I installed a playfield protector and plastic protectors. I had already cracked a plastic by the recharge switch before putting on the plastic protectors. PB gave me a new replacement plastic.

2.2D. Had the same problem on 2.1 and 2.2 as well. Game will get hung up, but if I open the menu, all switches are reading correctly and coils work in coil test. Used to happen a lot before I got the new boards, now it only happens with the muther scoop. Ball will sit in scoop and not kick out. Registers in switch test. I kick it out using coil test, then resume the game and put the ball back in the scoop. Game still doesn't react. Like something in the code has gotten stuck

Is this different than the not kicking out until a flipper press?

Flipper press does not help. You can bang on the flippers all day and nothing will happen. Often it gets stuck in the scoop during multiball, and even with 3 other balls flying around, getting flipped, etc it doesn't fix it.

How does it play to you after the protector? Does it feel different to you?

That code release was full of problems for me. Tell Cato about your issues and try a later release code.

Maybe a little faster, that's it.

I've told him my problems, he told me to try 2.2D. It works better than 2.2. There aren't any other publicly available releases

Which (link/where) plastic protectors? Thanks!

I think these:

Plastic protectors
https://www.playfield-protectors.net/products/alien-standard-edition-2021-pinball-brothers-plastic-protectors

Sorry these:

Playfield Protector

https://playfield-protectors.com/Home/Details/tdg0tgaMYkejcsVCkPZF1w

Zaccaria, was an Italian company. Pinball Brothers is manufacturing in Italy. A "Mermaid Edition" of Farfalla could be an interesting run. Anyone know where one is for sale?

Looking forward to Thanksgiving with Weyland Yutani. Apologies others have to wait longer. For those of us that do not, enjoy the machine with others. Gather some relevant reviews.

No problem. Hopefully some people find it useful.

Any news on the Apron mod by the way?

I've been working on a new mod.

This one I thought was being caused by the custom plastic protectors I got designed but it turns out others are having this with the stock plastic.

From time to time the ball going down the left ramp will fall down and instead of dropping into the inlane will bounce out and drain left.

stupiddrain (resized).png

I devised a 3D printed chute with the help of a neighbour with a 3D printer and so far so good. The issue has stopped.

I'm on the 3rd revision of the print as its a balance act between thickness, diameter and depth of the chute.

Revision 2 fit inside the chute but trapped the ball ><

247561393_304958568130602_8417009976476577899_n (resized).jpg

Revision 3 was slightly too big for the hole but fit underneath. So I decided to Model glue the chute underneath for the time being.

Revision 4 may be possible just need to fiddle with the diameter and thickness.

I'm testing Revision 3 for longevity and will report back.

PXL_20211020_201528762 (resized).jpg

The good news is that it has stopped the issue, wehther the glue holds I'll find out soon enough ><

https://www.playfield-protectors.com/Home/Details/S9ErK3pBbE6bKWzeDLlm1A?catgoryid=22&name=Alien%20%28Standard%20Edition%29%20%7C%202017%20%7C%20Playfield%20Protector

I might have missed something while searching the forums, but is there a built in or mod way to add an external sub to PB's Alien?

Easiest way is to just wire it to the sub connectors, same with other games.

Hi all,

So, Cato called me today and we discussed many things.

First of all, I just want to say a thanks to Cato for spending time on his weekend to call me. Not many companies would take the time and effort to call you, let alone on a weekend.

The call went on for about 2 hours and information came to light to me that I need to share with you.

The machine I received was never meant for sale. It was an early prototype. I was never made aware of this during the purchase and only became apparent during discussions with Cato.

The machine was meant for demonstration/show room use only and issues were being worked on with the machine long before I received it.

They only accepted sale of the machine on the provision that the machine was free of faults (minus at the time the targets and playfield issue).

They agreed with my distributor to replace the playfield and we proceeded from this point.

Had they known I would have had all these issues they would have rejected a sale of the machine and I would have got a NIB instead.

Since they have honoured the sale, they supported me in replacing all the parts to bring what is effectively a prototype into a standard release.

Many of the issues I have had with my machine are subject to the early run/prototype conditions and do not affect the later runs of machines.

I have been informed that only about 4 - 6 machines in the wild suffer from these issues I have posted.

Pinball Brothers obviously want to distance themselves from the mired history of the machine through the 'Heighway' era and are just as frustrated as me that this machine was sold with all the issues I have exhibited.

A lot of work Cato does is pro-bono in order to keep staff overhead costs down he does this because he wants the machine and the company to succeed and honestly I believe him.

For those of you worried with pre-orders of Standard or Limited Versions, don't be. I never intended my previous post to damage the reputation of the company or the machine. It was my intention to let people know of the issues I've had and what I’ve done to fix them. You will note that I continually say 'NOTES TO EXISTING OWNERS' and not future owners within the post. This is because I know that this was down to the early run machines and the subsequent delays in shipping new machines out was due to them working on ironing out the issues that early adopters may have experienced.

We did discuss the topper and unfortunately at this time there will not be a topper for standard version releases of the machine. I realise a lot of you including myself find this disappointing but there is nothing we can do on this point so the only solution at present is to purchase a Limited-edition pin or hope that someone in the community makes an equivalent of their own.

Cato although not posting on this forum does monitor this thread very closely and has watched both the video interview and read through my post. They have mentioned to me that not a lot of people seem to come forward to the support desk and has asked that people just reach out to him if you are experiencing issues.

A new code update is due out shortly which will address some issues but for those of us with Ambush/Sentry gun ball lock issues if we can continue to provide logs and audits it will help everyone else in making the code stable for everyone.

I wasn't forced to put this post up. I know some of you may think that. Cato honestly is a great guy and they are doing their best to make a pin that everyone will enjoy. I continue to say that just as I did in other podcast interviews, I would buy another Pinball Brothers machine and my issues shouldn't dampen your excitement or ownership of purchasing this machine.

Cheers,

Scott

So I have to ask...if you were sold a known prototype/demo did you at least get a discount? Seems like a strange scenario to 'screw up'. Did they put it in a box and mix it in with the actual new games?

So this machine was sold as a 'used' machine with less than 50 plays and dialed in with outstanding issues resolved.

A reduced price was offered based on the person collecting it after the show. A further discount was agreed once the playfield issue was discovered during the show.

In hind sight buying new would have been far less stressful and less time consuming with none of the issues I'm still experiencing today.

Thank you for the response. Outside of Alien I only own Stern tables, which I've hooked up using pinwoofers. Is it the same method here when you say "same with other games". Sorry for the newbie question.

Are there any exploded views of the pop bumpers? I noticed that the activation switch ring is binding at an angle and wanted to get a better look at the mech. It is not in the drawings on the PBB site.

The unfortunate side of this (beside your experience) is that more people are going to see your story/video than see what the underlying reason is. While it doesn't sound like your experience is exclusive at all, I think short term at a minimum is that people are leary of this game.

The way I've added subs to all my games is to just attach the wires to the actual sub speaker connectors. It is the easiest / reversable way and doesn't impact anything since external subs are powered. I have not had any experience with pinwoofers, so I cannot speak to that.

Are you using subs like Polk Audio PSW10's?

Yeah that exactly. Great for the price when you can get them on sale - 2 games per sub.

I'm definately getting old. I personally thought this game had a great sound package and more then enough base. Base almost eliminates any need for a shaker.

I don't think most of the people in this thread are talking about adding subs to Alien but perhaps I am wrong. I'm not planning to at least. Was just talking about how to connect in general.

I've added subs on a few other games but not many.

Oh must have missed the transition. His first post asked how to add a sub to the PB Alien.

I had planned on putting one on it, but I agree, doesn't need it. The bass on it shakes the thing so much it feels like it has a shaker in it.

I use this for a clean sub add...

https://pinnovators.myshopify.com/collections/all/products/pinsub-multi-system-kit

And then I use this kit to add 4 pinball machines to one sub..

https://pinnovators.myshopify.com/collections/all/products/pinsmx-passive-subwoofer-mixer

I made a video of the sub hooked up to my Alien but it's hard to give you the experience that way..

Thanks yes, this is what I was looking for. I think I'll see what the stock sub sounds like first, I think it adds a ton to my other Stern Spike II tables.

An external sub is the way to go IMO. The stock system, like Spooky’s, sounds awesome but too much bass makes the glass rattle and I don’t like it. I can crank the external sub, get great bass, and not deal with glass rattle.

On the sub addition: i plugged in a 3.5 mm jack to the underside of the backbox controller in the green jack (just like a PC) there is a signal active on that channel. Its a fairly weak signal though. We have a small mixing box on our stream rig so I am able to up the gain to pipe direct audio for streaming. You might be able to use that on am external sub if your sub has a gain adjustment

Some news about Alien: Awakening or Covenant 2?

A touch too big and sand. Sounds like a great way to keep probability in the players direction.

What do you mean by this?

Is it true that Heighway had the rights to use Ripley but purposely left her out? If this were true, could PB put her in?

There's 0 fucking way. That would be ridiculous.

Nm, found it in the Heighway thread. They couldn't get a thing past her agent. Makes sense why she's not in the Ghostbusters pin too.

Thank you for the detailed thread. Wow! This is my first post on the owners club since having a 2nd Qtr deposit. Now that I am paid up on my invoice, I am expecting my Alien in middle of November or thereabouts. I am consistently knocked out by the epic fail on what PB bros stated their primary goal was : to bring back the Alien pinball so that it will play (correctly) right out of the box. They did bring it back but with initially some cheap components that thankfully are now being addressed and also shipped games without the necessary quality control. I am hopeful that by the time my machine arrives, it will work without issues "right out the box". Thankfully, there is help from customer service in the form of Cato but the fact that some of his work is "pro bono" (as stated above) in order to keep costs down is shameful (but apparently necessary). I remember hearing PB interviews from their initial announcement that PB were 1 million in the hole at least that was what they would admit to. So I remain gratefull that they went ahead with Alien but those who feel that the ghost of the Heighway is still around aren't wrong. I guess I should offer a prayer to the pinball gods that they stay in the game (stay solvent). Jim

I mean if there is any news about those movies.. If I remember well the storyline is there but they still not working on it?

On the Heighway thread, people have been modifying the sound package. Is that a possibility on this one too?

Yup, you can just replace the oggs and movie files.

The sound package on the game is uh-fricking-mazing I dont know why you'd want to change it

Just to add the obligatory "get away from her you bitch" and some Newt lines really. They could have used some more Lance Henrickson lines too.

Do they have the "nuke from orbit" line from Michael Biehn from Aliens, "only way to be sure" in the game?

Also, "Mother, you bitch!"

And the line, "You know, Burke, I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them f'ing each other over for a goddamn percentage."