[Suggestion]: Energy ball

Name: Energy ball
Description: So-called "Energy ball" is very good idea for adventure map development or just for servers. It shall work as an non-craftable infinite energy source/consumer. If you put it to the lower slot of any Energy Storage ( , , e.t.c.) EBall will output infinite energy to this storage, acting like a non-consumed battery. And if you put it to the upper slot it will infinitely consume energy. EBall is VERY important to IndustrialCraft-dependent adventure maps !
Crafting: It should be avaliable only through creative mode (I mean, it couldn't be crafted due to it's power).

ESteel: Yes. Of course, I can add BIG amount of solar panels, water mills e.t.c in order to get infinite energy. But it have very many disadvantages: really infinite energy source will be too huge, virtually infinite too. As I've stated, adventure maps and some other things require many !little! and !infinite! energy sources, which cannot be solar panels, watermills and ever nuclear reactors. Huge systems like StoneGenerator+Recycler+Generator... e.t.c also cannot be used - because they are HUGE and BUGGY. A map creator should have easy way to power luminators, macerators, Tesla Coils, Teleportators... without worry that they will stop sometime completely crashing the storyline. This way is to use energy storages or machines powered with EBall.

And very big advantage - it is only one item, and it is very easy to introduce it into the game code, so EBall is much better than suggested in this forum "Infinite generators", I think=)

CrafterOfMines57: I've read them all, but "Infinite generators" are not very easy to program, so they wouldn't probably be implemented. In comparsion, EBall is only one item, which implementation and integration with mod require only small change in one Java class. I think it's much better, easier, lesser and can be used in more ways.

Yes, I can. My suggestion, as I wrote before, is much more easier to design and program - so EBall would take very little time for developers to create, but it will very help developers and admins. Also, one simple item is much easier to supply with other mods than a special generator. And I can use other mods to create, transport e.t.c. this EBall (for example, BuildCraft and it's transport pipes) in order to create good adventure map/server effects e.t.c.
Programming a special generator is much more harder and that is it may not be implemented soon.

Quote from FenixR

Lolwut? Making a "infinite" generator its just as easy as making a regular generator but without a condition that makes them able to "make" energy. They just keep making it non stop.

At first, it isn't so easy to make - it is new class, new item, new code and new compatibility problems... But it is not very important.

At second, different tasks require different EU/t. If this "infinite generator" produces only one power (for ex., 128 EU/t) so it will require transformators to power different machines. If this power is programmable... it's new huge amounts of code. And as I've said before, EBall is easy to program and to implement. It can supply power different machines , either , or , don't take any extra place, infinite, easy and small.

CrafterOfMines57: Something like. Sorry, but I didn't understand this sentence (I'm Russian, and I don't understand some forms), but if you mean that EBall is the infinite generator that acts like a battery that don't destroys and can else receive energy (so can act like an energy source and energy consumer differ to situation) then yes - it is. And so it is very easy to program.

GregoriusT: Yes, it is, but now it requires to add some new different mods, while I suggest to add it to the original IndustrialCraft2. And as you've said ("it gives me Nullpointers on Creation/Destruction"), it may be buggy. EBall is way in that no new generators are added - there are only one new item. It provides simplicity.
And, "Energy Ball" is only concept. It may be "Energy cube", or "Light Rod", or something else - it's main that by using only one item, already implemented in IC2 mod, map creator would be able to easily (without any configs) create non-breaking energy source to supply his machines and realizing his ideas. Adding generator is much more troubling

As I've said in the 1st post, EBall is unreplaceable thing for adventure maps and some other things - and, what is very important, it is not craftable and the common player should not have access for it. It is accessable by map designers, OPs, admins e.t.c. So it don't require to be realistic, such as craftable items such as "Uranium batteries". I think that obtainable items (includes craftable) made for player's uses, and non-obtainable (such as bedrock, blocks #11, #119 and so on) - for designers/admins uses. So why not implement this very useful item? Do it have any disadvantages?

I think it is possible, but I'm not sure how. Stored energy seems to be not "damage" parameter of item. I think that IC add it's own parameters to items, in addition to ID, Damage, Stack and Enchant. But which?.. And as there're now no known way to increase energy emit to infinite except config changes (for example, increasing power sourcing from some generators), it's good idea to implement EBall.

Edit: Yes, it possible. I've just found how. Just use NBTEdit or such program to edit battery - battery's charge is stored in int variable (Item)>tag>charge. For example, if you've battery in first slot of quickbar, open level.dat (I've used NBTExplorer), then navigate to Data>Player>Inventory>(first item)>tag>charge and change it's value to something lower then 2'147'483'648 - battery will be charged. It works at any chargeable item, for ex., RE-Battery, Energy Crystall or NanoBoots. But there're still no way to create really infinite energy source. Using this battery I can charge MFSU for about 28 hours. It may be enough for adventure map, but it isn't good for server.

So, what's bad in EBall? It's easy-to-script, easy-to-use, don't require any other mods, VERY useful, and, in conjuction with other mods and new Minecraft Adventure mode (implemented in 1.3.1) can help to create AMAZING maps (and/or effects). Why not?

As i've stated before, this "Energy Ball" is very easy to program. All that developers should add is:

1) Item itself (icon and name)
2)

public static int charge(ItemStack itemStack, int amount, int tier, boolean ignoreTransferLimit, boolean simulate)
{ 
    if (itemStack.getItem()==Ic2Items.energyBall) return amount; //This line should be added!
    ...
}

in ic2/common/ElectricItem.java
3)

public static int discharge(ItemStack itemStack, int amount, int tier, boolean ignoreTransferLimit, boolean simulate)
{ 
    if (itemStack.getItem()==Ic2Items.energyBall) return amount; //This line should be added!
    ...
}

in ic2/common/ElectricItem.java

As you can see, it's VERY easy. And it would be VERY useful. Do you agree?