Based on the teaser video, “Game Over, Man!” is indeed a call-out when draining. Thus, Alien receives my stamp of approval. 
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I think we’re using that quote for tilt and game over. (There are tons of callouts in the game, so there are also other speech choices for these events.)
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Tilt ends game . . . haven’t seen that in a longggggg time
Not like this!!!
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No, I meant, the “Game Over, Man, Game Over!” callout can be invoked when tilting, or it can be invoked at game over time. At least, that’s true at the moment, though we’ll certainly be fiddling more with callouts before ship.
Tilt does not end game on Alien. Unless it’s your last ball. 
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How does the left side drain work? Is there some skillful nudging to save your ball going on over there?
Like what? Ask away, here we are, we can tell you. (Disclaimer in Joe’s spirit, I am the art director on the game.) When the game wasn’t approved by Fox it was hard to answer these questions, but now that they have it’s easy, we can give straight up answers. So just ask, no need to be all wondery and mysterious.
Yes, we were required to get her approval, it did not come with the game like the rest of the American actors. (Non American actors have different rules, we couldn’t use them.) I don’t know that anyone spoke to her, just her agent. For whatever reason she passed. Sucks but isn’t any kind of deal killer for the game honestly. It’s chock full of quotes and video from the films.
To be clear, the game is approved. What was shown at Expo was done with Fox’s rubber stamp. So I don’t anticipate any further license issues.
So you lock balls in the Hypersleep Lock, upper left of PF. Locked balls light the inserts on the left area. So yeah, you have to skillful nudge to hit the lit insert, and that releases a locked ball. So you trade a lock for a ball save bascially.
I don’t know the end date, but the license was renewed last December when things were running long, so I assume a little while from now at least.
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Sometimes. If you have one ball locked toward Hypersleep Multiball (one of the four primary MBs), one of the outlane Revive lanes will be lit, alternating with the slings. Nudge to try to roll over the lit lane to save your ball. If you have two balls locked, both Revive lanes will be lit, no nudging necessary. Either way, using the Revive steals one of your own locked balls.
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Well that sounds awesome. Well done.
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I’m with Greg on this. It’s pretty annoying to see Cornelius’s comments pop up over and over in the thread basically talking trash on something he has not seen and is not allowed to talk about because he’s unsure if they’re true. What?
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I didn’t have time to check the audits before the games were packed up, but I suspect that most drains were on the left side. There’s not much you can do to save the ball once it gets over there.
I think the choice between playing the multiball and avoiding it to keep your ball saves is going to be an interesting strategy.
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I just got here and hadn’t gotten to your apology yet. And I felt like chiming in. As long as you keep posting comments that are constructive, positive, or neutral then there’s no big deal. That’s what sets us apart from other pinball forums. So don’t act like TF is pushing you out and shutting you down. Just think about how you approach the people and topics on here.
That being said, Alien looks awesome. It’s been a year since I went on the Heighway tour and got a sneak peak at Alien. Not a ton has changed from what I remember. We got to see the toys then (Andrew had just received the Mother Alien), and they looked super rad then. Look even better with the full package of the game. We only got to see a simulation of their ideal game. I love the ball save / lose lock idea. Way cool. Hoping one shows up in Seattle next year. Congrats to Heighway.
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Good call! I think if you find a situation valuable enough to convince @pinwizj that single ball play is more lucrative then that would be a great risk reward decision for tournament players who are unreasonably cautious. In his case I can’t see that happening though. Even if all the jackpot shots are relatively worthless, the idea of watching him opt out of a safe multiball is a tough pill to swallow. The only example I can think of is crank it up?
Gear 6 multi on Mustang?
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Agreed. This feature was originally seen on Premier’s Tag Team (1985). Same “left double outlane with one lit” concept to keep playing with one of your locked balls. Good to see it back on another pin!
But on Tag Team, there’s no right outlane, so it was a more powerful insurance policy than Alien will provide.
EDIT: A less similar (and more powerful) feature first appeared on Barracora in 1981, where your upper locked ball is an insurance policy against ANY drain.
Tag Team = Awesome. Great game, good rules, amazing spinner shot. Should have never sold mine but at least it’s at Arcade Expo where I can go play it every once in awhile.
If I understand correctly, the Alien feature would play more like Mnemonic Recovery in Johnny Mnemonic—where a ball launches back from the shooter lane if qualified. While slightly better to have a ball launch from the shooter, that doesn’t seem like it would ever be worth trading a multiball for. That has at best, only eliminated one of three ways to drain.
No doubt! A dialed in, lit Tag Team spinner rip… mmmmmmmm.
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Mnemonic Recovery is just your basic virtual kickback, as also seen on games like Star Trek Pro. Alien’s Revive is similar in the sense that there’s no physical kickback. It’s dissimilar in the sense that the revived ball will be ejected from the ball lock if possible, feeding down the left ramp to the left flipper. Only if no balls are available in the physical lock will a fresh one be served from the trough, which will wind up at the right flipper. Either way, it decreases your own ball lock count when this happens. (I’m not quite sure if you’ll have to relight lock at that point, or just lock the ball again… that’ll probably end up as an operator difficulty adjustment.)
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