Fans of open-source racing game SuperTuxKart will be stoked to hear devs are busy in the pit lanes pepping the next major update — and it’ll launch this summer.
SuperTuxKart 1.4 was released back in 2022 with a ton of improvements that fine-tune, fix-up, and finesse performance, gameplay, and stability. But it’s been a while since any major new features were put in the tank (so to speak).
But things shift up a gear in SuperTuxKart 1.5.
This summer, SuperTuxKart 1.5 gets off the starting line with a welcome clutch —no, I’m sorry about these puns— of improvements and buffs across desktop and Android builds (yes, the game is on Android too and even supports online play against Linux users):
- Ability to configure maximum FPS within the game options
- New benchmark mode
- Granular game audio level controls
- New LoD (Level of Detail) settings to reduce “popping”
Current versions of the game have a hard limit of 120fps max for desktop builds and only 30fps on Android, which makes the ability to adjust FPS a welcome one. Devs add that game’s physics run independently from framerate @ 120FPS.
The new default level of detail settings deliver an ‘appreciable quality improvement’, albeit at a cost of increased resource demand — but since most systems already run this game exceptionally well the tradeoff is worth it.
Still, like any good race driver, SuperTuxKart devs aren’t just focused on the release directly in front, but the ones further ahead…
SuperTuxKart 2.0 Revving Up
2.0 will deliver more gameplay changes and track updates than any release to date
The next major milestone is SuperTuxKart 2.0. Development is already underway, and will become the main focus once the 1.5 release is out the door.
SuperTuxKart 2.0 will deliver more “major gameplay changes and more significant track updates than any single STK release in the last fifteen years”.
Devs also tease “considerable changes and improvements to all the elements of gameplay”, which is likely to include the following at a minimum:
- 5 new tracks (+ all existing track updated)
- 3 new power-ups
- New kart class
- New in-game AI to race against
- New Story Mode
- Refreshed GUI
- New Music
- Improved add-ons system
As well as vastly improving the visual quality of tracks and enhancing gameplay to make it more fun and engaging SuperTuxKart 2.0 will also offer better performance from its game engine and work will continue on a Vulcan renderer.
Excited?
Some of the changes planned for 2.0 are already available for testing in an ‘experimental’ branch, should you be willing to test drive the changes ahead of time. Obviously don’t expect a flawless ride given those are experimental.
Why not help out?
And if you’re able to pitch in and help get the next release over the finish line, all the better.
SuperTuxKart is free, open-source software developed by a small team of unpaid contributors. The more hands on deck chassis, the faster progress can happy.
Not a code mechanic? Not a problem; creatives are needed to improve music, textures, icons, 3D modelling, etc; and administrative human-input is needed to write documentation, report bugs, work on the website, and so on.