So could we in theory make fish farms with hives?
This would be specially useful, if the creatures of the new modded colonies were given the TAGs [UBIQUITOUS], [AMPHIBIOUS], [VERMIN_SOIL_COLONY], [VERMIN_FISH], [FISHITEM], [COOKABLE_LIVE], [UNDERGROUND_DEPTH:min:max], [COLONY_EXTERNAL:], [ARTIFICIAL_HIVEABLE], [HIVE_PRODUCT::::::] and then, the hives placed near a well or another source of water.
Then we could have, all biomes around underground colonies of fishable creatures, some examples with industry involved:
1) Apple snails: produces meat, shell and purple dye.
2) Naked mole-rat: produces meat,
tooth and leather and is a vermin eater. Those also predates over your other colonies not only natural vermin.
3) Angora rabbit: a wooly high value pet, for your thread industry, there are some evidence that romans had developed cuniculture before S. I a.C. How could our dorfs do worse than romans?
4) Deep Termite: Big amounts of
slurry for the paper industry and some tasty dried termite flour.
5) Leafcutter Silkant: recollection of the hive produces a stack of brewable fungus and some silk.
6) Cavern Jellyfish: they are brewable and their sting is mildly toxic.
Those can train a little your hospital roles without being a real danger, no FUN here. Bonus points if the toxine is milkable (HARD to do) and then distillated into a stronger toxine via reaction.
7) Dairy colonies: if the milking thing of the [COLONY_EXTERNAL] creatures were at all possible we could have some nice dairy farms (FPS aware) placing the hives next to the farmers workshop.
Silkmoth: more silk than cheese.
9) Carmine Cochineal: An insect that produces a delicious and valuable
DyeFlour that you can use either as an edible flour colorant in food preparations or as a natural dye in your thread industry.
10) Black soldier fly: They will devour all your remains and other refuse rotting in your stockpiles, producing meat and compost (
potash) in the process. (so better FPS -> less items in your refuse stockpiles -> connect or adapt to the decay mod)
...
It could also be a good idea to convert to this system some of the already [UBIQUITOUS] creatures, reusing some of the permanents slots into each biome, grasshoppers farms for a creative kitchen (OMS), anyone?
Best of all that is that maybe some FPS could be saved with this system (less pathfinding required then quick and more abstract simulation), some SCIENCE!!! required.