Introduction

Windows Desktop games can display custom cursors. The default XNA window is a Windows Forms window, so customization of the cursor visuals is done the same as for any other Windows Forms app.

Example Code - Changing the Cursor using MonoGame

MonoGame 3.6 and newer introduces a method for changing the Windows cursor. The cursor can be set from a Texture2D. Assuming CursorTexture is a valid Texture2D:

FlatRedBallServices.Game.IsMouseVisible = true;

int originX = 0;
int originY = 0;

MouseCursor customCursor = MouseCursor.FromTexture2D(CursorTexture, originX, originY);
Mouse.SetCursor(customCursor);

For more information, see the following links:

• https://monogame.net/api/Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Input.Mouse/#setcursor-mousecursor

• https://monogame.net/api/Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Input.MouseCursor/#fromtextured-textured-int-int

Example Code - Changing the Cursor using Windows Forms and .cur File

The following code loads a .cur file and sets the window's default cursor:

var cursor = new System.Windows.Forms.Cursor("Content/GlobalContent/Cursor.cur");
System.Windows.Forms.Form asForm =
    (System.Windows.Forms.Form)System.Windows.Forms.Control.FromHandle(this.Window.Handle);
asForm.Cursor = cursor;

Example Code - Changing the Cursor using Windows Forms and .png File

.cur files have a 32x32 pixel size limit. This can be bypassed by loading a .png into a Bitmap object, then using that object to construct a Cursor, as shown in the following code:

// code obtained from StackOverflow, as posted by user "Nick"
// http://stackoverflow.com/questions/550918/change-cursor-hotspot-in-winforms-net
public struct IconInfo
{
    public bool fIcon;
    public int xHotspot;
    public int yHotspot;
    public IntPtr hbmMask;
    public IntPtr hbmColor;
}
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
public static extern bool GetIconInfo(IntPtr hIcon, ref IconInfo pIconInfo);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
public static extern IntPtr CreateIconIndirect(ref IconInfo icon);

/// <summary>
/// Create a cursor from a bitmap without resizing and with the specified
/// hot spot
/// </summary>
static System.Windows.Forms.Cursor CreateCursor(System.Drawing.Bitmap bmp, int xHotSpot, int yHotSpot)
{
    IntPtr ptr = bmp.GetHicon();
    IconInfo tmp = new IconInfo();
    GetIconInfo(ptr, ref tmp);
    tmp.xHotspot = xHotSpot;
    tmp.yHotspot = yHotSpot;
    tmp.fIcon = false;
    ptr = CreateIconIndirect(ref tmp);
    return new System.Windows.Forms.Cursor(ptr);
}

void Initialize()
{
    var bitmap = 
        (System.Drawing.Bitmap)System.Drawing.Bitmap.FromFile("Content/GlobalContent/SmallCursor.png");
    var cursor = CreateCursor(bitmap, 0, 0);
}

Introduction

Windows RT supports a custom cursor. This article discusses how to modify the cursor to use custom visuals.

Setup

This project assumes a working Windows RT project. It also assumes that the cursor is visible. For more information on making the cursor visible, see this page.

Creating a C++ project to house the resource

Unfortunately to create a resource to hold the Cursor graphic you must create a C++ project. Don't worry, we won't do any C++ programming, but Visual Studio requires this project to create the proper resource files. To do this:

1. Open your project in Visual Studio

2. Right-click on the solution

3. Select Add->"New Project"

4. On the left select the category "Visual C++"->"Store Apps"->"Windows Apps"

5. Select the "DLL (Windows)" project type

6. Enter the name "ProjectForCursor"

7. Click OK

Adding a resource to the C++ Project

Next we'll add a resource file to contain our cursor resource. To do this:

1. Right-click on the newly-created project (ProjectForCursor)

2. Select Add->"Resource..."

3. Select "Cursor" when the popup appears and click "New"

Editing the .cur file

Visual Studio creates a .cur file which contains the visuals for a cursor. This can be edited in many image editors. Users of Paint.NET can install a plugin to edit .cur files here.

Adding the built resource file to our project

First we need to build the C++ project to create the compiled resource file. To do this:

1. Right-click on the ProjectForCursor project

2. Select "Build"

3. Navigate to the build folder, which should be

   Copy

   <GlueProjectRoot>\ProjectForCursor\Debug\

4. Look for a .res file (mine was ProjectForCursor1.res)

We will now add this file to our game project. To do this:

1. Right click on the game project and select Add->"Existing Item..."

2. Navigate to the .res file mentioned above and select it. Notice that the file will be copied unless you explicitly select to link it.

3. Select File->"Save All" to save the addition of the resource file to the project

We must now modify the Visual Studio (C#) project by-hand. To do this:

1. Navigate to your game project's .csproj file

2. Open it in a text editor

3. Find the first PropertyGroup tab, which might appear as follows:

  <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
    <Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">AnyCPU</Platform>
    ...
  </PropertyGroup>

And add the Win32Resource tag inside of the PropertyGroup as follows:

  <PropertyGroup>
    <Win32Resource>ProjectForCursor1.res</Win32Resource>
    <Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
    <Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">AnyCPU</Platform>
    ...
  </PropertyGroup>

Once finished save the file in the text editor.

Setting the Cursor in code

Finally we can set the cursor in code. Unfortunately this must be done after the Game's Initialize method is called. We can do this in Update, but we only need to do it once so we will create a bool to keep track of whether the cursor has been set. First, add this bool outside of any function in Game1.cs:

bool hasSetCursor = false;

Next, modify Game1.Update so it has the following code:

protected override void Update(GameTime gameTime)
{
    if (!hasSetCursor)
    {
        // the value 101 can be retrieved from the C++ project's 
        // resource1.h
        this.IsMouseVisible = true;
        Windows.UI.Core.CoreWindow.GetForCurrentThread().PointerCursor =
            new Windows.UI.Core.CoreCursor(Windows.UI.Core.CoreCursorType.Custom, 101);
        hasSetCursor = true;
    }
    FlatRedBallServices.Update(gameTime);

    ScreenManager.Activity();

    base.Update(gameTime);
}

Introduction

The Cursor can be customized in code to display a separate image.

Subsections