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2.2.3 Masking functions in runtime, part 1

There's a functionality called shadowing available in LPC. Purists tend to use the word 'abomination' and scream for its obliteration, since it goes against most of what's taught about proper control flow and object purity. For gaming purposes it's rather useful, although it can cause a host of problems (particularly when it comes to security). Use it with caution!

It's possible to make an object shadow another object. What happens then is that the functions in the shadow object that also exist in the shadowed object mask the original. Calls to the shadowed functions will go to the shadow instead. The shadow will for all practical appearances 'become' the object it shadows. As you can see this is done in runtime, and not during compilation.

This is all I will say on this subject right now. How to create shadows and use them will be handled in detail later. For now this is what you need to know.