Need Concept Help for a game

Question

OK, I'm wanting to make one of those games where you have a big matrix of circles, and if you click on one that'd adjacent to 2 or more of it's same color, you can remove it. I'm wondering what object I should use for those circles. I'm thinking I could use a JButton with a gif icon, or maybe use an Ellipse somehow. What I don't know is what objects I can use so that I can monitor whether my mouse is over it or whether I'm clicking it or something else. Advice from the more experienced would be appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

it's never a good idea to use swing components in a game. It's much faster to draw the circles yourself. Here's an example of using an Ellipse for your circles:
import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.geom.*;
// <applet code="Circles.class" width="400" height="400"></applet>
public class Circles extends Applet implements MouseMotionListener {
     Ellipse2D.Float e[];
     Image buffer;
     int w,h,x,y;
     public void init() {
          circles(20,20,20);
          w = getSize().width;
          h = getSize().height;
          buffer = createImage(w,h);
          x = -1;
          y = -1;
          addMouseMotionListener(this);
     protected void circles(int col,int row,int size) {
          e = new Ellipse2D.Float[row*col];
          int j,n,x = 0;
          for (j = 0;j < col;j++) {
               for (n = 0;n < row;n++) {
                    e[x++] = new Ellipse2D.Float(j*size,n*size,size,size);
     public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e) {
          x = e.getX();
          y = e.getY();
          repaint();
     public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent e) {
          mouseMoved(e);
     public void paint(Graphics g) {
          Graphics2D gfx = (Graphics2D)buffer.getGraphics();
          gfx.setColor(Color.white);
          gfx.fillRect(0,0,w,h);
          gfx.setColor(Color.black);
          for (int j = 0;j < e.length;j++) {
               if (e[j].contains(x,y)) gfx.fill(e[j]);
               else gfx.draw(e[j]);
          g.drawImage(buffer,0,0,null);
     public void update(Graphics g) {
          paint(g);
}