Right now, the galaxies are 2 dimensional with an X & Y axis'. Interfaces that include a Z axis in this type of game (lets face it, that list mostly starts with homeworld & I think ends with games in that seriesthere)... or it does what every terrestrial/OtherPlanet based rts/tbs does & flattens the map with movement penalties.
well, the xml already have support for movement penalties in the form of gas/dust clouds, they just don't disperse in a way that would suggest a flattened Z axis. If the dust could be tweaked to only provide a movement penalty when moving across i.e. --> | <-- rather than with --> === <-- , then it could do a pretty good job of it actually & add a potentially interesting twist to the larger maps