be able to announce Australian distribution in days

Online tournaments will feature in our software in the future, yes

Have you seen the Pinball News video:

We will post a full playfield pic here in the next few days

Thanks for posting this.

The carbon fibre effect looks really cool

By removing the logo from the sky, the sky looks very bare though

The HP logo - we are going to discuss that internally. WMS had a logo centrally placed in the speaker panel and on the translite. We do see your point though

That's a good idea. We are looking at kinds of options for the future including leasing

Yes - we will have at least 2 games at Expo his year. We are looking at having an event there too

We have been asked the question "will parts like ramps, plastic sets, etc... be available to purchase from Heighway Pinball?" The answer is yes - all parts will be available from us, or via parts resellers

As requested...

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This is this week's YouTube video update, where we talk about the origins of Full Throttle

The apron was initially intended to be opaque/translucent with lighting from below - but by being transparent, it makes lighting much more difficult

Yes, it will be red by production

To give you feedback from our testing, there are never any holdups here, and we are not expecting any wear here either.

This has been addressed in our cabinet design

Hi everyone,

Here is this week's YouTube video update, where we go into detail about Full Throttle's arch villain - Francisco Valentino

Here's our latest YouTube video...

Hi everyone.

Here is our latest YouTube video, where we talk about the Skill Shot feature on Full Throttle...

Currently we are building games 3-4.

We are hoping to have game 5, the Pre-Production version, built before the New Year.

All going according to plan, we are aiming to build the first 20 games in the last 2 weeks of January,and begin shipping after that

A big day for us today - our first game, Full Throttle, spent a full day of pre-compliance electrical emission testing, and passed with flying colours!

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Our licensor knows and understands our system.

An upgrade kit, for example, is sold with accompanying artwork. It is then up to the buyer what they do with the product once they own it. It would make no sense for collectors or operators to put a game into a cabinet and not use the matching artwork - but if they want to do this, then it is their choice

Yes, this is possible.

We are hoping to conclude our Canadian distribution arrangement within the next 7-10 days

A.D. from Redline - the band that provides all the music for Full Throttle - paid a visit this week

In our latest YouTube video, we report from the recent Official Launch Party of our first game, Full Throttle.

Taking place at the Pipeline Bar in Central London, on Friday January 16th 2015, highlights included a performance by REDLINE from their album VICE - who's tracks feature on our game.

We get ever closer to production...

80 boxes of parts arrived today for Full Throttle, with many more to follow over the next few weeks

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Hi Jim,

We have always tried to be transparent so I have no problem answering your questions.

1. We have pre-production versions of both cabinet and playfield coming next week. These are to make sure everything is 100% by the time production starts. The first run of cabinets and playfields will arrive a week after. All the materials are already purchased - suppliers are just waiting for the green light

2. 2 new staff have been hired full time. We also have access to contract staff. We will adjust our staffing levels accordingly. I personally will spend time on the production line and quality control - as it's my name going on the games. Clearly this is not a long term strategy but everyone in the company can be pulled onto the production line, if needed

3. Parts procurement is one of the biggest challenges of a pinball manufacturer. I am personally overseeing this. There have been a few delays and problems - but they are all under control. Chinese New Year has been a big headache for us, with companies closing down there for 2 weeks. At this point, I am happy with our procurement situation,even though we have recently had 1-2 week delays

4. The second backbox screen is going into next week's pre production machine. We don't foresee any problems with this. The price is not finalised yet, but the upgrade kit should cost no more than $300-350. We may well offer substantial discounts on these upgrade packages to existing customers

5. The first batch of games will number 20. 10 of these should be ready by the middle of March, the other 10 by the end of March at the latest. The next batch of 40 games will be 2-4 weeks after. The first batch of games will all be SEs, as we need to finalise the shaker motor and fibre optic lighting for the LEs. LEs will definitely be in the second batch

I hope I have answered all your questions

Hi everyone,

An update for you on the glass situation.

We have redesigned our glass magazine so the glass size we will be using is the same as WMS wide body glass.

Therefore, anyone looking to replace our standard glass with PDI/Invisiglass can do so.

We will likely offer a non-reflective glass option ourselves at some point as well.

Widebody glass dimensions 603mm x 1092mm x 5mm (4-6mm permittable)

A major piece of equipment arrived at our factory today ...

We are holding a competition on Facebook and Twitter if anyone wants to guess as to what is under the blue cover? Just search for Heighway Pinball and post your guess

Winner will be randomly selected from the correct answers, and will receive a Heighway Pinball polo shirt and signed flyer. Competition ends at 17.00 GMT on Friday 27th March

If you're entering then good luck!

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Our latest YouTube video update is out now...

Yes, they have a great reputation. The equivalent CNC today would cost £200-250K I have been told.

We are waiting for our compressor to be fixed and serviced before we start trial runs with it.

The height issue for the cabinet line is only temporary. We have dual level conveyors that will be cut in half. This will bring the current height down by about a foot

Hi everyone,

As you all know, we decided to look at adding a backbox-mounted LCD screen as an optional extra. This came about after discussions with operators, and feedback from Pinsiders.

All the designing and testing has been done, and we can now show you the results.

We will be announcing the price of this add-on within the next week, and opening orders for it.

All customers in the first batch of Full Throttle games will have the option to buy, and have the backbox screen factory-fitted.

It doesn't really work like that. When one comes off the line, then many others will follow shortly after.

What is causing delays at the moment is quality control. If we reject parts from suppliers - which we have done - then they get returned to the supplier and either reworked or remade.

We suffered exactly the same issues when the Bacardi games were on the line. But as suppliers get to know what is expected of them, including the quality of the parts that they are producing for us, then things run a lot more smoothly

We have had to buy a new compressor for it, as the old one was unserviceable. The new compressor arrived yesterday and gets wired in tomorrow morning.

The CNC then gets serviced Mon/Tue next week and should be in operation from there onwards

It's a good question and the answer may not be what you expect. Often, a supplier will need to use a different process to prototype parts for you. So what you receive as samples may vary from what you receive as production parts.

Often, tooling won't be used for prototype parts, or if it is, then it may be lower grade tooling to prove that the part is correct prior to spending a lot more money on high quality tooling

Prototyping is VERY expensive

The deal is as good as done and we will be announcing it shortly

Here's our latest YouTube production update video - taken over the last few weeks:

Yes - especially in the second half of the year. We will post the shows we will be attending, here

We are handling U.S. distribution ourselves for now - to keep prices down for the end users

It's a fair question.

I'll answer it this way - the hardest pin for any manufacturer to make is the first one - by a long long way.

It becomes a 'selection process' whereby you lose some suppliers along the way, and have to find new ones by necessity. In some cases you massively overspend on parts and in other cases, the quality just isn't there.

I'll give you an example. We have a bent end stop for our flipper mechanisms. Manufacturer couldn't bend it to spec and delivered us 2 parts welded together. We took one look at it and said "this will never last 50 games". Manufacturer was adamant it was fine - until we broke the piece in half with our fingers. We told them that the part had to be stamped - as per our specifications. How long to get the stamp tool made? 4 weeks. This is just for ONE part.

You quickly get to understand who your best suppliers are, and who the ones are that could let you down.

The secret is to stockpile standard parts, and get the prices as cheap as possible, and to custom-build the game-specific parts to order - or at least in manageable batches.

Also - we have invested heavily in new equipment - that we will reveal soon - which means that we will make many of our parts and assemblies in house.

Controlling the supply chain is one of the things that can make or break your business.

Do I still think we can achieve 3 games a year? Absolutely - once we reach the point that allows us to do so. We can reach this point within 6 months.

Hi guys,

A long overdue update here.

We are expecting the first 10 SEs to be built by the end of this week, and the next 10 by the end of next week.

The big delay was having to scrap the first 20 sets of ball guides because the quality wasn't good enough, and the supplier put their hands up and said "that's the best we can do" So ... that meant having to find another supplier at short notice. This would normally add another 4-6 weeks on top, but we got the new sets turned around in only 2 weeks - and they look great. A polished stainless steel finish on guides for a change!

Without guides, its impossible to fully build up playfields, but that's happening now.

Once the build on the first 10 games is finished, they'll be programmed and tested for a week. IF there are no glitches, then the first 10 will ship out approximately 2 weeks from now ... with the next 10 a week later.

Then will come the next 40 games - which will include LEs. This extra time will allow us to finish work on the fibre optic wiring and the shaker motors.

In the meantime, we hope to announce our participation at a major U.S. show coming soon. We are trying to get 2 x production Full Throttles there in time.

We are planning an update, with photos and a new YouTube video, this Friday.

This update will include news of some MAJOR new machinery arriving at the factory (3 pieces, one of which is arriving and being installed tomorrow)

Thanks for reading and sorry again for the delay in this update.

The approvals process is very complicated with FOX, and has caused us significant delays. We have a lot of material with them in the pipeline. I do believe we can start showing elements to you soon - within weeks, maybe sooner

I can tell you that all departments are making significant progress.

We are fully committed to trying to have prototypes to show at the UK Pinball Party in August

No Shaun, shipping is very close now

Apologies for the radio silence.

Everyone at the factory has been hard at work on games, but I have been away on personal reasons for the last 6 days.

We will have Facebook and Twitter updates over the next few days that will show you the most important, and expensive, piece of machinery that we have received - and the second YouTube 'Production Update' video (covering the last 3 weeks) will be posted on Friday.

Shortly after, will be the final production update which will show finished working games and boxed games about to ship.

To customers on the first run who want factory-fit second screen upgrades, please don't be concerned by delays as we will be emailing you by Friday with details on how to order before we have finished your game.

Here is our latest YouTube production video, which shows what we have been doing for the last 3 weeks

Yes, we will be doing all of our own printing in house from now on

We have had no complaints about the bezel obscuring view. We have never found this a problem ourselves either.

However, the glass magazine is one part that is under review at the moment, and will change at some point in the near future

How long does it take for a Heighway Pinball game to boot and enter attract mode?

Watch the video to find out...

At this point no - but that's an oversight

It will be added

At the recent Pintastic show, in New England, Ma, USA - we showed two production versions of our 'Full Throttle' pinball machines to the visiting public.

In this video, we asked people who had just played the game for the first time for their reactions to the game, and its game play

We will be hosting a seminar on Sunday at 1pm Eastern in room 407 at Replay FX

As well as giving updates to attendees, we will also be revealing the latest Alien Pinball layout and shot map, and discussing some of the game's toys

We are not sure if anyone else is filming or streaming the seminar, but we will be filming it and posting it and a later date

We will also be posting the shot layout on Pinside after the seminar

We will be announcing our Australian distributer at the UK Pinball Party.

We have recently announced our Canadian and Austrian/German distributers. Australia is next.

I have sent you a pm in any case

The Sci-Fi Journal recently published a video taken at the recent Pintastic New England show.

The first part features Jersey Jack Pinball. The second part, at 5 minutes 18 seconds, features Andrew being interviewed by Calvin Watts III

So, Full Throttle has been on location for a week at the amazing Pinball Wizard Arcade at Pelham, NH.

How many times was it played? An astounding 593 times!!

Many thanks to Sarah for releasing this info to us.

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If we modify cabinets in the future - which will almost certainly happen - then existing playfields will still fit in these new cabinets

Our Canadian distributor, Nitro Amusements, featured on Canada's Global TV channel this week, with company President Tommy Floyd talking about Full Throttle, and hosting a head-to-head game between the show's presenters

Well done Tommy! Excellent work!

We are on to this and will be updating our website shortly

Having just returned from the Austrian Pinball Open, I have read some valid points on this thread and will address as many of them as I can here:

1. Valentino - The software that controls him is not complete, but will be so shortly, and available in a future update

2. Slingshots - it is simply an adjustment issue because the slingshot sits marginally further back than it should do at the moment. We will send this out to customers as a Service Bulletin. Essentially the front high leaf should be bent to touch the rubber and the smaller activation leaf behind it should be bent forwards until there is a distance of approximately 1mm between both leafs. Doing this will make the slingshots ultra responsive - and yes, they are very strong

3. During playfield printing, the recess gets painted too, continuing the artwork until the the edge of the wood. We had some issues with the plastic panels fitting on the first batches of playfields, so had to sand this area down slightly - and this meant losing the artwork there. We are also working on something for the future - a protective film to overlap the edges of the window - a bit like mobile phone screen protectors. If we bring these to market, then it could be possible for customers to print their own bezels on the plastic film - or we might offer these with printed artwork ourselves

4. Animations - we are looking to add more animations to the software in the future

5. Strong/Weak coils - the strength of all coils is adjustable

6. Ramp return balls - we are looking into this. The general consensus seems to be that the balls do not need to be delivered to the flippers any quicker, as the game is already very fast, and quicker balls here could be uncontrollable - but we are looking into this anyway

7. Side art - a comment was made that operators may fear these getting "kicked in" - ie: cash box security issues. However, there is solid wood behind the side panels so nobody will be able to kick these in. The worst they will do is crack the plastic panels themselves.

8. Player score Visibility - especially during multiplayer games. This is being addressed for a future software update.

9. Skipping 'end-of-ball' bonus screens - these can be skipped by pressing both flippers at the beginning of each end-of-ball sequence only, at this point. We are looking to update this so they can be skipped at any point during the sequence.

Thanks for your comments Bill.

If you see the "?" underneath the race map, this was meant to allow a customisable race for distribution countries not listed on the map.

So ... you could well see an update in the future for Canadian customers, for example, which would see them have a Canadian race when the "?" is lit

Here's a recent news feature on us by national UK TV broadcaster ITV. It started off as a regional Welsh broadcast but was picked up soon after by other regions in the UK

We are prototyping polished chrome trim now, and for the next few weeks.

We are not currently planning on allowing music tracks to be changed - but we will keep reviewing this

You are right. We are aware of this situation and will rectify it in the near future - but it may not be for a few weeks or months yet

Happy New Year to everyone from Heighway Pinball.

Here's to an epic 2016 pinballing year!

Here are some shots of the Full Throttle LE plaques...

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Well spotted! This is only the sample. The real ones arrive early next week - WITH the correct spelling!

Competition Time!

More machinery arrived at the factory this week.

Can you guess what this equipment does? One answer per person please.

Winner gets a rare 2 left feet Circe flyer, signed by designer Dave Sanders.

Winner will be randomly chosen from correct answers at 5pm UK time on Friday 26th February.

Good luck!

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On Tuesday 16th February 2016, MP (Member of Parliament) for Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney, Gerald Jones, visited Heighway Pinball's factory in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, and officially opened our new mass production line.

Also present for the visit were Gerald's Parliamentary Assistant, Tyrone Powell, and Simon Storer - Head of Communications at bacta

Our latest YouTube video documents this visit

It wasn't playable then. However, we are at the factory now and have just been testing two of the modes on the actual prototype table.

Instead of making 3-4 games at a time, we are now making 11-15 games at a time. This is the move up from low run production line to mass production line.

We are currently considering all options re: the backbox LCD, including making the 27" backbox LCD standard on all games

In our latest YouTube video, we talk to some of our new, and existing, team members and ask them what jobs they do at the company

Have you ever wanted a fast way to learn to play Full Throttle without reading long reviews?

Now we have the answer for you:

Please email me directly at [email protected]

It sounds like an LED has blown or has a loose wire/connection. They operate in a chain so if one LED doesn't work, then the rest in that chain won't work either

In our latest YouTube video, Alien Pinball game designer, Dave Sanders, answers questions from the public about his latest game design, and talks about other game designers that have influenced him over the years