I don’t cover gaming much on this site as a) I’m more of a console kid, and b) my buddy Liam aces it over on gamingonlinux.com, but I do make the odd exception — like whenever a new version of SuperTuxKart rolls up to the starting line.
Yep, that revving you hear is the sound of a new release candidate.
The last few releases of SuperTuxKart have, it has to be said, spoiled us in terms of new karts, characters, tracks, features, game modes and more — the upcoming SuperTuxKart 1.4 release is no different!
A stack of visual changes are proffered in the latest builds. Collectable items are said to have a “more dynamic and polished way to interact with players”, something you can (partially) see demoed in this gif:
Eagle-eyed racers will also notice that the Battle Island and Cave X tracks have been revamped. Both now look cleaner, and sharper than they did in previous builds (and look a lot of fun to race around).
There are also improved characters and carts for Konqi, the KDE mascot, who is now said to sport a ‘more mature’ look — PSA: don’t get old Konqi, it’s a trap — and Godette, mascot of the Godot Engine:
Finally, SuperTuxKart 1.4 includes an experimental Vulkan renderer. While SuperTuxKart’s Vulkan render is a very exciting addition I have to stress that it is not default by, er, default.
To enable Vulkan render in SuperTuxKart 1.4 you’ll need to follow the steps on the STK blog. Devs say it has been tested it on a range of hardware, including a Raspberry Pi 4, MoltenVK iPhone simulator, and using Dozen, a project that implements Vulkan on top of Direct3D 12 APIs.
SuperTuxKart 1.4 is currently in release candidate stage. You can download builds for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android from the SuperTuxKart GitHub releases page.
