I have a function that randomly picks a fish from a list and an AnimatedSprite2d with the same names for animations but I’m getting the error Attempt to call function 'play' in base 'null instance' on a null instance.
I’m pretty sure you’ll need more info to answer this so lmk what else is neccesary
extends Node2D
var rng = RandomNumberGenerator.new()
func weighted_rng(array, weights):
var number = rng.randi_range(0, 100)
for weight in weights:
if weight > number:
return array[weights.find(weight, 0)]
@onready var bobber = $/Angler/Rod/Bobber
@onready var fish_sprite = $/Angler/Rod/CaughtFish/AnimatedSprite2D
var fishing_pool = ["Tuna", "Clownfish", "Flounder"]
var caught_fish
func _ready():
pass
func fish():
caught_fish = fishing_pool[rng.randi_range(0, len(fishing_pool)-1)]
fish_sprite.play(caught_fish)
Attempt to call function ‘play’ in base ‘null instance’ on a null instance.
That means this line is failing:
fish_sprite.play(caught_fish)
And specifically, fish_sprite is null when you try to call .play().
Why It’s Happening
You’re using this line:
@onready var fish_sprite = $/Angler/Rod/CaughtFish/AnimatedSprite2D
However, from your scene tree screenshot, it seems that:
CaughtFish and AnimatedSprite2D are indeed under Rod
But if CaughtFish is not yet added to the scene or is instanced later (e.g. via code), then @onready can’t find it when _ready() runs, so fish_sprite will be null.
Fix Options
Option 1: Ensure CaughtFish Exists at Startup
Make sure that CaughtFish and its child AnimatedSprite2D are already in the scene tree when _ready() runs. If you are instancing it dynamically later, you’ll need to access it after it’s added.
Option 2: Use get_node() at time of use
Instead of caching the node with @onready, directly get it when needed:
