STK 0.6.2a vs. STK 0.7 alpha 1: a brief comparison

With the fresh release of SuperTuxKart 0.7 alpha 1, and several people wanting a comparison with the current stable version (0.6.2a), I had no choice but just do that. :)
I'm using 0.6.2 without the 'a' at the end, since I'm not running in an environment affected by the bug in 0.6.2 that made the 0.6.2a release necessary.

SuperTuxKart 0.6.2

Karts (11): Tux, Wilber, Gnu, Elephpant, Eviltux, Gooey, Hexley, Mozilla, mr. iceblock, Nolok, Puffy.

Tracks (18): Amazonian Journey, Around the Lighthouse, The old mine, Oliver's Math Class, Racetrack, Shifting Sands, Skyline, Snow Mountain, SnowTux Peak, Star Track, Tux Tollway, XR591, On the Beach, Canyon, City, Crescent Crossing, Fort Magma, The Island.

Single Player game modes (6):
Single Race (3) \
--------------------{ Quick Race, Time Trial, Follow the Leader.
Grand Prix (3) /

Multiplayer game modes (7):
Splitscreen with 2-4 players; same modes as in Single Player, with the addition of 3 Strikes Battle under Single Race.

Dependencies:
PLIB, SDL, OpenAL, OpenGL, LibOgg, LibVorbis.


SuperTuxKart 0.7 alpha 1

Karts (13): Tux, Wilber, Gnu, Elephpant, Eviltux, Gooey, Hexley, Mozilla (updated), mr. iceblock, Nolok (updated), Puffy, Adiumy (new), Pidgin (new).

Tracks (3): On the Beach, Around the Lighthouse (updated), Amazonian Journey.

Single Player game modes (3): Normal Race, Time Trial, Follow the Leader.

Multiplayer game modes (0): none.

Dependencies: Irrlicht, OpenAL, OpenGL, LibOgg, LibVorbis.

The above is of course subject to change, but this is basically what you get when you download the alpha version. Not quite exact though, as you get heaps of other improvements in the alpha. I will list a few of them here (sorry if I forgot something important):

• Completely rewritten GUI with support for user-made skins.
• Rewritten control system with support for several keyboard/gamepad configurations and easy "press 'fire' to join"-approach in kart selection menu.
• New driveline system using quads with support for multiple paths.
• Improved camera adjusting to kart speed.
• New kart and track format and exporter with support for animations (IPOs and skeletal animation).
• New visual goodies (see previous postings for screenshots and details).
• Changed driving behavior: "reversed" slipstreaming (follow another kart closely after gaining some speed, and then drive to one of the sides to get a speed boost); skidding penalty (you lose some engine power when skidding; AI don't get this at difficulties 'Intermediate' and 'Expert'), and karts turn more sharply without using the 'sharp turn' key.

Now, that wasn't so bad after all, was it? Regarding content isn't the alpha version appealing, but regarding possibilities is it a real beauty! That is why the alpha version isn't recommended for people wanting to have a fun time playing (well, besides the bugs and features missing); the content will come if we, the players, helps creating it! The old tracks also needs to get exported to the new format, and the STK team would really like some help in that regard as well. And while you're at it with opening the track in Blender - why don't you see if you can improve it a teeny bit? Let's make the 0.7 version of SuperTuxKart rock!

PS: Sorry for the excessive use of the '!' sign, but I got a little carried away. Who wouldn't? ;)