The very first Sims game was a pioneer in a lot of ways, paving the way for what would become an iconic series, but there are a few limitations that feel a bit constricting when you’re going back to the older games from the new, as many of us are with the Legacy editions.
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There are a few different ways you can make occult Sims in the original game, but they didn’t become the robust occult states we know and love until the next entry in the series. Still, ghosts and zombies are both possible here if you know how!
All Occult States In The Original Sims
How To Make Ghosts And Zombies
It sounds a bit macabre, but the only way to make ghost Sims in the original Sims game is for a Sim to die. Regardless of how it happens, if you leave a Sim’s tombstone or urn on a lot, there’s a chance they’ll turn up in the dark of night, typically between midnight and when the sun comes up. They like to scare living Sims and cause mayhem, but at least they’re still around.
If Grim shows up to handle someone passing away and someone pleads with Grim for a dying Sim, there’s a chance (albeit not a big one) that he’ll challenge this Sim to a game of rock, paper, scissors. You can’t control what your Sim chooses, nor can you force Grim to play, but if he accepts the challenge, one of two things happen:
- If you win the game, the Sim you’re pleading for is spared, and they remain a normal Sim.
- If Grim wins instead, the Sim you’re plading for becomes a zombie.
Zombies are playable life states for Sims, but you’ll notice that zombified Sims have no personality anymore after their resurrection. Their hard-earned skills won’t be touched, but any personality traits they had before they died will be wiped, producing a Sim with no personality at all. If you grow tired of the zombie, Miss Lucille the palm reader who appears in Old Town on public lots can help you out.
She charges §200 to revive the zombie back to life, but unfortunately, their personality points are lost forever, and they’ll come back to life without them.
Magical Sims who are well versed in using charms can make and use the Shed Your Skin charm. If they use the charm at night, they’ll become a ghost this way, but watch out for snakes to infest the lot instead if the charm is used during the day (or if the Sim trying to cast the charm is already a ghost – you can’t die twice in this game).
All Other Occult Sims Are Fairly Limited
While you’ll definitely bump into some odd supernatural Sims in the original game, especially as you dive into all the whimsical content added with Makin’ Magic, you’re not able to create occult Sims outside of ghosts and zombies. Makin’ Magic made all this mystical a reality, but the designation of Witches as occult Sim life states didn’t happen until The Sims 2.
This means you can have any Sim, both adults and children alike, work on their magical abilities without fear of much happening to make them inhuman. For the remainder of life states that have become iconic to the franchise since the original games – vampires, werewolves, aliens, and more – while they might make an appearance, you won’t be able to create these Sims for yourself.
Through the use of the Beauty or Beast magical charm (or the junior version made by a child magic user), Sims can have plenty of “beastly” appearances, visibly appearing as occult Sims for a few in-game hours despite nothing about their life state or motives changing in the process. Additionally, the Concoctinator Chemistry Set can temporarily render Sims as monsters. You can’t control them in this state, but they will revert to normal in a few in-game hours.
