Author Topic: Mini Mortal Kombat - 20th Anniversary (Finished with video) (Read 20167 times)

Mungo9000 · « **on:** March 25, 2012, 01:19:30 pm »

Right, I'm quite far into this build and I'm ready to share some of the photos.
This is my second project, following on from a Mini Pac-Man from which I learned a lot of skills and tricks.

I'm building this around a great plug-and-play version of the game, combined with a miniature 3.5 inch screen and the ubiquitous portable mp3 player speakers.

The screen is amazing. It is a reversing assist screen to help busses and long vehicles back-up in conjunction with a video camera. I got it from a site called SecurityCamera2000 which is based in Hong Kong for about £25 new.
I bought the game second hand from Amazon for £12 and the speakers were £3. So about £40 for the guts of the machine.

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 25, 2012, 01:25:52 pm »

I'm going to create a custom machine celebrating the fact that Mortal Kombat is 20 years old this year.

I have a real affinity for this game for a special reason.
Jump back to when the game was new, I was a trainee hotel manager and stuck in a night room-service department for a month. One night I get a call for club sandwiches and cokes at 3am, but when I get to the room THIS GUY answers the door wearing THIS COSTUME!

Divizio and partner were in London to appear on a TV show called Games Master and were trying out their costumes. His companion that night was Raiden, also in full costume.

At least, they told me they were going on TV but personally I like to think that Kano and Raiden are actually real guys who really dress like that and hang out in London hotels.

Anyway...........

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 25, 2012, 01:30:27 pm »

Step 1 - Paper Engineering

This is always my favorite part. Here's the slowly evolving idea in a few iterations.

Too much overhang on the marquee and too blocky. Lets try again...

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 25, 2012, 01:32:41 pm »

Step 2 - Get busy cutting and gluing bits of wood together

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 25, 2012, 01:38:29 pm »

By this point I had already decided that the cabinet was going to incorporate the black and chrome bezel of the screen. I had originally planned to remove it from its housing, but it was so nice and unadorned that I decided to use it as is. So the screen ended up influencing the design of the cabinet. Not only that, but as it had such a nice chrome edge, I figured the character Sub-Zero, with lots of blues and chrome would be ideal.

You can see that with this build I'm going for an illuminated marquee.

Lets put the screen in and try it with a sample graphic.

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 25, 2012, 01:41:54 pm »

The Marquee

First step, grind down a bit of plastic until opaque

Then try it with a white LED

Seems okay to me.

elkameleon · « **Reply #6 on:** March 25, 2012, 01:44:33 pm »

Very nice, already lookin' better than that other mini Mk cab that showed up on ebay.

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 25, 2012, 01:45:08 pm »

A few more precision cuts of wood and the hard work of the cabinet is finished.

It looks far more noble and astute than the fat and dumpy paper model.

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #8 on:** March 25, 2012, 01:48:36 pm »

Fills, paints and base layer finish.
You'll notice that I've fitted the buttons and joystick to test. On the front face below the control panel is a small push-to-make button, this will be to start the game. Hidden around the back I've added a DC power socket and an on/off switch.

From this angle it looks 7 feet tall

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 25, 2012, 01:51:17 pm »

Graphics
Let's get some frosty Sub-Zero imagery going on...

and make sure the control panel printing is milimeter perfect to the holes that are already cut.

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 25, 2012, 01:56:02 pm »

Stickers
One of the great tricks I learned on the mini pac-man is how to make super glossy, beautiful stickers. I print them using a colour laser printer onto an A4 laser gloss sticker, then laminate the sheet with clear adhesive backing. The result is very shiny, very durable and easy to manage stickers.

On top of this I'm going to use 3mm self adhesive chrome edging. It's an auto product but it looks like miniature T-moulding.

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 25, 2012, 01:59:45 pm »

...and the result is... ZOMG that looks great, even if I do say so myself.
Normally what happens is you have the idea in your head but it never turns out looking as good as you imagine. In this case, it turned out better than I'd ever dreamed.

I'll have to stop and plug the game in now... need to play it for a few hours

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 25, 2012, 02:02:25 pm »

The last job before moving onto the electronics is the marquee.
A nice, fresh Sub-Zero design that keeps it frosty.

There's no light in there yet, I'm getting the effect by shining a torch into the back of the cabinet, but the idea works.

elkameleon · « **Reply #13 on:** March 25, 2012, 02:08:25 pm »

I have the weirdest boner right now... That mini t-molding really sets this ---smurfette--- off!

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 25, 2012, 02:16:18 pm »

This is what I used as the T-moulding

Chrome Styling Strip cars 3.5mm X 3.65M self adhesive 3M
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003LCQVCA

dandare · « **Reply #15 on:** March 25, 2012, 05:05:32 pm »

Another fantastic mini man!

I used a very similar screen on mine, just slightly larger.

that mini t-molding is great! just what i have been looking for, i may paint it red for mine though

Lovely work as always!

dandare · « **Reply #16 on:** March 25, 2012, 05:08:45 pm »

also- how you gonna power this? from a plug, or batteries?

vcoleiro1 · « **Reply #17 on:** March 25, 2012, 06:18:56 pm »

Fantastic build, well done. Using that chrome auto strip for T-Molding was an exceptional find an idea, guess who has book marked it to use for there next project.

05SRT4 · « **Reply #18 on:** March 25, 2012, 11:36:44 pm »

Sweet build, Looks great. Im curious to so see what will be powering it. Whats the Power input on the plug n play?

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #19 on:** March 26, 2012, 06:25:21 am »

I'm powering it with a plugged-in DC supply. The screen requires 12v, the game and sound natively run on batteries, 6v each (the typical 4x 1.5v). With a bit of luck I only need build a voltage divider from the 12v supply to run everything.
Both the speakers and the game unit have an LED used to indicate power-on, so hopefully I can use the supply to those LED's to illuminate the marquee.

Around the back of the unit I've fitted a DC power socket and an on/off switch.

dandare · « **Reply #20 on:** March 26, 2012, 08:58:41 am »

i used one of these in my mini
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-12V-4800mAh-Super-Rechargeable-Lithium-ion-Battery-/250863148383?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3a689bdd5f

12v for the screen, and spliced in a 9v regulator for the game. all turns on from one switch, lasts at least 5 hours, and can charge while playing too.

Le Chuck · « **Reply #21 on:** March 26, 2012, 09:23:33 am »

Sweet little build man. That screen is a great find, I'll be checking that out for sure.

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #22 on:** March 26, 2012, 10:03:51 am »

As for the screen:

This is the exact screen that I'm using.
http://www.securitycamera2000.com/products/New-2-CH-Video-Input-3.5%27%27-Digital-TFT-LCD-Monitor-for-Car-Vehicle.html

and this is the full range, going from 2.5 inch to 7 inch. Ideal for minis
http://www.securitycamera2000.com/categories/CCTV-Monitors/Small-Screen-Size-%282.5%22-to-7%22%29/

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #23 on:** March 26, 2012, 06:33:24 pm »

and today... the cabinet build is completed with the addition of the action buttons.

Just for good measure, here's an unobstructed view of the side art.

Right... let's get busy with the electronics!

emphatic · « **Reply #24 on:** March 27, 2012, 04:29:52 pm »

Very cool.

BurgerKingDiamond · « **Reply #25 on:** March 28, 2012, 10:13:43 am »

Really cool. The t-molding sets it off. Most minis don't have any. You should make a dust washer for the stick though. It looks unfinished without one.

I would love to have a little row of these for my desk at work.

Woodshop Flunky · « **Reply #26 on:** March 28, 2012, 11:46:37 am »

Excellent build!

05SRT4 · « **Reply #27 on:** March 28, 2012, 08:14:40 pm »

Quote from: BurgerKingDiamond on March 28, 2012, 10:13:43 am

Really cool. The t-molding sets it off. Most minis don't have any. You should make a dust washer for the stick though. It looks unfinished without one.

I would love to have a little row of these for my desk at work.

I agree, for mine all I did was painted a nylon washer black. looks good. there may bee thinner ones or you could just use thick paper.

kahlid74 · « **Reply #28 on:** March 28, 2012, 09:35:01 pm »

I like it, great job!

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #29 on:** August 23, 2012, 06:09:36 pm »

Right... back to it.
I've been off this fun project for almost three months working on real life projects that pay bills and stuff. It's been really annoying because I've known it only required another few days to complete and I've had to just look at it whilst giving every spare hour I have to other things.

First things first, I had to figure some way to distribute power. The screen works on 12v, the game board and sound use 6v each and the LED for the marquee uses 3v. I found the solution was to build a little power board using a 12v supply, and a 6v voltage chip to regulate.

I was all proud of my little power board, but in a moment of utter stupidity when testing it, I accidentally ran 12v through the 6v game board. Twenty seconds later and the game was ruined.

However, there was a brilliant silver lining to this cloud.
I bought another second hand game unit and discovered that there are at least two versions of the game. In this picture, the broken old board (on the left) would have required soldering wires directly onto the PCB contacts and holding them with hot-glue. I did this with the 7 Inch Pac-Man and it's a really miserable and time consuming job.
The good news is the new board (on the right) has all of it's switches wired through easy to use ribbon cables. I was so glad I broke the first one, it probably saved five or six hours of bad language and misery.

Now it was largely down to squeezing things inside and making all of the connections from the control panel to the game board.
First up, get the sound and power board into the cabinet.
The sound is coming through a hole in the base of the cabinet. I was a little fearful it would sound too muffled but it surprisingly sounds quite good.

After a good two hours of careful soldering and testing, the whole thing is connected. All the buttons, the joystick, the video and sound feed. Everything is in place. Now I've got to do the impossible "ship in a bottle" trick and squeeze it all in.

I've since discovered that the power still isn't quite right. I don't think the 600mA powerpack has the oomph to run everything and after a minute or so the unit starts to suffer from power drain, even shorter with the volume high. The good news is I can test it and play a game to make sure everything is working fine.
This picture disguises all the guts that are still hanging out of the back, but it's all working and very nearly complete. Just a new powerpack, some careful fitting and a few final finishing touches (a chrome dust collar for the joystick) and it's done.

Slippyblade · « **Reply #30 on:** August 23, 2012, 06:36:44 pm »

This is so cool! Sorry to derail the thread but where do you mini-builders get such tiny buttons and joysticks? I've seen a few mini-builds around and LOVE em, but have zero clue about getting those parts.

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #31 on:** August 23, 2012, 07:08:03 pm »

The most common joystick for these little minis is the Grayhill 04A series
http://www.digikey.co.uk/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?lang=en&KeyWords=GH7455-ND&x=19&y=14

The buttons are simple miniature "push-to-make" buttons you can get from anywhere, I buy mine from Amazon.
This is the exact button I used on this project

Video screens range from 2.5 inch to 7 inches and are amazingly cheap considering what you get. You can find links to the video-screen and the T-moulding further up in the thread.

Nestafari · « **Reply #32 on:** August 23, 2012, 07:47:41 pm »

Nice job !

Slippyblade · « **Reply #33 on:** August 23, 2012, 07:53:22 pm »

Wow, am I reading that right and you paid 3.41 pounds per button? Ouch. Either way, I think I've found a new project. I've got one of those 5 in 1 atari plug and play things. My daughter loves it. It's about to become a baby-cab.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Yvan256 · « **Reply #34 on:** August 24, 2012, 09:47:47 am »

I just noticed that Adafruit is now carrying a number of small TVs. Not sure if the prices compare with dismantling a car camera display, but at least you know exactly what the LCD panel and the PCB look like, including dimensions.

Very nice cabinet and the small "T-molding" is an excellent idea!

edit: I've been browsing that website where you bought your small monitor, and I found this gem. It's a 5.6", non-widescreen, 640x480 display with a VGA input. Some might say that 640x480 isn't enough, but it's still twice the 320x240 of older arcade games. Being a perfect multiplier of 320x200 means a perfect picture and a regular resolution for computers means it's less trouble to configure too. If 5.6" is too small, there's bigger monitors on that website with a VGA input.

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #35 on:** August 24, 2012, 01:34:33 pm »

Quote from: Slippyblade on August 23, 2012, 07:53:22 pm

Wow, am I reading that right and you paid 3.41 pounds per button?

No, that would be too expensive. When I was designing the unit I discovered that these buttons are now discontinued. I originally planned to have red, white and blue like the game, but red buttons were charging rip-off prices. I bought 5 black buttons for around £0.90p each. One of those odd happenings that end up affecting the design for the better.

All in, the build will cost me around £60-£70 including having to buy two game units.

griffindodd · « **Reply #36 on:** August 24, 2012, 10:37:31 pm »

What a fantastic build, I love it, you are inspiring me to try a mini for my next build!!

Javinator · « **Reply #37 on:** August 25, 2012, 11:27:36 am »

What? It's not a 2 player? Just kidding

. Very cool looking minicab!

Mungo9000 · « **Reply #38 on:** January 25, 2013, 09:43:59 am »

Well it's finally done.
When the project was 95% complete I had a problem with the sound board that would require a lot of tinkering away to get working; but in the real world I had too many pressing engagements that put the project on the back-burner for quite a few months.

...but as of today, it's all done, all working and all Kombat!

Termin8tor · « **Reply #39 on:** January 25, 2013, 11:33:14 am »

Very impressed, well done.


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