SuperTuxKart is a free kart racing game featuring adorable open source mascots like Tux, Gnu, and Wilber racing through otherworldly tracks. With a story mode, split-screen local play, and online multiplayer across various modes/races like time trials, battles, and soccer, it's become a favorite among FOSSers across the world.
The game is proof that open source game development can deliver a polished, engaging gaming experience for players of all ages.
And now, with the release of SuperTuxKart 1.5, the developers have achieved a notable milestone before their next major release, SuperTuxKart Evolution.
🆕 SuperTuxKart 1.5: What's New?
This was my first time playing SuperTuxKart!
The update introduces a favorites system that lets you mark preferred tracks and karts with hearts for quick access. Now, when you are in the track or kart selection menu, your favorite ones will be shown first, with a dedicated tab.
In the graphics department, there have been some substantial upgrades with minimal performance impact. The game now employs x16 anisotropic filtering on all but the lowest settings, features improved level of detail and shadow mapping, and implements a built-in frame limiter that can be set anywhere from 30 to 1000 FPS.
As for the interface, it now has six new themes; the Classic theme gains a "Desert" variant, while the Cartoon theme expands with five new color variants. All of these are paired with a unique background that shows a scene from one of the in-game tracks.
The new UI skins are pretty. ✨
Another addition is the new benchmark mode that is designed to help players optimize settings for their specific hardware. This tool provides detailed performance metrics beyond simple average FPS, making it easier to tweak the game's graphical settings for the most optimal performance.
On the audio front, several improvements have been made in this release. The improved sound scale allows headphone users to easily pick their ideal sound level. In-race, the switch power up sound is now global to help players avoid bad surprises.
Accessibility has been expanded with new language support. Filipino, Rusyn, and Welsh now have complete translations, while partial translations for Hindi, Bengali, and Georgian join the roster with specific fonts needed to render their scripts.
Content additions include three new egg hunts in Black Forest, Gran Paradisio Island, and The Old Mine, plus three new soccer fields: Oasis, Hole Drop, and XR-4R3N4.
📥 Download SuperTuxKart 1.5
You can start racing right away as this release is available for Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android. You can download the game from the official website, with the GitHub repository containing the source code and changelog information.
Also, with SuperTuxKart 1.5 out, the development team is now shifting their focus to getting SuperTuxKart Evolution ready.
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