How do I manage object instances?

Coming from engines such as Godot and unity, When I create an instance of an object, I'm expecting it to inherit properties of that object. But I'm noticing this is not the case in Construct 3 and I'd like to understand it better.

For example, if I create a timeline animation for an object, it's only valid for one specific object. I get 'around' this by creating a scratch scene, animate the object there, and then when I want to animate an actual instance I set the animation instance target first. This works, but seems like a tacky workaround.

Secondly, I wanted to create an instance level property for the contents of a chest, but it seems that if I create an instance variable, the value is shared by all object instances (not just the variable itself).

Thirdly, if I create a TileMap, the first instances values seem to be retained for all future versions on other scenes. I can change the contents and the data stays independent, but it's just... strange.

What am I missing here?

Hey, I'm not quite sure I understand your first issue. However, instance variables are independent, but can be set individually or for all depending on how you set up your events. If you haven't already have a read of these.

construct.net/en/make-games/manuals/construct-3/project-primitives/objects/instances

construct.net/en/make-games/manuals/construct-3/project-primitives/objects/instance-variables

Here's an example of what I'm talking about...

Notice it's referencing EmptyBox - 15. I cannot define a timeline unless it is specifically referencing an instance of an object type. If I were to delete this object typist he timeline would go blank and have no value (this is how I ran into the issue.. I deleted all instances of the empty box and my timeline change to showing nothing). I fixed it by having a dummy layout with the animation defined, but this seems weird and tacky.

For the instance variable thing, I tried it again and this time it worked, so I'm guessing it was a weird IDE bug.

Oh and this is what I mean by associating an instance before playing an animation.