Cannot set visibility based on distance

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1

Godot Version

v4.3.stable.official

Question

I’m trying to make a system where I can target something based on my distance from it. Basically every targetable component, which includes the player has a sub-node of a billboarded sprite 3d that I turn visible whenever the aiming button is pressed to show that I’m targetting something.

The problem is, it only works if I’m really close or at a certain angle away from the object.

I’ve run the function with a print log next to it so that it will print something every time it should be turning the target visible and it seems to print every time I want it to be visible, but it doesn’t actually turn visible in the game.

Does anyone know what I might be doing wrong?

I tried just having the script detect if the currentTarget var was null, and if not, setting the reticle to visible, which made it target a bit more often than it was before but not whenever I pressed the aim button

Here’s the code I’m using for reference:

func _physics_process(delta):
	if is_multiplayer_authority() :
		if Input.is_action_pressed("Aim"):
			aim()
		if Input.is_action_just_released("Aim") :
			if(currentTarget != null) :
				currentTarget.targetReticle.hide()
			currentTarget = null

@export var targetRange:float
var currentTarget: RaceEntity = null
var targetIndex = 0
func aim() :
	#check all targets
	var targets: Array[RaceEntity]
	
	var closestTarget: RaceEntity = null
	var closestDistance: float = INF
	for potentialTarget in RaceEntity.allTargets :
		if potentialTarget == self || potentialTarget == subCharacter :
			continue
		
		var dist = position.distance_to(potentialTarget.position)
		if dist <= targetRange :
			targets.append(potentialTarget)
			if(dist < closestDistance) :
				closestDistance = dist
				closestTarget = potentialTarget
	
	if(currentTarget == null) :
		targetIndex = targets.find(currentTarget, 0)
		currentTarget = closestTarget
	
	#here allow for switching index
	
	if(currentTarget != null) :
		#print(currentTarget)
		currentTarget.targetReticle.show()

And here are some pictures of the game running for reference

image
image1149×638 85.4 KB

Here I am pressing aim and nothing is happening

image
image1149×642 69.4 KB

While here, only when I’m closer to this side does it seem to trigger consistently. I was wondering if maybe the geometry was somehow in the way, or it was calculating distance based on an offsetted position or something?

But the game will consistently print anything I tell it to in the same if statements where I ask it to turn the target visible whenever I press the button. It’d be working perfectly if I didn’t need it to actually turn the target visible, so I’m not sure exactly what’s going on. Any help is appreciated! Thank you for reading!

2

One thing that jumps out immediately to me is that your distance calculations are using position when IMO they should be using global_position. Position is a node’s position relative to its parent, so your code will only do what you’re intending if the player and all enemies have the same parent. Global position is a node’s position relative to an absolute origin. Most nodes in my games, for example, have position exactly 0 or near 0, but global positions can be arbitrary depending on where they are in the game world.

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4

Okay let me try switching it to that!

That would explain why it seems to be working at an offsetted position… Doesn’t explain why it’s printing at the position I thought it would but hey, let’s see.

Thank you!

Edit: Works perfectly now! Thank you so much! Funny how such a simple thing can cause a massive headache

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