Mouse

Mouse functions and properties

Mouse.ChangeModeGraphic

(Formerly known as ChangeCursorGraphic, which is now obsolete)

Mouse.ChangeModeGraphic(CursorMode, int slot)

Changes the specified mouse cursor mode's cursor graphic to SLOT. This allows you to dynamically change what a mouse cursor looks like.

NOTE: To change what the Use Inventory cursor looks like, you should change the active inventory item's CursorGraphic property instead of using this function.

Example:

mouse.ChangeModeGraphic(eModeLookat, 120);

will change the cursor's graphic for look mode to the image that's imported in the sprite's manager slot 120.

See also: Mouse.ChangeModeHotspot, Mouse.ChangeModeView, Mouse.GetModeGraphic, Mouse.Mode

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Mouse.ChangeModeHotspot

(Formerly known as ChangeCursorHotspot, which is now obsolete)

Mouse.ChangeModeHotspot(CursorMode, int x, int y)

Permanently changes the specified mouse cursor mode's hotspot on the cursor graphic to (X,Y). This is the offset into the graphic where the click takes effect. (0,0) is the upper left corner of the cursor graphic.

Example:

mouse.ChangeModeHotspot(eModeWalkto, 10, 10);

will change the cursor's hotspot for walk mode to coordinates 10,10.

See also: Mouse.ChangeModeGraphic, Mouse.ChangeModeView

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Mouse.ChangeModeView

Mouse.ChangeModeView(CursorMode, int view)

Changes the specified mouse cursor mode's animation view to VIEW.

You can pass view as -1 to stop the cursor from animating.

This allows you to dynamically change the view used for the cursor's animation while the game is running.

Example:

mouse.ChangeModeView(eModeLookat, ROLLEYES);

will change the Look cursor's view to ROLLEYES.

See also: Mouse.ChangeModeGraphic, Mouse.ChangeModeHotspot

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Mouse.Click

static void Click(MouseButton)

Fires mouse click event at current mouse position (at mouse.x / mouse.y). This is in all aspects identical to what would happen if a player clicked actual mouse button. This function may be useful to simulate player actions in game, or create automatic demonstrations (like tutorials).

Example:

Mouse.SetPosition(100, 100);
Mouse.Click(eMouseLeft);

This will simulate user click at (100,100).

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.4.0 and later versions.

See also: GUI.ProcessClick, Room.ProcessClick

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Mouse.DisableMode

(Formerly known as DisableCursorMode, which is now obsolete)

Mouse.DisableMode(int mode)

Disables the mouse cursor MODE. Any attempts to set the cursor to this mode while it is disabled (such as using UseModeGraphic) will fail. This function also greys out and disables any interface buttons whose left-click command is set as "Set mode X", where X is equal to MODE.

If the current cursor mode is MODE, then the engine will change it to the next enabled standard cursor.

Example:

mouse.DisableMode(eModeWalkto);

will make the walk mode unavailable until it's enabled again.

See also: Mouse.EnableMode, Mouse.IsModeEnabled

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Mouse.EnableMode

(Formerly known as EnableCursorMode, which is now obsolete)

Mouse.EnableMode(int mode)

Re-enables the mouse cursor mode MODE. This function also enables any interface buttons which were disabled by the DisableMode command.

Example:

mouse.EnableMode(eModeWalkto);

will enable cursor mode walk which was disabled before.

See also: Mouse.DisableMode, Mouse.IsModeEnabled

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Mouse.IsModeEnabled

static bool Mouse.IsModeEnabled(int mode)

Returns whether the specified mouse cursor is currently enabled.

Example:

if (mouse.IsModeEnabled(eModeWalkto)) {
    mouse.Mode = eModeWalkto;
}

will change the the "WalkTo" cursor mode, but only if it's currently enabled.

See also: Mouse.EnableMode, Mouse.DisableMode

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Mouse.GetModeGraphic

static int Mouse.GetModeGraphic(CursorMode)

Returns the sprite slot number of the specified mouse cursor mode.

This could be useful if you want to change it manually with ChangeModeGraphic but be able to remember what it was before.

Example:

Display("The current mouse cursor sprite is %d.", mouse.GetModeGraphic(mouse.Mode));

will display the sprite slot number of the current mouse cursor.

See also: Mouse.ChangeModeGraphic

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Mouse.IsButtonDown

(Formerly known as global function IsButtonDown, which is now obsolete)

Mouse.IsButtonDown(MouseButton)

Tests whether the user has the specified mouse button down. BUTTON must either be eMouseLeft, eMouseRight or eMouseMiddle.

Returns true if the button is currently pressed, false if not. This could be used to test the length of a mouse click and similar effects.

Example:

int timer=0;  // (at top of script file)
if (mouse.IsButtonDown(eMouseRight)) {
    if (timer == 40) {
        Display("You pressed the right button for 1 sec");
        timer = 0;
    }
    else {
        timer++;
    }
}

will display the message if the player presses the right button for 1 sec.

Compatibility: eMouseMiddle supported by AGS 3.2.0 and later versions.
eMouseLeft and eMouseRight supported by all versions.

See also: IsKeyPressed

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Mouse.SaveCursorUntilItLeaves

(Formerly known as SaveCursorForLocationChange, which is now obsolete)

Mouse.SaveCursorUntilItLeaves()

Saves the current mouse cursor, and restores it when the mouse leaves the current hotspot, object or character.

This allows you to temporarily change the mouse cursor when the mouse moves over a hotspot, and have it automatically change back to the old cursor when the player moves the mouse away.

NOTE: You must call this BEFORE you change to your new temporary cursor, or the new cursor will be saved by this command.

Example:

mouse.SaveCursorUntilItLeaves();
mouse.Mode = eModeTalk;

will change the cursor mode to Talk for as long as the mouse is over the current object

See also: Mouse.Mode

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Mouse.SelectNextMode

(Formerly known as SetNextCursorMode, which is now obsolete)

Mouse.SelectNextMode()

Selects the next enabled mouse cursor mode. This is useful for Sierra-style right-click cycling through modes. This function will choose the next mode marked as a Standard Mode, and will also use the Use Inventory mode if the player has an active inventory item.

See also: Mouse.Mode

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Mouse.SelectPreviousMode

Mouse.SelectPreviousMode()

Selects the previous enabled mouse cursor mode. This is useful for Sierra-style right-click cycling through modes. This function will choose the previous mode marked as a Standard Mode, and will also use the Use Inventory mode if the player has an active inventory item.

See also: Mouse.Mode

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Mouse.SetBounds

(Formerly known as SetMouseBounds, which is now obsolete)

Mouse.SetBounds(int left, int top, int right, int bottom)

Restricts the area where the mouse can move on screen. The four parameters are the relevant pixel co-ordinates of that edge of the bounding rectangle. They are in the usual range (0, 0) - (Screen.Width, Screen.Height).

You can pass (0,0,0,0) to disable the bounding rectangle and allow the mouse to move everywhere, as usual.

NOTE: The effect of this function only lasts until the player leaves the screen, at which point the cursor bounds will be reset.

Example:

mouse.SetBounds(160, 100, 320, 200);

will restrict the mouse cursor to the bottom-right quarter of the screen of a game that has screen resolution of 320x200.

See also: Mouse.SetPosition

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Mouse.SetPosition

(Formerly known as SetMousePosition, which is now obsolete)

Mouse.SetPosition(int x, int y)

Moves the mouse pointer to screen co-ordinates (X,Y). They are in the usual range (0, 0) - (Screen.Width,Screen.Height). The mouse.x and mouse.y variables will be updated to reflect the new position.

NOTE: Only use this command when absolutely necessary. Moving the mouse cursor for the player is a sure way to irritate them if you do it too often during the game.

Example:

mouse.SetPosition(Screen.Width/2, Screen.Height/2);

will place the mouse cursor in the center of the screen.

See also: Mouse.SetBounds

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Mouse.Update

(Formerly known as RefreshMouse, which is now obsolete)

Mouse.Update();

Updates the global variables "mouse.x" and "mouse.y" with the current position of the mouse. Normally, these variables are set just before each script function is executed. However, if you have a very long script where the mouse may have moved since the start of the function, and you need the exact current location, then this command will update the variables.

Example:

Display("The mouse was at: %d, %d.", mouse.x, mouse.y);
mouse.Update();
Display("The mouse is now at: %d, %d.", mouse.x, mouse.y);

will display the mouse position just before each dialog box is displayed

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Mouse.UseDefaultGraphic

(Formerly known as SetDefaultCursor, which is now obsolete)

Mouse.UseDefaultGraphic()

Changes the appearance of the mouse cursor to the default for the current cursor mode. Use this to restore the cursor picture after you changed it with the UseModeGraphic function.

See also: Mouse.UseModeGraphic

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Mouse.UseModeGraphic

(Formerly known as SetMouseCursor, which is now obsolete)

Mouse.UseModeGraphic(CursorMode)

Changes the appearance of the mouse cursor to use the specified cursor. Unlike the Mouse.Mode property, this does not change the mode used if the user clicks on a hotspot. This is useful for displaying a "wait" cursor temporarily.

Example:

mouse.UseModeGraphic(eModeWait);

will change the mouse cursor to the cursor 'Wait' specified in the Cursors tab.

See also: Mouse.ChangeModeGraphic, Mouse.Mode, Mouse.UseDefaultGraphic

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Mouse.AutoLock

static bool Mouse.AutoLock;

Gets/sets if the system mouse cursor is automatically locked in the game window when the player clicks in it. The "locked" cursor will not be able to leave the bounds of the window. This is useful when playing a game in a windowed mode, preventing occasional misclicks outside that could lead to switching out of the game.

NOTE: it is strongly advised to not set this property unconditionally, but instead make a menu option in game where player could set this to their preference.

NOTE: the player may toggle mouse lock on and off anytime using Ctrl + Alt key combination; but that does not disable autolock on click.

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.6.0 and later versions.

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Mouse.ControlEnabled

static bool Mouse.ControlEnabled;

Gets/sets if the mouse cursor movement has to be controlled by AGS engine; otherwise it is controlled by operation system. Note that in practice mouse is only controlled when the game is run in fullscreen mode.

This setting may be useful to know if custom mouse speed setting is applied or not.

Example:

sldMouseSpeed.Visible = Mouse.ControlEnabled;

makes mouse speed slider visible only if the mouse is controlled by the game.

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.3.5 and later versions.
Settable since AGS 3.5.0.

See also: Mouse.Speed

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Mouse.Mode

(Formerly known as GetCursorMode, which is now obsolete)
(Formerly known as SetCursorMode, which is now obsolete)

int Mouse.Mode;

Gets/sets the current mode of the mouse cursor. This is one of the cursor modes from your Cursors tab (but with eMode prepended). For example, a cursor mode called "Walk to" on your cursors tab would be eModeWalkto.

Setting this changes both the appearance of the cursor and the Cursor Mode used if the player clicks on a hotspot.

Example:

if (mouse.Mode == eModeWalkto)
{
    // code here
}

will execute the code only if the current cursor mode is MODE 0 (WALK).

See also: Mouse.SaveCursorUntilItLeaves, Mouse.UseModeGraphic, Mouse.SelectNextMode

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Mouse.Speed

static float Mouse.Speed;

Gets/sets in-game mouse cursor speed. 1.0 is default, values in the range 0-1 make cursor movement slower, values higher than 1 make cursor movement faster.

Mouse speed changed this way will be saved to the configuration file when player exits the game. Next time game starts it will restore the last value you applied, unless player has modified it in the setup program.

The custom mouse speed is only applied if mouse cursor movement is currently being controlled by the game, which is usually true only when game is run in fullscreen mode. Setting this property has no effect otherwise. You can use Mouse.ControlEnabled to know if speed will be applied.

NOTE: It is strongly advised to NEVER use this parameter to achieve gameplay effect (such as character's loss of coordination, and so forth).

Example:

Mouse.Speed = IntToFloat(sldMouseSpeed.Value) / 10.0;

converts slider control's position into mouse speed.

Compatibility: Supported by AGS 3.3.5 and later versions.

See also: Mouse.ControlEnabled, Mouse.SetPosition

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Mouse.Visible

(Formerly known as HideMouseCursor, which is now obsolete)
(Formerly known as ShowMouseCursor, which is now obsolete)

bool Mouse.Visible;

Gets/sets whether the mouse cursor is visible. This is initially true by default, but setting this to false is useful for briefly hiding the cursor on occasions when you don't want it around.

If you want the LucasArts-style where the mouse cursor is never visible during cutscenes then a much easier solution is simply to import a transparent graphic over the default wait cursor, so that the Wait cursor becomes invisible.

Example:

mouse.Visible = false;
Wait(40);
mouse.Visible = true;

hides the mouse, waits for a second, then turns it back on again

See also: Mouse.UseModeGraphic