Physics Behavior Update

Just wondering where we are at as far as getting a more useful Physics Behavior.

As is it's not great for all platforms due to varying vsync rates, and the only work around is the "fixed" mode which adds new issues itself.

Is a frame limit on the todo list, or even on the horizon?

Thanks.

Ashley should this be a feature request, and if so would it go to just physics, or for the runtime itself?

Just wondering where we are at as far as getting a more useful Physics Behavior.

As is it's not great for all platforms due to varying vsync rates, and the only work around is the "fixed" mode which adds new issues itself.

Is a frame limit on the todo list, or even on the horizon?

Thanks.

newtI would recommend taking a look at this feature request

Well that's a different behavior, which would be great, but they don't do things they consider like remaking the wheel. Then you have to make sure it doesn't inherit the same issues that the current physics behavior has.

I would actually really look forward to an additional mode besides fixed and framerate independent, which is similar to fixed updates in Unity. There, the physics update does not have to be executed each frame (or even multiple times). The latter might be a problem for weaker devices, but I think a hybrid that behaves like fixed below 60fps (or another fixed step size), but does not necessarily update every step (so it accumulates the dt until the fixed timestep is reached) would be nice. Similar to the LiquidFun physics, a trigger "before physics update" could provide the control to apply forces synchronized with the physics. It could look janky when combined with objects that are not controlled via physics, but as it would only affect refresh rates > 60, it would probably be not too bad. Theoretically, this could even be worked around by having visual interpolation (either built-in or done with dummy objects).

I think sacrificing a bit of smoothness for consistency would be a good option to have. A lot of physics games need a almost deterministic behavior design-wise, as they rely on more complicated contraptions. It is possible to work around this by adding tons of fallbacks and fail-save mechanics, but then you might as well just create your own physics. The biggest problem is the increased level of testing necessary (as well as having the respective displays).