The first cycle was when I first started this project. During this cycle the code was clumped together as I was trying to run a majority of my blueprints off of things like tick events. The whole focus in my first cycle was not to create code that functioned smoothly, but to create the base mechanics and understanding of how Unreal Blueprinting logic worked. This was back on Unreal Engine version 4.7. My blueprints and components were all created through trial and error of creating the game system (take my health bar found in the first screenshot below for example) and adjusting it until I got that system to function correctly. Throughout the first cycle I did not follow any tutorials.

    My second cycle of this project started when I decided to scrap my work from the first cycle and start from scratch in Unreal Engine 4.9. My blueprints from the first cycle were a bit of a mess in the sense that I had a majority of functionality stacked onto the actual game character. This was found to be a problem during my second cycle as I wanted to begin learning replication & unreal multiplayer. I followed a tutorial by Arbo on Unreal Blueprint Tutorials called "Blueprint Building FPS from scratch". I succeeded in creating the base menu functionality & local network multiplayer (same network IP).

    Finally this is where my third cycle started on the project. This was during the release of 4.10, followed shortly by the next release which was 4.11. I started the project again from scratch and my reason for always starting from scratch was to prevent possible issues and to also give myself more practice in re-creating systems I had already learned. On this cycle I started using more video and documentation tutorials to get further in my personal development. As I followed the tutorials I adjusted each one towards my goal of being replicable and more dynamic. What I mean by that is creating functionality that can be applied in a number of different ways.

    For example when I started working on the functionality of 'Take Damage' & 'Do Damage'. In the past I learned to place this type of function onto the player character and do all the operations there. I realized if I wanted to apply the same logic my character has onto lets say a enemy, I would then have to re-create the entire function again on a whole new blueprint. This is when I started researching into components. This then allowed me to place the functionality of 'Take Damage' & 'Do Damage' onto multiple actors without having to create the functions over for each actor. Doing this I also found performance gains and that it kept my blueprints more organized.