Why does my if-statement not work when I have (x-100) instead of x?

[Darkmisc]

TL;DR

I'd like enemies to fire a shot once they get behind the player. I have an if-statement to fire a shot if position<x. This works. However, the if-statement doesn't work if I write "if position<x-100".

Hi everyone

I'm making a shoot 'em up in which enemies travel right to left towards the player. If they get behind the player, they are supposed to fire a shot at the player.

The code below for the enemy works, but I'd like a slight delay before the shot is fired.

[CODE title="enemy"]func _physics_process(delta):


position+= speed*movement_vector*delta

if position.x <=Global.player_pos.x and shot_fired==false:
launch_proximity()
[/CODE]

[CODE title="shoot_laser" highlight="6"]func launch_proximity():
shot_fired=true
player_pos=Global.player_pos.x
shoot_pos = player_pos

if position.x<shoot_pos:
print("bam")
var child_node = $EnemyBarrel/Muzzle
Global.rot = $EnemyBarrel.rotation
var l = LASER.instance()

get_parent().add_child(laser_parent)
laser_parent.add_child(l)
l.global_position = child_node.global_position
l.rotation = $EnemyBarrel.rotation
add_child(l)[/CODE]

However, the enemy won't fire if I have this at line 6
[CODE title="line 6"] if position.x<shoot_pos -100:

[/CODE]Does anyone know why?

Thanks

EDIT: I have the player in the middle of the screen when the enemies pass, so I don't think it's because the enemies are off-screen by the time they are 100 pixels behind the player.

Also, I've used position.x<shoot_pos - rand_range(0, 200) and they've never fired with that code either.

 

[pbuk]

To debug this kind of problem, insert a line print(position.x, shoot_pos) before the test that is not doing what you expect. Edit: If it is still doing something strange, try print(type(position.x), type(shoot_pos)).

When you post code here, make sure you select an appropriate language: GDScript is based on Python, so use Python.

You will find that it is much easier to debug code if you use consistent spacing, so for instance
[CODE lang=Python title="shoot_laser" highlight="6"]func launch_proximity():
shot_fired = true
player_pos = Global.player_pos.x
shoot_pos = player_pos

if position.x < shoot_pos:
print("bam")
var child_node = $EnemyBarrel / Muzzle
Global.rot = $EnemyBarrel.rotation
var l = LASER.instance()

get_parent().add_child(laser_parent)
laser_parent.add_child(l)
l.global_position = child_node.global_position
l.rotation = $EnemyBarrel.rotation
add_child(l)
[/code]

It is a good idea to follow the Python style guide https://peps.python.org/pep-0008/.

 

[FactChecker]

I think some statements about GDscript operator precedence and short-circuit evaluation are a little vague.
This might be over-cautious and make no difference, but if things are acting strange, I would use more parentheses to force the operation order as you want it:

if ( position.x < (shoot_pos -100) ):

 

[Vanadium 50]

Some general debugging advice:

1.State the language you are using - don't make us guess. This looks like a precedence problem, which can be language-specific.

2. Give us the shortest possible piece of code that shows the problem. Often the process of finding this also provides a strong hint as to the answer.

 

[FactChecker]

Also, I've used position.x<shoot_pos - rand_range(0, 200) and they've never fired with that code either.

Making it more complicated is not likely to help. A lot of things could go wrong. Is position.x global?
I see a recent edit. Have you tried any of our suggestions? Especially try @pbuk 's suggestion in post #2 to print the values of interest. When things are behaving strangely, it is often because the variable values are not what you expected.

 

[Darkmisc]

Thanks. It works now.

This is the code I'm using

[CODE lang="python" title="func _physics_process(delta):" highlight="6"]func _physics_process(delta):
position+= speed*movement_vector*delta
if position.x + rand <=Global.player_pos.x and shot_fired==false:
launch_proximity()[/CODE]

[CODE lang="python" title="shoot_laser"]func launch_proximity():
shot_fired=true
var child_node = $EnemyBarrel/Muzzle
Global.rot = $EnemyBarrel.rotation
var l = LASER.instance()

get_parent().add_child(laser_parent)
laser_parent.add_child(l)
l.global_position = child_node.global_position
l.rotation = $EnemyBarrel.rotation
add_child(l)[/CODE]

I think I needed to have my if-statement in the physics process.