How to Create A Game Like The Sims

To create a game like The Sims:

a) Find a fantastic game designer. I hear that Will Wright is pretty good.

b) Hire your team. You'd probably need 50-100 people. But start with some really really good guys, a few programmers and as many artists as you can.

c) Produce a vertical slice. That's a complete game level, with all the technical features demonstrated.

d) Get a publisher onboard. Electronic Arts is obviously a good choice. Any publisher will want to see a vertical slice, so you can prove that you have the ability and tools in place to make a game like The Sims.

e) Now go wide. That means replicating your vertical slide, and implementing each of the levels that you discussed with your publisher.

To make it like ToonTown:

f) Package up the standalone in some downloadable installer. Unity uses NSIS so that is a good choice.

g) Implement some user log-in feature, so you know who it is that is playing the game.

h) Purchase servers that can deliver the content, and allow your gamers to find each other.

i) As you are budgeting, please remember that for large projects you will get charged by your hosting company for every GB that gets downloaded. You may want to investigate partnering with a content deliver network provider who specialise in distribution.

j) A great game will need some support/community/forum admin. Hire these people as early as you can, and make sure that they are experts in your game. If you have a beta program, you might find these people from your beta. You want enthusiastic and vocal people.

I think that just about covers things. Obviously there are numerous details, but you can perhaps ask for help on each of them as you encounter them.