Ghosts are featured in all The Sims games. Some lots will have pre-made ghosts, and after Sims die, they linger as ghosts.
The Sims
In The Sims, ghosts can scare Sims on the lot and can wake sleeping Sims, but cannot do anything else. They roam around the lot and can go through walls and objects, but cannot go up stairs or cross water. They are translucent and green or red, though the ones from Unleashed have a blue tint to them. The ghosts from the original game are more translucent than the ones from Unleashed.
In Makin' Magic, magical Sims can make the Shed Your Skin charm. When it's used at night, the Sim who used it will be transformed into a green ghostlike figure. It has been reported that, while charmed, Sims are able to talk to ghosts, as well as walk through walls and objects.
Ghosts can appear at any time between 11:00 pm and daybreak. When they appear, they will usually hang around for a few hours.
The Sims 2
There is a different type of ghost for each type of death in The Sims 2. Each has their own color and many have special abilities. All ghosts can scare living Sims - sometimes even to death - by showing themselves. Seeing a ghost is a common want for Knowledge Sims, and they will get a positive memory when they see one. Other Sims will get a negative memory. All ghosts can interact with some objects, for example making a chair float or a teddy bear's head spin. Sims do not seem to notice or react to ghosts unless one chooses to make its presence known.
The environment need a of Sim who goes outside at night while more than one ghost is out haunting will drastically fall down into the red zone.
Ghosts can:
Simon Crumplebottom, one of the many ghosts that haunt The Goth mansion, spun a bear's head
- Scare Sims (Sims can die from shock if this happens and hunger need is low)
- Float chairs (with Sims on them), other small objects and even their graves
Microwave door floating
- Turn on appliances
- Make a bowling alley float
- Make musical instruments play by themselves
- Reenact their death
- Cause baths to fill of their own accord
- Visit their bed (the last one they slept in) and other objects they might have been close of (for example, if the Sim used to paint a lot, they'll go and check the easel).
- The ghost of a Sim that died by fire can go swimming if there is a swimming pool near his/her tombstone
- The ghost of a Sim who died by drowning will leave a puddle and sometimes she/he will mop it up
- Walk through walls, fences, and furniture.
Ghosts may also smile very strangely if you take a close look at them after the ghost scares someone.
Angry Spirits
Some Sims can get pretty mad if they find their spouse happily married again.
There are lots of reasons a Sim could be angry. If a Sim's life was unhappy, if a Sim died of starvation and there is no food in the fridge, if a grave is destroyed, if his/her spouse remarries, selling his/her bed, a Sim kicking his/her grave, removing the lot they lived on if they died on another lot or have been moved to another lot, or if a non-relative moves on to the lot. Parents will be enraged to see their orphaned child with a boyfriend/girlfriend. Although all ghosts interact with objects and scare Sims, angry ghosts do so more violently including:
- Breaking electronics
- Threatening gestures
- Specific haunting of a certain Sim
- Yelling and thinking about what made them angry
Other Information
In Apartment Life, when witches stop time with "Tempus Interruptus", ghosts are unaffected by the spell. Also, if a witch tries to banish the ghost by magical means, using "Expello Simae", they will be unable to do so, since the ghost will immediately spook the witch.
Pets can't be harmed by ghosts, but they get disturbed. Dogs and cats will be extremely vocal when a ghost is around.
When to expect them
Ghosts have been known to appear at 8:00 pm (20:00), but they usually appear later in the night, closer to midnight. Ghosts disappear at or around 6:00 am. They're never seen in the daytime or within the hour before or past light. More than one angry ghost can appear at night, but it's more common to only see one. When there are only a few ghosts, they tend to appear around every three nights. When there are more than five though, they may appear every night. When a tombstone is on the lot, eerie background music may play if a Sim is outside. When a ghost is out, the music will be percussionary, and will play at intervals or whenever a ghost jumps into something.
Keeping ghosts at bay
The easiest way to keep ghosts quiet is to move their graves to a cemetery. When there, several anger triggers won't work, however a starving ghost will still be unhappy if there is no fridge. Mourning a grave will keep the ghost quiet for the time being, and building a moat around the grave site will stop them from invading the Sim's home, as they can't cross water. If you have Testingcheatsenabled on and there is a ghost wandering around, you can pause the game and make the ghost selectable. Then just X out the "*Haunt" action and quickly make the ghost unselectable. It will then disappear. You can also ForceError them, as this acts like X-ing the action out.
Players who are irritated by ghosts raiding the fridge or leaving puddles can change how they died by first using testingcheatsenabled and then shift clicking on the ghost's tombstone. Options will then appear to change the cause of death; old age and satellite create fairly quiet ghosts.
Types of ghost
- Death by fire: Sim appears red and smoking. They will sometimes swim in pools or in the sea.[Bon Voyage] While these ghosts are not always angry or violent, they are more likely to be unquiet.
A Sim who died in a fire.
- Death by drowning: Sim appears blue and leaves puddles of water
- Death by Cowplant: Sim appears light green. If the cowplant is still there, the Sim will taunt it with a slab of meat. Additionally, if someone drank the Sim's life essence, the ghost will be angry at that Sim.
- Death by flies: Sim appears purple.
- Death by rally forth: Sim appears white with megaphone.
- Death by elevator: Sim appears white and acts dizzy.
- Death by fright: Sim appears pink and will occasionally act frightened.
- Death by starvation: Sim appears white and often uses the fridge, taking food with it. Ghost gets angry if there is no fridge on the lot or if the fridge is empty.
- Death by illness: Sim appears green. Occasionally, these ghosts will grasp their throat and start coughing, re-enacting their death.
- Death by satellite: Sim appears orange and smoking.
- Death by electrocution: Sim appears yellow and sometime she/he will re-enact their death. Very violent when angered.
- Death by hail: Sim appears magenta.
- Death by sunlight: Sim appears white and is still a vampire.
- Death by old age: Sims and pets appear white. Dogs dig ghostly holes.
- Death by Running with Scissors (a download at the Sims 2 main site by MaxoidMonkey): Sim appears light pink.
- Death by wishing well: Sim appears white and acts like he/she died of starvation.
- Death by Murphy bed: The Sim will appear white and avoid the bed he/she died under.
- Death by lightning: Sim appears yellow and re-enacts their death.
- Death by aspiration failure: Sim appears dark pink and occasionally cries about their aspiration.
The Sims 3
Description
Ghosts also appear in The Sims 3. There are premade ghosts in each graveyard that ships with The Sims 3 and each of its expansions.
Ghosts in the Riverview Graveyard
Ghosts are the only life state other than normal Sims in The Sims 3 base game. The ghost state can be combined with all other life states. Only in The Sims 3 the Sim's ghost appears while he dies as the Grim Reaper reaps the ghost Sim from his mortal body. (This makes is available for a Sim to fulfill a wish to see a ghost just after he died.)
Ghosts can be turned into playable characters using the Oh My Ghost! opportunity or "testingcheatsenabled true" cheat, and can also get married and have babies, including ghost babies. As a playable character, the Ghost will be added to the household, like a family member. Ghosts float instead of walking, and they whisper all the time. They can become invisible, as well as possessing and haunting furniture. Ghosts, including playable ones, have free will actions telling them to scare other Sims, but do not do this all the time, and scaring Sims cannot cause death. As of Patch 1.6, ghosts float rather than stand, and autonomously go through objects, walls and even other Sims.
Types of Ghosts
- See also: Hybrid
Ghosts are different colors depending on how the Sim died. All Ghosts are translucent. Different ghosts may behave a little differently. Fiery ghosts like to take showers and baths. Drowned ghosts tend to be tired and avoid water. Starved ghosts prepare and eat a lot of food. Ghosts who died of old age will often take naps on vacant beds, and if there are no vacant beds available, they will float around complaining that they are tired. Starved ghosts will also be very thin, no matter how fat they were.
Old Age Sim is grey and sparkles.
Drowning A drowned Sim is blue with an animated water "texture".
Electrocution
Sim is yellow with an animated electricity "texture".
Fire
A burned Sim is orange with an animated flame and smoke "texture".
Hunger
Starved Sims are pinkish-purple with an animated cloudy "texture".
Mummy's Curse
Sims killed by the curse of a mummy will appear a dark grey/black with an animated swirling sand "texture". In Late Night, this is changed to gold. This death is available in World Adventures or later.
Falling Meteor Sims killed by a falling Meteor will appear Red/Orange with a hint of Black. This death is only available with the Ambitions expansion pack.
Thirst
This death will only be available with the recently released Late Night expansion pack [1] Vampire Ghost that die by Thirst will be appear dark crimson[1] with a hint of black, and occasionally a pulsing red light beating at the place of the heart.
Ghost Children
Having a baby with a ghost can result in either a normal baby or a ghost baby. A ghost baby is transparent like a ghost and they have their own headstone in their inventory. They do not disappear at the end of the night and they can age.
Related opportunities and wishes
Gold Digger Lifetime Wish
Sims with the Gold Digger Lifetime Wish want more than anything to see the Ghost of their rich spouse. This is easily achieved by marrying a Young Adult Sim to a wealthy Elder.
Making playable Ghosts with the Oh My Ghost! opportunity
- Location: Science lab
- The local science lab is conducting super secret experiments involving the Automagic Ghost-O-tron 1220-DR previously rumored to be "under construction." If you're interested in a glimpse of the after-life, bring the remains of a loved one to the lab for some "tests."
- See also: Resurrecting tips#Getting the "Oh My Ghost!" Special Opportunity
To get this opportunity, you need to be close to the person who died (friend or more), but you do not need any logic skill.
To have a playable ghost, resurrect a dead Sim by taking the urn to the science lab. This must be initiated by the Oh My Ghost! opportunity. A few days / moments after a death the science lab will call a Sim and tell them to go to the lab with the urn. Sims who complete this opportunity once will be able to do it again without prompt, but they will be charged §5000 for each resurrection. Once the urn has been taken to the lab, you do not get it back again, instead it exists immovable in the resurrected Ghost's inventory. Sims that are brought back maintain all the relationships they had before their death. However, if they were married, they will now be engaged to their former spouse, and engaged Sims will return to dating. Ghost Sims can always disappear back into their urn by using the 'Return to the Netherworld' interaction on it. This will place their urn into the Mausoleum.
Ghosts cannot become partners in or buy out businesses.
Sometimes ghosts may carry bonus items on them when ressurected, such as skill books or laptops - these can be sold and/or used just like any other items.
Mods like Chaos Mod Painting can make a ghosts playable with one click or even instantly make a regular Sim into a ghost.
Indian Burial Ground
When a family first moves in to a neighborhood, they may find their property is haunted by random Ghost Sims. They can either dispose of these ghosts themselves, keep them, or allow an exterminator to deal with them. Players must not place these urns in their inventories if they plan to accept the ghostbusters' offer. This ghostbuster is in fact one of the town's Repo-men.
- Note: Sometimes, when given this situation, some of the ghosts would appear and have died of causes that is normally in expansion packs, even without the software installed.
Misc wishes
- Sims with the Evil trait often wish to see the ghost of living Sims around them.
- Sims working on the Photography skill have challenges to photograph ghosts, including a challenge to capture a Mummy-Ghost on film.
Resurrecting
Ghosts can be resurrected as normal Sims. If a ghost eats Ambrosia, they will be turned into a normal Sim. Prior to a patch, it was common for ghosts to lose their gravestone if the player switches families. That meant it could not be resurrected nor could it die.
To prepare Ambrosia, the requirements are:
- Cooking level 10 to prepare the whole meal
- Gardening level 7 to grow Lifefruit
- Fishing level 10 to get the Death fish, or level 7 with the proper bait, which is angelfish
- Grave of deceased Sim to resurrect
In The Sims 3 for console, a ghost can be brought back to life by using the Divine Intervention Karma Power.[2]
Ghosthunting in The Sims 3: Ambitions
Ghosthunting is a career in The Sims 3: Ambitions expansion pack.
The latest patch for Ambitions has rendered interacting with pre-made ghosts on community lots impossible, these ghosts will vanish when the player directs a sim to interact with the ghost.[3] Strangely this bug also affects games that have not installed the Ambitions expansion pack.
Ghost Glitches
In The Sims 3, a glitch might occur; when a ghost is haunting the lot, they may continue to haunt the lot forever and never return to their graves. In order to send the ghost back to its grave, you must activate a cheat. Hold down CTRL+SHIFT+C and the cheat bar will appear. Type in "testingcheatsenabled true" and press enter. Hold down shift and left-click on the ghost. You will see an option titled "Delete It". Select this and the ghost will disappear, as if it never came out to haunt the lot in the first place. This cheat is harmless and can be used to send a ghost back to their grave if this glitch occurs.
Ghostly Images
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
