Script:Variables

This page describes variables in the Arx scripting language.

Variable types

Arx scripts know three basic data types:

int	32-bit signed integer
number	32-bit IEEE 754 floating-point number
string	arbitrary-length string

Variables can be either global (shared between all entities) or entity-specific. There are also special system variables than can only be read. The variable type is defined by the first character of the variable name. Non-Template:Wp characters are encoded as Template:Wp.

Char	Byte	Scope	Type
#	0x23	global	int
&	0x26	global	number
$	0x24	global	string
§	0xA7	entity	int
@	0x40	entity	number
£	0xA3	entity	string
^	0x5E	system	(mixed)

While variables in Arx scripts are typed, there are no type restrictions for where variables are used: the types are converted automatically.

Setting variables

Global and entity variables can be modified with the following script commands:

Comand	Description
++ <variable>	Increment a number or int script variable.
-- <variable>	Decrement a number or int script variable.
dec <variable> <value*>	Subtract a value from a number or int script variable.
div <variable> <value*>	Divide a number or int script variable by a value.
inc <variable> <value*>	Add a value to a number or int script variable.
mul <variable> <value*>	Multiply a number or int script variable with a value.
set <variable> <value*>	Set a script variable.
unset <variable>	Remove a script variable.

System variables (those starting with ^) cannot be modified.

Using variables

The pattern ~variable~ will be replaced with the value of the variable named variable (converted to a string) when it occurs in a script command parameter. Spaces in the value will not cause it to be split into multiple parameters, even when the parameter is unquoted. Non-existent system and unset number and int variables will be replaced with 0, unset string variables will be replaced with void, and ~variable~ where variable is an invalid variable name will be replaced with variable.

Additonally, some parameters will automatically dereference variables if passed a variable name: All number and int variables will dereference system, number or int, but not string variables and parameters marked with a * will automatically dereference any variable. Automatic dereferencing of variables happens after ~variable~ expansion.

System variables

System variables don't always have the value type in the name. Some return results specific to the calling object, others are global. Some system variable prefixes (denoted with a <…> in the following table) work as functions with the remainder used as the parameters.

Name	Type	Description	Used
^$param<i>	string	event parameter for the given number starting with 1 (^$param4 and higher added in Arx Libertatis 1.3)	✓
^&param<i>	number	event parameter for the given number starting with 1 (^&param4 and higher added in Arx Libertatis 1.3)	✓
^#param<i>	int	event parameter for the given number starting with 1 (^#param4 and higher added in Arx Libertatis 1.3)	✓
^#timer1	int	elapsed time in milliseconds since the last starttimer timer1 call (or 0 if the stopwatch is stopped)	✓
^#timer2	int	elapsed time in milliseconds since the last starttimer timer2 call (or 0 if the stopwatch is stopped)	✗
^#timer3	int	elapsed time in milliseconds since the last starttimer timer3 call (or 0 if the stopwatch is stopped)	✗
^#timer4	int	elapsed time in milliseconds since the last starttimer timer4 call (or 0 if the stopwatch is stopped)	✗
^$objontop	entity	ID of the entity above the caller (or "none")	✓
^&playerdist	number	distance between the caller and the player	✗
^#playerdist	int	distance between the caller and the player	✓
^amount	int	number of items in the stack if the caller is an item (stack), 0 otherwise	✗
^angle	number	yaw of the caller (Added in Arx Libertatis 1.2)	✗
^anglex_<entity>	number	X component of the 2D direction vector of the given entity (Added in Arx Libertatis 1.2)	✗
^anglez_<entity>	number	Z component of the 2D direction vector of the given entity (Added in Arx Libertatis 1.2)	✗
^angleto_<entity>	number	direction (yaw) from the caller to the given entity (Added in Arx Libertatis 1.3)	✗
^arxdays	int	in-game time since the start of the playthough, in in-universe days	✗
^arxhours	int	in-game time since the start of the playthough, in in-universe hours	✗
^arxminutes	int	in-game time since the start of the playthough, in in-universe minutes	✗
^arxseconds	int	in-game time since the start of the playthough, in in-universe seconds	✗
^arxtime_hours	int	time of the day, in in-universe hours (1-12, 0 at the start of the game)	✗
^arxtime_minutes	int	time of the day, in in-universe minutes (1-60, 0 at the start of the game)	✗
^arxtime_seconds	int	time of the day, in in-universe seconds (1-60, 0 at the start of the game)	✗
^behavior	string	current behavior of the caller NPC	✗
^camera	entity	ID of the active camera or none (Added in Arx Libertatis 1.2)	✗
^demo	int	1 if using the demo data (as indicated by the PAK	✓
^dist_<entity>	number	distance between the caller and the entity with the given ID, 99999999999.0 on error	✓
^dragged	entity	ID of item being dragged by the player or none (Added in Arx Libertatis 1.2)	✗
^durability	number	current durability value of the caller	✓
^fighting	int	1 if the player is in combat mode, 0 otherwise	✓
^focal	number	the current camera's focal value	✓
^gamedays	int	in-game time since the start of the playthough, in days (in 10-days before Arx Libertatis 1.2)	✗
^gamehours	int	in-game time since the start of the playthough, in hours	✗
^gameminutes	int	in-game time since the start of the playthough, in minutes	✗
^gameseconds	int	in-game time since the start of the playthough, in seconds	✓
^gore	int	0 for low-violence versions, 1 for normal versions (Arx Libertatis always reports 1)	✓
^ininitpos	int	1 if the caller is exactly at it's initial position, 0 otherwise	✓
^inplayerinventory	int	1 if the caller is in the player inventory, 0 otherwise	✓
^inzone_<zone>	int	1 if the caller is in the area with the given ID, 0 otherwise	✗
^last_spawned	entity	ID of the last entity spawned by a script	✗
^life	number	current health value of the caller NPC	✓
^mana	number	current mana value of the caller NPC	✓
^maxdurability	number	maximum durability value of the caller	✓
^maxlife	number	maximum health value of the caller NPC	✗
^maxmana	number	maximum mana value of the caller NPC	✗
^me	entity	ID of the caller	✓
^myspell_<name>	int	1 if the caller is casting a spell with the given spell name, 0 otherwise	✓
^npcinsight	entity	ID of the first NPC seen by the caller, or "none"	✓
^player_attribute_<attribute>	number	player attribute, including modifiers	✓
^player_gold	number	amount of gold carried by the player	✓
^player_hunger	number	the player's hunger value	✗
^player_life	number	the player's current full life (at the start of the frame?)	✓
^player_maxlife	number	the player's maximum life	✓
^player_skill_<skill>	number	player skill, including modifiers	✓
^player_zone	string	ID of the zone the player is in, "none" if in no zone	✓
^playercasting	int	1 if the player is casting a life_drain, harm, fire/ice_field or (mass_)lightning_strike spell	✓
^playerspell_<name>	int	1 if the player is casting a spell with the given spell name (or for "invisibility" if invisibility > 0.3)	✓
^poisoned	number	the poisoned value of the caller NPC	✓
^possess_<entity>	int	1 if the given item is in the player inventory, 2 if it is equipped by the player, 0 otherwise	✓
^price	number	price in gold of the caller Item	✓
^player_poison	number	the player's poisoned value	✗
^poisonous	number	the poisonous value of the caller Item	✗
^realdist_<entity>	number	portal-based walking distance between the caller and the entity with the given ID	✗
^repairprice_<entity>	number	cost in gold for the caller to repair the item with the given id (-1.f if not an item)	✓
^rnd_<max>	number	random number between 0 and the given max (to be determined if inclusive/exclusive)	✓
^rune_<name>	int	0 if the player *doesn't* have the given rune, and unspecified non-zero value otherwise	✗
^scale	number	scale of the caller, in percent	✓
^sender	entity	ID of the entity that sent the current event	✓
^speaking	int	1 if the caller is currently speaking, 0 otherwise	✓
^target	Am Shaegar (player)	ID of the caller's current target, or "none"	✓
^viewx	number	X component of the 3D view direction vector of the caller (Added in Arx Libertatis 1.2)	✗
^viewy	number	Y component of the 3D view direction vector of the caller (Added in Arx Libertatis 1.2)	✗
^viewz	number	Z component of the 3D view direction vector of the caller (Added in Arx Libertatis 1.2)	✗
^viewx_<entity>	number	X component of the 3D view direction vector of the given entity (Added in Arx Libertatis 1.2)	✗
^viewy_<entity>	number	Y component of the 3D view direction vector of the given entity (Added in Arx Libertatis 1.2)	✗
^viewz_<entity>	number	Z component of the 3D view direction vector of the given entity (Added in Arx Libertatis 1.2)	✗

System variables marked as unused may be removed in a future version of Arx Libertatis.

In-universe time

In-universe time runs 6 times faster than real time and has only 12 hours per day. Since these variables are not actually used and NPCs use quest progress instead of time for their day/night cycle this can be considered non-canonical. There is also an unused arx_bell entity class that simulates a day/night cycle with 60 seconds per in-universe day plus 60 seconds per in-universe night.