How about a library or class for accessing and modifying the configuration file outside of the plug-in SDK?

That won't be as smooth as a plain text configuration file, but consider that a plain text file would definately be much larger. The current configuration file stores DWORD length of name, name, DWORD length of data, data. None of the variables specify their type in the configuration file, however.

A text file would need to have each variable formatted, and possibly have its type identified. The top level cfg_var class does not know what type of variable it's loading or storing, just how many bytes. Looks like you'd either need to know what you're dealing with in your own program, or the interface would have to be rewritten just for this.

Oh yes, and write off messing with variables from within other plug-ins. Plug-in specific variables are categorized by the DLL filename. Including unique prefixes on your config variable names is entirely optional, and probably does not serve a purpose. You can still locate them in the .cfg file by searching for your DLL name first. (EDIT: Assuming this is before you design in a configuration panel and wish to mess with your variables with a hex editor. You will only be able to modify them after you close the player...)