Ramus is a template for hypertext fiction or games self-contained in a single web page. Emphasis on template: to make your own, simply replace the content of an existing document. As long as certain elements are left in place, it should continue to function as before.
You need to know HTML to work with Ramus. I see that as a plus.
As of 7 April 2020, this manual is a work in progress. Please excuse the mess.
Ramus documents are made of many little fragments, usually simple div
elements. All they need to have is an ID, so you can point links at them. In Ramus 2.0, links have all the power.
This is unlike in old-style Ramus, that relied on scripting for any kind of complex behavior.
The only mandatody elements in a Ramus document are some sort of container with "transcript" as ID (you can change that, see below) and the script at the end. You'll also want a hidden section to keep the story fragments until they're needed. There should be at least one such fragment with "start" as ID (you can change that also).
The script is short enough to fit on a sheet of paper, and should be the last thing in the file, so you can copy-paste it elsewhere easily.
Ramus was originally developed between 2011 and 2012, and continued to be used until a year later, albeit by people other than me. That version however had no future; not seeing a way forward, I simply set it aside for the best part of a decade. But people still remembered, and knowing what I know today it was a lot easier to come up with a plan. Version 2.0 is the result.
To provide interactivity, Ramus hijacks most links for its own use. To link between fragments, simply use a hash sign and its ID.
There are several kinds of links, set apart by custom values of the rel
attribute:
Append links are the default, and simply append the destination fragment to the transcript:
<a href="#history">old-style Ramus</a>
Continue links work the same way, except they first disable all the remaining links in the transcript, forcing a decision from the reader/player:
<a rel="continue" href="#chapter2">Chapter 2</a>
Clear links delete the entire transcript so far instead, starting over visually as well:
<a rel="clear" href="#chapter2">Chapter 2</a>
Last but not least, external links point to other pages, so Ramus leaves them alone; adding target="_blank"
is up to the author:
<a rel="external" href="http://author.com/">Homepage</a>
Unlike the others, external links are actually part of the standard HTML link types.
That's about it for now. Start over?