cmmoon.. is it that hard? the beam isnt a 3d object, but to make the illusion it is, they put 2 sprites together like the x u see.. so the "thickness" wouldnt change if you turn around the beam. the problem is, you look at the beginning of the beam, where the beamsprites are chopped off.. thats the x you see... well.. if you dont understand, ill try to draw it..
hmmf.. hard to explain it in english..