- See also: Ghost pet
Ghosts are featured in most The Sims games after Sims die. Some lots will have pre-made ghosts, and after Sims die, they linger as ghosts. Ghosts appear as transparent color-varied sims.
The Sims
Ghosts appear on residential 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 don't always appear. When they appear, eerie music will play indicating their presence. They will usually hang around for a few hours doing nothing but just walking around while making windy noises. They take on the same appearance that they had when they died, except that they appear to be pale green-blue and transparent. Although playable Sims cannot interact with them, ghosts can "Spook" living Sims. When this happens, the ghost will sneak up on the Sim and vanish and then jump up behind the Sim while moaning and laugh. This causes the Sim to scream frantically and then run away, while some of his or her needs will be depleted. This "Be Spooked" interaction can be canceled. It will not override what is in the Sim's action queue, so it can be canceled before the Sim is spooked. One premade lot where Sims can see ghosts is the cemetery of the Goth family, which has the ghosts of dead relatives, i.e. Boy, Bratty, Uncle, Auntie, Grandma, Grandpa, Cousin, and Vegas.
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 will be 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.
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. Sims may also have wants to "See the Ghost" of Sims they are enemies with or furious at. 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
A microwave door floating, levitated by a ghost
- Walk through walls, fences, and furniture.
- Scare Sims (Sims can die from fright if their needs are low enough while being scared)
- Float chairs (even if Sims sit on them), other small objects and even their graves.
- Wither flowers.
- Turn on electronics.
- Make objects float, such as microwaves, teddy bears, table lamps, and surgical dummy.
- Make a bowling alley float.[confirmation needed]
- Make xylophone play by themselves.
- Fill bathtub and dirty them, if they're angry.
- Visit their bed (the last one they slept in) and other objects they might have been close to. For example: the ghost of a Sim who used to paint a lot may check the easel.
- Cry over other Sims who have died recently.
- The ghosts who died by fire can go swimming if there is a swimming pool or ocean.
- The ghosts who died by drowning will leave behind puddles.
- The ghosts who died of hunger may open the fridge and look around in it, and steal food from it. They will be unhappy if there is not a fridge on the lot, the fridge is empty, or the ghost cannot gain access to it (e.g. water blocking their way).
- The ghosts who died by disease or electrocution will reenact their death.
- Hold babies and toddlers[confirmation needed]
Angry spirits
Some Sims can get angry if they find their spouse happily married again.
A ghost can become angry if:
- They died of starvation and there is no food in the fridge
- Their grave is kicked or smashed
- Their spouse remarries
- Their family members move out and another family reside the lot
- The ghost's family dies out via marriage
- The bed they slept in most often is sold. Thus, if the player plans to keep tombstones on the home lot, it's wise to buy the best beds before anybody dies so the player won't anger the ghosts by selling their bed to buy a better one.
Although all ghosts interact with objects and scare Sims, angry ghosts do so more violently. Normally, a ghost will only scare a Sim if they're close enough. Angry ghost will have wider range to scare Sims. An angry ghost may do things such as:
- Break electronics
- Make threatening gestures
- Haunt a specific Sim
- Yell and think about what made them angry
- Make bathtubs dirty
When to expect them
Ghosts often appear just after 8:00 pm (20:00), but they sometimes 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 than they would during the night before returning 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 Testingcheatsenabled is on and there is a ghost wandering around, the player can pause the game and make the ghost selectable, then just cancel the "*Haunt" action and quickly make the ghost unselectable again. The ghost will then disappear. It is also possible to ForceError them, as this acts like canceling the action.
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 ghosts in The Sims 2
A deceased Lilith Pleasant scaring someone.
- Old age: Sim or pet appears white. Ghost dogs dig phantom holes.
- Fire: Sim appears red. They will sometimes swim in pools or in the sea[TS2:BV]. While these ghosts are not always angry or violent, they are more likely to be unquiet.
- Electrocution: Sim appears yellow and occasionally re-enacts their death.
- Drowning: Sim appears blue, leaving puddles of water on the lot.
- Fright: Sim appears pink.
- Starvation: Sim appears transparent and occasionally opens the fridge, removing food points from it. Ghost gets angry if there is no fridge on the lot or if the fridge is empty.
- Illness: Sim appears light green and occasionally re-enacts their death.
- Satellite: Sim appears orange.
- Flies: Sim appears purple.
- Cowplant[TS2:U]: Sim appears green. If the Cowplant is still on the lot, the ghost Sim will taunt it with a slab of meat. Additionally, if another Sim drank the ghost Sim's life essence, then the ghost will be angry at that Sim.
- Sunlight[TS2:NL]: Sim appears white and is still a vampire.
- Rally forth[TS2:OFB]: Sim appears golden with a megaphone in his/her hand.
The ghost of a Sim who died by Rally Forth
- Hail[TS2:S]: Sim appears magenta and occasionally re-enacts their death.
- Wishing Well[TS2:S]: Sim appears white.
- Murphy bed[TS2:AL]: Sim appears white.
Certain types of death don't have unique ghost color. Instead, their color will be similar to Sims who die of starvation, but their behavior might differ. The ghosts include the death by sunlight, coffin scare, wishing well, and Murphy bed. Ghosts who were struck by lightning will be similar to ghosts of electrocution. The Running with Scissors Playset ghost will be similar to death by fright.
Trivia
- In The Sims 2, all adult male ghosts are voiced by Stephen Kearin, while all adult female ghosts are voiced by Gerri Lawlor, regardless of the voice they have when they are alive.
- Saying goodbye to a living Sim on the lot can cause the ghosts currently on the lot to disappear.
- In Apartment Life, ghosts are unaffected by the Tempus Interruptus spell[confirmation needed]. Also, using Expello Simae on a ghost will cause it to hover back to its grave and disappear.
- Ghosts cannot harm pets, but they can disturb them. Dogs and cats will be noisy when a ghost is around.
- Pets also become ghosts after they die.
- Deleting a tombstone or urn will prevent that Sim's ghost from appearing, but this should not be done as it will corrupt the neighborhood. Placing a tombstone or urn in inventory will also keep the ghost from appearing, but neighborhood corruption may result if a Sim dies with a tombstone or urn in inventory.[1] The best way to get rid of tombstones is by moving them to a graveyard[TS2:NL]+
The Sims: Bustin' Out (PS2/GameCube/XBOX)
In The Sims: Bustin' Out, ghosts 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, and "scary" music will also play when ghosts appear on a lot. Only one lot, Goth Manor, has pre-made ghosts. The ghosts on that lot can be exorcised by using the Seance Table.
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. Their needs will be static in the middle. All ghosts look the same regardless of how the Sim died. Unlike most Sims games, ghosts will appear at all times of day. Ghosts can also be revived by winning a fiddle challenge with the Grim Reaper or giving him §100. Dead Sims are never really lost forever (or at least for a long time) as they are in the PC version.
The Sims 2 (DS)
Although Sims cannot fully die in the Sims 2 DS, there is one ghost that will haunt the hotel. When the Cute Ghost painting is placed in the hotel, Sims may start receiving phone calls and text messages from the guests and concierge complaining about the hotel being haunted. The players may find the cute cartoonish looking ghost (who dons the original look of a ghost opposed to looking like a Sim) floating around Strangetown, he appears mostly in the lobby. He attempts to scare guests but can be temporarily removed via vacuum cleaner; he will return as long as the painting remains in the hotel. Due to the ghost not looking like a Sim it is unknown who he actually is, guests will just refer to him as 'Ghost'. He makes child like noises, so could be a child. The Concierge will ring the player saying the ghost visited and started crying. They player will never see the ghost cry, so he may well be a relative of the player's Sim as he also appears to help them with social interactions.
The Sims 3
Ghosts in the Riverview Graveyard
Ghosts also appear in The Sims 3, and are fairly similar to those in The Sims 2. They also appear in different colors depending on how they died, but are much richer in color and appear to have higher visual fidelity than those in The Sims 2. There are premade ghosts in each graveyard and also in some houses that ship with The Sims 3 and each of its expansions. Unlike in previous games, ghosts are treated like normal Sims and can be interacted with 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. They 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.
They are also seen briefly right after a Sim dies as the Grim Reaper comes to reap the ghost Sim from their mortal body. This also makes it possible for a Sim to fulfill a wish to see a ghost just after another Sim dies.
When talking to a ghost, they sound like a normal Sim with a little echo. Prior to patch 1.26, 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 which tell them to scare other Sims, but they 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.
When a Sim's spouse dies (of any cause except for old age), it will still show the Sim as being in a relationship with their deceased partner. Therefore, if the ghost finds 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 he or she will think of it as cheating. If a Sim goes around town and performs romantic interactions with their new romantic interest, girl/boyfriend, fiancee, or spouse, he or she may get the Cheater reputation. The player can stop this by having the surviving partner break up with the ghost when he or she is haunting. However, angry ghosts can be quite violent, so it would be smart to either put the grave in the graveyard, sell it, place it in a Sim's inventory, or hire a ghost exterminator.
Another unique thing about ghosts in The Sims 3 is that they can also go outside of the graveyard to go to other lots and haunt other Sims, but they will only target homes that are somehow related to them. 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, not like ghost cars.
Note that, when a ghost goes back to its grave, the relationships will reset to zero. Therefore, it is useless trying to have a Sim become friends with a ghost unless the ghost's urn or tombstone is placed in the Sim's inventory and taken into his or her house.
Sometimes, when using the cheat ResetSim [InsertNameHere] on a ghost, the ghost may return to the Netherworld.
Types of Ghosts
- See also: Hybrid
As in The Sims 2, ghosts have different colors depending on how the Sim died, but their appearance is rather different. They have blank eyes, which is their most notable feature. Different ghosts may behave a little differently depending on their traits when they were alive and how they died.
- Old age: A Sim who died of old age appears grey with cloudy skin and sparkles. These ghosts occasionally nap in empty beds or complain that they're tired and bored.
- Drowning: A Sim who dies by drowning appears blue with rippling skin and dripping water (does not create puddles of water like they did in The Sims 2). They will avoid water and often complain of exhaustion.
- Electrocution: A Sim who dies by electrocution appears yellow with electrical sparking skin and sometimes emit blue electric sparks. The ghost will act scared if it encounters broken electrical objects.
- Fire: A Sim who dies by fire appears orange with fiery skin and smoke. Sims can die like this in many various ways, like spontaneous combustion, inventing failure, or meteor impact. The ghost occasionally takes showers and baths. When the ghost is in a pool, it turns invisible. [confirmation needed]
- Starvation: A Sim who dies by starvation appears pink with cloudy skin and doesn't make ghostly noises (only if they move). The ghost will eat any food left lying around, or prepare food for themselves. They will always be thin, no matter how fat they were when they were alive.
- Mummy's curse[TS3:WA]: A Sim who dies by mummy's curse appears gold with cloudy skin and emits black haze. These ghosts only make ghostly noises if they move. Prior to Late Night and its subsequent patch, the ghost was dark grey or black.
- Meteor[TS3:A]: A Sim who dies by getting crushed by a giant meteor appears dark orange with fiery skin.
- Thirst[TS3:LN]: A Vampire Sim that dies of thirst appears dark crimson with rippling skin, occasionally emitting a pulsing red light from their heart. The pulsating light is also accompanied by a heartbeat. They are also skinny, like the ghosts of Sims who died from starvation.
- Watery grave[TS3:ST]: Unskilled Magicians who fail to execute the Watery Grave trick with the Box of Danger have a chance of dying. The ghost is dark blue, but prior to patch 1.50, the Watery grave ghost was same color as that of a Sim who drowned.
- Buried alive[TS3:ST]: Unskilled Magicians who fail to execute the Buried Alive trick with the Box of Danger have a chance of dying. The ghost appears invisible with hints of black.
- Jelly bean[TS3:SN]: The ghost is in dark purple with hair and outlines of a body in the color of electric blue.
- Haunting curse[TS3:SN]: The ghost is dark green with hair and outlines of a body in the colour of dark neon green. Sprites of skulls, tombstones and crescent moons may surround the ghost.
- Transmutation[TS3:SN]: The ghost is in bright gold and emits gold stars and sparkles when moving.
- Freezing[TS3:S]: Sims who freeze to death will appear light blue and will often complain that they are too cold. If made playable, they will have the "Teeth Chattering" moodlet regardless of actual temperature, and roll unachievable wants to warm up.
- Blunt force trauma[TS3:UL]: Sims who are killed from a vending machine or murphy bed will appear magenta with feathers floating around them.
- Ranting[TS3:UL]: Sims who die from protesting will appear green with some symbols that usually appear when shouting.
- Shark attack[TS3:IP]: Sims who die from shark attack will appear purple with water flowing in their body.
- Dehydration[TS3:IP]: Mermaids who die from dehydration will appear golden yellow.
- Running out of Air[TS3:IP]: Sims who die from running out of air will appear dark turquoise.
- Jetpack Crash[TS3:ITF]: Sims who die from falling from sky with jetpack will appear red with orange hair and with lava-like textures.
- Time Anomaly[TS3:ITF]: Sims who die from Time Anomaly will appear light orange and will have almost invisible arms and legs.
Playable ghosts
Ghost Family.
Ghosts can be resurrected to become playable using the Oh My Ghost! opportunity. 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. They can then be resurrected as normal Sims if they are fed with Ambrosia. Ghosts who have lost their gravestones cannot be resurrected. In The Sims 3 for console, a ghost can be brought back to life by using the Divine Intervention Karma Power.[2] If a Sim in the player's household dies, that Sim will be playable as a ghost for 5 days. After which the ghost returns to the Netherworld and is never seen again.
Ghost Sims carry their own tombstones in their inventory, and can never be removed from inventory. If the player no longer wishes for the ghost to be around, the ghost can be dismissed by simply clicking on it and selecting the 'Return to the Netherworld' option. This will revert the ghost to its remains, which will then need to be reburied or turned into an urn.
Ghosts act in many ways similar to normal Sims. They eat food, clean messes, and sleep. Ghost children even go to school, even though they are dead. A child's grade always starts at C, no matter how high the grade was before death.
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, as they are not actually dead they do not have an urn in their inventory and therefore cannot use the "Return to the Netherworld" interaction.
If the Supernatural expansion is installed, playable ghosts can be created in Create a Sim, and their type of death can be chosen. Deaths from other expansions can also be chosen even though the player doesn't have the corresponding expansions installed. (This is because the codes for expansion-ghosts types are carried forward through the different patches for The Sims 3. In order to kill sims to get these types of ghosts, however, still require their corresponding expansions.)
At the initial release of The Sims 3, ghosts were unable to become partners in or buy out businesses. However, in fully-updated games, ghosts can now purchase properties (including businesses) by using the "Check Real Estate" interaction on their cell phone.
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 can be easily achieved by marrying a young adult Sim to a wealthy elder.
- Indian Burial Ground
- When a family first moves in to a home, they may find their property is haunted by random ghosts. Sims can deal with the ghosts themselves or keep them. Sims will shortly be offered help from a repo-man in order to get rid of the urns.
- Sometimes, when given this scenario, some of the ghosts may appear with a death type from an expansion pack the player does not have installed. This is because the codes for ghost types are carried forward in the patches, and not exclusive to the expansion pack. Killing Sims in certain ways requires the corresponding expansion pack, however.
- Misc wishes
- Sims with the Evil trait often wish to see the ghost of living Sims around them.
- Several of the Photography photo album in the skill journal include capturing the snapshot of a ghost, some ghosts, and a Mummy-Ghost.
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, 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 way is to send the ghost back to its grave is to use the ResetSim cheat (ctrl+shift+c, then type "ResetSim (first name) (surname)"). Type the name of the ghost into the ResetSim and they will go back into their urns or graves.
Another bug in the game causes ghosts on community lots to leave the lot and drive to a random unoccupied lot instead. The ghost will move onto the unoccupied space and then vanish. If the player attempts to interact with the ghost or clicks any interaction on it the ghost will disappear. 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.
If a ghost is asked to move in and join the active household, the urn or grave for that ghost can be deleted; however, the sparkles on the ghost that died of old age will be lost. If the ghost eats ambrosia, it cannot be brought back to life. Deleting its urn or grave will also cause the ghost state to be permanent.
The Sims 3: NDS
Ghosts in The Sims 3 for Nintendo DS, look much like regular Sims, 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 cannot drive cars. 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.
The 3 ghost characters are Sarah Abreu, Abrams Daigle, and Star Vega. Obviously, all three start out unemployed. None have lifetime wishes, but the players can give them one through the Mid-Life Crisis lifetime happiness reward. 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. They can last indefinitely without food, and do not need to use the bathroom or clean themselves. They do, however, have a fun need, sleep need, and social need. 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.
The Sims 4
An angry ghost in The Sims 4
The Sims 4 did not originally contain ghosts. When Sims died, they were permanently unplayable. Ghosts were added to The Sims 4 via a game patch on October 1, 2014. As in The Sims 3, ghosts come back as non-playable Sims that haunt the area around their graves upon death. Developing a good relationship with them, however, can allow the player to ask them to join the household.
Ghosts change to certain colors depending on their emotional state:
- Green: Happy
- Blue: Confident
- Magenta: Playful
- Red: Angry
- Grey: Bored
- Yellow-green: Energized
- Purple: Focused
- Dark Blue: Sad
- Yellow: Embarrassed
- Orange: Uncomfortable
- Yellow-orange: Tense
- Pink: Flirty
- Lavender: Dazed
- Cyan: Inspired
- Navy Blue: Asleep
- White: Fine
There is a friendly interaction for ghosts in which ghosts can pass through Sims. Sims can also "Ask Them What Happened" to figure out how they died.
Ghosts can possess objects and go through walls and objects, though the player can choose which objects to possess. Ghosts can also break and/or 'Ghostly Repair' objects through this possession ability, which is useful for Sims with lower Handiness skills.
Types of Ghosts
The known ghost types and their respective attributes are:
- Old age: The ghost will prefer to take it easy.
- Hunger: The ghost will seek to satisfy its hunger.
- Fire: The ghost can cause fires as well as set off continuous fires when they're angry.
- Electrocution: The ghost can electric shock people, much like the hand buzzer interaction of the Mischief skill.
- Cowplant: The ghost can help plants grow and mature faster if happy as well as cause them to die if they're in a negative emotion.
- Laughter: The ghost continuously emits an aura which causes nearby Sims to be playful or happy.
- Anger: The ghost will negatively influence the mood of Sims living in the house.
- Embarrassed: The ghost continuously emits an aura which causes nearby Sims to be embarrassed.
- Overexertion: The ghost will prefer to take it easy.
- Drowning: The ghost can cause water pools to appear.
Gallery
Images
.jpg "Ghost Watery Grave (New).jpg (426 KB)")
Video
See also
References
Dates featured: Mid September.
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