Make an object orbit another object(3D)

[pancakewitch1]

Im pretty new to programming and have difficulty in math and I want to do a Day and Night Cycle. My structure is like that
SunMoon (Node 3D)
→ Sun (Node 3D)
→ Mesh (Mesh 3d)
–>Directional Light
->Moon(Node 3D)
→ Mesh (Mesh 3d)
–>Directional Light

And the most important thing is this rotation needs to be connected to my Global Time Varibles. Because everything in my game is connected to time. So far so good I made this and thw Sun nor the moon move up or down they just move a few pixels and then back. Idk where I went wrong (Tried to test it first to make it 4 steps)

[gertkeno]

Seems like you are only setting rotation to 4 fixed positions, maybe using some math would rotate better over time? How are you updating GlobalTime’s hour and minute variable?

var mins: float = Global.hour * 60 + Global.minute
var day_percent: float = mins / (24.0 * 60.0)
rotation_degrees.x = 360 * day_percent

What node is your script attached to?

---

Make sure to paste code instead of screencshots

Make it easier for new users to format and preview code in their posts

Posting here so to be linked for later use instead of re-typing this every time Make sure you paste scripts instead of screenshots. To properly format pasted code use three ticks ``` at the start and end of your paste like so: ``` # type or paste code here func _ready() -> void:     print("My ready function!") ``` Results in: # type or paste code here func _ready() -> void: print("My ready function!") Press the </> button or ctrl+e in the forum to create these ticks. [2024-09-02…

[pancakewitch1]

My Node is attached to the SunMoon Node which is the parent node of the Sun and Moon. And by rotation only the parent node the children would come with. Weirldy enough I tried this and only the sun moved.

But if I use
rotation_degrees.y = 360 * day_percent both the sun and moon will orbit the parent node. Aslo when I use .z. But not in the direction I want. But with .x only the sun moves and only tiny bits

[hyvernox]

What are the local position of sun and moon?

[gertkeno]

Sounds like it’s down to where the child nodes Sun and Moon are relative to this SunMoon node.

[normalized]

SunMoon’s origin is the center of rotation so both sun and moon nodes need to be away from that origin. Then it’s simply a mater of choosing the proper rotation axis, which needs to be perpendicular to “ecliptic” plane, and just rotate a little bit each frame in _process(), or if the cycle is driven by some phase parameter, set the rotation proportional to that parameter.