Looks like you just couldn't have the topper be off-center. Mine is the same way, Alien Queen doesn't line up properly, but I also needed it to be equal on both sides of the head.

Thats interesting.. Its going to bother me lol

Yeah, some people did, some just taped over it

I don't have mine on long enough for it to get that hot.

Wait, so you can just unplug the lights without having to remove the box? Where are they plugged in?

Sorry no, i meant opened it up and unplugged them. Seemed like too much of a pain for something I didn't think was an issue.

I just want to follow up on this post since today I finally got all the issues resolved. This is for the sake of posterity for anybody who may experience what I did.

The right side flippers worked after pinball brothers provided a new controller board, but the xeno tongue was inoperable. I tried a bunch of things and even installed a new stepper motor, but nothing worked. My firmware was the latest version but I was still running the old 2.2 code. I updated to the newer build 4.0 and the tongue functioned, but its 'home' position would be outside the xeno's jaws. I noticed that the my oem (amazon) step motors wiring to be slightly different than the original, so I re-installed the original stepper and it now works perfect.

For some reason my speakers were clipping and sounding like shit until I updated to code 4.11

All seem so to be working as it should now. Just glad to put this behind me finally.

Has anybody installed the topper any videos of the topper or pictures? I still don’t have my topper, but I’m getting my tools ready and drill to install this damn thing.

No video yet. Waiting on my topper.

I also removed the LED's all together. Bonus is it helps with cooling.

The head equal is a thing for sure! I haven't tape dit down yet as I am re-wiring the LED backbox strips. Their topper daisy connector fell apart and in process in fixing it.

Just curious if anyone else is having this issue before I open a ticket with pinball Bros.
My Alien standard has had this issue since nib. I thought I had it resolved finally but alas it still is messed up.

The machine periodically has the main monitor come up black with no screen. It was doing it every fourth bootup or so. PB had sent me all new boards and driver but not the main PC. Also they sent me all new cables including HDMI.

Well replacing all of that did nothing and I had to pull the game off route because it was always turned off for the screen issue. Well I had a thought to try and get a really nice HDMI cable because maybe the replacement one they sent was a cheapie just like the original.

I ended up replacing it and thought the issues was fixed. I e been going in the shop and turning the game on periodically for the last week.

Well on the 12th or so boot today. Screen was black again. Just so ridiculous. I can't put it on route if the screen does this.

Anyone else have this issue or is it just me?

PXL_20240524_194807797.jpg

I'm going to see an Alien SV soon ish, anything I should he looking at to ensure everything is good?

It's only got 120 plays.

Are there any problematic playfield spots?

Thanks.

Mine gets the black screen on boot up every once in a while....I have to turn it off and re-start it after a few seconds and it is usually fine. Sometimes it takes multiple re-starts though....it is frustrating. I have an LV.

Take the glass off and manually go through each mission.. run through all the multiballs and ensure all works as intended (hypersleep mech). Look at playfield near the upper left and rigth "up posts" and by vent 2 for playfield splitting.. Check the plastic near the left spinner for cracks, check the frosted plexi near the muther hole for cracking.

Man that sucks to hear. Why can't they figure out a way to fix this. So ridiculous.

Seems to be a driver race condition on boot. Sometimes the main monitor is not getting recognized in time.
That said this has never been really fixed. My LV has it as well but very, very seldom.

Solution: reboot until it works.

That is not a solution for an operated game that is switched on by people who don't know and don't care.

Exactly. This should be a top priority for PB as it prevents a lot of operators from getting their game on location.

Thank you. This is exactly the point of why this breaks the game. Games turn on automatically from a breaker and if the screen is off the game just gets turned off. Noone reboots it. It's unacceptable to not figure out how to make it work. Reboot till it works isn't a solution.

What's weird is there seems to be a bunch of games that don't experience it.

It seems to be an almost 0% issue on the RVs.

Check all of the stand-up targets to make sure they switch on and off properly. And go through a light test to make sure the targets illuminate correctly.

I've had my Ripley Version machine for almost 3 months and I've already had to replace four of those targets, three for LEDs not lighting correctly and one for a failed switch. In all four cases, the failures occurred as a result of poor soldering of the surface-mount components. I was able to rescue three targets with some very careful resoldering.

I have a LV and will get the black screen from time to time. Try unplugging the mini screen HDMI and see if the main screen works every time. You could also leave it on forever JK

Added LED illumination to the sideblades of my Ripley Version today.

The machine is already set up for the LED strips but Pinball Brothers only installs them on the LV model.

It was a job but I am digging it!

(before and after)

20240524_121404 (resized).jpg

20240524_160627 (resized).jpg

I just got my RV yesterday and I'm waiting for my playfield protector before I put any games on it. Where did you get the lights for the side blades? It looks awesome and I'd like to add them to mine

She has arrived!

IMG_7786 (resized).jpeg

Welcome aboard! Need to change your home screen to the Ripley Edition, it is set to the SV right now.

Ok good to know!! I'm assuming that's in the settings somewhere?

Somewhere in there. Probably the limited version is the one you choose.

There’s an RV option that matches the translite with Ripleys head. I posted here before where to find it.

Inspired by the flashing white led's under the expensive topper I made my own cheap version. Turns on and off with beacons.

Very nice. I haven’t gotten to a list of things on mine, and lighting these up is on that. What led strips did you use and where did you patch power in?

I don't want to stir the pot, more than it is..but have we heard any recent news on the topper? I'm sure a lot of us are in the same boat, and wanted to see if there's any recent updates on when we 'might' be seeing ours? (paid in full, months ago).

Nope.
I will send my weekly email Monday in which they will tell me again I should be getting tracking this week.

Could you post some pics of how you did this?

Here are details on how I added sideblade illumination to my Ripley Version.

Here's what I used for the LED strips: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C149NXWB
The LED strips are 12 volt and can be cut to any length. You will want two LED strips cut to 42 inches in length.

Hopefully your soldering skills are up to par. You will want to attach wires to the LED strips before you install them. I also made use of molex connectors so it would be easy to plug them in once installed.

In order to install the LED strips in the cabinet, you have to remove the sideblades. And the only way to remove the sideblades is to lift the playfield out of the cabinet. What I did was put a couple of c-clamps on the lower end of the support rails, lifted the back of the playfield out of the cabinet, and then rested it on a board laid across the top of the cabinet. The c-clamps act as stops so that the playfield doesn't slide off the cabinet.

With the sideblades removed, you'll see that there is a channel that has been milled into the cabinet side running along the bottom of the sideblade cutouts. This channel is approximately 7mm wide by about 3mm deep. The LED strips are 5mm wide and have double-sided tape on them so installing them is easy-peasy; just remove the paper from the double-side tape and lay / stick the LED strip in the channel.

Also, I chose not to power these from the machine's cabinet controller. I've read too many stories of how temperamental the electronics in this machine can be. Awhile back, I installed a separate power supply to power all of my mods and I chose to power these LED strips with that second power supply as well.

Hopefully this helps others with this project.

- John

Table_Support_01 (resized).jpg

Table_Support_02 (resized).jpg

Table_Support_03 (resized).jpg

Table_Support_04 (resized).jpg

Cabinet_LED_Strip_02 (resized).jpg

Cabinet_LED_Strip_03 (resized).jpg

Cabinet_LED_Strip_01 (resized).jpg

20240426_172819[1] (resized).jpg

On the LV, the LEDs are in a notch at the bottom of the side blades, with the leds facing up. I prefer the EL paper on the original and am looking at converting that, as it creates a really nice atmospheric lighting. It looks like you have the same notch on the bottom, so you could probably fit led strips in there as well.

On the LED strips I used, the LEDs are spaced very close together so there are no apparent gaps in the light. In addition, the LEDs are encased in a thick bead of silicone which helps to further diffuse the light. The LEDs are quite brite as well. The overall effect is a nice glow coming up from each side of the playfield.

The sideblades on my RV also had that groove milled into them; I figured that was just for extra clearance. I didn't know that the LV had the LEDs mounted in the sideblades rather than the cabinet.

20240524_160627 (resized).jpg

SideBlade_LEDs_01 (resized).jpg

SideBlade_LEDs_02 (resized).jpg

Can anyone tell me if the ramps are supposed to look like this and not welded together? I’m tearing my RV down to put a playfield protector dow.

Just not sure if the tabs are supposed to just be welded or if the way the just slide in is correct? I think you’d only notice this if you’ve taken the ramps off, don’t think you’d be able to tell just from looking at your game.

IMG_7904 (resized).jpeg

IMG_7905 (resized).jpeg

no welds.. press fit into the slots.. Use clear saran wrap to hold them togehter, then cut and remove the wrap.. simple simple.

Does anyone find the playfield/layout average? After a few plays, Does it grow on you?
After my first plays it really didn’t hook me in which was disappointing as Aliens is a theme I really love.
Thoughts?

Is there something wrong with you?

It shoots generally a bit slower than your average Stern and it's more of an atmospheric creepy game, so actually I'd say yes, it does take a bit longer to get its hooks into you - and this is coming from the world's biggest Alien fan. That said, it's probably the last game I'd part with now - I think it's themed almost to perfection... and the music/sfx are just awesome.

There's a lot of little quirks and rules you'll find out as you go along. Like hitting an opposite orbit from the inlane will divert the ball into the pops and boost their scoring. Similarly I really like the way when you qualify hypersleep locks, the orbits will also begin to divert to the pops to give you more chances to hit the hypersleep chamber. Plus, you'll start to work out where and when to use the weapons... it'll really grow on you over time.

Yes. There sure is

Will need to play more I think.

Give it a few plays and it will grow on you, if not in you

My number one way to fall in love with the playfield: play a few games just trying to get as many lifecycles as you can.

That's a pretty good one - forces you to hit a few of the harder shots and not the ramps.

Did I read somewhere that if you have more lifecycles, the Ambush MB jackpots score higher?

Is PB typically slow answering support tickets? I sent a message on my black screen ticket that has been open for over 2 years 4 days ago and still haven't received a response or update. Is this typical?

I’d have to say definitely not. They always get back to me very quickly.

Try a new ticket, and reference the number of your old one. Could be a queuing thing with one that old.

I've used their support 3 times and they have always been fast.