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Max / Javascript programming question

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  • declutterdeclutter

    Minimal programming experience, moderately proficient in Max, learning javascript to help write some more complex Max patches. No previous javascript experience and text-coding experience primarily in BASIC on a ZX 48k in 1986.

    I want to write a javascript that takes inputs describing the position of two paddles, and outputs the position of a ball. I'm roughly getting there, but I can't work out how to get my function to continually output the ball position - it currently only outputs something when it gets a float input.

    Can anyone help or point me towards good javascript tutorials that are relevant for max?

    Thanks! Code below. Don't cringe.

    d

    autowatch = 1;

    inlets = 2;
    outlets = 2;

    var pad1pos;
    var pad2pos;
    var pad1speed;
    var pad2speed;
    var ballpos = 0.0;
    var ballspeed = 0.0;


    function p(a,b,c,d) {

    pad1pos=a;
    pad2pos=b;
    pad1speed=c;
    pad2speed=d;

    if (pad1pos==ballpos) {
    ballspeed=pad1speed;
    }

    if (pad2pos=-ballpos) {
    ballspeed=pad2speed;
    }


    ballpos=ballpos+ballspeed;

    outlet(0, ballpos);
    outlet(1, ballspeed);


    }



  • jhindsightjhindsight

    don't really know js but might be worth having a look at corners as it essential moves a ball around but with added gravity and friction maths. might help

  • galapagoosegalapagoose

    you'll need to send / create an event system that triggers the calculation. inside of max javascript only runs in response to a command. at the moment your output will only be triggered when p() is called by the input.

    you'll need to send the bang from a metro object in max, or alternatively create a timer inside js (but i don't know how to do that).

  • jhindsightjhindsight

    there's a really good delicious max tutorial on youtube which shows you how to do a bouncing ball in max just using dicts. you could probably adapt the triggering mechanism from that to trigger the calc in your js object.

  • declutterdeclutter

    Those are great suggestions, thank you.

  • karaokazekaraokaze

  • oootinioootini

    a couple of tehns recentish patches have nice little javascript bits that would be worth looking at.

  • declutterdeclutter

    Thanks @ootini - yes, I've been using sine-point.js a lot with the arc; it's one of the things that inspired me to get into it!

  • GreaterThanZeroGreaterThanZero

    If the X and Y paddles haven't moved, and the ball's position hasn't changed, why are you looking to waste CPU cycles exactly?

  • karaokazekaraokaze

  • declutterdeclutter

    Thanks @raja :) - I hadn't come across the jitter java folder before.

  • monojimmonojim

    Interesting, I had no idea MAX/MSP supported JavaScript. Is this recent or has it always done?

  • karaokazekaraokaze

  • monojimmonojim

    @karaokaze thanks for the detailed reply that's very interesting