How can you get a node from a mouse collision?

Question

I have a board with cells(spaces), each of which is a node. When the mouse hovers over a cell, I want a variable to be assigned that node. As of now, the mouse can detect when it is hovering over an area, but that's it.

func _physics_process(delta):

    var space = get_world_2d().direct_space_state
    var mousePos = get_global_mouse_position()

    if space.intersect_point(mousePos, 1, [], 2147483647, true, true):
      cell = space.intersect_point(mousePos, 1, [], 2147483647, true, true)
    else:
      cell = null

Comments

I think cell[0].collider is what I was looking for.

Answer 1

i would suggest making your cells be Area2Ds instead of Nodes. from there you can connect the "mouseentered" and "mouseexited" signals. for example:

extends Area2D

var my_variable = null

func _ready() -> void:
    self.input_pickable = true
    self.connect("mouse_entered", self, "_on_Area2D_mouse_entered")
    self.connect("mouse_exited", self, "_on_Area2D_mouse_exited")

func _on_Area2D_mouse_entered() -> void:
    my_variable = "entered"
    print(my_variable)

func _on_Area2D_mouse_exited() -> void:
    my_variable = "exited"
    print(my_variable)

Comments

They are actually 2DNodes, not plain nodes. I am already using that method actually, but because a cell is entered at the same moment it is exited, the variable is often mistakenly assigned null. I want the mouse to find out the cell to avoid this. Do you know how I can do this?

---

you could add

yield(get_tree().create_timer(0.35), "timeout")

at the start of the onArea2Dmouseexited() to set the variable after a short delay upon the mouse exiting the node or you could call the function directly from the onArea2Dmouseentered() function:

func _on_Area2D_mouse_entered() -> void:
    my_variable = "entered"
    use_my_variable()

func use_my_varible():
    var stuff = my_variable
    do_other_stuff(stuff)