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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nai_Calus" data-source="post: 4741026" data-attributes="member: 79670">I'm with you on the measurements thing, but this one I can speak on.The number system I referenced in my last post is something you have to figure out in-game in order to solve a major puzzle, the method of which involves a gloriously disturbing teaching game in a schoolhouse. It's a sort of base 5/base 25 hybrid(5 major symbols, which are rotated and combined in a square to make the numbers 1-24 and a special symbol for the number 25, with place values being multiples of 25). It is one of the most fascinating elements in the game. The D'ni in game's universe are human-like people enough like us to successfully interbreed with humans. But the number system makes them instantly different, and leaves you wondering 'What inspired this number system? What does it say about the people who invented it? Why this and not base 10? Did they ever use base 10 and then switch? Why?'. And so on. It's simple to grasp and understand the system, making it easily usable by the player, but it's an instant way of differentiating a culture and making you think: These people clearly have some different assumptions than we do. The players may not care to learn in an RPG about the elves' or whatever's, say, base 16 number system, and you shouldn't force them to if they don't want to, but make it show up when it should and serve purposes when it needs to, and they'll remember it as something different, a neat little detail that reminds that no, they aren't just humans with pointy ears.</blockquote>

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