Occasional stuttering with SceneKit when touching the screen - swift

Question

When I interact with the screen the objects in my game start to stutter. My FPS is at 60 and doesn't drop but the stuttering is still prevalent. I believe my problem is how I'm animating the objects on screen(code below).If anybody could help I would appreciate it.
I have an x amount of nodes inside an array called _activePool. In the Update function I am moving the nodes x position inside _activePool, adding new nodes when the last node in _activePool position is <= 25 and removing the first node in _activePool if it's position is <= -25.
if _cycleIsActive{
for obj in _activePool{
//move the obj in _activePool
obj.position.x += Float(dt * self.speedConstant);
}
let lastObj = _activePool.last;
if (lastObj?.position.x)! + getWidthOfNode(node: lastObj!) + Float(random(min: 15, max: 20)) <= 25{
// get new obj(pattern) and add to _activePool
self.getPatternData(sequencePassedIn: selectedSeq, level: self._currentLevel, randomPattern: randomPattern());
}
let firstObj = _activePool.first;
if (firstObj?.position.x)! + getWidthOfNode(node: firstObj!) <= -25{
// remove object and return to specific pool
firstObj?.removeFromParentNode();
returnItems(item: firstObj!);
_activePool.removeFirst();
}
}
I create several arrays and add them to a dictionary
func activatePools(){
temp1Pool = ObjectPool(tag: 1, data: []);
dictPool[(temp1Pool?.tag)!] = temp1Pool;
temp2Pool = ObjectPool(tag: 2, data: []);
dictPool[(temp2Pool?.tag)!] = temp2Pool;
for i in 0... dictPool.count {
obstacleCreationFactory(factorySwitch: i);
}
}
Creating my obstacles(enemies)
func obstacleCreationFactory(factorySwitch: Int){
Enemies = Enemy();
switch factorySwitch {
case 0:
for _ in 0...100{
let blueEnemy = Enemies?.makeCopy() as! Enemy
blueEnemy.geometry = (Enemies?.geometry?.copy() as! SCNGeometry);
blueEnemy.geometry?.firstMaterial?.diffuse.contents = UIColor.blue;
blueEnemy.tag = 1;
temp1Pool?.addItemToPool(item: blueEnemy);
}
case 1:
for _ in 0...100{
let redEnemy = Enemies?.makeCopy() as! Enemy
redEnemy.geometry = (Enemies?.geometry?.copy() as! SCNGeometry);
redEnemy.geometry?.firstMaterial?.diffuse.contents = UIColor.red;
redEnemy.tag = 2;
temp2Pool?.addItemToPool(item: redEnemy);
}
default:
print("factory error");
}
}

Answer 1

Without being able to look at the rest of your code base it’s really difficult to guess what would be causing your issue.
If somewhere you are creating a ton of temporary objects in a loop somewhere, you might consider creating a local autorelease pool to prevent memory spikes. Here is a good article that describes why in some situations it’s a good idea.
You could also be calling some particularly expensive functions on a timer or something. It’s difficult to say.
In short, you should consider using Xcode’s Profiling tools (called Instruments). Specifically I would recommend using Time Profiler to examine what functions are taking the most time and causing those spikes.
Here is a great WWDC session video that shows how you can use the time profiler, I’d recommend regularly profiling your app, especially when you have an issue like this.