question for ATRs -- obtaining a type rating

So you're walking out to your A380 for your first flight as captain.
If we were able to look in your log book let's assume we'd see a good
number of hours in other Airbus airplanes, but what would be really
interesting is to see what it took to become captain in a new type.
How many sim hours, hours in the aircraft, hours as second in command,
that sort of thing. Can someone shed light on that, using small words
so that we PP/SEL/Instruments types might understand?