Ghosts are featured in all The Sims games. Some lots will have pre-made ghosts, and after Sims die, they linger as ghosts.
- See also: Ghost pet
The Sims
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, ghost-like figure. and the Sims are able to talk to ghosts, as well as walk through walls and objects. Also, drinking Magic Nectar (x2 Grapes, x1 Fairy Dust) has the same effect as Shed Your Skin - but can be used during the day, as well.
Ghosts appear on houses or lots that have the remains of a deceased Sim in a form of either an urn or tombstone. They can appear at any time between 11:00 pm and daybreak but they do not always appear. When they appear, an eerie music will play indicating their presence. They will usually hang around for a few hours doing nothing but just walk around while making windy noises. They take on the same appearance that they had when they died except that they are appear to be pale green-blue and transparent. Interacting with ghosts is impossible if the player tries to click on any one that appears on a lot but however ghosts can interact with the live Sims instead. Their only interaction is "Be Spooked" which scares the living Sim and depletes some of their needs.
The Sims 2
Simon Crumplebottom, one of the many ghosts that haunt The Goth mansion, spun a bear's head
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 of a Sim who goes outside at night while more than one ghost is out haunting will drastically fall down into the red zone.
Abilities
Microwave door floating
- 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
- 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.
Trivia
- Ghosts may also smile very strangely after they scare someone.
- 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.
- Pets can also become ghosts when ever they die.
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
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 (with one possible exception). 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.
The exception to the daytime rule is if a grave is struck by lightning. A blue rod can strike a gravestone, resulting in a ghost appearing during daytime hours. They will float around the house for a much shorter period that they would during the night before returing to their grave.
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 in The Sims 2
- 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 golden 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 and re-enacts their deaths.
- 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.
Happy Ghosts
If a sim dies happily of old age, they are not easily angered. If you continue to keep them happy, they might even do weird things for your sims, such as cleaning the toilet.
The Sims: Bustin' Out (PS2/NGC/XBOX)
In The Sims: Bustin' Out ghost work mostly the same as they do in The Sims for PC. The ghosts of dead sims will appear at night and haunt the living Sims and scare them, 'scary' music will also play when ghosts appear on a Lot. Only one Lot has pre made ghosts and that is Goth Manor, where the ghosts can be excorcised by using the Seanse Table. After this, the ghosts will not appear in the Lot.
The Sims 2 (console)
In the console versions of The Sims 2, all dead Sims become ghosts that the player can fully control. Ghosts will be able to perform different social interactions with living Sims, including the ability to possess and scare them. All ghosts look the same regardless of how the Sim died. Unlike most Sims games, ghosts will appear at all times of day.
The Sims 3
Ghosts in the Riverview Graveyard
Ghosts also appear in The Sims 3 and are pretty similar to those in The Sims 2. They also appear in different colors depending on their deaths but are much more richer in color and looks more realistic than those in The Sims 2. There are premade ghosts in each graveyard and also in some houses that ships with The Sims 3 and each of its expansions. Unlike in previous games, ghosts are treated like normal Sims and can be interacted as soon as they appear on the lot by simply clicking on them. They can also be turned into playable characters and can do all of the things normal Sims can do.
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/she dies as the Grim Reaper reaps the ghost Sim from his mortal body. This makes it available for a Sim to fulfill a wish to see a ghost just after (s)he died.
When a Sim's spouse dies (of any cause except for old age), it will still show the Sim is in a relationship with their deceased partner. Therefore, if the ghost find their living spouse (who will be shown as a fiancee instead) doing any strong romantic action with their new partner, the ghost will be angry, as (s)he will think of it as cheating. If your Sim goes around town and performs romantic interactions with their new romantic interest, girl/boyfriend, fiancee, or spouse, your Sim may get the Cheater reputation. You can stop this by breaking up with the ghost when (s)he is haunting. However, if you do choose to breakup with the ghosts, it would be smart to either put their grave in the graveyard, sell their grave, place their grave in your inventory, or hire a ghost exterminator. Angry ghosts can be quite violent.
When talking to a ghost, they will make weird sounds such as screaming or shrieking. Ghosts move by floating instead of walking. 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(but do walk up and down stairs), and autonomously go through objects, walls and even other Sims.
Another unique thing about ghosts in The Sims 3 is that they can also go to other lots to haunt other Sims outside the graveyard (but they will only target homes that are related to them somehow). If taken notice of at the graveyard when they are already floating around, some ghosts will seen going out to the entrance and driving away in cars (either a Sloppy Jalopy or Big Lemon). However, the cars will look perfectly normal as if it wasn't a ghost car.
Please note that when a ghost goes back to its grave the relationships will reset to zero so it is useless trying to become friends with a ghost unless you take their urn or tombstone, place it in your inventory and onto your house.
Types of Ghosts
- See also: Hybrid
Like in The Sims 2, they have different colors depending on how the Sim died but their appearance is far more different. The most notable look is that they have blank eyes. Different ghosts may behave a little differently depending on their traits when they were alive and how they died.
Base Game
- Old Age: A Sim who died of old age is grey and sparkles. These ghosts will often nap in empty beds or complain that they're tired and bored.
- Drowning: A drowned Sim is blue with an animated water "texture". They will avoid water and often complain of exhaustion.
- Electrocution: An electrocuted Sim is yellow with an animated electricity "texture".
- Fire: A burned Sim is orange with an animated flame and smoke "texture". They like to take showers.
- Hunger: Starved Sims are pinkish-purple with an animated cloudy "texture". They will eat any food left lying around, or prepare it for themselves. They will always be thin, no matter how fat they were when they were alive.
World Adventures
- Mummy's Curse: Sims killed by the curse of a mummy will appear a dark grey/black with animated swirling sand "texture". In Late Night and its subsequent patch, this is changed to gold.
Ambitions
- Meteor: Sims killed by a falling meteor will appear red/orange. Very similar to those killed by Fire except that they are dimmer.
Late Night
- Thirst: Ghosts of Vampires that die from Thirst appear dark crimson with a hint of black, and occasionally emit a pulsing red light where the heart would be.
Generations
- Ghost Potion: At level 7 logic skill a sim can learn to make a ghost potion on the chemistry set. This lasts for 3 hours and looks like an old age ghost without sparkles. If a couple both use about 30 ghost potions each to stay ghosts throughout their pregnancy, they can have a ghost baby. The ghost baby still won't sparkle and will sparkle in travel destinations, although they will stop sparkling once they return. The ghost baby does come with an urn claiming he/she died from old age.
Playable ghosts
This section only applies to The Sims 3.
Ghosts can become playable using the Oh My Ghost! opportunity or "testingcheatsenabled true" cheat. They 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.
If the "Generations" expansion pack is installed, a Sim who is good with the Chemistry Set or has a Ghost Potion in their inventory can turn into a ghost for three hours. While under the effects of the Ghost Potion, the Sim has the appearance of a ghost who died of old age and has all of the abilities of a true ghost. However, they do not have an urn in their inventory and therefore cannot use the "Return to the Netherworld" interaction. This is most likely due to the fact that they never actually died in the first place.
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 the engaged Sims will return to dating.
Ghost Sims carry their urn, immovable, in their inventory and 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.
At initial release of The Sims 3, ghosts were unable to become partners in or buy out businesses. However, in fully-update games, ghosts can now purchase properties (including businesses) by using the "Check Real Estate" interaction on their cell phone.
Ghost children
Having a baby with a ghost can result in either a normal baby or a ghost baby. A ghost baby is translucent like a ghost, they have their own headstone in their inventory, and when you look at their family tree their portrait is grayed out as if they were dead. They do not disappear at the end of the night and they can age. They are basically just like a normal sim, but one that looks like a ghost and can produce ghostly offspring.
Resurrecting in The Sims 3
Ghosts can be resurrected as normal Sims. If a ghost eats Ambrosia, they will be turned into a normal Sim. A ghost who has lost their gravestone cannot be resurrected. (See #Ghost glitches in The Sims 3.)
In The Sims 3 for console, a ghost can be brought back to life by using the Divine Intervention Karma Power.[1]
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.
- 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 are 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. This happens particularly often with the pre-made Sim Vita Alto, even with her husband should he cross her.
- Sims working on the photography skill have challenges to photograph ghosts, including a challenge to capture a Mummy-Ghost on film.
Ghost glitches in The Sims 3
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, the player must activate "Testingcheatsenabled", hold down shift and left-click on the ghost. The player will see an option titled Force Object; if it is selected, an option titled "Delete it" will become available. Select this and the ghost will disappear, as if it never came out to haunt the lot in the first place. This cheat is mostly harmless and can be used to send a ghost back to their grave if this glitch occurs.
Another bug in the game causes ghosts on community lots to leave the lot and drive to a random unnoccupied lot instead. The ghost will move onto the unnoccupied space and then vanish. If the player attempts to interact with the ghost or clicks any interaction on it the ghost will dissapear. Because of this bug ghosts will no longer haunt the lot even if they are in a graveyard. This will also happen on unselected households.
Prior to Patch 3, it was common for ghosts to lose their gravestone if the player switched families. That meant it could not be resurrected nor could it die.
In World Adventures, when a Sim is traveling, they may be able to get a call from a ghost with a grave on their home lot.
The Sims 3: NDS
Ghosts in The Sims 3 for Nintendo DS, look much like a regular sim, but their features are grayed out slightly, and they are transparent. They don't 'walk', so much as they 'float', by lifting their legs up and moving. They also appear prone to glitches, including getting stuck in the ground, and appear more frequently at night. They can be talked to, angered, and even flirted with, but a ghost has the extra ability to scare other Sims. They can go through walls, and when they move, ghostly simlish can be heard.
It is known that when normal Sims (especially Sims with the "coward" trait) try to interact with ghosts, their hair turns white, and the normal Sim runs away. when this happens, the ghost that the normal Sim ran away from will usually reenact the normal Sim's fright... most normal Sims will run to the stoplight beside the road outside the graveyard, scream, and faint; ghosts will run there (or float), and will do what the Sims did. They will scream, fan themselves if it is a female Sim/ghost, and faint, but instead of being transported to the hospital after fainting like normal Sims, they will get back up and float to back to the graveyard. This could be a sign that ghosts are offended when normal Sims get scared of them.
Three ghost characters are Sarah Abreu, Abrams Daigle, and Star Vega. Obviously, all three start out unemployed. Strangely, Abrams and Sarah both have the 'Insane' trait, while Star Vega has the 'Kleptomaniac' trait. All three of these characters can be found at Pleasant Rest Graveyard, usually only at night. One can play as a ghost by befriending them, inviting them over and convincing them to move in. When played, ghosts act much like regular Sims, and can pursue careers and get hungry. When they get a job, or have a Magic Moment, the ghost will appear alive. This can also be seen if one attempts to edit the appearance of a ghost.
Ghosts are generally quite grumpy, and are hard to make friends with. Abrams will usually reject a proposal.
Gallery
Video
300px|Do you want to see grim reaper? or see a ghost? Kill your sim.
See also
- Ghosthunter — Profession in The Sims 3: Ambitions
References
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dates featured: Mid September.