Now, in order to avoid more or less copying our blog post, here just a link, which contains more details and pictures:
http://supertuxkart.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/merry-christmas-and-beta.html
If you should have any problems with getting stk to run (esp. graphical problems): try video different settings. If lower settings fix the problem, then try re-enabling the features. This might immediately tell us which shader might cause the problem. We also need to know your system details - the most important bit is at the beginning of the stdout.log file (to find it: see our FAQ and look for the file stdout.log. It contains details about your graphics card and driver, e.g.:
- {l Code}: {l Select All Code}
[info ] IrrDriver: OpenGL version: 3.1
[info ] IrrDriver: OpenGL vendor: Intel
[info ] IrrDriver: OpenGL renderer: Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000
[info ] IrrDriver: OpenGL version string: 3.1.0 - Build 9.17.10.3517
[info ] irr_driver: GLSL supported.
Oh, we should perhaps explain how to unlock the nice and shiny new tracks (though of course feel free to unlock them using the story mode): Start STK once, create a local user, and quit. Check our FAQ (link above) to find the user config directory and open the file players.xml. Then replace all "none" with "hard", and everything will be unlocked - including "Cocoa" and "Gran Paradiso Island".
Enjoy!
The SuperTuxKart Team