Making Playable Ghosts

[MaclimesZero]

Ok, I get the basic steps:

1. Have a Sim die while there is at least one other living Sim on the lot.
2. One of the live Sims will at some point get an Opportunity to bring the Urn/Gravestone to the Science Lab to resurrect them.
3. Complete the Opportunity.
4. Future ghost Sims on that lot can be made playable by paying at the Science Lab for it.

My problem is Step 2.

What can be done to increase the odds of this opportunity arising? I have a Sim living on a lot with 5 gravestones. I keep a few in her inventory, and a few scattered about at all times. It's been about a week of in-game time, and the opportunity has not arisen. Is there a way to force it to occur, or at least increase the odds? What are the conditions here?

[Rothchild]

Step 1 is actually unneeded.  If you go to the graveyard a lot to play guitar for tips and chat with the ghosts, you'll get the opportunity.  I think the thing that triggers it and increases the chances of the opportunity is your relationship with the ghost.  Unfortunately, I could only find one way to interact with the ghost on my lot, which was dancing to music.

[Captain Swooptie]

Looking at the code, it appears that phonecall opportunities can occur, at the least, every 2 days and, at the most, every 4 days, presumably from the last time an opportunity roll was performed. The ghost restoration opportunity has a 75% chance to occur per roll. Further, the ghost restoration opportunity has a requirement of "HasHighRelationshipWithDeadSim," but no indication of what, in numbers, that actually means. So it looks like your problem is either a relationship that's not high enough, or a string of bad rolls.

[Rockermonkey]

The annoying thing for me is, I think my ghosts could be borked. They never show up anywhere . I've gone to the graveyard everyday and they're always no where too be found  

[Mandapotpie]

It took a while for me to catch the ghosts actually out. I don't like that they are only out from midnight to 5 am now instead of from dark to light.

[Aaroc]

Actually, I believe ghosts are simply out for five hours and can come out at any time during the late night. I had one ghost who didn't show up til 4am and he stayed until 9am.

He sat and ate breakfast with the family and everything. He disappeared after clearing the breakfast dishes.

[MaclimesZero]

I just had a ghost hang around until almost 1 PM. I suspect it's related to their relationship with residents of the house.

Oh, and thanks guys. It worked. I built up my relationship with the ghost to Best Friend, and within 3 days, I got the call to bring him back. Thanks!

[Erry]

I was able to get a playable ghost. My widower's wife died(by altering the hunger need accidentally) and now I have her as a ghost, the husband works at the Science facility too, and he got the opportunity 2-3 days after moving to a new lot.

[Euphemism]

Ok, so when a Sim in the household dies, your relationship with it resets? So you need to build your relationship with your dead husband back up? Lame.

And also, for the opportunity to arise, the grave isn't supposed to be in your Sim's inventory? Or can it? Evil Prima sez it has to be in your inventory, I believe. But of course, I am doubtful.

I'm wondering because I've been looking forward to having playable ghosts, and attempted it with one Sim, but after several days, got frustrated and gave up. Meh. Shall retry later.

[Gus Smedstad]

I'm rather annoyed that you can't choose the various colored ghosts who inhabit the graveyard.

The second time my 4th generation Sim was rejected for Try For Baby with his girlfriend, she said he was "creepy."  I said "Creepy!  I'll show you creepy" and decided he was going to romance one of the blue ghost chicks and have ghost kids with her.  Unfortunately, it turns out you can't select any of the pre-existing gravestones to put in your inventory.

Nor, it seems, is the gravestone of Sim who has been dead too long.  I experimented with the Playable Ghost thing with him in my very first household, decided it was boring, sent him back to the netherworld, and skipped all future opportunities.  Now both his gravestone and his wife's no longer appear in "manage dead," though generation 3's gravestone does.

Playing elders past their expiration date isn't much fun because they've pretty much done everything I want to do with them.  The real entertainment seems to be in playing a ghost who still has a life in front of them, and the adult / young adult dead in the graveyard seemed ready made for that, though many would require a Mid Life Crisis because they have only 1 trait.

One possibility would be to kill a Young Adult Sim and then put the urn on ice for a couple of generations and bring him back.  Is there a "kill instantly" option somewhere in the debug modes, as there was with the tombstone object in TS2?  I find the process of killing via accidents (fire, drowning, etc) tedious and distasteful, and you really have to work at it to kill a Sim in TS3.

 - Gus

[johnebe]

well you can always make your own playable ghosts
White: normal death old age
Blue: drowning
Red: fire
Yellow: electrocution
light purple; starvation.
there is a way to get each one:
red for instance make a smalll room add stove, refrig and counter top have them make waffles as soon as its in oven cancel action and watch the fire burn
blue add a small pool add wall or fence around pool once sim is inside then move counter for energy to red and watch them drown.

[Euphemism]

Is there a "kill instantly" option somewhere in the debug modes, as there was with the tombstone object in TS2?  I find the process of killing via accidents (fire, drowning, etc) tedious and distasteful, and you really have to work at it to kill a Sim in TS3.

When in the main menu (the one where it asks you to load your save/neighborhood/start a new game), enter the debug code (testingcheatsenabled true for those that don't know). Go into your lot and on the Sim's Hunger bar all the way to the minimum with your mouse. The game needs to be unpaused to see the result. That should do it, and you'll get a spankin' new Hunger Ghost! Yay. Just beware of any food you leave in its path. Or cute kittens.

[Faizah]

Unfortunately, it turns out you can't select any of the pre-existing gravestones to put in your inventory.

You can, you just have to befriend the ghost first. Also, the ghost must be 'in' the grave when you pick it up, ie, not haunting. I've resurrected two pre-dead ghosts now, it works.

[edalbformat]

All my Sims die of old age. I get far too many options to make them playable. Accepted once and playable ghosts are a big bore besides they occupy space and you cannot have more Sims in the hosehold. If you made them playable, regret it by just put their tombstones back on the ground (it is placed in their own inventory).
Instead I have them to be just ghosts. They are so simply guests and you can have them around from clock 21:00 to 07:00. Relationships increase by contacting them. I had a kid that was born after the grand-mother died. She played him in the crib and build up relation enough to be best friends. Why should I sci-fi them?

[Rothchild]

I'm rather annoyed that you can't choose the various colored ghosts who inhabit the graveyard.

You can, you just need a high enough relationship with the ghost.  I played guitar for tips in the graveyard a lot of nights, and I can put most of the gravestones in my inventory.

[Gus Smedstad]

You can, you just have to befriend the ghost first. Also, the ghost must be 'in' the grave when you pick it up, ie, not haunting. I've resurrected two pre-dead ghosts now, it works.

I wasn't aware of the second condition.  I'll have to look into that.

 - Gus

[moonluck]

Ok, so when a Sim in the household dies, your relationship with it resets? So you need to build your relationship with your dead husband back up? Lame.

That wasn't the case for me. The son was just as good of friends with his dad as when he was alive.

[Toasty]

Ugh, there needs to be a mod for this. I've been trying to get the stupid lab to call my sim for a week, but no dice.

[Toasty]

Have you tried this mod in your game? And doesn't it conflict with the Awesomemod?

[EdenNintyNine]

I was given this opportunity after stealing a gravestone; once you do this opportunity you have access to raise any ghost after that. Or at least I did; the bubble stays in the menu of the science building from then on.

[Euphemism]

Have you tried this mod in your game? And doesn't it conflict with the Awesomemod?

Read the thread. About five comments down, the author says specifically that it will indeed conflict with the Awesomemod.

You should go to the Awesomemod requests thread, if someone hasn't posted that there already.

[J. M. Pescado]

That looks like it's just the Debug Interaction Enabler. This already exists in AwesomeMod, so there's no need to download that. Just enable it by typing "setconfig enabledebuginteractions on", then CRTL-SHIFT-Click using the directions for that other mod.

[Miao]

I played Agnes Crumplebottom's lot for several Sim-weeks, and noticed that the higher Agnes had built her and Erik Darling's relationship, the likelier he was to come out haunting any given night. Erik Darling's ghost showed up only once every three to four days at the beginning, but once he and Agnes became romantic interests, he came out almost every night. She was awarded the Opportunity to resurrect him at that point.

[Ellatrue]

What is it that makes the playable ghosts especially boring? Can't they do the same things as every other sim?

[Roflganger]

What is it that makes the playable ghosts especially boring? Can't they do the same things as every other sim?

That's what makes them boring.  They're pretty much just see-through Sims, with no neat, ghostly quirks.  Fine as Sims, boring as ghosts.