Mouse Cursor Object showing up in published project even when it's not showing on timeline

[patrickv26253632]

Using Adobe Captivate 9.0.2.437 on Mac OS X 10.12.6

I am trying to build a software simulation that employs a mix of "let the user try" and "show the user". I want to first give the user the opportunity to try the activity with minimal/no prompting. I have a clickbox set to have a maximum of 2 attempts. The failure text appears near the area the user should click with some prompting. If the user still doesn't click the correct box, I want a mouse cursor to appear and click the area for them and continue the project.

The problem is, even though I have the mouse cursor on the timeline to not appear until about 2 seconds in, it will appear on the first frame in the published project. Here's what my timeline looks like:

And here's the timeline for the next slide:

On both of these slides, the mouse cursor is displaying from the first frame. This is a problem because it "tips" the user to where they should click. The only way I see around this is to create a duplicate slide with just the cursor action, but that is going to double the number of slides in my project. I don't understand why Adobe Captivate isn't respecting the timeline. The mouse cursor object is behaving unlike any other timeline element: when the object doesn't occupy space on the timeline, it doesn't appear, yet the mouse cursor object appears all the time.

If anyone has advice, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

[Erik Lord]

If you hide that layer, does it appear at all?

If you delete that layer, does it appear?

Just seeing if the issue is specific to the layer or the overall slide.

How about trying to remove the mouse layer, save as a new project, then re-add the mouse layer with appropriate timing...

[Lilybiri]

May I propose a workaround? Split this slide over 2 slides, if the user fails the second time, navigate him to the second slide which is a demonstration slide. The mouse object is a 'weird' object, not always behaving as expected. When inserted on a slide it will appear from the start of that slide as you experienced. Personally I would even replace that second slide by a cpvc-recorded slide for its better quality, and more control over the mouse.

[Gaanf]

The mouse cursor object's representation in the timeline differs a bit from that of other objects. The mouse curser will always show from the very beginning of the slide on, regardless of when it enters the timeline. The timeline item itself just marks the time during which the mouse curser object animates along its path from start to end position.

If it's the first appearance of the mouse cursor in the project, you can drag its start position slightly off stage, so it just moves in when the mouse cursor object enters the timeline. Else you might have to send it off stage on a previous slide.