Can I offer a bit of design feedback, because having scrutinised the pictures I can see two potential long term problems with the layout straight off the bat. One of these should be a relatively easy fix; the other probably needs more of a rethink.

Point one: the Thunderbird 2 drop ramp. Assuming balls aren't going to get stuck under this, the metal edges of the ramp at the bottom are completely exposed. We had an issue for a short while during Alien development with ball scratching until we'd isolated the surface that was doing it - you're going to get the same thing here from ball hits to that ramp edge, and that will translate into playfield damage. The edge also looks low enough to cause horrific airballs. My advice: raise the height of the ramp edges, and attach a blue square rubber pad on either side that overlaps the front and protects the edge and the ball from each other. (George Gomez uses these a lot.) Problem solved.

Point two: there is nothing protecting the FAB1 shot wall from the activity of the pops close to it. This is never a good design idea. Go look up any game on the IPDB, and the pops are always surrounded by rubber or surfaces with plenty of give as much as possible, and metal is kept either a greater distance away or else is at a much more oblique angle to that of any ball hitting it. The pops on this game are going to be slamming into that guide wall, and especially since the wall is curved to create the dynamic of the shot, if it develops dent damage over time it's going to screw the shot up and ruin the game. This absolutely needs to be addressed in my opinion, even if it means taking out a pop and creating a secluded area of bounceback rubbers to create more bumper activity and provide a safe channel for the ball to leave the area.

I don't see any representation of the pop bumpers on that CAD drawing, I wonder if they're going to address that problem now.

Will be interested to get to grips with the game at UKPinfest next month. I get a strong Gottlieb vibe from the layout, in a 'late alphanumeric Ray Tanzer' way.

Well, I've given TAG a good play at the Daventry show and you know what? It's pretty good fun. Definitely an acquired taste; there's nothing else like it on the market today and the closest companies in terms of playfield design would be Alvin G or Technoplay. It's not complex, but neither is it as simple and basic as it appears either, and it left a good first impression for being immediate to get to grips with and leaving you with little difficulty in knowing what to shoot for. Honestly, as far as first play on the machine goes, I liked TAG more than either Houdini or JJP Pirates, though it's definitely rougher around the edges with more of a 'first draft'-ness about it, not unlike how Full Throttle had for some people.

Pros: Good casual or family game. Unique layout. No handholding required. Plenty of simple objectives to achieve, definitely more to it than Jetsons. Fun ramps and makeable shots. Despite not being a flow game, it's a decent one to play by instinct.

Flaws: Not for you if you like conventional flow as none of the shots really lead anywhere that way. Cheesy art makes it look cheaper than it should do. Audio quality is rough, at least under Show conditions, Long-term play is uncertain and nobody is pretending the game is deep. Flipper buttons feel spongy. Still not a fan of the pops close to the guide wall. Airballs a lot.

The orange DMD, while obviously looking dated, didn't bother me in the slightest on this game; I seldom had to look up at it. Everything you need to know is there on the playfield in some form. But even deep games like AC/DC and TWD have managed perfectly well with a DMD as they knew how to prioritise what goes on it, and let the basic rule of 'if it flashes, shoot it ASAP' fill in any blanks. Getting to grips with the newest LCD-equipped games, this is art that frequently is being ignored or lost to the detriment of the game to the point that I'm surprised just how well Alien actually does balance things in comparison, sometimes. I may after the show write up a new thread of dos and don'ts of what I've learned about LCD integration that should honestly be self-explanatory to anyone with DMD experience.

I guessed EXACTLY the same thing.

The designer of Alien had the same guess. :p

I went and quoted the wrong post didn't I, it was meant to be guessing the second game's theme. I put it to Mike after the Pinfest talk that it was Saiyu-Ki, the Monkey King legend. He didn't comment.