August 27, 2020

SupertuxKart 1.2 release

The SuperTuxKart team is happy to announce the release of version 1.2. Online play is still compatible with previous 1.x versions.


 
SuperTuxKart 1.2 official trailer

Downloads

Due to complaints about download speed on SourceForge, from this release onward we will also upload our binaries and source tarball on GitHub. This will be offered as a fallback in case of SourceForge downtime or slow download speed. The SourceForge download will still be here.

Here are more details for the 1.2 release:

What's new?

The release candidate blogpost explains some of the more important changes from 1.1. But here is an overview:

  • Much better gamepad support, by using SDL2 instead of Irrlicht for window creation
    • SuperTuxKart now support gamepad hotplugging
    • Most gamepad related bugs have been fixed as well
    • Easier remapping
  • New settings to customize the game's camera
  • On Android, all official tracks are now included in the release build
  • A new "Cartoon" theme (the "Modern" theme previously announced) featuring an alternative icon set


  • An improved online rating system. Online rankings have been reset to go along with it.
  • The game's window can now be resized in-game without going in the options
  • The minimap now shows basketballs
  • Haiku support
  • In Android, use a custom splash screen at launch and a better progress indicator during data extraction after download
  • Any addon kart can now be used online even if other players don't have it.
  • Three improved karts : a new Kiki kart and improved Pidgin and Puffy karts
  • Add support for IPv6 LAN servers
  • Improved server creation speed and performance
  • In-game creation of a racing server is now possible on iOS devices
  • An improved tutorial with free-flow racing
  • Support for SVG icons
  • New tips for soccer mode
  • Team chat for team games
  • And many many enhancements and fixes too small to be listed here, but that add up

What's next?

SuperTuxKart development efforts will continue in the 1.x series, with another release targeted in a few months. While not as catchy as brand new tracks, gameplay mechanics or graphics effects, the changes will once again improve player experience.

Beyond more polish, development on Vulkan support is planned to begin as well as general improvements in the rendering engine for more performance.

We have also sent another e-mail to previous contributors for the dual-licensing of STK code, with a more detailed background. Check here for information.

After this, our focus will switch to a 2.0 release that will deliver many new or overhauled tracks, gameplay changes, and much more. The work on improved tracks has already begun.

SuperTuxKart is a free open-source game that depends on community contributions. There is no shortage of things to work on for programmers and 3D artists alike.

How quickly the next releases will come and how much content they bring might also depend on you!

You can download SuperTuxKart 1.2 here or here.