I’ve been a big fan of SuperTux ever since I discovered it last year. Development appeared to be stalled for a while but has recently picked back up. Now that I’m on Linux, it was fairly straightforward to compile the development version and preview the next milestone for myself. The short answer is that it’s not anywhere near ready yet. The longer answer is that it already has lots of new features: new graphics, new music, new moves, new enemies, and new levels to showcase it all.

The biggest new feature is the omnidirectional maps. In milestone 1, each level only filled the screen from top to bottom, and Tux could only move to the right. In milestone 2, maps can span multiple screen heights, and Tux can move in all four directions (gravity-permitting, of course). This opens up all sorts of possibilities for richer levels, puzzle/maze maps, secret areas, you name it.

In anticipation of SuperTux M2 (which, I really need to emphasize, is nowhere near ready yet), I made a short screencast. Obviously any number of things could change before M2 is released. I have no inside track on ongoing development; I’m just a fan.

(No captions file this time because the video has no narration.)

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Eight comments here (latest comments)

  1. As the egg/orb/don’t-call-it-a-magic-mushroom would say, “Excellent.”

    When I first downloaded SuperTux, I was delighted to find that my USB gamepad worked just fine with Fedora circa 2004. I downloaded the game again a few weeks ago on my old Mac Mini, playing through the first few levels with the keyboard. I was planning to pull the gamepad out this week to check out its Mac compatibility with SuperTux and Lego Star Wars.

    And come to think of it, the gargling sound Tux makes when he picks up a fireflower isn’t any more nonsensical than aspects of the Lego game. Why does Jar-Jar jump so high?

    — Mike Mariano #

  2. > Now that I’m on Linux, it was fairly straightforward to compile the development version and preview the next milestone for myself.

    GNU/Linux. Ahem.

    Darn that nomenclature! ;-)

    — Dylan #

  3. Mike Speaks Nerd » Blog Archive » No Joy For SuperTux (pingback)

  4. It reminds me more of Commander Keen now, than Super Mario Brothers.

    — jhn #

  5. SuperTux rocks. I discovered it after installing Ubuntu and loved it so much I downloaded it for my OS X partition. I’ve beaten the game twice and have torn my hair out at times with some of the bonus levels (especially in the second one). You should also check out Frozen Bubble. Overall both are highly addicting. =)

    — mackdieselx27 #

  6. supertux rocks!

    — Anonymous #

  7. First, Super Tux rocks. There’s no doubting that. But, FOREST THEMES!?!? HE’S A PENGUIN!!!! Last time I checked, penguins live in Antarctica, and, occaisonally, down south on some sandy beaches. BUT NOT IN THE FOREST!!! arghghghgg. But otherwise, M2 looks awesome.

    — alex #

  8. It’s very reminiscent of Commander Keen 
    Here is the link to a fan site for anyone that’s interested… http://www.commander-keen.com
    Quoted text from the fan site
    Commander Keen is one of
    the best adventure games developed by ID
    Software, which is the same company that has developed the famous games
    Doom and Quake. These Commander Keen series were published by Apogee
    Games in the early 1990s. The game is now known all over the word
    because it was initially released as shareware (=software that is
    available free of charge on a trial basis). A total of seven official
    games were released for PC by ID software, a huge number of unofficial
    fan games has however been released also.

    — Pendragon #

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