STK 1.2
STK 1.2 is a version released on August 27, 2020. It is compatible with all 1.x versions in terms of gameplay.
Contents
Visible changes
- Addon karts are now available for online play independently of server (which can have or not have those karts) thanks to Benau. Those players who have the kart used by a player will see it; other players will see Tux instead. For compatibility, all addon karts will have the same hitbox as Tux (so all players seeing Tux don't have to worry about its hitbox). Previously, addon karts were only available on servers without spectating/live join, and only in case the server and all the players have those karts (however, those servers are still the only servers to have correct hitboxes).
- Ranking was changed significantly by Alayan, and the previous ranking table was reset.
- Some karts were changed: Kiki was completely redesigned by Typhon306 and McRavenINDo, Pidgin and Puffy were improved by CrystalTheEevee, Beastie's animation was improved by D_ft Kid.
- A new Cartoon theme was introduced by LCP and QwertyChouskie, which came alongside many improvements in user interface code.
- New cameras and camera settings, in particular for Soccer mode, were introduced by luffah.
- Soccer also gained goal messages by riso, and team chat by Benau (which can also be used in CTF).
- The minimap now has basket ball indicators while racing (by Alayan) and kart orientation in soccer (by riso).
- Mobile players now have own icon thanks to riso who also made many other improvements.
- Windows are resizable during the game thanks to Benau.
- Timers are showing times in milliseconds thanks to Fouks.
Technical changes
- Since 1.2, SDL2 is used for window creation thanks to Benau. This is a big step for STK for better gamepad support. However, there are improvements to be made for some devices.
- STK now runs in HaikuOS thanks to AlwaysLivid.
- Fribidi and libraqm are not used anymore, while SheenBidi is now required to build STK.
- Many bug fixes, improved performance and other features by contributors mentioned before, and also CodedOre and GuillaumeBft.
Changes outside of the game code
New addons are usually not included in any changelogs, but the community was very active creating something new between the two releases. In total, there were 23 addon karts (including 3 featured ones), 100 tracks and soccer fields (including 16 featured), and 4 battle arenas (including 1 featured) released or updated during this time. The most creative artist during this time was skindoormimiz, who made or updated 44 tracks, 2 battle arenas and 5 soccer fields.
STK had a great popularity boost due to the lockdown since March 2020 which brought many new players.
Several major events were held:
- Soccer Tournament in April, May, June, and August, held by Bretagne servers and Frankfurt servers;
- STK Super-Tournament in July, held by Rocker's servers;
- Several public Grands Prix were held by Frankfurt servers: Gran Premio di mimiz (3 times), Grand Prix of Frankfurt (3 times).
Between the releases, a few more popular servers were created: Rocker's servers, STK Latinoamérica, Sweden Ranked Race.
Trailer
The trailer presenting some of the changes was kindly created by Wax.
Consequences
As always, an increase in STK downloads happened after the release.
The ranked servers became much more popular after the ranking reset. Several experienced players returned to ranked servers on a constant basis.
Download
Here you can choose your preferred format to install. Or check whether your OS/distribution already has it, or just use git.
