Data tables are essentially text/.csv files (excel-files, lol). They are pretty compact, albeit somewhat fugly to work with.
You could always make a structure/blueprint with all the right fields to hold what you want but to populate it you need to type stuff in, dropdowns, or use a…data-table…
Honestly speaking, for anything I need, I cannot see why a DT wouldn’t suffice. Plus it’s plaintext.
What doesn’t the current DT do for you?