So, I've decided to plunge head first into mod making. After successfully making a simple food item and working a bit with the Thaumcraft 2 API, I've decided to make a mod to extend the usability of tech mods like Industrial Craft 2 and Buildcraft.
Some mods like Industrial Craft and Buildcraft add their own energy systems and means of using that energy, for instance, Industrial Craft's furnaces. Other mods add their own furnaces with special properties as well, like Thaumcraft 2's Arcane Furnace, which has a chance to double its output or smelt multiple items at a time. However, there is no way to make a version of that special furnace that runs on Industrial Craft energy without making a mod that does just that. My idea is to build a mod that would allow you to electrify any device that uses burnable materials to run. I just need to know if it is feasible.
The idea is the player will craft an item and a block. The item will be an "Electric Heater Assembly" and the block a "Heater Control." The Heater Control is placed under the furnace to be electrified and connected to IC2 power, while the Electric Heater Assembly is placed in the burn slot of the furnace. Within the game world, the Heater Control supplies energy to the Electric Heater Assembly which heats up the furnace as necessary.
Mechanics wise, the Electric Heater Assembly is an item with a damage value. It is crafted with an initial damage value of 0. If it has a damage value of 1, then it becomes a fuel, supplying 100 units of energy to a furnace, equivalent to a stick. Once it gives up that 100 units, it reverts back to a damage value of 0 and becomes inert. Meanwhile, the Heater Control searches inventories above it for Electric Heater Assemblies with a damage value of 0. If it finds one, then it repairs it, giving it a damage value of 1, while expending some item placed into the Heater Control, in this case, EU.
Here's what I need to know:
1. Can an item placed into a combustion slot in a furnace, rather than be completely consumed, take damage instead?
2. Can the damaged item remain even when it is damaged all the way to 0?
3. Can the damage level be hidden from the user so that no damage bar appears below the item?
4. Can a block search an adjacent block's inventory and replace items within that inventory at will?
