This woman is perfectly recreating Manchester in The Sims 4
Jess has spent hours rebuilding Manchester from the ground up in the video game - designing computerised versions of Oyster Bar, Peveril of the Peak and Albert's Schloss.
It’s been a long time since we’ve had the chance to visit our favourite Manchester hotspots. You’d be forgiven for forgetting what they look like.
If you a fancy a reminder – it’s worth venturing over to an Instagram account called sim.ulatedmanchester
User Jess Vaughan has recreated many of the most popular city centre spaces in digital format… using The Sims 4.
The gamer, from Ancoats, has spent hours on the video game rebuilding Manchester from the ground up – designing computerised versions of venues such as Oyster Bar, Peveril of the Peak and Albert’s Schloss.
Jess has also constructed copies of Canal Street, Ancoats Marina and St Ann’s Square – giving her Sims characters a true taste of Manchester life in the process.
Some of her designs have been shared online, too – meaning fellow gamers can take advantage and incorporate the architecture into their own Sims worlds.
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It’s taken a lot of patience and precision, and some of the early builds involved a bit of trial and error.
“I started one day on a whim,” Jess tells The Manc.
“I created Cutting Room square in Ancoats and it was overambitious to say the least. I’d never done Sims builds of this scale and I didn’t have a grasp on the game’s capability, so it crashed and I wasn’t able to access my save file. I was fuming.
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“Luckily, I’d taken a few blurry screenshots beforehand which I decided to share with friends and they loved it.
“This led me to create my Instagram page and experiment with more Manchester buildings.”
Jess’ most recent project has been the iconic Oxford Road – which includes a wide variety of familiar landmarks viewers are sure to know and love.
It’s her favourite creation so far .
“I’ve included The Thirsty Scholar under the arches, the steps to Oxford Road as well as the Salisbury and Grand Central. I think it captures the space well and I think a lot of people will like it fingers crossed!
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“The most challenging [design] is definitely buildings with rounded walls. As Sims 4 building is on a grid, the nearest I can get the the illusion of a rounded wall is an octagon. Unfortunately this means that Central Library would be impossible.”
Jess’ virtual buildings have attracted huge praise online; particularly from those who have also spent a huge chunk of lockdown engrossed in The Sims and can appreciate the work that goes into recreating a whole city.
“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” Jess explains.
“People have been reaching out saying how much they love the builds and a lot have been tagging their friends and sharing memories in the comments. Which are great to read through.”
It’ll still be a few weeks at least until we can visit many of these locations in waking life. But at least with The Sims, we can take a virtual trip into town.
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“I’m not stopping anytime soon,” Jess tells us.
“I’ve got a long list of builds and I can happily say that I love what I’m creating.”
Head over to the @sim.ulated Instagram account to marvel at Manchester in computer code.
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The cheapest Christmas Markets in the world for mulled wine have been revealed
Daisy Jackson
The most affordable Christmas Markets for drinking mulled wine have been revealed – and Manchester is nowhere in sight.
With Christmas markets across Europe preparing to welcome millions of visitors, festive fans looking to enjoy a warming cup of glühwein without breaking the bank might want to take note of the latest findings.
Festive experts at Christmas Tree World have analysed mulled wine prices at Christmas markets around the world to discover where visitors can enjoy the seasonal favourite for less.
Topping the rankings is Brussels’ Winter Wonders, where mulled wine is available for as little as £2.14 – about a third of the price of a mulled wine at the Manchester Christmas Markets.
Cologne Cathedral Christmas Markets and Strasbourg’s Christkindelsmärik share second place, with starting prices of just £2.56.
Other European favourites also feature prominently in the rankings. Budapest’s Christmas Market at the Basilica takes fourth place, with mulled wine costing £3.19, while Prague’s Old Town Square Christmas Market comes in sixth at £3.55.
Germany makes another strong appearance, with Dresden’s Striezelmarkt and Nuremberg’s Christkindlesmarkt (which handily just launched new direct flights from Manchester) both offering mulled wine for £3.85.
Meanwhile, Vienna’s Christmas World rounds off the European entries in ninth place, with prices starting at £4.28.
For those planning a festive adventure further afield, Tokyo’s Christmas Market also makes the top five, with mulled wine costing £3.22.
However, not every destination offers such a bargain. Across the Atlantic, New York City’s Winter Village takes the title of the most expensive market in the study, with mulled wine costing a rather less festive £11.74. Chicago’s Christkindlmarket isn’t far behind, charging £8.80.
Manchester Christmas Markets start on Friday 6 November – we’ll see how our prices stack up then.
Sir Ian McKellen pays emotional tribute to long-time friend and fellow northern actor Sir Patrick Stewart
Emily Sergeant
Sir Ian McKellen has paid an emotional tribute to his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Patrick Stewart, following his death.
Sir Patrick Stewart – who was born and bred in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and is best-known for his theatre work alongside an illustrious 60-year screen career, taking on prominent roles in franchises such as Star Trek and X-Men – sadly passed away at the age of 86, with his death being announced publicly yesterday evening (29 October).
And now, his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Ian McKellen, has paid tribute.
Sir Patrick and Sir Ian shared the stage together countless times over their decades-long careers, but also famously starred alongside each other in the X-Men franchise, and subsequent Marvel movies, as Charles Xavier/Professor X and Magneto.
The tribute, shared across Sir Ian’s social media platforms, reads: “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.
“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions.
“My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek’. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”
“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did, for not just his devoted Trekkies, but film and theatre audiences who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.
“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin.
“But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.”
The Manc -
10th June 2020 
