[ODE] Making simulation speed independant from computer speed

[William Denniss]

On 11/11/2004, at 10:35 AM, Jon Watte wrote:

>> My second : what kind of calcul should I do to make the simulation 
>> speed
>> being the same on others computers, for example if I get the time
>> elapsed in millisecond.
>
> It's usually a bad idea to use variable time steps. Instead, you should
> run more time steps in succession if you find more time has elapsed.
> If you vary the time step size, your simulations will not be as stable
> as with a fixed time step.

Would it work if you varied the time step size every say 10 or 30 
frames instead of every frame?  What causes the instability, is it the 
frequency that the step size is changed or the simple act of changing 
it?

It would be nice if the system ran at the fastest (i.e. smoothest) pace 
possible depending on what is happening in the simulation.  So if you 
have a mix of more intensive and less intensive scenes, the less 
intensive ones can benefit from the extra CPU cycles.

Thanks,

Will.