These aren't exactly GlobalInts - they're more like game parameters. There
are Global Ints (as in the
Get/SetGlobalInt commands), which might be confusing you, but that has nothing to do with what you want.
How you'd adjust them in-game depends on what exactly it is you want to change. To deal with the specifics examples you gave:
Text Speed:
This page is sort of hidden away, but contains a lot of variables you might find useful, specifically:
game.text_speed
How long speech text stays on the screen. Default 15, higher number means shorter time.
Which you'd set like any
int, e.g
[code]
game.text_speed = 10;
[/code]
(This should've been found searching the manual for 'text speed'.)
You may also be interested in
game.skip_display (same page), and
SetSkipSpeech(..).
Screen Brightness:
AFAIK, you can't actually change this in AGS.
SetAmbientTint(...) is the closest I can think of. (Someone tell me if I've missed something obvious.)
Portrait Position:
You mean their speaking views, in Sierra-style speech? You can only really pick from the same options as are on the General Settings window (Left, Right, Alternate, Based on X pos), and you do it using
SetGameOption(..), e.g.
[code]
SetGameOption(OPT_PORTRAITPOSITION, 3);
[/code]
For anything else READ THE MANUAL, as much of it as you can, and familiarise yourself with the functions and properties, and what they do.