by Chacal » Thu Dec 31, 2009 2:57 pm
IIRC, SDL "variables" are actually descriptors for state variables for the Age itself. They are used for communicating to the Uru client which variables will hold the state of things such as open/closed doors, existence of barriers, etc.
SDL files are read by the Plasma engine and the variables they describe, and their default values, are written into the vault if they are newer than the ones already there (which is why it is important to increment the version number when modifying SDL files).
For instance, in the ahnySphere01.sdl file, you find those 3 variables:
VAR BOOL ahnyCurrent[1] DEFAULT=1 DISPLAYOPTION=red
VAR BYTE ahnyQuabs[1] DEFAULT=20 DISPLAYOPTION=red
VAR BOOL ahnyHutDoor[1] DEFAULT=0 DISPLAYOPTION=red
These are state descriptors, you see, because they describe state variables that will be used. SDL files themselves are not used for variables during the game (ie the game does not change the files). SDL means State Descriptor Language, I think.
Once this has been read into the vault, you will find this in [player]'s vault / [player] / Ages I own / Sphere1 / AhnySphere01:
ahnyCurrent true
ahnyQuabs 20
ahnyHutDoor False
Those values will change when you play the game.
Disclaimer: people with more knowledge will correct this if I'm wrong. Also I'm not venturing into on-line concepts, I'll leave that to guys like D'Lanor, diafero and Dustin.
Chacal
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