Completely off topic but not really, its just that stuff is generally lighter for its size at those scales. A human muscle is about 10 times stronger for its size than that of an ant.
However, ants have to carry a few millimetres of height on their feet, humans have to carry about 1.8m when adult.
Imagine stacking ants, stacking to a 1.8m tower. The ant at bottom would crash under the weight, no matter how strong the whole is. Each part has to support the weight of the 3rd dimension.
That applies to ants as much as it does to wheels or shields and many other mechanisms.
It also applies to game balance. If something takes 4x of your view, it has to be 4x as strong, or not? Wrong, 8x, with the 3rd dimension (depth).
[DOUBLEPOST=1450691753,1450691126][/DOUBLEPOST]
Still, it adds an element of design. Without the current power system, system architecture would be solely a matter of squeezing in the most blocks possible. Building long lines may not be difficult, but it's a hell of a lot better than filler blocks. And really, building multiple, long lines in a space-efficient manner, utilizing all three dimensions as much as possible, while still being structured, understandable and player-accessible isn't entirely a walk in the park.
True, but currently dimension bonus is not limited to 80% block count.
That means that you have to shape your ship after the reactor, not the reactor after the ship, as every wrong placed block subtracts efficiency.