Possible ways finding out what happend to the NPC? (Solved)

[ModHunter]

Hello.

It's very typical me starting on a new forum with and urgent question but it's the way it should be I suppose...

So I recently begun to play a lot that I have not be caring so much about earlier. It's an adult man  and his teenage son. They both listen to the Swedish surname Pettersson and they are auto generated from the game. On the lot there is also a young adult that I just "dumped" there and a new sim of mine. At some point there must have been a female named Ann on the lot but I have never seen her.  And lots and lots of the "homeless" sims is called "Pettersson" so it's not easy remembering them all.
But there was a plate with food in the house that was prepared by someone with the name.

But today I did find this Ann, or more exact her remains... There was an urn just outside the gym in Willow Creek. This is the very first sim who dies in the game (aside from Mr Landgraab who froze to death once but I did not save that) and I don't like it. It's not my gameplay!  The reason that I quit playing The Sims 3 was this mysterious deaths of sims that accrued every now and then and I thought The Sims 4 was better.   My active sim did look for an inscription but there did not seem to be any text. So now I ask is there is any chance to find out what the woman died from and if she can be called back to life. I hate it when the game kills sims outside of my control.  If it happens to NPC's it can happen to my sims and that's not why I spend hours creating and playing them.

[MrsFlynn]

I am not entirely sure if there's a way to know more information on Sims who have died. I did find some information that is kind of related to your question that I wanted to share.

Cullling Mechanics and Favourited Households
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=29133.msg472099#msg472099

[ModHunter]

Well, I don't know all of the game mechanics so this was valuable information. I guess I have to place the family's I want to keep in "My households" then. I don't own many packs so I have a very low limit though. But OK, thanks. 

[oshizu]

Well, I don't know all of the game mechanics so this was valuable information. I guess I have to place the family's I want to keep in "My households" then. I don't own many packs so I have a very low limit though. But OK, thanks. 

Welcome to the forum @Madhunter

About learning Ann's cause of death, can one of your sims place her urn in their inventory and take it to their home?
If you place it on your lot, Ann will eventually appear as a ghost and you could do one of two things:

(1) Check Ann's chest area for a clue to her cause of death. For example, a sim who died by pufferfish poisoning might have one swimming around in their body.
     Or a vampire who died by sunlight might show a small sun in their chest. (I'm not sure but I think some ghosts indicate their cause of death by behavior instead of an object in their transparent chest.)

(2) You could also save your game and befriend Ann so that she joins your household as a ghost. 
     (I only suggest saving your game first in case you're just curious about Ann but don't want her permanently rejoining your sims' household. Once you satisfy your curiousity, you can exit without saving.)
     Once Ann's a household member, you can check her Simology panel which will describe her cause of death.

I'm not sure if this will be helpful.  Good luck!

[ModHunter]

Thank you for your reply. 

Yes, this did help me as I now know what to do. I can send out an "familymember" and see if the urn can be taken home. If it works I should look for the ghost. Yes, I did use the quotation marks here as I'm still not 100 percent sure. Either the adult man Daniel or his son had Ann in their family tree but she must  have been living on the lot. Random guests might raid the fridge but I have never seen them prepare food. But I will check a few things the next time I play (this weekend) and then I come back with more info.

[scoed]

You can tell cause of death by the ghost. Some deaths have visual clues like @oshizu said, but most do not. Most Ghosts have powers based on death cause. Cowplant death leave a ghost that can kill plants for example. Hysteria death has a ghost that grants a playful moodlet. Carl's ghost page has many of these facts. Sadly it is out of date and missing some details. But that is where I would start. Well I collect Sim Ghosts, I would actually pull up that save file but most don't have that.

[ModHunter]

Hello again.

I did follow the advice to let someone pick up the urn from downtown Willow Creek. Placing it in my sims inventory did turn it into a tombstone and that's also how it looked like after being placed on the lot. I have now been plying the family for  a couple of (in game) days but so far I have not seen any ghost at all. Maybe it takes some time before the ghost shows up. There are a option to break the tombstone, maybe that's what is needed to get a ghost? I have no idea.  I checked the main page  here at Carl's sims guide and there were an article about death but non about ghosts. I also did check the Sims Wiki (sims.fandom.com) but it was the same.   

[Brian_Z]

Unfortunately, since the option to destroy the tombstone is there, it means their ghost is gone for good.  That option comes up after you have already chosen "Release Spirit to Netherworld," or maybe also after their spirit has faded.  But that option coming up, means that that sim is well and truly gone forever.

[ModHunter]

Unfortunately, since the option to destroy the tombstone is there, it means their ghost is gone for good.  That option comes up after you have already chosen "Release Spirit to Netherworld," or maybe also after their spirit has faded.  But that option coming up, means that that sim is well and truly gone forever.

Oh OK, Thank you. Well, that was sad but I will accept it as a fact. I don't know for how long Ann had been dead when I found the urn. But let's say she was killed by lightning. It feels better that way. I do not find Ann in my list over "homeless" sims either (I do, however, have a dog that looks a little "unreal" so I do think it's a ghost or something).  So maybe the game deletes the dead sims for good. Well, thank you all who wanted to help. I will call this issue "solved" now.

[Brian_Z]

The game does cull sims when the total number starts getting big.  Especially sims you have never interacted with, and especially ghosts you have never interacted with.
Your ghost dog can be resurrected, if you want.  And it's easier than with a sim!  There's a treat you can buy at the vet's office.

[ModHunter]

Yeah, that was my theory too. That the game want's to regulate the number of sims that is. After moving some familys to "my households" I now have a total of 120 of 150 sims (recomended). Sure, there are some sims that I don't need in the game but even though I have been reading that it is safe to delete "homeless" sims I'm afraid to do so. (I did play the Sims 2 for so long and in that game it was an absolute "no-go" to delete sims).

[oshizu]

Sorry to hear that your sims never got to meet Ann's ghost.
I'm wondering if your sims had been acquainted with a different Ann sim, and not the Ann whose urn they brought home.

After the death of a sim my sims know, they get a notice when that sim's "spirit is fading" (or something like that).
Oh well, that Ann is gone forever. I usually alternate between saving to different slots.  Each slot can hold 5 recoverable backups, so I can roll back a casual game when needed.

Happy simming.