How I Fixed Relative Docking & Physics Drift in UE5 (Aether Framework Deep Dive)

The report covers various physics issues encountered in the development of an open-world space sim built using the Aether Framework in Unreal Engine 5. Four specific problems were identified and addressed:

1. Jittery Rotation on Moving Carriers: The problem was that rotational smoothing was bypassed during relative movement, causing a harsh frame-by-frame stutter. The solution involved synchronizing Aim Director updates with netcode prediction ticks and re-enabling rotational smoothing for relative zones. Smoothing offsets were interpolated using FQuat::Slerp for smooth transitions.

2. Violently Oscillating / Sticky Landing Gear: The issue lay in the calculation of landing gear suspension forces, which lacked delta-time scaling and impulse limits. The solution was to scale damping forces by mass, frequency, and time step in AetherLandingGearSim.cpp. A controlled, downward force vector was applied to magnetic landing gear behavior.

3. Rolling 90° Caused Unwanted Sideways Drift: The aerodynamic lift vector calculation contained a matrix transformation flaw, resulting in lift being applied straight up against world gravity instead of being relative to the ship's local Up axis. The solution computed lift directly along the local roof vector and scaled it by atmospheric density, ensuring proper orientation regardless of ship rotation.

These fixes aimed to eliminate physics jitter, oscillation, and unwanted drift in the simulated space environment, improving overall gameplay stability and realism.