In light of EA being sold off, I have some thoughts about what anyone making a sims-like who wants to grab market share should do. A lot of thoughts, because I have been simming off and on for twenty or so years. But the most important 3 are:
Have a coherent expansion pack / DLC philosophy. At minimum have a consistent approximate amount of stuff / new features / new character goals (with an equivalent number of steps / sub goals) to shoot for. Same for things like supernaturals, size of lifetime wants / character goals / new skills. Make them equivalent.
Make it modular. Let people turn features OFF so their potato computers don't explode and so they can set up their characters their way. Anybody who builds into a simslike game the ability to have an un-modded pre-modern game setup is going to make bank.
Make things customizable. I don't mean the sims 3 color wheel picker that eats graphics drives, but if you make a chair with a cushion on the seat or a bed with a decorative frame it would be really nice for the color of the frame and the fabric to not be intrinsically linked.
