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Open source kart racer SuperTuxKart 1.4 is out now with Vulkan in Beta

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The free and open source kart racing game, SuperTuxKart, has released a major new version with lots of fresh goodies to play with. Focusing on fun gameplay and not realistic physics, it could (and often does) get compared to Mario Kart, except it's made by volunteers but it is quite impressive.

Some of the big new stuff in version 1.4 includes:

  • A Lap Trial game mode.
  • Items and stars animation.
  • HiDPI support in SDL2.
  • Beta Vulkan renderer.
  • Balanced starting positions in all official soccer fields.
  • Lots of other smaller balancing changes, track updates and more.

You can swap between the Vulkan and OpenGL renderer with a "--render-driver=vulkan" or "--render-driver=opengl" launch argument, and it seems to stick to the last one you picked. Currently, Vulkan doesn't seem to have a lot of the graphical effects present in OpenGL so it's very much a work in progress.

You can see a previous video I did on Steam Deck below:

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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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6 comments

itscalledreality Nov 1, 2022
Good to hear. I played the battle modes and it was rough with the realistic physics. Will dive back in and try to test out some online play again.


Last edited by itscalledreality on 1 November 2022 at 12:53 pm UTC
Pengling Nov 1, 2022
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The last time I played, the feel and weight of the driving wasn't yet on-par with the series that Super Tux Kart so often gets compared to - I'll have to try this out later to see if that's changed.
Jpxe Nov 1, 2022
I wish they put it on Steam so it would be easier to play and control on Steam Deck
mrdeathjr Nov 1, 2022
In my test curiously with opengl have shaders and other thing but with vulkan dont allow but with zink allow same things than opengl

OpenGL



Vulkan



Zink



Maybe next week add some videos with 3 apis but until finish next bunch of dxvk tests




Last edited by mrdeathjr on 1 November 2022 at 9:31 pm UTC
denyasis Nov 1, 2022
Glad it's getting updated. I think it's a superior game compared to Mari Kart in terms of difficulty, but for some reason, Mario Kart sometimes seems more "fun". I think the banding and Ai for Mario Kart are more geared around the player as opposed to simply winning, and I'm sure that is a tough thing to pull off.

Fun fact, my kids played STK before MK, and having no knowledge of the Mario universe, continue to call some of the items by their STK names, notably, the "Basketball".
PublicNuisance Nov 4, 2022
Was able to get Vulkan working on my gaming desktop on my RX 590 but not the Pinebook Pro. Also hoping for good gains on the Intel HD 530 I have when I get around to testing.
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