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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
“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!
ADVERTISEMENT
“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.
ADVERTISEMENT
“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.
Trending
A local Manchester run club is holding two special running routes to see the total eclipse
Danny Jones
With the highly anticipated total eclipse fast approaching, people not just here in Greater Manchester but all over the UK, Europe and the rest of the world are gearing up to try and watch it – but this native running club are doing it a bit differently.
Eclipses occur once every 12-18 months, but this is set to be the biggest since 1999.
The moon is set to cover approximately 96-98% of the sun this coming Wednesday, 12 August, 2026, and rather than try to watch it from a window at home or drive to somewhere with supposedly ‘the best view’, local sports club Manchester Road Runners are turning it into their latest one-off event.
Sharing details online, the free-to-join local organisation, which boasts thousands of members on Facebook and various other platforms, will be timing things to make sure they catch the phenomenon.
Writing in the accompanying caption, the Road Runners say: “We’ve pulled some strings and have a very special event taking place on August 12th, a solar eclipse! Come run with us under a darkened sun next Wednesday from The Wharf at 18:30, with peak moon coverage expected at around 19:10.”
Better still, they’re also teaming up with their trail running spin-off club for an even more scenic twist on the evening excursion.
“If you prefer to experience your solar phenomena under the wide open skies”, they go on to write, “our friends over at Trail Division will be holding a hike/run off road, meet at Piccadilly Station at 18:00 to get shady in the great outdoors.”
Fortunately, they have issued an important disclaimer, going on to remind runners that “while beautiful and majestic, the sun should NEVER be directly looked at in the face unprotected”, signing off by adding, “Respect the sun, respect your peepers, stay ocularly safe out there.”
If you’ve never come across MRR before, they’re probably the biggest run club in the entire Greater Manchester region and their social-first jogs, intervals, track sessions and more revolve around meeting back up with your mates for a wholesome pint and a chat.
For many, it’s the biggest and the best in the city.
As for the eclipse run, it’s set to be a very magical variation on their usual Wednesday evening meets.
Quite rightly, they also point out in the post that you can actually buy certain glasses to view eclipses on these rare occasions, with search traffic often ramping up in and around these events.
Meanwhile, the Trail Division branch is yet to confirm the route for their run/hike, but it will most likely remain in the nearby North West vicinity; keep your eyes peeled on their social media pages (linked above) for more information and other upcoming trail events.
Speaking of trail runs, there’s a pretty beautiful albeit challenging one coming up next month…
Stunning vistas, walkers welcome, and multiple distances available.🏃♂️🥾
And the best part? It's less than 90 minutes away from Manchester. 🏞️
Oasis promoters drop biggest Knebworth hint yet after securing license around key date
Danny Jones
Not that we’re the type to get carried away, but we’ll confess that our curiosity, interest and general levels of anticipation have been piqued, as Oasis’ main promoters have recently renewed the license to host events at the infamous Knebworth.
My word, is this it? Like the reunion, is it ACTUALLY going to happen?…
We’re sure the raw, uncontrollable excitement will come should it be fully confirmed, but for now, all we know is that our colleagues in music media, SJM Concerts, have renewed the land in and around Knebworth Park and House for live entertainment once again.
Moreover, the company have also done so on a rather fitting date decades on from the original and legendary outdoor gigs.
As can be found on the planning application section of the North Hertfordshire Council website – the county in which the storied Britpop gigs took place – a fresh license to hold new events.
If/when the announcement happens, the already granted permission will allow for a capacity of up to 125,000 and a curfew of 3am.
We know the original Knebworth shows were beyond iconic, but let’s say this would be nailed on to be nothing short of absolutely box office.
Besides having also helped promote Oasis’ colossal Live ’25 reunion tour last summer, it’s also worth noting that they secured said license just over a week before the 30th anniversary of the pair of nights back in 1996: 10-11 August, to be specific.
The licence is said to have come into effect this past Saturday (1 Aug) and is believed to be indefinite.
What added even more fuel to the fire of these well-established rumours over the past year was when Baroness Sharon Taylor of Stevenage told the House of Lords the band would be playing FIVE whole nights at Knebworth in the future, before later clarifying that she was speaking in “hypothetical terms.”
All that being said, it’s fair to say we’ll be keeping a very keen eye on socials over the next few days, in particular, just in case.
The Manc has reached out to SJM for an official comment (surprise, surprise), but we are yet to receive a response regarding the matter.
Your silence speaks volumes, just saying.
This coming Monday, 10 August 2026, will mark the official 30th anniversary of Oasis at Knebworth 1996, and with the likes of ‘Wonderwall’ seeing a chart resurgence as the go-to England anthem at this year’s World Cup, we’re choosing to be optimistic. What about you?
The Manc -
10th June 2020 
