AS3 : Custom Cursor

[Jindo]

AS3: Main

I've checked and I don't think anyone's made this yet, so why not? :P.

---

So CS3's out and now everyone's trying to learn AS3, it's a pain, what should only take a few lines of code will now take alot more, but here's how I found the best way to make a custom cursor (so far, it's all i tried, so there may be better ways).

First, make a movieclip, give it an instance name of 'cursor', draw any kind of arrow inside it and now for the code:

stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, moveMouse);

This creates a listener on the stage, the event is Event.ENTER_FRAME, which is the new on.EnterFrame function, the listener calls the moveMouse function constantly because of it.

function moveMouse(Event) {

This creates the moveMouse function, the Event part is important, since you'll get a compile error otherwise :P.

Mouse.hide();

Thankfully somethings are the same, this hides the mouse.

cursor.x = mouseX;
cursor.y = mouseY;

This sets the position of the cursor, no longer do you need a _ symbol before a movieclip's parameters :P.

}

This is the end of the function.

---

Testing it should hopefully give you a working custom cursor.

Hope this helps and works (atleast it did for me).

[Sid1120]

Somewhat confusing for something very simple, I'd suggest giving the entire code since it is quite small and then explaining

package bobby.ui {
import flash.display.Sprite; // I use Sprite, which is same as MC but no timeline
import flash.display.Shape;
import flash.display.Graphics;

public class CustomCursor extends Sprite {
private var _cursor:Shape;

public function CustomCursor() {
_cursor = drawShape();
cursor.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onEnterFrame);
}

// This Function will return a shape that looks like a cursor, could be replaced with a script to load an image or something, but I like it plain and simple.
private function drawShape():Shape {
var shape:Shape = new Shape();
shape.graphics.lineStyle(1);
shape.graphics.moveTo(0,10);
shape.graphics.lineTo(0,0);
shape.graphics.lineTo(10,0);
return shape;
}

// This class is essential, it's the one being called continually onEnterFrame. HEre, I move the _cursor, but I could also simply use this.x & this.y why, as the _cursor was itinially set at 0,0 in this very Class. using _cursor.x (& y) means I need to have this Class at 0,0 positioning.
private function onEnterFrame(event:Event):void {
_cursor.x = mouseX; // It's spelled this way, not Mouse.y; make Mouse.y if you want a mistake!
_cursor.y = mouseY;
}
}
}

Wrote this very quickly as I had 5mins before going off to work. Will fix it and make as a Thread on it's own when I come back

[EvanHayes]

nice tut :D
Damn, AS3 is soooo much different than AS2 :(

[Gorilla-Studios]

I rather stick with AS2. Good job though!

[Alphabit]

You forgot to talk about the MOUSE_LEAVE event.
It's pretty important because now, thanks to AS3, we are able to detect when the mouse leaves the flash... Which means that we can hide the custom cursor once the mouse leaves.

I'll just give a short example:

addEventListener(Event.MOUSE_LEAVE, hideCustomCursor);

function hideCustomCursor(event:Event):void {
mycustomcursor.visible=false
}

... AS3 doesn't have a MOUSE_ENTER event, but that's OK, you can just use MOUSE_MOVE to set the visibility of the customcursor back to true.

[Depredation]

Hmm, I'm starting to understand the concept of AS3 now. So basically, it now has to be OOP? So you can't just do...

addEventListener(ENTER_FRAME){
//blahdy blah
}

... does it all have to be called using functions? I'm not complaining at all, i only really use functions, but i haven't got CS3, so i can't play around with it :(.

[Jindo]

@Alphabit: Wow, I didn't know that, that's actually pretty handy, I remember leaving flashes open and only realising it because my mouse was flashing.

@Depredation: Yep, we have to have EventHandlers for everything now :S, but once you're used to it, learning the actual language isn't so hard.

Thanks for your comments :).

[ShittyFlash]

I just got flash cs3 and it is teh weirdyz

can't apply code to mc. D:

[Jindo]

^ Yep, you gotta do all the coding on the frames ;).

[TheGreatPatten]

U should provided examples of it, for dumb people like me

[Sid1120]

At 5/6/07 05:21 PM, TheGreatPatten wrote: U should provided examples of it, for dumb people like me

I did give an exemple, scroll up to see a Class I wrote to make a CustomCursor.

[clixels]

I have a custom cursor that has a hitTest on it for when it hits a certain object, the frame changes, but when that happens, I get an extremely weird output. Any thoughts?

Specs:
Custom cursor has Mouse.hide();
next frame has Mouse.show();
no syntax problems

And just one more question, I gives me the error message and since it still lets me go on, when I replay the frame with a mouse hide action, it won't. Is there a way to hide it again.

[EviLudy]

These kind of topics make me hate AS3 =( I'm so not learning that shit.

[clixels]

Why not? Its a great programming language and its a lot easier to learn than you think.

[LilFugitive]

At 8/2/07 10:37 PM, EviLudy wrote: These kind of topics make me hate AS3 =( I'm so not learning that shit.

If you really have problems learning AS3 I recommend you buy a book

[pobah]

AS 2 is alot easyer for me and im used to it, but this might help others!

just not me

[bcapecci]

At 5/3/07 07:09 AM, sk8more wrote: nice tut :D
Damn, AS3 is soooo much different than AS2 :(

umm nope. there not terribly different. i recently converted my games to as3 and 70%+ of the code was the same. games for the most part are programmed in the same ways as before just as3 is more oop oriented.

[Wolfears2]

If I enter this code to the frame, an output box tells me:
1120: acces of undefined property: cursor.x = mouse.X;
Anyone know what's up?

[Wolfears2]

made the m in Mouse capitalised and know it says I'm accesing a "possibly undefined..." something-or-other. error 1119, by the way.

[CircleNineStudios]

Haha, wow this is old. Anyway, it's not mouse.X it's mouseX (no dot). Also, make sure the instance of cursor is named on the stage just in case.

[GuyWithHisComp]

At 6/3/08 02:49 PM, Wolfears2 wrote: If I enter this code to the frame, an output box tells me:
1120: acces of undefined property: cursor.x = mouse.X;
Anyone know what's up?

Why did you enter a dot between 'mouse' and 'X'?

If you use the original code posted in the first post in this thread you just have to have a MovieClip named cursor to make it work.

[Wolfears2]

At 6/3/08 02:53 PM, GuyWithHisComp wrote: Why did you enter a dot between 'mouse' and 'X'?

If you use the original code posted in the first post in this thread you just have to have a MovieClip named cursor to make it work.

Hey, I'm used to AS2. Don't laugh at me =P

[GuyWithHisComp]

At 6/4/08 12:57 AM, Wolfears2 wrote: Hey, I'm used to AS2. Don't laugh at me =P

The same would apply to AS2 though.

The difference is that mouseX is _xmouse in AS2. No dot there.

[Vudrok]

Well, Im just gonna say, that I love to learn everything as it comes out, I've been programming since Pascal and I got a pretty high background on C, C++, since I love web development I have learn tons of scripting languages since almost none deserve to be called Programming Language, as3 is almost so close to be a programming language, I like to recommend my friends good books to learn about this stuff and I've been reply with things like "i hate flash cs3 i will not learn as3" and then it makes me think that in sort of a way the web development path will be cleared of "bad practice developers" and only the good ones will make it through, so thumbs UP for adobe not to let those mediocres developers keep doing horror things...