Post

A classic issue in asset browsers is that users only see thumbnails of assets. This gives everyone barely any idea of what the assets look like! A good way to solve this is with a Zoo, which showcases all the assets in 3D at the same time. AssetPlacer for Godot can even generate Zoos automatically

With only thumbnails: 1. It doesn't show the scale of the asset, especially relative to other assets. 2. It doesn't show the asset in lighting, for example what it looks like in dusk or dawn lighting, or its materials. 3. It shows the asset from only one angle, which is the angle in the thumbnail.

Using only thumbnails makes it much harder for everyone to work with the assets, and may even prevent some valuable assets from ever being used. It's a problem of data asset management, where the assets themselves may be great, but the user may not be able to find what they need.

Zoos on the other end, because of their 3D representation inside a level, make it possible to see asset's scale, their materials in lighting, and to move around the assets to see what they look like from any angle.

Check out AssetPlacer, a plugin made for Godot by @cookiebadger.bsky.social, as it is a fantastic way of generating such Zoos instantly from any asset group. cookiebadger.itch.io/assetplacer (I don't make any money off of this, I just think it's really cool and should be shared!)

(Also thank you to @kenney.nl for great example assets to showcase with)

"And that's why whenever there's more than 2 assets in an empty level it's called a Zoo!"

When we did the Frontline asset pack for TF2 I made the prop zoo and labeled it frontline_tzu.vmf and I have not stopped being amused with myself for it.