Do it!

My experience as an Alien LV and R and M owner:

Alien LV- too dark for me- installed pinstadiums and dialed them down a little. This works very well for me, but I am old guy with old eyes. Shots are challenging but can be dialed in with practice. Reliability? Fine in my home. Operator buddy has one on site- has been disastrous for him but he will not part with it- theme and gameplay are too good.

R and M- best theme ever and a challenging game. Flipper upgrade very important. This game is fun, but not cheap. Light on the mech and shot variations.

WOZ? Beautiful! Gameplay?… not so much. I had a chance to pick one up for $8500- passed on it and don’t really regret it (although pinflation might make me think differently).

Good luck and happy hunting.

- PB support is second to none! VERY fast response and will help any way they can....not sure who else can say that about a pinball company.
- Alien doesn't play like a wide body to me (wide, empty and floaty)...it plays super fast with one ball and even faster with multi-balls! I had an Indy Jones and it just seemed way floaty and the ball spent most of the time going back and forth across the playfield between the slings and stand up targets on the left and right....not so on Alien!
- The LV is PERFECT for playing loud and in the dark! I NEVER used to play pins in total dark until I got the Alien! It's super easy to play in the dark with the lit side blades and rear panel!
- Only other advice - BUY IT NOW! haha!

Thank you for the input, I feel like WoZ (I want ruby red) is just going to turn into a ‘showpiece’ that is essentially sitting in my basement and no one ever sees other than me.

I’ve got the Phillips hue lighting in my basement and am pumped for dim weird colored lights and playing this bad boy. I have officially told the distro I’m buying the NIB they have.

So short of something weird happening, should hopefully have it by the end of next week…. So pumped!!!!!!

Thank you all for the input and also for an awesome thread to scroll through

So for me this is a god tier theme and I had to have it. If I am truthful I was kind of expecting that the game to me would be super average but again theme meant I had to have it. As it turns out this game is way better than I expected. I am really really enjoying it. Couldn't be happier with my LV purchase I got just a couple days ago.

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I just swapped out the stock flipper bands with a fresh set from Titan and am having much greater success shooting the Hypersleep ramp. I color matched the bands to the playfield blue. The color really pops and the blue stays cleaner than the yellow. I'm experiencing higher scores with the bounciness of these Titans. The difference in night & day. Definitely recommended. A link to my kit is below //

https://www.titanpinball.com/kits/index.php/view/id/3063

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Having some issues:

- sometimes the game boots, and the main screen flickers ( have to power down).

- sometimes the small screen gets stuck on the command prompt boot screen (have to power down).

- if you leave the game on for a while, you can't start a game. Everything seems to be working, but you can't play it.

Any ideas?

Do I need to update software?

Yah these just happen sometimes the first two anyhow not sure about that third. I am on the latest software 3.1 and latest firmware 0.71 and I would say once here and there when first powering on I see those first two issues.

So these issues are still unresolved?

What about the hugely annoying shaker motor sounding like a lawn mower when you boot up your game?

After rebuilding and updating to 3.1 I’ve gotten to 99% stability. I suggest rebuilding from 2.2>2.6>3.0>3.1

This solved almost all my issues. Game is the most stable it has ever been.

Yah I guess I should say I am not certain I have seen any of those since I updated now that you mention it....

Yes I’ve had some code glitches a few times but otherwise it’s been pretty stable at 3.1. How many people are having issues with the Xeno tongue staying out and not going back? PB Support said they were having trouble getting enough information about that issue since it’s not happening very often to lock it down and fix it. Please if anyone experiences that send in a bug report I hadn’t done one for that and I wish I had it hasn’t happened in quite a few games.

I do also. Not the third issue. This is the main bug I experience now. Rest is good except the tongue coming out and getting stuck a few times.

I’ve sent in a few reports from my experience with that issue. It’s random but still occurs. We can’t be the only ones. I’m sure it’s happening across the board.

Had the tongue come out and stay just once so far....if it does happen again not sure how I can provide useful debug information to PB however. I mean not like we have the debug files we can attach. Just description of game mode etc I suppose.

Few things guys

1. Just had upper left flipper stop and yes it was the spring. I made a new hook and I am back playing. Could I get those suggestions again on where to order these spare parts like that spring?

2. Start button came out of the button as has been reported. I clicked it back in but keeps popping out. Do I push harder? or how do you get it to stay?

3. Only one thing in gameplay is a little frustrating atm, the autoplunger seems to be weird and inconsistent. I have tried upping the power but its almost like the initial plunge is weak then the second one makes it 80% of the time. But sometimes like when starting Ambush it will here and there struggle taking like 3 tries to plunge the ball which is eating into my ball save time for the multiball. Suggestions here? Just keep boosting the autoplunge coil?

Well, after posting about the bugs in the game, I decided to go have a game, and I got to All Out War!

Had no idea what to do, but the light show was awesome!

Can the final wizard mode be beat?

No, All Out War can't be "won", it's just a super-fun scoring bonanza. You can keep it going indefinitely, since it continues as long as you have balls in play, and completing the 5 weapons targets adds a ball as many times as you want. Congrats on getting there, it's not easy!

Assuming the game "feels" the same as the Heighway version, it's a truly unique experience unlike any other pinball machine. Playing with the lights off and volume up is the best way to play this game. You aren't making shots because it's fun or some cute video plays - you are making shots to literally save lives (including your own). The software/sounds/video do a remarkable job of conveying the palpable tension of being part of the story. It's tremendous fun.

I owned the Heighway version and like many others, it was hard to fully enjoy it without worrying something was going to break. I'm excited to say that I just purchased the PB version and will be receiving my game soon.

I haven't followed this thread so I'm not sure what to expect difference-wise, I just know I really missed the game after it was gone.

Strategy question:
So what do you all shoot for on first ball and what is your strategy for getting higher score? Is it increasing the multiplier through the L+V or do you go right into a mode? What skill shot do you go for.

I skill shot a weapons target
Then orbits and apc targets to build towards sentry gun and light hyper sleep locks
I'll take modes as they come up but the goal is to start queen's nest with ambush and sentry guns for an amazing amount of points

Yes you can go into settings I believe it’s in the system menu and there are choices at the bottom to create a Debug report and an audit report that you can send to them on a USB stick it’ll put them right on the stick for you. I’m sorry I don’t know the exact procedure right now but I’ll check it later when I have my machine on and re-post it if you need it. Someone has already posted it a few pages back. Also PB support says push your launch button about 15 times in a row before you make the log that creates a point in the code log they can trace to figure out where things have happened

There is a key post in this thread that lists the part numbers it’s a Stern spring. You can get it from Pinball life or Marco specialties.

I have this issue sometimes. I upped my plunger power 10%. However there are multiple comments in this thread that the wire forms are bent and that can cause the ball to hang up and not shoot properly. That happens to me about a little less than 10% of the time. Second launch usually works it hasn’t been enough of an issue that I’m concerned about fixing it yet. However I have had an issue where two balls got into the launch lane at the same time and it had a tremendous difficulty getting the balls launched.

You will not be disappointed. There is something special about this game. I’ve owned a total of 15 machines new in box and this is hands-down my all-time favorite. I’ve also gone to Pinball festivals and played dozens of other machines. Some people complain they don’t understand why it’s a widebody to me it’s extremely obvious why it’s a widebody. I think I counted 16 different shots possible from your bottom flippers. Typical Stern only has 6 to 8 shots. The hyper sleep ramp is a very unusual design and placement and it’s very hard to hit but it’s one of the most satisfying shots in Pinball when you hit it. The long shots to the Zeno morph are fun and the flow of the game is excellent and I agree the music and theme integration is outstanding it really pulls you into the play. Usually the only time I stop playing this is when I have to go to bed lol. I’ve been extremely happy with support as well purchase confidently you will be happy with it!

I see a lot of posts asking about the rules on this game. There is this unofficial rule sheet for Pinball Brothers and Heighway Pinball Alien. Could someone make this a sticky? The rules are pretty involved in this game and I’m still learning them but I found this helpful:

https://www.flippermarkt.de/community/howto/cms/media/pages/pdfs/anleitungen/Rulesheet_Alien_V1_0.pdf

First ball I shoot for the scoop to get mystery and start life cycles (different skill shot on each ball for the bonus), when it kicks out I try to hit the right orbit to the pops to continue the lifecycle and build up pop hits. If I get the chest burster on the return from the pops I'll finish off with the xeno otherwise I usually go for starting a scene so I can run through it while I build other things.

Haven't gotten super high scores yet in the 400 million range is my highest but I always do the best stacking multiballs and working through as many scenes as I can. And man do those weapons come in handy!

If anyone is interested, the APRON and Beacon mod folks have 6 or 8 units left.... if you want the finest mod for Alien hop over to that thread and visit https://www.evolutionmodsllc.com/

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-brothers-alien-apron-amp-lighting-mod

Anyone have any recommendations on parts/mods to purchase prior to the game arriving? For potential fixes out of box and potential problems, as well as just fun stuff to add.

Alien LV coming… have purchased the apron mod, contemplating new precision flippers and/or flipper fans.

So is this something I can fix with a software update?

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Precision flippers and fans are great add ons.. I have both. Precision flips make dialing in angles easier and the fans help with upper right flipper fade for sure.

Issues I'm seeing now after updating to latest firmware and software:

On a cold boot up, main LCD screen stays black and mini LCD on like normal. I have to reboot again for the main display to come on. Just annoying is all.

On bootup, the hyper sleep mech goes up and down like 5 times in slow intervals before stopping.

Anyone else?

Dupe

Makes complete sense. thanks

The lcd, yes.

The hypersleep lock, no. Sounds like an opto is out of alignment. Still thinks there is a ball?

Great album

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Plastic protectors.

You sir are a hero for posting this. I fought with this for hours trying to figure out why the balls weren't releasing and this was ultimately the simple fix. What threw me off is that the lock mechanism raised fine in test mode, but you could notice it flinching ever so slightly in normal game play, when it was supposed to release the balls.

My game just reset. Never noticed it doing it before in the new code, but it fired up black this morning, then i cycled it and it came up fine.
1 hour later i heard the tongue and came out to black screen again.

Please do a bug report! Support said you could do it even if you shut off the game and turn it back on or you played another game but push the plunger 15 times put a USB stick in your ports you can actually reach it from the box underneath the play field. You’re going to system and you can find the option to do it .

This is a glitch in the code. You should do a bug report and send it in I’ve had this happen it’s one of the two known issues with the new code.

Bit above me mate.

Never seen that on the hypersleep lock. One thing to check is if your hypersleep chamber shifted a little and it’s now catching that might cause it to cycle on boot up. Also go into your settings and perhaps boost up the power 15% like I did. That might help. The black screen is a problem people have mentioned with code 3.1

Well that did not take long.... LV-426 is up for sale.. NY state at a discount.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/NortheastUSPinballMachinesForSale/permalink/877869453637659/?sale_post_id=877869453637659

I'm confused about the 'first built' comment. I think that is a misunderstanding. First LV maybe, not first built by PB. I don't see a price?

15k.. so 10 k for the tag, then 11k for the machine...soooo 7k loss?

EDIT: Different machine

This ad says it’s for LV number 1 not 426

Ah, yeah you are correct. Well that's going to cause some confusion