diff --git a/src/framework/luaengine/luainterface.cpp b/src/framework/luaengine/luainterface.cpp
index e533be08..db3c34e8 100644
--- a/src/framework/luaengine/luainterface.cpp
+++ b/src/framework/luaengine/luainterface.cpp
@@ -962,10 +962,10 @@ void LuaInterface::pop(int n)
     }
 }
 
-int LuaInterface::popInteger()
+long LuaInterface::popInteger()
 {
     assert(hasIndex(-1));
-    int v = toInteger(-1);
+    long v = toInteger(-1);
     pop();
     return v;
 }
@@ -1021,7 +1021,7 @@ void LuaInterface::pushNil()
     checkStack();
 }
 
-void LuaInterface::pushInteger(int v)
+void LuaInterface::pushInteger(long v)
 {
     lua_pushinteger(L, v);
     checkStack();
diff --git a/src/framework/luaengine/luainterface.h b/src/framework/luaengine/luainterface.h
index 5a5261b8..86175baa 100644
--- a/src/framework/luaengine/luainterface.h
+++ b/src/framework/luaengine/luainterface.h
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ public:
     void* newUserdata(int size);
 
     void pop(int n = 1);
-    int popInteger();
+    long popInteger();
     double popNumber();
     bool popBoolean();
     std::string popString();
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ public:
     LuaObjectPtr popObject();
 
     void pushNil();
-    void pushInteger(int v);
+    void pushInteger(long v);
     void pushNumber(double v);
     void pushBoolean(bool v);
     void pushCString(const char* v);
diff --git a/src/framework/luaengine/luavaluecasts.cpp b/src/framework/luaengine/luavaluecasts.cpp
index cf1d0ad3..d82920f2 100644
--- a/src/framework/luaengine/luavaluecasts.cpp
+++ b/src/framework/luaengine/luavaluecasts.cpp
@@ -112,13 +112,13 @@ bool luavalue_cast(int index, Color& color)
 {
     if(g_lua.isTable(index)) {
         g_lua.getField("r", index);
-        color.setRed(g_lua.popInteger());
+        color.setRed((int)g_lua.popInteger());
         g_lua.getField("g", index);
-        color.setGreen(g_lua.popInteger());
+        color.setGreen((int)g_lua.popInteger());
         g_lua.getField("b", index);
-        color.setBlue(g_lua.popInteger());
+        color.setBlue((int)g_lua.popInteger());
         g_lua.getField("a", index);
-        color.setAlpha(g_lua.popInteger());
+        color.setAlpha((int)g_lua.popInteger());
         return true;
     } else if(g_lua.isString()) {
         return stdext::cast(g_lua.toString(index), color);
@@ -225,11 +225,20 @@ bool luavalue_cast(int index, Size& size)
 void push_otml_subnode_luavalue(const OTMLNodePtr& node)
 {
     if(node->hasValue()) {
-        // convert boolean types
-        if(node->value() == "true" || node->value() == "false")
-            g_lua.pushBoolean(node->value<bool>());
+        union {
+            bool b;
+            double d;
+            long l;
+        };
+        std::string value = node->rawValue();
+        if(stdext::cast(value, b))
+            g_lua.pushBoolean(b);
+        else if(stdext::cast(value, l))
+            g_lua.pushInteger(l);
+        else if(stdext::cast(value, d))
+            g_lua.pushNumber(d);
         else
-            g_lua.pushString(node->value());
+            g_lua.pushString(value);
     } else if(node->hasChildren()) {
         g_lua.newTable();
         bool pushedChild = false;
diff --git a/src/framework/otml/otmlnode.cpp b/src/framework/otml/otmlnode.cpp
index e0bbf216..dbd1be8e 100644
--- a/src/framework/otml/otmlnode.cpp
+++ b/src/framework/otml/otmlnode.cpp
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ bool OTMLNode::replaceChild(const OTMLNodePtr& oldChild, const OTMLNodePtr& newC
 void OTMLNode::copy(const OTMLNodePtr& node)
 {
     setTag(node->tag());
-    setValue(node->value());
+    setValue(node->rawValue());
     setUnique(node->isUnique());
     setNull(node->isNull());
     setSource(node->source());
diff --git a/src/framework/otml/otmlnode.h b/src/framework/otml/otmlnode.h
index 734df4b5..82fc088d 100644
--- a/src/framework/otml/otmlnode.h
+++ b/src/framework/otml/otmlnode.h
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ public:
     int size() { return m_children.size(); }
     OTMLNodePtr parent() { return m_parent.lock(); }
     std::string source() { return m_source; }
+    std::string rawValue() { return m_value; }
 
     bool isUnique() { return m_unique; }
     bool isNull() { return m_null; }
@@ -104,11 +105,25 @@ protected:
 
 #include "otmlexception.h"
 
+template<>
+inline std::string OTMLNode::value<std::string>() {
+    std::string value = m_value;
+    if(boost::starts_with(value, "\"") && boost::ends_with(value, "\"")) {
+        value = value.substr(1, value.length()-2);
+        boost::replace_all(value, "\\\\", "\\");
+        boost::replace_all(value, "\\\"", "\"");
+        boost::replace_all(value, "\\t",  "\t");
+        boost::replace_all(value, "\\n",  "\n");
+        boost::replace_all(value, "\\'",  "\'");
+    }
+    return value;
+}
+
 template<typename T>
 T OTMLNode::value() {
     T ret;
     if(!stdext::cast(m_value, ret))
-        throw OTMLException(shared_from_this(), stdext::mkstr("failed to cast node value to type '%s'", stdext::demangle_type<T>()));
+        throw OTMLException(shared_from_this(), stdext::format("failed to cast node value '%s' to type '%s'", m_value, stdext::demangle_type<T>()));
     return ret;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/framework/stdext/cast.h b/src/framework/stdext/cast.h
index 8ee136d5..2126af22 100644
--- a/src/framework/stdext/cast.h
+++ b/src/framework/stdext/cast.h
@@ -62,20 +62,71 @@ inline bool cast(const std::string& in, std::string& out) {
 // special cast from string to boolean
 template<>
 inline bool cast(const std::string& in, bool& b) {
-    static std::string validNames[2][4] = {{"true","yes","on","1"}, {"false","no","off","0"}};
-    bool ret = false;
-    for(int i=0;i<4;++i) {
-        if(in == validNames[0][i]) {
-            b = true;
-            ret = true;
-            break;
-        } else if(in == validNames[1][i]) {
-            b = false;
-            ret = true;
-            break;
-        }
+    if(in == "true")
+        b = true;
+    else if(in == "false")
+        b = false;
+    else
+        return false;
+    return true;
+}
+
+// special cast from string to char
+template<>
+inline bool cast(const std::string& in, char& c) {
+    if(in.length() != 1)
+        return false;
+    c = in[0];
+    return true;
+}
+
+// special cast from string to long
+template<>
+inline bool cast(const std::string& in, long& l) {
+    if(in.find_first_not_of("-0123456789") != std::string::npos)
+        return false;
+    std::size_t t = in.find_last_of('-');
+    if(t != std::string::npos && t != 0)
+        return false;
+    l = atol(in.c_str());
+    return true;
+}
+
+// special cast from string to int
+template<>
+inline bool cast(const std::string& in, int& i) {
+    long l;
+    if(cast(in, l)) {
+        i=l;
+        return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
+// special cast from string to double
+template<>
+inline bool cast(const std::string& in, double& d) {
+    if(in.find_first_not_of("-0123456789.") != std::string::npos)
+        return false;
+    std::size_t t = in.find_last_of('-');
+    if(t != std::string::npos &&  t != 0)
+        return false;
+    t = in.find_first_of('.');
+    if(t != std::string::npos && (t == 0 || t == in.length()-1 || in.find_first_of('.', t+1) != std::string::npos))
+        return false;
+    d = atof(in.c_str());
+    return true;
+}
+
+// special cast from string to float
+template<>
+inline bool cast(const std::string& in, float& f) {
+    double d;
+    if(cast(in, d)) {
+        f=d;
+        return true;
     }
-    return ret;
+    return false;
 }
 
 // special cast from boolean to string