Thank you delt31 for your thorough review and insights from a former OG owner.

Agree on the lockdown bar. My issue is with the latches themselves. You need to push them almost closed before lowering the playfield or they can get caught under the rails and you won’t realize it until you put the lockdown bar on and try to latch them but can’t. Then you need to slightly lift the playfield, hold the latches tight against the front, and then lower the playfield. I don’t like latches on lockdown bars in general (I like the BW receiver handles) but these are worse than Sterns.

Quick update on mine: I had not turned mine on in several weeks as I was at a point where I just wanted some of the software bugs fixed before playing it more. Went to power it on with software update USB in hand, and just got a black screen with the CPU fan running. I’m currently working w/ Cato on what the issue is. Frustrating. But Cato is awesome and I’m sure we’ll figure it out.

Concerning this, i can tell you that it's something you can't miss if you know your machine !

Has anybody noticed that the playfield hold down screws interfere with the lock down bar at all?

No, but I just tossed them in the coinbox after lifting the playfield a few times.

Here's an issue I reported that I think others are having. In rare occasions, the ball jumps up and gets stuck on top of this flipper. PB says they have seen this issue and will come up with a fix for it. If the ball gets stuck on top of this flipper, no nudging is going to release it.

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The way it latches. It feels like any solid lock down bar. Minor issue IMO.

I agree. But I admit, the Williams lock down bar is the best design ever!

seems an easy tweak, with some theme imagination/integradtion, to a DIY small mod there with the available screw...

Yes. It was packed outside of the game itself. The coin box cover was also wrapped separately.

This led to having the feeling where in the movie they had to look at the actual bugs on the radar screen and then shoot just like I'm now doing in the pinball game (looking at the screen on the head unit and then back down to make my shots). Very cool.

Ok this sounds awesome..

I got these cool little things to see if i could find somewhere on the game to put them but they are glass...

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Has anyone done the pinstadium NEOs on their new game yet? Thinking about ordering them before it arrives.

I am trying to avoid putting them in so as not to affect the whole dark experience but I am having trouble playing it at night seeing the ball. I have them on a couple other pins and love them. They are adjustable so maybe with a real low blue light might just do the trick without taking away the experience. Would like to know also if anyone has them installed.

Red_Devils has them coming....we can get a nice update once installed.

Nice , I was looking at the full collection to place on a shelf above the back box....yes leds...lol

Hey there,

Has anyone noticed a sound effect delay with the playfield switches?

It seems that every switch I hit the sound effect doesn’t come on for 1 second?

Hello,

can someone tell me what thread the Phillips screws have that attach the flipper assembly to the playfield?
Heighway uses screw-in sleeves here, where the Phillips screws are screwed in.
Where can I get these?

regards
Averell

I'm not afraid of the issues, they will be resolved one way or another. I'm contemplating streaming the unboxing and setup. Not very exciting if it's a 300 lbs. doorstop.

Thanks for posting this.

???
Never heard someone received it before !

I have noticed that. Not sure if it's just the sound or the whole game lagging behind a bit. Stuff like hitting a weapon standup, the ball will be half way down the playfield again sometimes before the light turns on or you hear the click sound effect

UPDATE: there are three USB lines that go from the backbox monitor/computer to a box under the playfield. USB2 and USB3 were swapped. After correcting I can boot and play! Customer service has been great so far. Cato is on the ball.

I've been having increasingly frequent issues where most of my playfield locks up. Switches stop responding, lights lock on in wrong colors, and the whole game just stops working (except flippers, slings, etc). Reboot is the only way to fix it. Tried replacing that black ethernet cable people mentioned but no dice and no word from PB about it yet Poor Cato is trying his best but I think he needs help.... I've submitted about 18 tickets at this point documenting various issues and bugs I've noticed and only gotten responses to maybe 5.

Just got mine unboxed yesterday. Felted the scoop to stop drains, but am now having flipper issues. Going to try smoothing out the bushings and go from there. Any other flipper suggestions are welcome!

I was going to cancel my deposit for the LV and roll it into GODZILLA , but after seeing what you have posed I am staying onboard in the first round when they get made/shipped.

Sad I gotta let 2 babies go.....

I strongly suggest you take a look at USB1, 2 and 3. Take three small pieces of tape and label them 1, 2, 3. Wrap them on the end of the corresponding USB cable under the back box monitor so you know where they came from. Then you can remove them with no worries. Cut off the zip ties that bind them together and follow them to the other end. Are they plugged in to the corresponding ports on the box? Mine were not. I was able to play games for several days but it got increasingly worse until one day it was unplayable. Its worth a look. Its an easy step to take and you will have to rule it out at one point anyway. Hope this helps.

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LOL...I was actually in the middle of debating typing this. I'm the opposite. The more this goes on, and the more I look at other threads, I am thinking about cancelling.

I realized I would not accept this from ANY other industry. NONE. As hobbyists, we've basically put ourselves in this mindset that 'we' are lucky they are being made, when it really should be the other way around. 'They' should feel lucky we want to buy them. But in talking in another thread regarding opinions, I realized, I wouldn't put up with this in any other hobby. They would fix or replace or refund said item quickly. I realize we can say 'niche' but since it is niche it should be QUALITY out the door if they want to sell them.

That is not what we are getting from these companies. They've got us wrapped around their fingers and they know it, so they don't have to put quality out the door. It's pretty infuriating to be honest. They don't have to respond, they don't have to update code if they choose not to, they sure as hell don't have to offer any kind of refunds or discounts. They can completely ignore the issue and nothing happens. The 'it's pinball' so expect has morphed from used games with things that need fixed/tweaked to full on, don't expect a working game out of the box. That is completely crazy.

but at the same time...I am a pinball addict...so....who knows. I know companies like Spooky are listening, and it sounds like PB are as well, but when they can't get them out fast enough, where is the incentive to really improve?

Just had to get that off my chest.

I'm not exactly sure what you're describing... Are you saying one of your USB cables wasn't actually plugged into the box under the playfield? Or just that they were mismatched, and it's important that USB 1 in the head goes to USB 1 on the playfield, etc?

Usb1 to Usb1 and so on, seems like they mixed them up at the factory for some.

They were mismatched. For me the LCD end of #2 was plugged in box #3, and the LCD #3 was plugged into box #2. I just had to swap them so it is 2-2 and 3-3.

Sorry it is confusing to write.

I received my replacement Opto PCBs and they did not fix the problem with BALL LOCK 1 Opto (Elevator 1 Opto 57). So it looks like my problem is also with that PCB (Alien Playfield Board 8). I pulled the board out and tested the components, comparing them with the other working opto ports and everything tested good. I even traced that opto out to the serial chip and power and continuity seems good. In my case though, the green LED never comes on. If I plug the same opto PCBs into another opto port (like Opto 58), they work fine. So Cato said he was going to send me a replacement board too. Sounds like that board has had trouble in the past, which is why they did some redesign on it.

The thing that is really cool about all this is how easy it is to troubleshoot this stuff. The frustrating thing is that I lack experience in dealing with tiny surface mounted components, so I highly doubt I could fix the problem myself.

You can just look at that green LED under the playfield where the opto plugs in. Just plug in the pair of opto connectors to a different opto and pass your hand in front of the opto and see if the green light goes off when your hand breaks the line of sight. You can do the switch test too, but easier just to look at the LED to tell.

Anyone else having issues registering Vent 3 rollovers? Fast shots from upper flipper not getting picked up ,works for slower shots.

Okay, that makes sense! I tried to trace all the wires through, but, how do I tell which is 1 and which is 2 on the backbox box? The diagram just points to the group of two ports and says USB 1+2, and there's no labels on the actual machine. Are you assuming they're in the same order listed (so the higher up one on the diagram is #1)?

I was on the old code almost every time. With the new code it hasn't missed one yet

What’s up with these node boards? I’m having a replacement board #6 sent to me, someone else is having issues with the same board, another one with problems on board #8. WTF? Don’t they test these things before installing them in the game?

I just double-checked my board 6 and it seems fine. Ramp Opto is working perfectly as far as I can tell. Only issue I have with the whole game is Opto on board 8.

Updated the new code 2.2 on our location Alien and boy did they ever fix the xenomorph ball grab timing. Played several games code is working through some of our previous bugs we found. Looking forward to more updates to make this game sweeter. Tomorrow we will check the usb 1,2 3 connections from backbox to under playfield as we have had it freeze up on us previously from time to time over the last 2 months intermittently. But overall still a fantastic game.

I unboxed it ,set it up updated the code. Only thing I had to fix was the trough VUK, played about 20 games and it works 100% so far . Looks great , sounds great, shots are smooth as butter. Game play is super immersive, for me it’s a 10. Love it! Now to figure out all the rules …

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Just updated the code and got hypersleep mb for the first time on game one.

Yes, the ports are in the order listed. #1 is closest to the monitor, #2 is behind it

Thanks so much for everyone sharing their experience so far. Absolutely love the honesty and can't wait to get my hands on this game!

been about two weeks and I'm still really enjoying this Alien. couple minor issues but I got them ironed out within a few days and it has been solid since.

my buddy just visited for a few days and wasn't interested in Alien that much.. by the 2nd day here he went on Cointaker and signed up for the LV. LVs should sell out soon with how fast the word is getting out...

I had no idea that there were less than 200 Heighway versions made.. so with how few PB versions are out, there are still less than 300 total Aliens to be played on the planet right now..

I think with this PB roll out it will allow more people to play Alien and cement it's place as one of the most unique pinball experiences to date.

watch Alien climb to the top 10, it shouldn't take long.. this game is undeniable.

I highly recommend this super easy enhancement to your Alien. Get rid of that wimpy orange bulb from the LAUNCH BALL button and put in a nice, bright, 2-LED bulb. SOOO much better! It's the little things.

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Go to www.superskillshot.com and check his Alien Start and Launch buttons!

Wow! That looks pretty cool! I conveniently forgot to tell my wife that $7,777 was only the beginning. hahaha

Ya, my buddy just bought the start button. I hope he posts a pic of it soon.