Changing instance colors

There's a few issues with the scripts. Starting with the first script: One issue is that you are using a variable that has not be defined (mat), though the debugger hasn't caught that error because its stuck on line 11. The issue at line 11 is that you are assigning the albedo to a color function, rather than to a new color object.

So, to fix script 1, the following changes are needed to the _ready function:

func _ready() -> void:
	var b1 = spawner_white_pawn.instance()
	b1.set_translation(Vector3(0, 5, 0))
	b1.get_node("WhitePawn/Pawnmtl")

	# since material is a new variable, we need to add "var"
	var mat = b1.get_surface_material(0)
	# the color property for the albedo map is called
	# "albedo_color"
	mat.albedo_color = Color(0, 0, 0, 1)
	
	add_child(b1)

For script 2, the issue is the same as script 1 when it comes to the mat variable. You just need to define it using var:

func _ready():
	var to_mesh = get_node("WhitePawn/Pawnmtl")
	var material = to_mesh.get_surface_material(0)

@Godswarth said: Thanks but for some reason on script 2 the 3rd line is giving me an error.

"Attempt to call function 'get_surface_material' in base 'null instance' on a null instance".

Okay, so that means that the node in to_mesh was not found. Does the node that the second script is attached to have a child node called WhitePawn, with a sub child called Pawnmtl?

It also says: The local variable 'material' is declared but never used in the block. if this is intended, prefix it with an underscore: '_material'

Yup, that's because in the script above you are not using the variable anywhere. If you do not need to do anything with the material variable, then you can just delete it.

Also for some reason it doesn't appear that the node is even being found. In the error log it says:

"E 0:00:00.637 get_node: Node not found: WhitePawn/Pawnmtl. <C++ Error> Condition "!node" is true. Returned: __null <C++ Source> scene/main/node.cpp:1381 @ get_node() <Stack Trace> Pawnmtl.gd:11 @ _ready()"

I tried to change change the node on the script 2 to

func ready(): var to_mesh = get_node("") var material = to_mesh.get_surface_material(0)

but I still got the same error this time saying: get_node: Node not found.

Are you trying to get the current node? Is the second script attached to the node you are wanting to get the material from? If so, you don't need to use get_node but instead can call the functions directly:

func _ready():
	var _material = get_surface_material(0)

Is the issue about the KinematicBody not having the method on the first script, or the second script?

If it is the first script, maybe try this and see if it works?

extends spatial

onready var spawner_white_pawn = preload("res://scenes/WhitePawn.tscn")

func _ready() -> void:

	var b1 = spawner_white_pawn.instance()
	b1.set_translation(Vector3(0,5,0))
	# assuming the root node in the WhitePawn scene is called
	# "WhitePawn", we can skip it and just try to get the MeshInstance node from
	# the scene
	b1.get_node("Pawnmtl")
	# since material is a new variable, we need to add "var"
	var mat = b1.get_surface_material(0)
	# the color property for the albedo map is called
	# "albedo_color"
	mat.albedo_color = Color(0, 0, 0, 1)
	add_child(b1)

Based on the error, the issue seems to be that the node that is having get_surface_material called on it is a KinematicBody node rather than a MeshInstance, so that means we're getting the wrong node.

If it is the second script, then the issue is probably that the script needs to get the MeshInstance node first. If it's a child node called Pawnmtl, then the second script's _ready function should be adjusted to the following:

func _ready():
	var material = get_node("Pawntml").get_surface_material(0)