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ALIEN Pinball from Heighway Pinball

mwong168

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Nov 14, 2012
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Video showing early whitewood posted today:

Heighway updates from a few weeks ago:

As we are still awaiting some approvals and we want to give you an update now, we would like to share with you a basic 3-D image of the playfield design.

This is a very basic render, without any artwork, and missing some features and toys - but it gives you a better look at how the playfield should look from the player's perspective.

The toys shown are just model mock-ups at this stage.

Please note that all aspects of this playfield are subject to change.

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We just wanted to give you an update on where we are at the moment.

Artwork - playfield concept art is still awaiting approval. Artwork package "A" is also awaiting approval, including translite and sideart. Individual elements have been submitted, as well as videos showing gameplay, rules, some working toys and shotmaps. We have had very positive feedback from our licensor, but no approvals on these specifics yet. Please trust us that we would LOVE to show you material now - but we simply cannot do this until we have official approvals

Whitewood - whitewood playfield is being cut this week. We have some delays on ball guides and the ramps due to us needing to change out prototyping processes. Once we have firmed these, then it will make prototyping games far easier and quicker in the future. We still hope to show you the whitewood before Christmas, and maybe before the end of this week. The ball guides and ramp will, realistically now, not be ready until the first 10 days of January. From here, once we are into whitewood testing, then we can make changes needed and look to have a second playfield flipping before the end of January- depending of course, on how many modifications will need to be made to the existing design.

Assets - we have a HUGE wishlist of assets, including many video segments from both movies. These have now been compiled and will be submitted for approval this week. We would assume that we will get approval for what we are allowed to use, before the end of January. These assets can then be dropped into our software for this game. Work on assets that we will create, such as the screen dashboard, will begin in January - and continue until the the game is complete.

Gameplay - we will continue to develop the game's rules in our virtual game sim. It's already playing very well, but there is still much work to be done to make this game as good as can be. Our sim currently concentrates on 'Aliens' and much of the work over the next few months will be developing the 'Alien' ruleset.

So, we apologise for not being able to show you any more images right now, other than some more close up renders. Again, please note that the material depicted in these renders is subject to change.

We would also dearly love to show gameplay videos, but they feature artwork and concepts that are not approved yet.

As soon as we get approvals, then we will show you a lot more. As soon as the whitewood is flipping in early January, then we will show you videos too.

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bstock

Active Member
Apr 1, 2013
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REALLY interesting looking layout! Especially the upper flipper area on the right. Great things happening these days.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

mwong168

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Nov 14, 2012
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As promised, we are giving you an update on the progress of our ‘Alien Pinball’ game.

We admit that we certainly underestimated the approvals process with the licensors that we are working with on our current games in development. We are not criticising any of the licensors we are working with, but clearly there are many departments that deal with all aspects of a license – and it can take a lot of time to get the approvals and direction from a number of key people – particularly at the conceptual stages

Also, with the ‘Alien’ license it is clearly one of the biggest licenses in existence – and 36 years after the first film was released, it is still very current – with Alien 5 and Prometheus 2 both in development. Therefore, it is to be expected that FOX would want to take their time with such a prized asset.

After a number of delays, we are definitely back on track again. Here is an update on the individual elements of this game:

• Backglass Artwork – approved in principle for the SE edition. Being amended for officlal approval
• Sideart Artwork – approved in principle for the SE edition. Being amended for official approval
• Playfield 3-D models – work begins on models this week and will be submitted week-by-week for approval
• Playfield Artwork – overview and elements approved in principle – high res versions being drawn now, and will be submitted for approval accordingly
• Playfield Toys – a lot of work has been spent on this over the last few months. We felt that the current toys did not do enough justice to the license and so we have reviewed this. New toys are being worked on now. In particular, we have a very exciting xenomorph toy that is intended to become the main toy for this game
• Playfield layout – with the lessons learnt from the first whitewood, the playfield is now being re-worked and the next version will be much closer to the finished game. We expect to be making the second whitewood within the next 2-3 weeks

Now that most of the conceptual issues have been approved, and many of the draft element concepts too, from this point onwards we are expecting the approvals process to be much faster. We also expect to be able to show you substantial developments on a much more regular basis from now – including key artwork elements.

We are hoping to show you some of these key developments in our next major update – which is planned for a month from now.

Clearly we have learnt some lessons about the licensing process. So what does this mean for the timeline of this game? Everyone involved with this game is in agreement that we are going to target the UK Pinball Party, on 21st-23rd August 2015 (at Heighway Pinball’s factory in Merthyr Tydfil, UK) as the global launch of this game.

We have some exciting new additions to our team that will be announced very shortly.

To anyone who was expecting artwork or specific reveals in this update, then we apologise that this has not happened. We must make sure that we only reveal elements of this game when our licensor has approved them. Please believe us that the minute we are able to show them to you, we will do so.

Everyone involved with this game is determined to make this the best possible ‘Alien’ licensed game that it is possible to make and we thank you for your patience.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew Heighway
MD/CEO
 

scylla

Member
Mar 13, 2013
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Toronto, ON
It's not like my opinion matters since I'm forever stuck in the 90's and won't be buying one. Having said that, I love Alien and wish it had this iconic image somewhere.
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REVOLUTION

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Nov 13, 2012
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Here's why the center image is so familiar to me -- it's one of my favourite Giger paintings ever, and I tried to replicate it a few times

First one is a CD case I painted in 1991 (still have it!)

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Second was me fooling around in Photoshop with the airbrush tool.

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spiroagnew

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Dec 1, 2012
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www.creditdotpinball.com
Check out the latest Coast 2 Coast Pinball Podcast with Aurich Lawson who discusses the artwork he did for Alien.

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http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/episode-214-an-evening-with-aurich-lawson_67962
Much like Aurich's Pinside posts, there is a whole lot said, without saying much at all. Or perhaps, what was said could have been condensed quite a bit without so much tedious exposition. It does get much more interesting and engaging when they discuss topics other than the Alien project, though.
 

libtech

Active Member
Nov 14, 2012
290
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Edmonton, AB
The queen, looking good! Apparently there is the little mouth that pops out and has a mag that pics up the ball!

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