from the name of the property, currentTimeStep suggests to me that one can use this as a way to keep track of how many steps have occurred in the simulation. this therefore suggests that this value will either be the same, or greater than any other point in your code you access it.
// update the timestamp
cpFloat timestamp = _space.currentTimeStep;
// check if anything is new
if(timestamp < _lastTimestamp)
return; // this should never happen, and yet it does...
Have I misunderstood? How would I accomplish what I'm hoping to. i.e. 'simulated amount of time thus far' ??
So if I wanted to keep track of 'simulation time' i could just subclass a ChipmunkSpace, add this property, and whenever step: is called, just add that to my new ivar?
UPDATE: I'll just answer my own question. Yes. This is what I did and it's working as expected. Thanks again for your speedy replies!