A warning about ini files: Dont use them if you have more than about 100 bits of data you want to store and retrieve. They become REALLY slow after a while (because of all that string matching), then you have to rip them out and start all over again.

I usually build a ridiculously complex level editor which saves game data in binary form, then read it back into a game class inside the game..

However, it becomes a real pain in the ass when you change the format or even just insert a small bit of data anywhere in the file...

Moral of the story: Use file data types which can cope with change (ie. chunks)