Tropical Island Survival Game

I want to turn a long-time dream into a playable first-person survival adventure set on an uninhabited Pacific island. The core loop is simple exploration and discovery: wake up shipwrecked, gather resources, cut down trees, craft basic tools, manage an on-screen inventory, and try to stay alive through a full 24-hour day–night cycle. Visual quality should lean toward realistic—but not ultra-heavy—so friends with average Windows PCs can install the build I share.

Engine: I’m happy with either Unreal Engine or Unity; choose whichever lets you deliver the best results within a clean workflow.

Key features I need in the first milestone
• Smooth first-person controller with sprint, jump, crouch
• Dynamic day/night system with sun, moon, and ambient lighting shifts
• Harvestable trees (chop, collect logs, trees regrow or repopulate over time)
• Simple crafting and drag-and-drop inventory UI
• Save/load of player state and world changes
• Windows build generator plus clear steps for me to package and send to friends

What will help you win the job
Please point me to past projects that show similar mechanics, strong lighting/foliage work, or efficient performance on mid-tier hardware. A short note explaining how you would approach the world layout and interaction system is welcome, but portfolio links are the priority.

Timeline & scope
There’s no fixed deadline, so you can focus on solid, bug-free gameplay rather than rushing. We can break the work into agreed milestones (prototype core loop, expand environment, polish visuals) to keep progress transparent.

Final hand-off
I’ll need the complete project folder, build instructions, and a tested Windows executable. If this initial version goes well, I’m open to future phases—multiplayer, deeper crafting, or story events—under separate agreements.