SuperTux
| Company type | Open-source software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | Bill Kendrick |
Key people | SuperTux Development Team |
| Products | SuperTux (video game) |
| Website | supertuxproject |
SuperTux is a free, open-source 2D side-scrolling platformer that draws inspiration from Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. franchise. Players take control of Tux, the official Linux kernel mascot.
Plot
The storyline begins on Icy Island, where Tux is enjoying a picnic with his partner Penny. The villain Nolok suddenly appears, renders Tux unconscious, and abducts Penny. After regaining consciousness, Tux sets off on an adventure across Icy Island and the Forest to save her.
Gameplay
The gameplay of SuperTux closely mirrors that of Super Mario Bros. Players guide Tux as he jumps beneath question-mark blocks to gather coins or power-ups such as the egg, which increases Tux’s size and grants him an additional hit point. Other enhancements include trampolines, invincibility stars, fire and ice flowers that allow Tux to shoot projectiles, earth flowers that provide a miner’s helmet with a spotlight and temporary invulnerability, and air flowers that enable gliding, higher leaps, and faster speeds. When Tux takes damage after acquiring a flower, he loses the helmet and returns to his enlarged form. The objective in each stage is to reach the finish line, usually indicated by poles with a checkerboard pattern.
Boss battles conclude each world, featuring opponents like the Yeti on Icy Island or the Ghosttree in Forest World.
Apart from the two principal worlds, the game offers additional community-contributed levels including four Bonus Islands, holiday-themed packs for Christmas and Halloween, and a retro-style collection titled Revenge in Redmond released for the 20th anniversary in 2020. Users can design their own stages using the integrated Level Editor or add custom levels manually.
Extra levels can be obtained through the built-in add-on manager or installed by hand. This manager provides access to more than 25 add-ons, with new content frequently shared on forums or Discord channels before being incorporated following quality checks.
Development and release
Initially developed by Bill Kendrick, SuperTux is currently overseen by the SuperTux Development Team. The codebase is mainly written in C++. A significant portion of the artwork was created by Ingo Ruhnke, known for developing Pingus.
The game employs Simple DirectMedia Layer as cross-platform middleware supporting OpenGL and OpenAL. Both its physics and game engines are proprietary creations. Metadata is managed using S-Expressions in Lisp, while scripting is handled via Squirrel.
In January 2022, SuperTux became available on Steam as an Early Access release, broadening its audience.
Reception
In 2007, Punto Informatico commended the game for its enjoyable ambiance and its free-to-play nature. By 2008, British Columbia’s school district #73 had adopted SuperTux as part of their transition to free and open-source software solutions.
The title has been ported to numerous platforms such as Wii Homebrew, GP2X, Pocket PC, PSP, and Palm webOS. Additionally, it was planned for inclusion in the EVO Smart Console launch scheduled for April 2009.
See also
External links
- 2004 video games
- BeOS games
- GP2X games
- Linux games
- Open-source video games
- Platformers
- MacOS games
- Video games developed in the United States
- Video games set in Antarctica
- Video game clones
- Windows games
- Single-player video games
- Side-scrolling video games
- Tux video games
- Video games with user-generated gameplay content