Its way more involved than base 8.
Such things are really just nomenclature. You can do the same math with base whatever.
Imagine a number line, then a 2D Cartesian coordinate system, then a 4D coordinate system, then an 8D.
Thats a beginning.
This stuff makes my head hurt.
This stuff is fun, but more than a bit beyond my ability to do any worthwhile work in the subject. I dropped out of grad school in physics and went over to the engineering school.