[ODE] Couple of problems with reaching an acceptable stability.

[Vast]

Hey everyone!

Ok, I am using ode and everything is fine, except for the bodies
disturbingly penetrating each other, jittering all the time, and
falling over (box stacks) instead of being steady.

As far as i understand, if the stepsize  is less, the collision
detection would detect collision sooner, if not right away, and
everything would be fine. If i set the stepsize to 0.00001, lol,
everything runs too slowly. But not framerate wise, just the physics
simulation.
If I set the stepsize to something low, my collision becomes a lot
more accurate, and thats what I would want.

Is it possible to have a constant collision detection check?
What could i do to fix this? Because, penetration of surfaces is
unexceptable... in my case anyway.

Also, what tricks does everyone here use to achieve their best
stability, because I am starting to get really really sad, since I
can't reach anything that I would release with my engine.

I didnt even go into joints yet, lol, can't imagine the pain =)

Also, what does everyone here do to stop the jittering? I mean, I
stack about 10 cubes, each one is 0.5 gl-units high/wide/tall, under
different angles (just the y axis angles, y is my vertical axis).
After about 10 cubes, I can see the medium-sized tower starting to
move sideways, just slightly, making it pretty strange.
Oh yes, in my engine, 1 gl-unit is about 1 meter. I set the gravity to
2.5 to simulate the 'normal' gravity, of earth that is. Seems to do
the job pretty well.

Anyway, if everyone could share their stabilization tips, I would
GREATELY appreciate it.

Thanks!
Tim