Let's talk about where your enemies actually live
Yesterday we turned Chloe into a proper game object, so for the first time the "who" of our game has somewhere real to call home (here's how we did it). Good. But the mall was never going to stay quiet for long. The monsters are on their way - and odds are there's already a stash of enemy ideas somewhere.
So here's a question worth sitting with for a second: where do those ideas live right now?
Maybe it's a message sent to a friend at 2 AM. A phone note that reads "fast zombie, maybe armor, also explodes." A scribble on the back of a receipt. Or a paragraph buried in a design doc somewhere, waiting to be dug up.
It is important to remember that any creativity begins with a little chaos. The problems start later, when the deferred "later" finally comes. You look at this whole bestiary, and your head starts spinning from the amount of information you need to work with. And it no longer resembles game design, but archeology...
Let's look at the following steps to optimize development
Why a folder (and why a collection, specifically)
Let's start with the basics - people group related or similar things in one place, whether it's a drawer in a closet, a bookshelf, or a folder on a computer. IMS Creators follows the same principle: it groups items in a single directory. And when a group is a bunch of similar things, like enemies, there's a special kind of folder for that. It's called Collection.
What makes a collection worth using over a plain folder?
First, the structure becomes monolithic. The collection is strictly typed. Since each enemy is a Game object, they have an absolutely identical set of characteristics, which makes it easier to compare and balance them.
Secondly, the chaos of disparate files is becoming a thing of the past. You no longer have to rush through fifteen different notes. The entire bestiary is now assembled in one place and accessible in the palm of your hand - ready to be sorted, duplicated and edited in one click.
Building the Enemies collection, step by step
This really only takes a few minutes, and it holds up no matter how big the roster gets.
Start with the collection itself
Find the Create folder button on the left panel - or right-click an existing folder and pick Create folder from the menu, choose Collection. That's the right call for a family of similar elements.
The dialog that pops up already has Collection selected. Type the name Enemies, tell it the collection will hold Game object elements, and hit Create.
Drop in the first enemy
With the collection open as a table, click Add row. That's all it takes - IMS Creators drops in a new element on the spot, auto-named Untitled - 2 and typed as Game object (the collection locks the type automatically, so it's not possible to make a mismatched element).
A game object shows up with a few blocks: Gallery for art, Description for a brief summary, Properties, where the structured fields live. Rename the new row: call it Mall-walker. Then add the fields every enemy should have:
- Health - a Number field.
- Speed - a Number field.
- Damage - a Number field.
Then fill in the values. Mall-walker, the standard shambling mall denizen, gets Health = 60, Speed = 30, Damage = 8.
Now the hungrier one from the food court: click Add row again (type's still Game object), rename it Food-court runner, and give it Health = 40, Speed = 75, Damage = 5.
Two enemies, comparable at a glance. Same fields, different numbers.
Make variants without retyping anything
Say a heavier armored Mall-walker is needed. There's no need to rebuild the sheet from scratch.
Right-click the Mall-walker element in the column on the left and choose Duplicate. IMS Creators copies the whole thing and opens the new one - already named Mall-walker - 2, waiting to be fixed.
Rename it: right-click, choose Rename, and call it Mall-walker (armored). Then just nudge Health up to 120 and Damage to 12. One edit on a copy, and there's a brand-new enemy. That's the good stuff.
Renaming is actually safe here
Here's a small detail that saves a lot of trouble: renaming breaks nothing. Because links point to the element - not to a typed-out string - renaming Food-court runner to Gourmet sprint won't orphan any references that look at it. Elements are tied to each other through references, not through concrete values like a title or a particular parameter, so those references keep working no matter how titles or properties change.
To rename: right-click the element and choose Rename (or just double-click its title when it's open). Type the new name, confirm, done.
And while inside the collection, there's a nice bonus: the collection page shows everything as a table (or a grid of cards) that can be Sorted and Filtered - sort by Health, or filter down to only the armored ones. Keeping a roster organized in IMS Creators collections is a pleasant, effortless habit.
Take a look at what's on disk
Open the project folder and peek inside Enemies/. Every enemy is just a file - Mall-walker.ima.json, Food-court runner.ima.json - an open JSON document holding exactly the fields that were typed in.
What do we get in the end
- Everything at once. Open
Enemiesand see all the grouped notes in one place. - Duplicate, don't retype. Any hero you create later will take less time, because you will have a prepared base.
- Easy balancing. Common numeric fields allow you to arrange parameters in a row and compare them in a view that is convenient for both development and game designers.
- Engine-ready. Structured fields are data that can be easily read by the engine.
Next up: making the design and the code agree
Now there is a collection of "Enemies" - one pure source of truth for the entire development team.
Tomorrow the goal is to make the design doc and the code finally agree: open that enemy .ima.json, look at the structured JSON behind it, and see how a real game engine can just load it.
FAQ
What is the difference between a folder and a collection?
A folder is a plain container - it'll hold any mix of elements thrown at it. A collection is a folder whose job is to group a set of similar elements of one chosen type, so they behave like a comparable, organized list. Both live in the project tree.
How do I create a collection?
Click Create folder (on the left panel or via a folder's menu), choose the Collection type when it asks, then enter a name, pick the element type the collection holds, and click Create. It's ready for elements the moment it exists.
Can a collection hold any type of element?
A collection is typed, so it holds elements of one chosen base type - say, Game object. That's what keeps the group comparable: every enemy in Enemies shares the same fields. The type doesn't have to be one of the preset ones - a user can create and edit their own base objects and use those as collection types too. The type can be changed later if needed.
How do I make a copy of an element?
Right-click it and choose Duplicate. IMS Creators copies the whole element and opens the new one, already named like Mall-walker - 2, ready to be renamed and edited.
How do I rename an element without breaking the links to it?
Right-click it and choose Rename (or double-click its title on the open page), type the new name, and confirm. Since IMS Creators links to the element itself - not to a typed-out name - references keep working after a rename.
Where do enemy game objects actually live on disk?
As plain files inside the collection's folder - e.g. Enemies/Mall-walker.ima.json. Each is an open JSON document holding the element's structured fields, so any editor, git, and a game engine can read it.