Tips for building a Haunted House and Ghost Hunting

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Palmjill
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Tips for building a Haunted House and Ghost Hunting

Post by Palmjill »

As many of us are busy with the Great Ghost Hunt, I thought I would compile the great tips from other threads in one place for easy viewing.

The new feature of having to recharge haunted items means you have to try and put as many haunted items as possible in and around your house so you don't have to wait for items to recharge. Lucyvp867 has compiled a useful list of the haunted items, cost and time taken to recharge.
Lucyvp867 wrote:Paintings are definitely the way to go.
Haunted items

Fireplace = 7 LP = 10 minutes recharge
Skeleton = 60 LP = 10 minutes recharge
Haunted painting = 1 LP (x4) = 10 minutes recharge
Skeleton light = 4 LP = 10 minutes recharge
Nosferatu's Chamber = 6 LP = 10 minutes recharge

Chest drawer = $1,300 = 20 minutes recharge
Pumpkin light = $1,000 = 20 minutes recharge
Wilted flowers = $1,000 = 20 minutes recharge
Scarecrow = $7,500 = 20 minutes recharge
Haunted windows = $850 = 20 minutes recharge
Plagued statue = $10,000 = 20 minutes recharge
Haunted door = $1,500 = 20 minutes recharge

Bookcase = $200 = 30 minutes recharge
Table = $200 = 30 minutes recharge
Vampire chains = $180 = 30 minutes recharge
A tip from bmb_SFP is about making your house escape proof.
bmb_SFP wrote:I have a haunted house with all the items but will add in a few extra paintings I think. I have a row of conifers around the outside of the house which stop the ghosts being able to escape outside and run off up the road :D
Another tip from Lucyvp867:
Lucyvp867 wrote: I built a big square house with the center as a courtyard to put the scarecrow and the wilted flowers and anything else that can go outside. Make the halls huge so there is room to move around. I got the tip from here to circle the house with conifers (the small pine trees that take up one square). Put multiples of every haunted item in there, you will need it because some have 30 minute recharge times.

The only problem is? You have to be quick otherwise since the ghosts have nowhere to run outside? They will just sink into the floor and be gone. I've watched it happening when testing the house out.

I also stagger my hunters so I'm not dealing with accidental clicks on things/them while chasing those fast moving ghosts.
Like Lucy, I have made my Haunted House simple with 2 large rooms with plenty of room to move around. If you have difficulty catching the ghosts (especially the extra fast level 8 ones) I suggest that you choose a light plain colour for the flooring to make them easier to see. While it does detract from the haunted atmostphere of the house, I have found that it does help in seeing and catching the ghosts.

And nogard0 has a great tip on actually catching the ghosts. I used to play my game with volume off till I noticed the ghosts crying out when hit. Three cries and you know you have caught them!
nogard0 wrote:oh ... turn your volume up a bit ghosts cry out when hit ... 3 hits and they are caught. i wonder if one can tap,fast.
Levelling up in Ghost Hunting is (I think) the fastest of any hobby and thankfully they have kept it so for the higher levels as well. Levelling up at level 5->6, 6->7 and 7->8 is at 2% per hunt so it reaching level 8 in 12 days should be no problem if you spend time on it. Good luck with the Ghost Hunt!!
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HordePrime
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Re: Tips for building a Haunted House and Ghost Hunting

Post by HordePrime »

Great post.

I'd like to add that the outdoor fencing (of the type that comes with the Beachside Escape) also blocks ghosts.

Another thing is that, while they will move through bare walls (including doors and windows), they won't pass through household objects such as fridges, bookshelves etc. So, to prevent them from going off really fast, you can strategically place such items to make them travel (or stay) in an area you wish.

Remember also that two copies of the same haunted item will have their own individual recharge countdown, so several copies of the same object works just as well as several different objects.

Also remember that the latter ghosts are only possible to catch once you have reached the higher levels. So, if you can only afford so many haunted items, don't waste them on having lots of different sims hunting, concentrate on getting one to Level 8. After that, you can use additional hunters to help catch the remaining ghosts (which doesn't actually very long in comparison).
Lucyvp867
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Re: Tips for building a Haunted House and Ghost Hunting

Post by Lucyvp867 »

On my phone but when I get home I have to show you guys what my sims did!!

I left the game to go visit a neighbor town came back and every single one of them was standing outside the house even though it had no doors!

The ghost were outside with them so I lost all five ghost because they ran up the street.

It was so funny to see it that I actually didn't get mad about losing the ghost.

I couldn't believe how clever they were to escape a windowless doorless house. Of course I took screenshots of them all standing outside. That is the first time this has happened otherwise the haunted house is working really well and I only have two ghost left and I'm not playing nonstop.
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Re: Tips for building a Haunted House and Ghost Hunting

Post by katgames »

We did good without worrying about trapping anyone. I just had a haunted room not a whole house so they hunted out in the yard a lot. I found it was almost easier to catch them outside or in the road. Anyway... It worked and I got mah big-ass tree! Yay!
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enkeli63
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Re: Tips for building a Haunted House and Ghost Hunting

Post by enkeli63 »

I just wanted to add that it may be tempting to fill the house up with haunted furniture, but if the ghost hunter stops at a haunted item, it resets the charge counter on that item too--so you end up running out of charged items for your hunt unless you have LOTS & LOTS of haunted items. When you're just starting out, they can be pretty expensive, so you should add some regular items in the haunted house too.
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Re: Tips for building a Haunted House and Ghost Hunting

Post by nogard0 »

Lucyvp867 wrote:On my phone but when I get home I have to show you guys what my sims did!!

I left the game to go visit a neighbor town came back and every single one of them was standing outside the house even though it had no doors!

The ghost were outside with them so I lost all five ghost because they ran up the street.

It was so funny to see it that I actually didn't get mad about losing the ghost.

I couldn't believe how clever they were to escape a windowless doorless house. Of course I took screenshots of them all standing outside. That is the first time this has happened otherwise the haunted house is working really well and I only have two ghost left and I'm not playing nonstop.
did you also surround the whole house with cedars ? the little trees that have a talking symbol on them ?
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sm22281
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Re: Tips for building a Haunted House and Ghost Hunting

Post by sm22281 »

Thanks to all the great tips here! I retrofitted my Haunted House as advised, with lots of haunted items and particularly paintings; then encircled the yard with conifers and had a good time ghost-hunting; I also remove the door and block the gap in the conifer fence when on a ghost-hunting streak.
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