DesktopX is shaping up much better and I think we'll be able to have that public build today (fingers crossed).

Today me and Paul Boyer (Mormegil) worked on a bunch of little DesktopX objects. Actually, what happened is that he made a really cool set of objects and then let me use his Corel Draw file (he uses Corel Draw for his art needs -- not 3D Studio as many believe) and I went forward and tweaked them to make individual objects.

The kinds of objects I wanted to start with were ones that display information like CPU usage, drive info, clocks, network traffic, etc.  So I put that together and started uploading them over to the WinCustomize library.

Making objects in Corel Draw rather than Photoshop is an insight that Paul Boyer gave me. Holy cow does it make life easier.  DesktopX objects have so many advantages over the various stand alone meter and monitoring apps. For one thing, DesktopX objects support alpha blending. This means no jaggies around the edge. And Corel Draw makes that really easy. When I export as a .PNG it auto creates the alpha channel so that my objects never have jaggies.

 

Example of what Paul's project looked like

So things are coming together. They don't have IconX able to support multiple monitors. Hopefully that will be in next week's build. But the more egregious bugs have been addressed. I still have some crashing now and then which needs to be addressed but it's getting better. Hopefully we'll finally get this out next month!

Alexa.com is a great site for figuring out (roughly) how popular a website is. It's not perfect, especially on sites that don't get a lot of traffic. But as sites get more popular, it does tend to show a good relative ranking.

. .

WinCustomize.com is one of the sites I administer on. It gets nearly 2 million unique visitors per month.  Oddly, in the last couple of months it's relative ranking has been dropping (i.e. bad). This has been strange because the sites's raw traffic has increased substantially. Which would imply either that the top sites are getting more popular faster or there's some sort of flaw in the Alexa system that is not showing up.

I do tend to take Alexa's numbers with a grain of salt. For some reason, many foreign sites some how have ridiculously high numbers:

Here is the top 100:

1.	Yahoo! Inc. Provides intuitive, context-based guides to online content, Web search capabilities, third-party content and community and personalization features which enable Web users to locate and access desired information and services. (Nasdaq: YHOO). www.yahoo.com - Site info
2.	Microsoft Network Dialup access & content provider www.msn.com - Site info
3.	다음daum No. 1 우리 인터넷. 무료 이메일 서비스, 온라인 쇼핑, 동호회 서비스 www.daum.net - Site info
4.	네이버 통합 검색과 디렉토리, 웹페이지, 해외사이트, 멀티미디어, 뉴스 검색을 지원하는 검색 포털. www.naver.com - Site info
5.	Google Enables users to search the Web, Usenet, and images. Features include PageRank, caching and translation of results, and an option to find similar pages. The company's focus is developing search technology. www.google.com - Site info
6.	Yahoo! JAPAN 掲示板、オークションなどの参加型コンテンツがあるディレクトリ。 www.yahoo.co.jp - Site info
7.	Passport.net www.passport.net - Site info
8.	Microsoft Corporation Designs, develops, manufactures, licenses, sells and supports a wide range of software products. (Nasdaq: MSFT). www.microsoft.com - Site info
9.	E-Bay Consumer to Consumer Auctions www.ebay.com - Site info
10.	Sayclub.com www.sayclub.com - Site info
11.	Bugsmusic.co.kr www.bugsmusic.co.kr - Site info
12.	新浪网 提供新闻、经济和生活资讯，网站目录及电邮。 www.sina.com.cn - Site info
13.	넷마블 즐거운 게임세상 배틀가로세로 퀴즈마블 워드크래프트 워드워 워드빙고 최강헥사 최강테트리스 파워 알까기(장기) 파워 알까기(바둑) 바 둑 장 기 오 목 따 목 상 목 고스톱 섯 다 세븐포커 슬롯머신 www.netmarble.net - Site info
14.	Amazon.com, Inc. Retails books, as well as limited selection of cds, videotapes, audiotapes and other products, on its online retrieval service through the company's web site. (Nasdaq: AMZN) www.amazon.com - Site info
15.	Go A searchable directory, news, stocks, sports and free e-mail. www.go.com - Site info
16.	Sohu.com Inc. Produces Chinese language Internet portal and internet communities. (Nasdaq: SOHU). www.sohu.com - Site info
17.	网易 提供虚拟社区和电邮服务。 www.163.com - Site info
18.	Nate SKT의 유·무선 종합 포털 www.nate.com - Site info
19.	AOL Anywhere America Online's official site. www.aol.com - Site info
20.	CNN Interactive News, weather, sports, and services including e-mail news alerts and downloadable audio/video reports. www.cnn.com - Site info
21.	TOM.COM 提供新闻、生活资讯、电邮、聊天及短信服务等。 www.tom.com - Site info
22.	3721网络实名 提供中文网址软件服务、网络实名介绍和相关服务。 www.3721.com - Site info
23.	Gator Fills out online forms and remembers passwords. Free. www.gator.com - Site info
24.	프리챌 현실사회의 공동체를 사이버에서 더욱 발전시켜 갈 수 있도록 하는 커뮤니티 전문 인터넷 서비스 www.freechal.com - Site info
25.	BBC Online British Public Broadcasting for the United Kingdom. www.bbc.co.uk - Site info
26.	한미르 웹검색, 전화번호 검색이 동시에 한미르 www.hanmir.com - Site info
27.	MSNBC Provides up-to-date news and weather information from around the country. www.msnbc.com - Site info
28.	드림위즈 인터넷 포탈서비스 이메일,무료홈페이지,검색,클럽 ... www.dreamwiz.com - Site info
29.	다모임넷 옛날 짝꿍,지금 짝꿍,모두 모여 떠드는 곳. 학교찾기, 동호회, 프로필 만들기, 경매, 아르바이트 구인광고, 게임 등등. www.damoim.net - Site info
30.	Msn.co.jp www.msn.co.jp - Site info
31.	옥션 auction, 인터넷경매,경매 사이트 옥션 www.auction.co.kr - Site info
32.	Bugs.co.kr www.bugs.co.kr - Site info
33.	Hotmail.com www.hotmail.com - Site info
34.	엠파스 자연어 검색엔진. 사운드 및 mp3, 이미지, 동영상, 업무문서, 압축파일 검색 제공. www.empas.com - Site info
35.	Cliks.org www.cliks.org - Site info
36.	Infoseek Japan 日本語版インフォシーク。ロボット型サーチエンジンと、特選サイトのディレクトリ。 www.infoseek.co.jp - Site info
37.	조선일보 디지틀 조선일보 (Digital Chosunilbo) www.chosun.com - Site info
38.	Searchscout.com www.searchscout.com - Site info
39.	Premium-offers.com www.premium-offers.com - Site info
40.	Google.co.jp www.google.co.jp - Site info
41.	楽天市場 各種の通販サイトをバーチャル店舗として入居させているショッピングモール。オークションや共同購入も開催。 www.rakuten.co.jp - Site info
42.	Overture Services, Inc. Provides web directories, internet search and information services. (Formerly known as GoTo.com, Inc.) (Nasdaq: OVER). www.overture.com - Site info
43.	HiNet 台灣的網際網路服務公司。 www.hinet.net - Site info
44.	Comcast.net www.comcast.net - Site info
45.	百度搜索引擎 提供智能型中文搜索引擎。 www.baidu.com - Site info
46.	Com.com www.com.com - Site info
47.	Lycos, Inc. Develops and provides guides to find, index and filter information on the internet and the world wide web. (Nasdaq: LCOS). www.lycos.com - Site info
48.	KBS KBS, 한국방송공사, 프로그램 정보, 뉴스, kbs news. www.kbs.co.kr - Site info
49.	TrafficSyndicate Generate revenue from your website traffic with TrafficSyndicate. www.trafficsyndicate.com - Site info
50.	Kbstar.com www.kbstar.com - Site info
51.	Match.com Personal ads with photos, anonymous email, advice and date ideas. www.match.com - Site info
52.	The Weather Channel Site offers forecasts for over 1600 cities worldwide as well as numerous radar and satellite maps. Also includes the latest weather news stories and allergy information. www.weather.com - Site info
53.	Trafficmp.com www.trafficmp.com - Site info
54.	Mapquest Provides online maps, driving directions and trip planning. The toolbar provides the map functionality in your browser. www.mapquest.com - Site info
55.	Netscape Composer Additional component of Communicator suite (includes Navigator). www.netscape.com - Site info
56.	EBay UK Person-to-person trading site with over 4,000 categories. www.ebay.co.uk - Site info
57.	ジオシティーズ ジャパン 容量12MBの無料ウェブスペース。各種ツール(カウンター、ゲストブック等)の使用が可能。 www.geocities.co.jp - Site info
58.	MSN 마이크로소프트 네트웍 www.msn.co.kr - Site info
59.	Hanafos.com www.hanafos.com - Site info
60.	PC home 電腦報 網路家庭 [Taiwan] www.pchome.com.tw - Site info
61.	New York Times Online Official site and online edition of this famous New York publication. Free registration required. www.nytimes.com - Site info
62.	스포츠서울 대한매일·스포츠서울 뉴스넷(Korea Newsnet) www.sportsseoul.com - Site info
63.	DoubleClick Inc. Provides comprehensive Internet advertising solutions, including fully-outsourced ad sales, delivery and related services, and technology that provides the ability to control the targeting, delivery, measurement and analysis of online marketing campaigns, to advertisers and web publishers worldwide. (Nasdaq: DCLK). www.doubleclick.net - Site info
64.	AltaVista This search engine also offers a directory provided by the Open Directory. www.altavista.com - Site info
65.	Webshots Download free screen saver, wallpaper, and photos. www.webshots.com - Site info
66.	MGame 위즈게이트 게임의 통합 사이트 .'넷바둑', '넷장기', '넷오목', '넷체스', '넷테트리스', '넷고도리' www.mgame.com - Site info
67.	Google UK The local version of this pre-eminent search engine, offering UK-specific pages as well as world results. www.google.co.uk - Site info
68.	DoubleClick Inc. Provides comprehensive Internet advertising solutions, including fully-outsourced ad sales, delivery and related services, and technology that provides the ability to control the targeting, delivery, measurement and analysis of online marketing campaigns, to advertisers and web publishers worldwide. (Nasdaq: DCLK). www.doubleclick.com - Site info
69.	Universo Online O Universo Online é um grande provedor de acesso e de conteúdo em língua portuguesa. Salas de bate papo, noticias e suporte ao usuário. www.uol.com.br - Site info
70.	IMBC 인터넷 MBC www.imbc.com - Site info
71.	Google.ca www.google.ca - Site info
72.	Pogo.com Provider of family-based games for everyone including card, board, word, trivia, bingo and casino games with no software installation, plug-ins or long download time. www.pogo.com - Site info
73.	Excite.com www.excite.com - Site info
74.	중앙일보 중앙일보 (JoongAng Ilbo) www.joins.com - Site info
75.	Kinghost.com www.kinghost.com - Site info
76.	Maxmp3.co.kr MP3자료 | 음악감상.음악편지 | MP3순위 | 곡평가하기 | 가사자료 | 사진자료 | 프리보드&클럽 | www.maxmp3.co.kr - Site info
77.	디어유컴 사랑, 안부, 우정, 유머, 생일, 결혼/축하 카드 등 다양한 종류의 카테고리 www.dearyou.com - Site info
78.	Goodday 좋은신문 좋은하루 www.hot.co.kr - Site info
79.	IG - Internet Grátis Correio bastante vulnerável a Spam, acesso de qualidade mediana. www.ig.com.br - Site info
80.	WindowsMedia.com A portal for online streaming media using the Windows Media format. Includes music videos, radio stations, and news headlines. www.windowsmedia.com - Site info
81.	Monster.com A one-stop career management resource. Job search, resume management, 1200 pages of advice from career experts, plus chats and message boards on dozens of topics. www.monster.com - Site info
82.	Revenue.net www.revenue.net - Site info
83.	Goo.ne.jp www.goo.ne.jp - Site info
84.	Dell Computer Corporation Designs, develops, manufactures, markets, services and supporst high-performance computer systems and related equipment, including workstations, desktop systems, notebooks and network servers, as well as software, peripherals and service and support programs. (Nasdaq: DELL). www.dell.com - Site info
85.	Internet Fuel Internet marketing agency using Exit Direct and Exit Fuel marketing tools. www.internetfuel.com - Site info
86.	About.com, Inc. Web portal and directory providing Internet news, information and entertainment service which focuses on particular topic and is managed by a human guide. (Nasdaq: BOUT). www.about.com - Site info
87.	Chol.com www.chol.com - Site info
88.	Nastydollars.com www.nastydollars.com - Site info
89.	Cgiworld.net www.cgiworld.net - Site info
90.	The Internet Movie Database Features plot summaries, reviews, cast lists, and theatre schedules. www.imdb.com - Site info
91.	Exitfuel.com Affiliate programs for webmasters' exit traffic. www.exitfuel.com - Site info
92.	Fastclick An advertising network designed to provide clients with the most advanced technology available to ensure successful campaigns with real-time results. www.fastclick.com - Site info
93.	Adult Friendfinder Adult personal ads with pictures and chat. [Membership] www.adultfriendfinder.com - Site info
94.	모교사랑 학교별 동문커뮤니티를 운영하며 선배들이 방문할 때마다 누적되는 포인트를 현금화해 모교에게 장학금으로 지급. 친구찾기, 계시판, 아바타, 게임, 대화방, 쇼핑 등등. www.iloveschool.co.kr - Site info
95.	Tripod 50 Mb. Provides tools to help beginners learn HTML. www.tripod.com - Site info
96.	21CN 免费电子信箱，并提供新闻报道，短信服务和不同方面的专栏。 www.21cn.com - Site info
97.	Yam.com www.yam.com - Site info
98.	IWon Portal and search engine that gives away cash prizes daily, monthly, and yearly. www.iwon.com - Site info
99.	EzBoard Designed to be a seamless addition to a website. Free. www.ezboard.com - Site info
100.	Com.ne.kr www.com.ne.kr - Site info

 

Sorry but some site called Naver.com is not more popular than Google. I am almost convinced that some of these foreign language sites mess around with the Alexa system to manipulate their rank. I wish Alexa took a more active roll in trying to resolve that. I'd be interested in knowing our site's ranking in the English speaking world anyway since we're not going to be competing with Korea any time soon for visitors.

 

Samurize is a program that uses VBScript to let users put together widgets on their desktop that can provide system information and other useful data.

The new version has some new features and lots of bug fixes and is now on a brand new website.

Are you a skinner and want to share your ideas, techniques, projects, experiences with other skinners as well as users? Check out http://skinning.joeuser.com (skinning.joeuser.com). It's a new JoeUser.com blog group where individual bloggers can get together.

Want to join and contribute articles to it? Here's how:

1) Logon to JoeUser.com (your WinCustomize.com account info works there automatically)

2) You can create your own blog group by clicking on the "Account" tab at the very top.

3) Once you create a blog (your own site on JoeUser.com) you can then go to skinning.joeuser.com and click on the "Site information" aka http://skinning.joeuser.com/siteinfo.asp and from there youc an join.

We're hoping we can turn this into a real treasure trove of skinning experiences put together into a single place.

Network Probe gives you an instant picture of the traffic situation on your network and enables you to identify and isolate traffic problems on your network. The network probe is java based and runs as a server on Windows NT/2000/XP. The client is applet based and runs in any java enabled web browser.

Changes in Current Version:
1) Added possibility to use an interface without an IP assigned
2) Added a -loadtest probe startup parameter to test and print the network load
3) Multiple bug fixes 

Ever have one of those days when you're extremely busy but you don't seem to get very much done? I got back from my trip and my todo list is huge.  The trip seemed to go well but won't know for a few weeks still but now I'm left with tons of things to do.

DesktopX

We were supposed to go out with a new public DesktopX build. DesktopX is going to be great...when it gets the bugs out. I ran into so many buglets today that I had to kill today's public beta announcement which is a bummer because there's a lot of good stuff in it.

But until the glitches are worked out, it's just plain frustrating. For instance, I couldn't change the size of my IconX icons. And when running with IconX on, I couldn't change my wallpaper. Definite showstoppers.  IconX is really cool but it has to be bulletproof before release. What is IconX? It basically lets you replace your desktop icons with "extended" icons (IconX) that can be any size you want, have shadows, zoom up when you put your mouse over them, etc.

We also ran into a bunch of buglets with the new extended abilities (plugins) that are new to this build. Those got fixed today but the IconX stuff has to be taken care of. There are also still problems with combining various objects together where the z-order gets messed up or the combined window behaves oddly.  It'll get fixed but I was really hoping to get that out today.

The build is up on Object Desktop via Stardock Central for those who want to monkey with what we have right now.

I also created a  crummy looking DesktopX object to show off some of the new features. The main one I wanted to show off was the gauges. To create one, you just need to put together X number of gauges together into a single bitmap, png, targa, or whatever your favorite graphics format is.  Then you tell the plugin how many frames there are and it takes care of the rest. So I made one with 5 frames to represent the arrow going from pointing straight left (0) to pointing up (50%) to pointing right (100%). I'm not a graphics designer so I can't do it justice but it worked. Hopefully skinners will be able to do stuff with it.

 

WindowFX

Next week we have a new version of WindowFX coming out. That's ready to go. Just have to get all the marketing stuff ready for it. The PR people are getting ready to do their thing. The public version will be a lot nicer in that it now provides shadows, morphing, and other features in the free version. We have so much new content that we can afford to give away some of the previously "must-have" features for free. I've always felt that WindowFX should be nearly as popular as WindowBlinds but it's never happened. I figured anyone who runs WindowBlinds would want WindowFX.

Of course, a lot of what WindowFX requires is beyond our control. nVidia just can't seem to get their act together with regard to their drivers.  On an ATI Radeon, WindowFX runs great. But the "Detonator" drivers make WindowFX look like a bloated pig which is really too bad because WindowFX, when running on a card with properly written drivers, can enhance the visuals of windows (animated minimizing/maximizing, shadows, etc.) with no performance hit (all done via hardware).  But when they're not hardware accelerated, it becomes a performance sucking toy.

WindowBlinds

The next version of WindowBlinds (4.2) due out probably in mid October or early November will be able to replace the various animations in progress dialogs.  You know that ugly Windows 95 looking copy animation (for instance)? You'll be able to make your own and put it there. That will be sweet.

Well that's all for now.  I still haven't even checked my email yet!

 

Turning the tables on record labels, makers of the most popular file-sharing network are suing entertainment companies for copyright infringement.

Sharman Networks, the company behind the Kazaa file-sharing software, filed a federal lawsuit on Monday accusing the entertainment companies of using unauthorized versions of its software in their efforts to snoop out users.

Sharman said the companies used Kazaa Lite, an ad-less replica of its software, to get onto the network. The lawsuit also claims efforts to combat piracy on Kazaa violated terms for using the network. Entertainment companies have offered bogus versions of copyright works and sent online messages to users.

Sharman's lawsuit also revives its previous allegation that the entertainment companies violated antitrust laws by stopping Sharman and its partner from distributing authorized copies of music and movies through Kazaa.

Source: http://www.neowin.net (Neowin.net)

 

So does putting copy protection on CDs thwart pirates or does it create more? How can you reduce software piracy?

This article says no: https://www.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=209

My view is this:

1) CD copy protection mainly inconveniences legitimate buyers, not pirates.

2) Most game companies are completely unaware of how *convenient* piracy has become in the last couple of years. CD protection only adds more incentive to pirate. A casual gamer is likely to think "Why am I paying $50 for a game that makes me keep track of fairly delicate things (CDs) when I could, with a few clicks, have the game for free and not have to deal with copy protection?

3) The best way to combat piracy is to make the incentive for being a customer greater than the incentive for being a pirate. Give more benefits to purchasing such as free updates after release that are easy to obtain for legitimate buyers and more difficult for pirates.

That's in a nutshell. This issue really struck a nerve here because I'm packing up for a 3 day trip and as I go through a few games I'd like to play while on the plane or at night in the hotel, I realize that I don't want to take the CDs with me (what if they get scratched or lost?) which means no game. That's ridiculous.

Well this weekend we've been taking a beating on the net over Stardock Central. And by we, I mean me as I'm the one who hangs out on the gaming forums.

Stardock Central is awesome technology but has the same kind of issues that the early "multi-mission" military aircraft had. 

Back in the late 60s, the Air force fell in love with the idea of jet aircraft that could perform multiple roles.  Interceptor, air superiority, tactical bombing, strategy bombing, etc.

And for 2 decades, the Air force took a beating from this decision. Even today they still do.  Stardock Central, because of the immense cost to develop it, has to be a multi-role technology. And what might that technology be? What is the actual purpose of Stardock Central?

Stardock Central accomplishes the following goals:

1) It makes it much easier for users to obtain updates to our software.

2) It decreases the size of downloads by only sending exactly what the user needs (no one size fits all "patches"). This helps customers and lowers our bandwidth bill significantly (Stardock spent nearly $150,000 last year on bandwidth).

3) It makes it easier for us to carry out our RD&D software philosophy (rapid development & deployment). When a development team finishes an update, they copy their finished files to a network drive. This network drive is the mirror for Stardock Central. Those files go right to customers.  For those who don't like Stardock Central, we still allow users to download the traditional "patch". But that patch has to go through the installer team. The installer team pulls from the same network drive Stardock Central does it. Except that where Stardock Central is a software program, the installer team are people who take the files and then create an installer script using WISE and put it together for a download. Which means that it takes longer.

The beauty of RD&D is that the moment it's done with QA, it just gets copied onto a network drive and our users automatically get it.

4) It makes it easier for users to get technical support and for us to provide it. SDC has the support forums, documentation, news, etc. all built in. And the interface to the forums isn't some crummy web interface, it actually works like a news reader directly to the database so it's very fast.

5) Cross promotion. We can let our customers know about other programs we make.

But as you can imagine, creating the backend for this kind of thing was an immense 2 year task. Under the covers it has to handle over 600,000 Stardock.net accounts which have varying numbers of products. It has to handle customers who might have purchased directly from us or from a retailer in Finland and treat them equally internally and UI-wise.

So because of the cost, it has to be used on all our products. Which has been a real problem UI-wise.

A person who bought Galactic Civilizations at the store just wants to get an update to the game. Creating an account is not a big deal these days. But then they get into Stardock Central and the sheer myriad of features can be overwhelming. What's Object Desktop? Where's the update to GalCiv?

A lot of suggestions were posted on-line and we've adopted some of them.  We changed the Drengin.net tab to say "Games".  We changed "support" to "Documentation" (so that users know they need to click on software and not "support" to get updates).  We changed the "Stardock software tab" to "Misc" (since it's all Stardock software).

In the coming weeks we're hoping to find a way for it to just scan what you have and let you know which programs you have installed that need updating so that users don't have to hunt Stardock Central for updates.

 

Why use a 3D engine for a strategy game? Especially ones that take place on a 2D plane (like land or a space board game style?)

A big thing that isn't discussed much is that 3D is much more hardware accelerated than anything done in 2D.  What that means is that at some point, when the lowest common denominator machines start to have Geforce 2 level cards (with T&L) then you will see more games go to 3D.
 
For instance, our next generation strategy game engine is going to be done as a 3D engine.  The game map will still be 2D (i.e. on a plane), but it won't be sprite based.
 
Here are some things that buys you:
 
1) Hardware acceleration.  This is a big deal. In GalCiv, we have limits on how much stuff we can put on the screen because the CPU is doing all the work in animating those sprites and such.  But with a 3D engine, the same scene could be much more complex and still be faster. All eye candy aside, hardware acceleration would mean that the strategy game would be faster and more responsive which is the type of thing strategy gamers really care about.
 
2) Multiple resolutions. It's easier to make use of different resolutions with 3D.  With sprites, you're either stuck keeping them the same size or creating different sprites for different resolutions.  With 3D, things are treated almost like a vector -- they're rendered on the fly. Warcraft III made some use of this by having the units be more detailed and nicer at higher resolutions (though I would personally prefer a compromise -- slightly more detailed scenery but be able to see more too).
 
3) Much more seamless effects. With 2D sprite based engines, you have to pre-render your explosions, weapons, etc.  With 3D you have a lot more effects at your disposal more easily. Lights. Shadows. Tintings.  Sure, it's eye candy but if I'm playing a World War II strategy game it would be nice to see the terrain taking damage. Imaging Heroes of Might and Magic if the spells have a lot more visual punch, damage and morph terrain. Think of the additional game mechanics you could have in HOMM if spells could morph terrain on the fly in visually exciting ways?
 
4) More fluid animation.  In sprites, you're very limited to how many frames of animations you have since each frame has to be kept in memory to have adequate performance.  So units tend to move a bit jumpier.  How many different positions can a unit take when moving around? 7? (n, ne, e, se, s, sw, w, nw?).   Maybe double that? With 3D you can have it totally smooth.
 
5) Less disk space.  Sprites take disk space.  They're pre-rendered.  In GalCiv, the WEAPONS animations use up 30 megabytes of disk space.  Models use only a few K in space.  So that starship that might use 6 megs prerendered and only have 32 different direction movements could now be 600K, have perfectly smooth rotations and even bank when turning,  have light effects as it nears a star or change hue as it travels through a nebula.
 
But there's been a huge gotcha against using 3D in strategy games -- strategy games need a lot of polygons.  We used sprites in GalCiv because we wanted our ships to be distinct and have good performance on low end hardware.  I don't like muddy, polygony ships.  But pretty soon, the Geforce 2 level cards will be that low end and when that happens, you'll be able to have games that have all the advantages of 2D (sharp looking units and graphics) with the advantages of 3D and they'll actually be more responsive, use less disk space, and look nicer.
 
But that doesn't make 2D dead. It depends on the use.  Sprites make a lot of sense still in lots of cases.  But 3D engines are very close to reaching the point that they make sense to be used in creating strategy games. Even strategy games that are on a 2D plane.
 
Here are some screenshots from stuff we have in the lab that runs at very high frame rates on a Pentium 1Ghz with a Geforce 2MX card which by 2005 will be a very low end machine.
 
(rough but you get the idea, click to zoom)

Normal view
 

Zoomed out.