Need ideas or advice for Futurama Game

Hi people, this is my first post, but I have been using flash (as 2.0) for years. I need help/advice with a game I am working on. The game is going to be cross between a platformer and adventure game. Here is a little bit about my game:

I use an array with 14 parts to specify rotations of individual parts.
Ex: var pushup:Array = [68,14,-120,-106,0,-100,-96,0,-12,0,0,-14,0,0];
I have created a pose maker to assist me.
I have most of the hitTests working, those aren't any problem.
The game's storyline will be loosely based on futurama.
(really funny, if you haven't seen it, go to http://www.futurama-stream.com)

What I need help/advice with is:
1. How can I create an intelligent and efficient AI system that will make people behave like the people of futurama.

2. How should I go about designing buildings? The game is viewed from the side and I am having a hard time figuring out a way to make you character appear to be inside of a building.

3. How should I make the fighting work? Just on the screen, or should I change the view to be more like a turn by turn fighting game?

4. How big can i make the game without slowing down the computer playing it? How many cities/planets/solar systems can I safely incorporate into the game?

5. How long do most games take to make? How long should it take to program this before I publish it?

Thanks in advance for any help.
You can view the game as it is now here
You can view the pose generator here

The controls for the game are: arrow keys and "s","z","h".
To use the Pose thing, click on the parts shown on the left, then rotate with the arrow keys.

You best bet would be to find a game, or few games, to base your game off of. Because you're starting out, it's easier to focus on how to make a game that you have a clear vision of rather than being lost in the dark trying to figure out what you're trying to make in the first place.

I would find a SNES or Genesis game that I'd like, add in some features from a more recent game and then see what happens. Figure out how to make it work, then worry about being more original for your next game.