:FindFirstChild() not finding things that are in folder

[AbsurdAwesome101]

So i’m making world generation and basically it’ll pick a random position on the map, get the terrain material, and then place something down if there is a folder for the material. Here is the code:

local function place()
	for i = 1, maxspecimens, 1 do
		local x = rnd:NextInteger(mapz, mapx)
		local z = rnd:NextInteger(mapz, mapx)
		local ret = findterrainY(x,z)
		if ret then
			local pos = ret[1]
			local mat = ret[2]
			if ss.Stuff:FindFirstChild(mat) then
				print("ghibble")
				local folder = ss:FindFirstChild(mat):GetChildren()
				local item = folder[math.random(#folder)]
				local billy = item:Clone()
				local posi = pos + Vector3.new(0,3,0)
				billy.Parent = workspace:WaitForChild("Stuff")
				billy:PivotTo(CFrame.new(posi))
			else
				print("yeah yeaaah yeah")
			end
		end
	end
end

place()

This is what ss.Stuff looks like:

Help would be appreciated

[AbsurdAwesome101]

Also just to clarify, everything else in the script is operating as normal.

[AmoraFolf (Amora)]

is mat an Enum? Because FindFirstChild uses strings to find the first instance with the name equal to the string. Enums will not work.

[YasuYoshida (Yasu)]

What you are doing is using a Material EnumItem as the argument for :FindFirstChild(). However, you should actually be using a string instead. You can convert it to a string by doing the following:

local stringifiedEnumItem = tostring(Enum.Material.Grass)
print(stringifiedEnumItem) --> Enum.Material.Grass

I also notice you have inconsistencies with where you are looking for this material folder:

@AbsurdAwesome101

if ss.Stuff:FindFirstChild(mat) then

@AbsurdAwesome101

local folder = ss:FindFirstChild(mat):GetChildren()

The first check is doing it in the proper place, but the second one is not.

In summary, you need to convert your material enum to a string and ensure you are using :FindFirstChild() on the correct instance. It should look something like this:

local stringifiedMaterialEnum = tostring(mat)
local materialFolder = ss.Stuff:FindFirstChild(stringifiedMaterialEnum)
if materialFolder then
	local itemsWithinFolder = materialFolder:GetChildren()
	...
end