Caverns Of Peace, Friendship, & Fun is a mod that intends to increase the variety in the caverns (while sticking to the tone of Dwarf Fortress) for two reasons. One, to add more peaceful (and often useful) creatures, so the caverns don't experience a constant influx of bloodthirsty monsters. And second, flavor for its own sake! The new fauna work towards the first goal. They are all non-aggressive, and many can be domesticated for their products. The new flora work towards the second goal by further visually distinguishing the different cavern layers. The first layer is the most drab; the second layer is more bizarre and multicolored; and the third layer is more dark and evil. This is a WIP, and feedback is very welcome. It is compatible with 43.05 and 44.02 (it makes no use of new 44.02 features).
Fauna
Crawling hand: A bizarre creature identical to a severed humanoid hand besides the mouth in the middle of its palm. It uses its fingers to smush and eat insects from the cavern floor. [Don't bother butchering them, dwarves won't eat them - too similar to sapients' hands]
Cave lobster man: A pale subterranean monster with the lower body, pincers, and head of a lobster but torso and neck of a man. [They will spawn just like other subterranean animal people. Technically they should be hostile, but due to a bug they aren't. They'll just chill and help kill monsters.]
Giant cap hopper: A large creature resembling a cap hopper. It leaps across the caverns and climbs with its huge prehensile tail. [If aggravated, they can slap and wrestle with it]
Giant purring maggot: A large creature resembling a purring maggot, milk and all. [Yep, they can be milked just like cows]
Lantern Fish: A small, one-eyed cavern fish that still relies on light. It uses a lantern-like growth on its tail to light its surroundings. [They can be fished]
Mawling: A small, striped creature composed of a toothy maw surrounded by tentacles. It swims through cavern lakes looking for cave fish to ensnare. [Can't be fished]
Milk Ball: A spherical, pink creature of the deep. It will live and supply milk forever if given a steady supply of blood moss on which to feed. [If angered, they can suck blood with their fangs]
Puff: A small, flying subterranean creature. Its body is a ball of fur lifted into the air by its tiny wings. [They can't be sheared, too small]
Shuffler: A small, shelled creature that awkwardly shuffles along the cavern floor with its eight tiny arms. Despite its freakish appearance, it is content to feed on fungus alone. They shed their shells periodically. [Their shells can be "sheared" at the farmer's workshop and turned into crafts and/or decorations]
Shathulin: A headless quadruped covered in thick teal fur. It feeds on fungus using the mouths on the ends of its front feet. If tamed, it can be sheared for its wool. [They need a pasture if tamed]
Skyscale: A small, cavern-dwelling creature resembling a hybrid of snake and insect. If aggravated, its bite can inject venom that tires and slows its victims. [They also have a stinger and associated attack but that doesn't inject venom.]
Slimeish Grimeid: A medium-sized humanoid monster whose plant-like skin oozes green slime. [Dwarves won't eat these guys either]
Tothud: A small, eight-legged creature with eight eyes around its head. Its meat and organs are lethally poisonous. [If managed carefully, their products can be used to trick food-stealing creatures.]
Yald: A medium-sized subterranean quadruped that walks on shelled, mace-like feet. It has a vestigial tail and its hair is wispy and patchy. [They can be trained for war or hunting. Although bigger and more powerful than dogs, they're slower, less common, and take longer to mature.]
Flora
Layer 1
Cave lichen: A blue-green lichen with green rings encirling its flaky leaves.
Cave moss: A pale, scratchy moss.
Floor fungi: An off-white floor cover, soft to the touch.
Layer 2
Fluffy tufts: Dense tufts covered in soft, pink fur.
Gnarled stalks: Twisted, bright yellow growths that sprout from the stone with no apparent water source.
Wisp blade: A curious grass that grows in thin, blue wisps.
Crystal spindle: A vibrant pink tree that sheds tiny crystalline growths once a year.
Layer 3
Blood moss: A morbid moss that oozes dark red liquid underfoot.
Charcoal lichen: A dark black lichen, rough and flaky to the touch.
Strangled fungi: A shriveled, purple fungus that emits an aura of suffering.
Installation:
Copy all the text files to the raw/objects folder. Keep in mind this will replace the vanilla file plant_grasses. If you have a modified plant_grasses file and wish to keep it that way, remove your CAVE MOSS and FLOOR FUNGI grasses and insert all the new subterranean grasses in their place.
Also, I have no idea why this suddenly has over 500 downloads despite having far fewer views. Must be some sort of glitch.