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Heighway Pinball Game #2 - Pinball Expo Reveal

All, I had the discussion about the backbox on FT at the recent competition on Saturday at the Pipeline. I know people aren't happy with a plane backbox and I'm afraid I agree. The theory is that the player is always looking down, doesn't see what is going on up top anyway and embedding a small screen in the middle of the playfield would be more beneficial. The problem with this (as I see it) is that the backbox/DMD is NOT just for the player. How many times are you watching someone play and say "hey, XYZ is lit" because as a spectator you're looking at both and offer some advice. This also gives the spectator something to do and engage them. If it wasn't for this we'd all be single player zombies who don't talk to each other.

Interested if others feel the same.

btw, I think ALIEN is a cool title and looking forward to it - well done Andy.
 
Totally agree, not sure how visible the playfield screen is to the spectators, but they need to see what's going on. Take a leaf out of Dutch Pinball's book - TBL screen is perfect.
 
I reckon the cab looks pretty good as is, except the super thick metal side rails that were on at Daventry. I like the thin back box, it looks modern. So what if it looks different to other machines, that's a plus point in my book, as long as it fits in a car/through a door. Look down a row of classic video games, they're all shapes and sizes!

Anyway, as has been said, don't fiddle with FT now, just get shipping and move on - it's old hat already anyway ;-)

And regarding "stop and flow", that's what FT needs, it's too fast. All those mechanical switches slow the ball down, making a game manageable, FT at Daventry was 100mph all the time.

Alien is a great theme, the playfield looks quite simple, but so does Dracula's and that's a great game.

Game On!
 
I reckon an optional speaker panel with cloned screen could work?
Altho I don't know the aspect ratio so could look cack. Should be easy to clone the lcd anyways
 
A sexy backbox & DMD/screen is good for attracting players over to your game IMHO.

It's a statement that says "i'm here - i'm big, I'm awesome ~ Play me".

If you build it they will come....
 
i think a backbox needs a screen, I guess the question is does a pin need a backbox?

Ok the speakers are there also, would speakers at the lockdown bar work ? Obviously not at the edges where your hand would be but maybe in a bit...

I agree the main purpose of the backbox is for passing trade rather than the player
 
I think ANY translight would be seriously upgraded with a Cooldan animated .gif package
 
Paul said:
I don't know that I care any more. If I'm honest I'm just a bit hacked off that there was no FT at NLP, however here are Heighway Pinball in the US at Expo showing off their second pin which will be produced next year, and the first one hasnt even been seen in it's final state yet.... I guess what with that and the announcement that the UK prices would affectively be partly funding the US prices.... continually being screwed over... We don't matter guys - S'ok...

Guess I'm just all deflated and cant be ****d with all the promises that don't appear any more. Lets face it. We seem to have gone from one pinball producer to now multiple, all producing different machines, all with roughly the same cost. Where's the excitement and innovation gone??

Cant wait to hear the Big announcement later. "Major A-list license" eh.....


Edited to correct my spelling as i couldn't spell Andy's surname this morning, pre-coffee! :( Sorry!
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Bah humbug !!!!!!!! It's Xmas mr Scrooge!!!!! Lol
 
From Pinball News...

Dennis was clearly unhappy with the proposed production schedule for Alien Pinball. He wrote, "Andrew announced that the game would be ready in April and I can't possibly agree with this."
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And

Although he disassociated himself from what the game has become, Dennis did say he thought the proposed final version looked impressive.

He said, "The drawing can change drastically as the game develops... I've seen the video that he [Andrew Heighway] submitted to Fox and if the game turns out anything like this it will be great."

However, it's clear that it won't be Dennis's vision of the game, so the business relationship he had with Heighway Pinball has ended and the game will be developed by the company without his further input.
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Sounds like a Major Disagreement to me - to effectively walk out Mid-design.... and NOT want to take any credit...

I am not the game designer on the Alien project
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Good On you @Heighway Pinball Andy :)

Just to clarify our position - Dennis has indeed designed the playfield layout of Alien Pinball, and development of the game continues, even though Dennis has now moved on from our company.

Although Dennis has indeed left us, we still consider his work to be complete with us and development continues with our team.

Dennis's announcement is unfortunate but it is his prerogative to move onto other projects.

Are we behind schedule at the moment? By approximately 1 1/2 weeks, yes. The prototype playfield gets cut next week and ball guides either just before or after Christmas. Testing of the prototype is weeks, not months away.

As for April production? We have a fully playable version of the game, complete with rules, on a digital platform already.

I apologise to our customers for having to give an update his way, but it was not our choice that this post appeared in this way.

We will always be grateful to Dennis for his contribution to this game and continue to have the utmost respect for his work as one of Pinball's design legends
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Dennis's reply to another post...

People are making deposits based on Andrew's statement that I was the game designer and the game would be ready in April. Andrew did not consult with me before he made that statement. I was losing sleep over people making deposits as in my opinion the April date is not possible. Maybe he can do it, I don't know what he has going on in Wales. I just know that I couldn't get a game done to my standards anywhere near April, and people should know that. This was not a rash decision on my part. I gave it a lot of thought. By the way, since it was announced that I worked on the game for a year I feel obligated to correct that statement. I worked on the Alien game for way less than a year. A playfield drawing is a long way from a whitewood and a whitewood is a long, long way from a finished game. It is not my intention to hurt Andrew's business. It is my own conscience that I have to live with. As I said, Andrew's team did a great job on the video and if the finished game is anything like that it will be fine.

Dennis
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and @Heighway Pinball response

Hi everyone,

We understand that there are a lot of people asking questions and that there are a lot of rumours floating around. Regarding Dennis specifically, neither he nor us can, or will, be commenting on any contractual matters.

Please understand, though, that there are always two sides to every story and there are many things that happen in a company that most people never get to hear about. But as I stated before, we are very happy with the input Dennis has had on this game, and development continues, as planned.

In every pinball game ever built, there is a 'team' behind the end product. With many games in history, there are more than one pinball designer accredited to the game design ... in other games, multiple designers had a direct influence in a game but were never credited at all.

What we can tell you is this. Dennis was involved from the beginning of this game. Dennis designed the playfield layout, the game toy concepts, the game-specific mechanism concepts and was involved in aspects of rules development. The game has been tested virtually, and the shots play very well. We will, no doubt, need to make changes between the whitewood and the first proper prototype, but we have other designers involved in this project now and this is all part of the development process.

Dennis may not be listed as the actual 'game designer' but he will have played a big part in the final game and we are very grateful for his contribution to this game.

We have true Alien fans within our company, and everybody at Heighway Pinball is determined to make the best 'Alien Pinball' game that it is possible to make.
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Horses for courses... As per usual it's all panic and speculation over on pinside, however I for one have the confidence in Andy that he will produce a great pin :)
 
Shouldn't FT have shipped by now? Or have they stopped promoting that due to apparent lack of sales.

I do wish Heighway well, but April does seem a very ambitious time frame to get a completed game out for.
 
In fairness, Dennis was only signed on to make one game with Heighway, before moving to another manufacturer. My personal speculation would be that it's probably the time pressure on Dennis' schedule (he has to start work on the next thing) as much as Heighway's unreal expectation that it will be done by April that is seeing Dennis wash his hands with it.

Fair play to Dennis though. The easy option would have been to stay quiet and take some credit if it turns out good, or deny everything if it turns out bad. Coming forward and setting expectation like that is I think the correct thing for any/all potential buyers.
 
Andypuk said:
Shouldn't FT have shipped by now? Or have they stopped promoting that due to apparent lack of sales.

I do wish Heighway well, but April does seem a very ambitious time frame to get a completed game out for.
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Andrew quoted January for Full Throttle, has anyone in the UK preordered this?

Although April seems ambitious, it sounds like they've been working on Alien for a long time before the announcement at Expo. Only time will tell, maybe it will ship in April, but then again I thought MM remake would ship this summer...
 
Monkeyboypaul said:
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lol yeah didn't expect a rush of replies, which is a shame really as I'd like to have a game on it so I can make up my own mind.

Also a shame it wasn't at NLP, so hoping to get to EAG, if it's there (Heighway are on the list of exhibitors). Would like to see what the playfield screen set up feels like to play.
 
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