.new() not assigning @onready variables

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1

Godot Version

4.5 Stable

Question

I’m having issues with instantiating nodes through .new(). For whatever reason, it seems to leave the @onready variables null, even though I am assigning them. Does .new() not work with @onready variables that are assigned child nodes?

The variables in question:

@onready var personal_bubble: Area2D = $PersonalBubble
@onready var collision_detect: RayCast2D = $CollisionDetect
@onready var sprite: Sprite2D = $Sprite2D
@onready var animation_player: AnimationPlayer = $AnimationPlayer
@onready var animation_tree: AnimationTree = $AnimationTree
@onready var name_tag: Label = $NameTag

My _ready func which, as you can see, depends on one of the @onready variables:

func _ready() -> void:
	personal_bubble.mouse_entered.connect(func():
		sprite.material.set("shader_parameter/color", highlight_color)
		name_tag.label_settings.font_color = highlight_color
		)
	personal_bubble.mouse_exited.connect(func(): fade_highlight = true)
	
	set_up()

The way I’m understanding the documentation is that @onready vars are assigned prior to the _ready() function, so presumably this shouldn’t be happening? Which is why I’m wondering if this is an issue with assigning nodes specifically, though I’m not sure how I’m meant to get around that.

2

.new() only creates an instance of the specified node. Since you’re referencing child nodes, it looks like you probably wanted to instantiate a scene instead?

2 Likes
3

Also note that @onready and _ready is called the first time a Node enters the tree, not when it’s instantiated

1 Like
4

As a side note, strictly speaking, there’s no such thing as “onready variable”. @onready annotation relates only to the initial value assignment to the variable, which is delayed until just before _ready() is called. It’s exactly the same as writing that initial assignment at the start of _ready() function.

2 Likes
5

Ahh okay, I didn’t recognize that there was a difference. I assumed instantiating the root node of a scene would instantiate the scene. This is what I’d want to do instead, I presume?

6

Yes, exactly. (pre)load the scene, then instantiate it.

2 Likes
7

Great, thanks for the help and advice from everyone!