Making a Mortal Kombat Cabinet and Need Some Help

Tech Talk
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Hello all, I am new to this forum, but have watching and searching it for quite some time now. I have decided to make an arcade cabinet based on Mortal Kombat, but have some questions I need answered and am hoping you all can help:smile:

First: I am gonna be making it a console cabinet, primarily a 360 cabinet. I have searched and seen plenty of tutorials on dual modding and also using a wireless 360 controller for my control panel, but I want to use wired controllers since it will all be enclosed in a cabinet. Is it the same as using wireless controller? And does anyone know of a tutorial for that?

Second: Which is better for the joysticks, the ones with the micro-switches or the PCB? Which one is easier?

Third: What soldering iron should I purchase, what wattage, and what solder is best? I know these seem like noob questions but I have soldered electrical before but not many PCBs, and I want to make sure I use the most correct parts.

Fourth: Maybe someone can help with this. I want to get some vinyl printed up for the cabinets side art and control panel, but donā€™t know where to get it done, and which type of vinyl to use. Does anyone know?

Fifth: I have some cabinet plans but still not sure what design to go with so if anyone has any suggestions, great!

Sixth: I have looked at a lot of posts that list supply sites for arcade and stick parts, but a lot of links are down. So if anyone know of good sites for these besides LizardLick.com and FocusAttack.com please post them

Thanks guys all feedback would be greatly appreciated.

2

Ask the same question at Byoac.com you will probably get a better response then here.

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I plan to just waiting for my registration to be accepted. figured some people here would have a few answers, no

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First: I am gonna be making it a console cabinet, primarily a 360 cabinet. I have searched and seen plenty of tutorials on dual modding and also using a wireless 360 controller for my control panel, but I want to use wired controllers since it will all be enclosed in a cabinet. Is it the same as using wireless controller? And does anyone know of a tutorial for that?

You should buy a Madcatz Street Fighter Fightpad. It is brain dead easy to pad hack. Read slagcoin.com for padhacking
This is the diagram for the button and direction signals.

Second: Which is better for the joysticks, the ones with the micro-switches or the PCB? Which one is easier?

Doesnā€™t matter. The Switches with tabs are easier to wrap your head around, without a diagram, but the PCBs with headers make for an easier joystick swap when you need to replace one. This is the diagram for Japanese joysticks with PCBs.

Third: What soldering iron should I purchase, what wattage, and what solder is best? I know these seem like noob questions but I have soldered electrical before but not many PCBs, and I want to make sure I use the most correct parts.

Any pencil tipped shaped 15-25 watt soldering iron. 30 watts max. Anything higher might damage a pcb.For solder, make sure that you get the thin solder wire, thin as .07 mechanical pencil lead if possible. Thick solder will make for sloppy soldering.

Fourth: Maybe someone can help with this. I want to get some vinyl printed up for the cabinets side art and control panel, but donā€™t know where to get it done, and which type of vinyl to use. Does anyone know?

Fifth: I have some cabinet plans but still not sure what design to go with so if anyone has any suggestions, great!

It should come out of the ground like a missle silo, after you pull back a book in the bookshelf.
Iā€™ll settle for a 180 degree spinning trapdoor wall for it to replace the refrigerator.

Sixth: I have looked at a lot of posts that list supply sites for arcade and stick parts, but a lot of links are down. So if anyone know of good sites for these besides LizardLick.com and FocusAttack.com please post them

akihabarashop.jp
happ-controls.com
groovygamegear.com

Thanks guys all feedback would be greatly appreciated.
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This! :rock:

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@rtdzign Thanks for all the excellent info. I was thinking maybe having it hydraulically placed in the wall so it just folds out at the push of a button LOL.

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Happ button or Sanwa button?

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Well, you havenā€™t even begun, and have already made a huge mistakeā€¦:nono:
What you are trying to build is a Mortal Kombat Kabinet, not a cabinet.
Once you get that down, everything else is ā€œKakeā€ :tup:

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@Thamanator Oh Jesus you are totally right. How could I make that mistake. Thank you for correcting me. oh and SmokeMaxx It would be a Happ, since that may be all its good for

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If you are going to go with a Happ Competition, I urge you to consider the iL Eurojoystick instead.

Long story short, Happ used to buy iL Eurojoysticks in the 90ā€™s and rebranded them Happ Competitions, now Happ started producing their own Chinese knock offs of the iL and iā€™ve heard that they are of lower quality.

I bought my Happ Competiion in the 90ā€™s and it has a white actuator so it is the iL Happ. The new chinese knock offs have a black actuator. The actuator is the piece of plastic that presses in the microswitches.

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You would also want to consider what layout you want for your buttons. If this is going to be a dedicated MK Kabinet, then you would want a MK layout

http://mk.ediko.net/pics/mk3_umk3_arc_layout.jpg

2 Possible Mortal Kombat Layouts

Otherwise, if you planing to use other games as well you might want to consider a 6 or 8 button layout
Joystick Controller - Panel Layout

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The Happ thing was actually just a joke, those are the only parts I am actually familiar with. If I use Sanwa or Seimitsu do i need the microswitches I would need for a happ button? Everyone says they are more sensitive but why, and would that necessarily be better?

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Haha yeah the button thing was a joke from my end as well.

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I would also like to mention the golden rule that if youā€™re going to talk about this in any real life, pubic scenario, you must preface any conversation with ā€œMORTAL KABINET!ā€

Hey, rules are rules.

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I would also like to mention the golden rule that if youā€™re going to talk about this in any real life, pubic scenario, you must preface any conversation with ā€œMORTAL KABINET!ā€

Hey, rules are rules.

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Yes Sanwa and Seimitsu controls are more sensitive than Happ/IL. Japanese parts more sensitive and their companies prioritized accuracy, while Happ/IL parts focus on making their parts more durable. Durability isnā€™t really a issue with ether Japanese or European/American style parts when it comes to home use, as you never put in the same long repeated use and abuse the same parts would receive in an Actual Arcade.

As for wear and tear, a old stick cam be made new again with new switches, spring and some lubricant (the joystick lube that sold on Lizard lick is fine).

What parts to go for, Honestly it depends on your preferences, Do you like Coca-Cola or Pepsi, Dominoā€™s pizza or Pizza Hut, McDonalds or Burger King. Same thing goes with American Style, Japanese Style or Korean parts and from them what brand do you choose.

Some people takes this a step further and change out the spring ans switches to further customize a stick.
I suggest you search this forum for more information on this, there is a wealth of knowledge here.

As for you 2nd Question, the Micro-switches come with the Stick. You only need to buy additional switches if you are replacing them.

If you are new to the whole stick/ Cabinet modding scene I sudgest you look over at this link and the sources it cites.
http://shoryuken.com/f177/beginners-guide-planning-mod-like-pro-265265/

Keep in mind that guide is written for arcade stick controllers not Arcade Cabinets (or Kabinets for you MK fans).
So the projected cost and materials on that guide will not reflect on your project.

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Cool great info guys thank you. Was thinking of going with some light up led pushbuttons. Is it hard to wire those in,? and which ones are the easiest?

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$100 this guy builds a stick instead of a cab.

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like these???

MK9 Custom Arcade Cabinets - UltimateMK.com Forum

btw, i wouldnt use the PDP MK layout, as the distance from stick to buttons is a lot bigger than old school MK. fyi

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@pwningnewbs Nope, i am definitely building the cabinet got almost everything I need to do it except the artwork and the control panel parts, which I will be ordering shortly.

@Tim Static Thatā€™s the idea. Still am not sure If I am going with the MK button layout seeing as it will be a console cabinet I could change the disc and might want the layout to be able to accommodate different games. But if I did I would totally go with a more spacious layout than he original