SPOILERS So confused about the translation of numbers in "A Cloven Pine"???

[harper_virago]

Everything makes sense except for multiplying it x 60 to the nth power. Why does Mei Ting say you're supposed to do that? I can't find any references to that anywhere, (except a random 17th century mathematician trying something out.)

I just really don't get it. I've scoured google and I can't comprehend why the number would need to be adjusted after transliteration even though nowhere does it suggest to do that. It says X symbol = Y number. The guides never say (X symbols) = (Y numerals each times 60 to the nth power)

I know it's a base 60 system, but something just still isn't clicking for me.

[moshiwakeda]

I got stuck on the same thing

The number system isn't ambiguous at all. There's multiple references to it online and they all give the same numbers.

Eventually I found a converter. I think the devs probably expected us to find that. Even after converting, I don't understand how you get that number, but it was correct

[moshiwakeda]

I get it now. It's super weird. Btw, I don't know if Mei actually explains this because I refused to ask her for the solution.

Apparently you have to add the numbers all together.
Like no1 + no2 + no3 + no4= answer


However, the weird thing (which I couldn't really find explained anywhere, and I found out by reverse engineering the generator results with a calculator lol) is that you have to multiply each number by "60 to the power of x", depending on its position.

English is not my first language, so I'm not sure if I'm using the correct term.

no1 x 60 x 60 x 60 + no2 x 60 x 60 + no3 x 60 + no4 x 60 X 0 = answer

Or more literallly:

n01 x 261000 + no2 x 3600 + no3 x 60 + n04 x 60 x 0

I don't know about you, but I really wanted to know how this worked lol

[John C Flett]

Just passed this and I think this is an astonishingly obscure puzzle as it really requires a pretty deep reading of the number system. I also was a bit ticked off as I knew this as Babylonian but the game doesn't accept that as an answer even though it's just as valid.

[moshiwakeda]

I think the devs basically expected players to find this website: https://www.dcode.fr/babylonian-numbers

It ranks pretty high on google because there's basically no other website like it. And you'll probably end up using it for at least one other puzzle (the WW2 cypher)

But I could find no explanation of how it works. I only figured it out by using a calculator on the end result of that website.