Tips on creating a Raiden (Mortal Kombat X) CAS

Raidenwins

[08] Mercenary
Hi all,

I am new to this forum. I've been playing Soul Calibur on and off since SCIII and one of my favorite parts always has been the awesome custom character creation mode. Mortal Kombat is my favorite game, with Raiden being my favorite character, so obviously in every new SC game I always try and create multiple versions of him. I am trying to do the same in SCVI now, specifically his primary costume from MKX, and while I can get the basic look down, he does look very....basic. I struggle with some of the more unique characteristics so I thought I'd post here and ask for help. Here is what he looks like in the game in question (the second image is of a toy, i.e. not from the game), which incidentally is one of his best looks ever in my opinion:


141-1410067_mkx-raiden-png-mortal-kombat-x-raiden-png_356_716.png
Mezco-Raiden-29_395_512.jpg


The particular things I'd like tips on are the following:

  1. How do I make his eyes glow white?
  2. The only hat available in CAS that looks like his is Sage (something), but that one is solid. In the first picture above his hat is composed of a number of wooden beams with open spaces between them. Can that be accomplished in CAS mode?
  3. Around his waist he has a rope, on top of a belt. How can I recreate the rope? I don't see anything that looks like it in CAS mode.
  4. The intricate gold and dark and light blue patterns on the left and right side of his uniform, as well as the waist cloth, are really difficult for me. I tried various patterns and stickers, but nothing looked good. Any tips on those?
  5. The black thing under his hat (not sure what it's called) that envelops his head and chin is pretty much impossible for me. How can I recreate it?
I'd appreciate any advice on this.
 
Welcome to the CAS forums! Tends to be very quiet around here most of the time, but don't be put off by the silence - you can generally find good advice and feedback, just takes a while to trickle in.

And on that subject:
  1. How do I make his eyes glow white?
  2. The only hat available in CAS that looks like his is Sage (something), but that one is solid. In the first picture above his hat is composed of a number of wooden beams with open spaces between them. Can that be accomplished in CAS mode?
  3. Around his waist he has a rope, on top of a belt. How can I recreate the rope? I don't see anything that looks like it in CAS mode.
  4. The intricate gold and dark and light blue patterns on the left and right side of his uniform, as well as the waist cloth, are really difficult for me. I tried various patterns and stickers, but nothing looked good. Any tips on those?
  5. The black thing under his hat (not sure what it's called) that envelops his head and chin is pretty much impossible for me. How can I recreate it?
  1. Best option for this is to pick the 'Malfested' race (also has glowing body tattoos). Since they have some weird restrictions on skin-color, you might have to use facepaint and stickers to color his exposed skin a more healthy, normal tone.
  2. Would suggest sticking with the Sedge Hat on this one. Use a pattern and some stickers on it to achieve that 'slatted' look. I can't think of any equipment that comes closer, without also having some weird bits of its own. Also worth noting, recreations almost always have some kind of trade-off to them. Is it worth "spending" your limited number of extra-equipment slots for pin-point accuracy on his hat, or could you use them elsewhere to better complete the look?
  3. Extra Equip slot, butterfly antenna turned sideways to each other () and use the leather pattern under Tab 3 for a bit of texture. That should give you a pretty close "rope belt." Won't have the tassels on the side unless you use another special slot, but it's the closest I can think of.
  4. Using the Spy Robe (I think it's called, looks like Kasumi's robe in DOA) with a blue geometric pattern should get you close - then perhaps one of the Motif stickers on the chest for the gold inlay. In general, try to do as much as you can with clothing patterns before layering on the stickers - you only get a limited number, so be sure to use them wisely.
  5. If you use the Malfested race and color their skin black (or perhaps Dark Blue, 0,42,0) then use facepaint, you should probably be able to achieve the correct look. Alternately, a black sticker wrapped around the back of the head (one of the simple geometric shapes should suffice) could also do it.
Speaking personally, this is why I don't do recreations myself - I tend to fixate on the fine details, and end up dissatisfied with the result if it's not "perfect" (which, of course it's not). But I can tell you, from seeing so many others post theirs, the trick is not to nail each individual detail, but to get "close" enough in all the right spots that anyone can look at your CAS and know right away who it's supposed to be (assuming they're familiar with the source material, anyway). The biggest piece of advice I can give is, don't get hung up on fine details - try to focus on the creation as a whole, and I think you'll find it comes out looking much better than the sum of its parts.

Good luck!
 
Welcome to the CAS forums! Tends to be very quiet around here most of the time, but don't be put off by the silence - you can generally find good advice and feedback, just takes a while to trickle in.

And on that subject:

  1. Best option for this is to pick the 'Malfested' race (also has glowing body tattoos). Since they have some weird restrictions on skin-color, you might have to use facepaint and stickers to color his exposed skin a more healthy, normal tone.
  2. Would suggest sticking with the Sedge Hat on this one. Use a pattern and some stickers on it to achieve that 'slatted' look. I can't think of any equipment that comes closer, without also having some weird bits of its own. Also worth noting, recreations almost always have some kind of trade-off to them. Is it worth "spending" your limited number of extra-equipment slots for pin-point accuracy on his hat, or could you use them elsewhere to better complete the look?
  3. Extra Equip slot, butterfly antenna turned sideways to each other () and use the leather pattern under Tab 3 for a bit of texture. That should give you a pretty close "rope belt." Won't have the tassels on the side unless you use another special slot, but it's the closest I can think of.
  4. Using the Spy Robe (I think it's called, looks like Kasumi's robe in DOA) with a blue geometric pattern should get you close - then perhaps one of the Motif stickers on the chest for the gold inlay. In general, try to do as much as you can with clothing patterns before layering on the stickers - you only get a limited number, so be sure to use them wisely.
  5. If you use the Malfested race and color their skin black (or perhaps Dark Blue, 0,42,0) then use facepaint, you should probably be able to achieve the correct look. Alternately, a black sticker wrapped around the back of the head (one of the simple geometric shapes should suffice) could also do it.
Speaking personally, this is why I don't do recreations myself - I tend to fixate on the fine details, and end up dissatisfied with the result if it's not "perfect" (which, of course it's not). But I can tell you, from seeing so many others post theirs, the trick is not to nail each individual detail, but to get "close" enough in all the right spots that anyone can look at your CAS and know right away who it's supposed to be (assuming they're familiar with the source material, anyway). The biggest piece of advice I can give is, don't get hung up on fine details - try to focus on the creation as a whole, and I think you'll find it comes out looking much better than the sum of its parts.

Good luck!

Thank you for the tips. I haven't tried 1 and 2 yet. On 3, i can see how the butterfly antenna would fit the rope look, but I can't get it to a level horizontal position. It's always tilted back or forward regardless of which rotation i apply to it. The only way to make it horizontally level is to reduce the width all the way to the minimum (-50 i think), but then it's so thin it doesn't look like a belt or a rope anymore. Any ideas how to get around that?

The Spy Robe works well, the only problem is it doesn't have sleeves and if I use the overall undergarment it looks like spandex over his arms. Like you said though, everything is a trade off. It's pretty much impossible to achieve a perfect copy of the way a character looks in the original source material. What i do like with the Spy Robe though is that I can change the color of the edges, which is closer to his in-game look than what the Warrior's Kimono allows. I was using the latter in my initial attempt.

As for the last tip, i ended up using stickers to reproduce the hood enveloping his head and chin. That works well enough.
 
Thank you for the tips. I haven't tried 1 and 2 yet. On 3, i can see how the butterfly antenna would fit the rope look, but I can't get it to a level horizontal position. It's always tilted back or forward regardless of which rotation i apply to it. The only way to make it horizontally level is to reduce the width all the way to the minimum (-50 i think), but then it's so thin it doesn't look like a belt or a rope anymore. Any ideas how to get around that?

The Spy Robe works well, the only problem is it doesn't have sleeves and if I use the overall undergarment it looks like spandex over his arms. Like you said though, everything is a trade off. It's pretty much impossible to achieve a perfect copy of the way a character looks in the original source material. What i do like with the Spy Robe though is that I can change the color of the edges, which is closer to his in-game look than what the Warrior's Kimono allows. I was using the latter in my initial attempt.

As for the last tip, i ended up using stickers to reproduce the hood enveloping his head and chin. That works well enough.
In the end, I wasn't able to get butterfly antenna working either. As it turns out, I think the Vicious Horns might be your best bet.
20200216143424_1.jpg

The above settings aren't perfect, but should land you in the right ballpark. Color/pattern as you see fit.
 
That looks good! Thanks for taking the time to do this. I was experimenting with the Ring, but this looks more like a rope.
 
Here is what I have so far. I opted for the Warrior's Kimono instead of Spy Robes, so I can add the Arabian Vest on top, which resembles his in-game look more closely. Vicious Horns are a good substitute for the two layers of ropes he has on top of his belt. I am not completely happy with the golden motifs on his vest, but it's still a work in progress. How does it look?

Mortal_Kombat_X_Raiden_1.jpg


Mortal_Kombat_X_Raiden_2.jpg


Mortal_Kombat_X_Raiden_3.jpg


Mortal_Kombat_X_Raiden_4.jpg
 
I need to poke around this site more often! XÞ

So I attempted a Raiden cosplay for one of my own characters, Quintessa — albeit based on a Jennifer Van Damsel cosplay — but the funnest part was trying to create a Raiden/Shinnok-styled amulet (even if her breasts'll clip through it occasionally). So, if you have two "extra" equipment slots available:
  • Extra #1
    • Equipment: Pure Ring
    • Color: 3,9:6
    • Location: Chest
    • Move Right / Left: +12
    • Move Up / Down: +0
    • Move Forward / Backward: −3
    • Width: −50
    • Length: +0
    • Thickness: −50
    • Rotate Vertically: +52
    • Rotate Horizontally: −30
    • Angle: +0
  • Extra #2
    • Equipment: Allegiance Mandible
    • Colors:default | Eastern 2
      • Pattern: Eastern 2
      • Colors: 2,9:9 | 16,33:9
      • Size: +48
      • Angle: +14
      • Flip Vertically: ON
      • Flip Horizontally: OFF
    • Location: Chest
    • Move Right / Left: +13
    • Move Up / Down: +13
    • Move Forward / Backward: +18
    • Width: +30
    • Length: +40
    • Thickness: +0
    • Rotate Vertically: −55
    • Rotate Horizontally: +150
    • Angle:+180

2019-04-28_03-25-13_PM.png

(Old screenshot; I've since added a striped pattern to her outfit.)
 
Last edited:
I need to poke around this site more often! XÞ

So I attempted a Raiden cosplay for one of my own characters, Quintessa — albeit based on a Jennifer Van Damsel cosplay — but the funnest part was trying to create a Raiden/Shinnok-styled amulet (even if her breasts'll clip through it occasionally). So, if you have two "extra" equipment slots available:
  • Extra #1
    • Equipment: Pure Ring
    • Color: 3,9:6
    • Location: Chest
    • Move Right / Left: +12
    • Move Up / Down: +0
    • Move Forward / Backward: −3
    • Width: −50
    • Length: +0
    • Thickness: −50
    • Rotate Vertically: +52
    • Rotate Horizontally: −30
    • Angle: +0
  • Extra #2
    • Equipment: Allegiance Mandible
    • Colors:default | Eastern 2
      • Pattern: Eastern 2
      • Colors: 2,9:9 | 16,33:9
      • Size: +48
      • Angle: +14
      • Flip Vertically: ON
      • Flip Horizontally: OFF
    • Location: Chest
    • Move Right / Left: +13
    • Move Up / Down: +13
    • Move Forward / Backward: +18
    • Width: +30
    • Length: +40
    • Thickness: +0
    • Rotate Vertically: −55
    • Rotate Horizontally: +150
    • Angle:+180

2019-04-28_03-25-13_PM.png

(Old screenshot; I've since added a striped pattern to her outfit.)

Hey, that looks good! I don't have any equipment slots left, but he doesn't wear an amulet in Mortal Kombat X. He wears one in Mortal Kombat 9, though I don't think it's Shinnok's. He does wear Shinnok's amulet in Mortal Kombat 11.

How did you make her eyes glow blue? Did you use the malfested character type?
 
Mortal Kombat (9) was the last one I played (mainly due to my Xbox 360 "red ringing" back in '15 and me not getting an Xbox One until late '18), but I've seen playthroughs for X and 11 (and I hate how we have "Mortal Kombat 11" and "Mortal Kombat II" 🤪) so it took inspiration from 'em all (since there are limits to what SCVI can do… but I tried to create a "Mortal Kombat Dragon" on her cloak's button, even though it's near impossible to see).

Quintessa's glowing blue eyes are due to her being of the "Malfested (Mutated)" race; her snow-white skin is a result of an adventure she had in 3e Dungeons & Dragons ("Return to the Ghost Tower of Inverness"), and it turns out setting the Malfested markings to "black" actually makes them nearly invisible: Example #1 | Example #2 | Example #3
 
Back