diff --git a/packages/tiled/lib/src/objects/tiled_object.dart b/packages/tiled/lib/src/objects/tiled_object.dart
index 239b1bb..2b8e006 100644
--- a/packages/tiled/lib/src/objects/tiled_object.dart
+++ b/packages/tiled/lib/src/objects/tiled_object.dart
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ part of tiled;
 /// Can contain at most one: <properties>, <ellipse> (since 0.9),
 /// <point> (since 1.1), <polygon>, <polyline>, <text> (since 1.0)
 class TiledObject {
-  int id;
+  int? id;
   String name;
   String type;
   int? gid;
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ class TiledObject {
   bool point;
   bool rectangle;
 
-  Template? template;
+  Future<Template?>? template;
   Text? text;
   bool visible;
 
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class TiledObject {
   String get class_ => type;
 
   TiledObject({
-    required this.id,
+    this.id,
     this.name = '',
     this.type = '',
     this.gid,
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ class TiledObject {
     final width = parser.getDouble('width', defaults: 0);
     final rotation = parser.getDouble('rotation', defaults: 0);
     final visible = parser.getBool('visible', defaults: true);
-    final id = parser.getInt('id');
+    final id = parser.getIntOrNull('id');
     final gid = parser.getIntOrNull('gid');
     final name = parser.getString('name', defaults: '');
 
@@ -126,7 +126,8 @@ class TiledObject {
       (xml) => xml.getChildren('point').isNotEmpty,
     );
     final text = parser.getSingleChildOrNullAs('text', Text.parse);
-    final template = parser.getSingleChildOrNullAs('template', Template.parse);
+    final template =
+        parser.getExternalPropertyOrNull('template', Template.parse);
     final properties = parser.getProperties();
 
     final polygon = parsePointList(parser, 'polygon');
diff --git a/packages/tiled/lib/src/parser.dart b/packages/tiled/lib/src/parser.dart
index 3cd278a..45d25b6 100644
--- a/packages/tiled/lib/src/parser.dart
+++ b/packages/tiled/lib/src/parser.dart
@@ -9,7 +9,12 @@ class ParsingException implements Exception {
 
 class XmlParser extends Parser {
   final XmlElement element;
-  XmlParser(this.element);
+  final Future<TsxProvider> Function(String key)? tsxProviderFunction;
+
+  XmlParser(
+    this.element, {
+    this.tsxProviderFunction,
+  });
 
   @override
   String? getStringOrNull(String name, {String? defaults}) {
@@ -21,7 +26,7 @@ class XmlParser extends Parser {
     return element.children
         .whereType<XmlElement>()
         .where((e) => e.name.local == name)
-        .map(XmlParser.new)
+        .map(_newChild)
         .toList();
   }
 
@@ -29,7 +34,7 @@ class XmlParser extends Parser {
     return element.children
         .whereType<XmlElement>()
         .where((e) => names.contains(e.name.local))
-        .map(XmlParser.new)
+        .map(_newChild)
         .toList();
   }
 
@@ -40,6 +45,28 @@ class XmlParser extends Parser {
   ) {
     return xml(this);
   }
+
+  @override
+  Future<T?> getExternalPropertyOrNull<T>(
+    String name,
+    T Function(Parser) parser,
+  ) async {
+    final fileName = getStringOrNull(name);
+    if (fileName == null) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    final tsxProvider = await tsxProviderFunction?.call(fileName);
+    final result = tsxProvider?.getCachedSource() ?? tsxProvider?.getSource('');
+    if (result == null) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    return parser(result);
+  }
+
+  XmlParser _newChild(XmlElement element) => XmlParser(
+        element,
+        tsxProviderFunction: tsxProviderFunction,
+      );
 }
 
 class JsonParser extends Parser {
@@ -255,4 +282,11 @@ abstract class Parser {
     }
     return result;
   }
+
+  Future<T?> getExternalPropertyOrNull<T>(
+    String name,
+    T Function(Parser) parser,
+  ) async {
+    return null;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/packages/tiled/lib/src/tile_map_parser.dart b/packages/tiled/lib/src/tile_map_parser.dart
index 7c9b032..b270b08 100644
--- a/packages/tiled/lib/src/tile_map_parser.dart
+++ b/packages/tiled/lib/src/tile_map_parser.dart
@@ -10,12 +10,19 @@ class TileMapParser {
   ///
   /// Accepts an optional list of external TsxProviders for external tilesets
   /// referenced in the map file.
-  static TiledMap parseTmx(String xml, {List<TsxProvider>? tsxList}) {
+  static TiledMap parseTmx(
+    String xml, {
+    List<TsxProvider>? tsxList,
+    Future<TsxProvider> Function(String key)? tsxProviderFunction,
+  }) {
     final xmlElement = XmlDocument.parse(xml).rootElement;
     if (xmlElement.name.local != 'map') {
       throw 'XML is not in TMX format';
     }
-    final parser = XmlParser(xmlElement);
+    final parser = XmlParser(
+      xmlElement,
+      tsxProviderFunction: tsxProviderFunction,
+    );
     return TiledMap.parse(parser, tsxList: tsxList);
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/tiled/lib/src/tiled_map.dart b/packages/tiled/lib/src/tiled_map.dart
index e1a4e29..9b59282 100644
--- a/packages/tiled/lib/src/tiled_map.dart
+++ b/packages/tiled/lib/src/tiled_map.dart
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ class TiledMap {
     return TileMapParser.parseTmx(
       contents,
       tsxList: tsxProviders.isEmpty ? null : tsxProviders,
+      tsxProviderFunction: tsxProviderFunction,
     );
   }