Forum Discussion

Simmerville's avatar
Simmerville
Seasoned Ace
23 days ago

Is there a way to reactivate a sim that was taken away?

In my game there used to be two siblings, brother and sister. Long ago I found that the girl was taken away by social worker. Now the boy is a YA, and I decided it would fit my story if his sister returned. I mean, she would be YA too, and no matter how she spent her childhood and teenage years, she would now contact her brother.

I have their original family in my library, so I wanted to recreate her from that old household. Then I noticed that she is still listed in her brother's family tree (as a child), and if I get it right she must still exist somewhere in the game. So, is there any way to bring her back based on the original sim data? Her family tree portrait is not greyed out so she is obviously alive.

  • Jehane40's avatar
    Jehane40
    Rising Veteran

    That's an interesting and intriguing idea! Also, it does make sense, I mean, if social workers come to take a child away, it's gotta grow up somewhere else.

    Off the top of my hat, I think I'd start by checking existing NPC households and see if she lives with one of them.

  • GameGirl2168a's avatar
    GameGirl2168a
    Seasoned Vanguard

    At the very least, you should be able to move the gallery save of that family to a different lot, then age her up by having her repeatedly blow out candles on a birthday cake, until she's a YA herself. Then, possibly, depending on how skilled you want her, cheat those, as well as some pertinent traits to go along with the background you want her to return with. Once you move her out from the original family, you can evict them and have her begin the family story with her brother that you want. 

  • Frn0731's avatar
    Frn0731
    Rising Adventurer

    I've had a child taken away once, and that child stayed forever in the family tree, and did not age at all.  I looked for him in the NPC households but could never find him.  Since he was a tot I could never phone him either. Gone , nothing but a memory.

     If anyone had a relationship with yourmissing sim, maybe try calling her on the phone? But for some reason i think she is probably lost forever.

    I think your only chance will be what  GameGirl2168a  suggested.

  • Thanks all! I created the grown up version by aging the album girl in CAS. A pity she is not having the family tree, but as I keep my own family tree I guess I'll be able to avoid their kids marrying etc. It was fun seeing her again, wondering how her teenage years turned out with her foster family  in Sim City. Her interests **bleep** a child  were always linked to nature, so I guess he did not like the city that much. Now that she is back in my nation, I guess it's time to reunite with her brother...

    PS: Never looked for her in the unplayed households because her tree portrait was still a child, and I make sure to age all non played when aging up my played households. She would have been a YA by now if she was in any household.

  • EgonVM's avatar
    EgonVM
    Seasoned Ace

    Yeah, Life & Death pre-pack patch added the feature where the children taken away will not be deleted but instead appear in Manage Households. Children that were taken away before this patch are still deleted though and there is no way to get them back without recovering an older version of save. So yeah, recreating her as a young adult is the only way.

    In addition, at one point, deleted sims (whether it's by being culled, released to netherworld, old version of being taken away by social worker etc) will only retain their last portrait, name, and place in the family tree (relations). This is sometimes important to know as if your sim already had two parents, you cannot create new ones in CAS even after the original ones are deleted. The system is shaky though, as sometimes patches may delete deleted sims from family trees (this has happened to me).

    • Simmerville's avatar
      Simmerville
      Seasoned Ace

      Good to know kids will no longer be deleted. This girl was taken away 8 RL years ago, so she was a lost case then.

  • Frn0731's avatar
    Frn0731
    Rising Adventurer

    I'm glad you figured out a work-around, now you can have a family reunion.  Did you can make them brother and sister in cas with the cas.fulleditmode cheat?

    • Simmerville's avatar
      Simmerville
      Seasoned Ace

      I tried giving them the sibling relation in CAS, but it was not possible. I've not done much in CAS this year, but it used to be possible adjusting family relations only if at least one of the sims were never actively played. Maybe I played the family before saving to album, or maybe that household was too old (speaking 6-8 RL years). Not the biggest problem in the world though, my game will go on :)