diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f771f6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[submodule "lib/glfw"]
+	path = lib/glfw
+	url = https://github.com/glfw/glfw
+[submodule "lib/libarchive"]
+	path = lib/libarchive
+	url = https://github.com/libarchive/libarchive
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 83bd78a..55edc4b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,102 +1,83 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2025 Quinn
 # Licensed under the MIT Licence. See LICENSE for details
-SHELL = bash
-.SHELLFLAGS = -O globstar -c
 
 # build configuration, information about the current build process
 NAME    = mcaselector-lite
-VERSION = 0.0.0
 DEBUG   ?= 0
 CC      ?= cc
 LD      ?= ld
 
-# compilation flags
-CFLAGS  += -c -std=gnu99 -Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic -MMD -MP
-LDFLAGS += -flto
+# setting default compilation flags
+# some of which are able to be overwritten, others are always appended
+CPPFLAGS ?=
+CFLAGS   ?= -O2 -Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic
+LDFLAGS  ?= -flto
+CFLAGS   += -std=gnu99
 
-# architecture/OS detection
-ifeq ($(KERNEL),)
-ISWIN := $(if $(filter $(OS),Windows_NT),1,0)
-ifeq ($(ISWIN),1)
-KERNEL = mingw
-MARCH  = x86_64
+# add a few extra flags depending on whether
+# we're debugging or not
+ifeq ($(DEBUG),0)
+CPPFLAGS += -DNDEBUG
 else
-MARCH  := $(shell uname -m)
-KERNEL := $(shell uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
+CFLAGS   += -fsanitize=address -ftrapv -g
+LDFLAGS  += -fsanitize=address -ftrapv
 endif
-else
-ISWIN := $(if $(filter $(KERNEL),mingw),1,0)
-endif
-ifeq ($(MARCH),)
-$(error must also set MARCH when manually setting KERNEL)
+CPPFLAGS += -Iinclude -Ilib/glad/include -Ilib/glfw/include -Ilib/libarchive/libarchive
+LDFLAGS  += -Lobj/lib/glfw/src -Lobj/lib/libarchive/libarchive
+LDLIBS   += -lm -lglfw -larchive
+
+# detect if we're compiling on Windows, meaning
+# a lot of things considered "standard" are unavailable.
+ifeq ($(OS),Windows_NT)
+ISWIN = 1
+NAME  := $(NAME).exe
+$(warning Detected Windows_NT, please refer to the documentation if you encounter issues.)
 endif
 
-# profiles
-ifeq ($(DEBUG),1)
-PROF = dbg
-CFLAGS  += -UNDEBUG -Og -g -Wextra -Wpedantic
-CFLAGS  += $(if $(filter 1,$(ISWIN)),,-fsanitize=address,undefined) -ftrapv
-LDFLAGS += $(if $(filter 1,$(ISWIN)),,-fsanitize=address,undefined) -ftrapv
-# |--profile: testing
-else ifeq ($(DEBUG),test)
-PROF = test
-CFLAGS  += -UNDEBUG -O2 -g
-CFLAGS  += $(if $(filter 1,$(ISWIN)),,-fsanitize=address) -ftrapv
-LDFLAGS += $(if $(filter 1,$(ISWIN)),,-fsanitize=address) -ftrapv
-else
-PROF = rel
-CFLAGS += -DNDEBUG -O2
-endif
+# TODO: find a better method to find all source files
+# find all the source files using wildcards
+# NOTE: MS-DOS and MS-Windows uses backslash `\`, this might break.
+RES  := $(wildcard res/*)
+SRC  := $(wildcard src/*.c src/*/*.c src/*/*/*.c src/*/*/*/*.c src/*/*/*/*/*.c src/*/*/*/*/*/*.c src/*/*/*/*/*/*/*.c src/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*.c) lib/glad/gl.c
+OBJ  := $(SRC:%.c=obj/%.o) $(RES:%=obj/%.o)
+TSRC := $(wildcard test/*.c test/*/*.c test/*/*/*.c test/*/*/*/*.c test/*/*/*/*/*.c test/*/*/*/*/*/*.c test/*/*/*/*/*/*/*.c test/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*.c)
+TOBJ := $(TSRC:%.c=obj/%.o)
 
-CFLAGS  += $(shell pkg-config --cflags glfw3 libarchive) -Iinclude -Ilib/glad/include
-LDFLAGS += $(shell pkg-config --libs glfw3 libarchive) -lm
-
-# get source files
-SRC := $(shell echo src/**/*.c) lib/glad/src/gl.c
-RES := $(wildcard res/*.glsl)
-ifeq ($(DEBUG),test)
-SRC := $(filter-out src/main.c, $(SRC)) $(shell echo test/**/*.c)
-endif
-
-NAME += $(if $(filter 1,$(ISWIN)),.exe,)
-DIR_BIN := bin/$(MARCH)-$(KERNEL)/$(VERSION)/$(PROF)
-DIR_OBJ := obj/$(MARCH)-$(KERNEL)/$(VERSION)/$(PROF)
-
-# output files
-BIN := $(DIR_BIN)/$(NAME)
-OBJ := $(SRC:%.c=$(DIR_OBJ)/%.o) $(RES:%=$(DIR_OBJ)/%.o)
-DEP := $(OBJ:%.o=%.d)
-
-.PHONY:
-run: compile
-	$(if $(filter 1,$(ISWIN)),wine,) $(BIN)
-
-.PHONY:
-compile: $(BIN)
-
-.PHONY .NOTPARALLEL:
+.PHONY: all test clean libs
+all: bin/$(NAME)
+libs: obj/lib/glfw/ obj/lib/libarchive/
+test: bin/TEST_$(NAME); bin/TEST_$(NAME)
 clean:
-	@[ -d obj/ ] && rm -rv obj/ || true
-	@[ -d bin/ ] && rm -rv bin/ || true
+	@[ -d bin/ ] && rm -vr bin/ || true
+	@[ -d obj/ ] && rm -vr obj/ || true
 
-$(BIN): $(OBJ)
-	$(info [CC/LD] $@)
-	@mkdir -p $(@D)
-	@$(CC) -o $@ $^ $(LDFLAGS)
+# compiles the libraries using cmake
+obj/lib/%/: lib/%/
+	cmake -S $< -B $@
+	$(MAKE) -C $@
 
-$(DIR_OBJ)/%.o: %.c
-	$(info [CC] $@)
+# link together a runtime binary
+bin/$(NAME): libs $(OBJ)
+	$(info [CC/LD]	$@)
 	@mkdir -p $(@D)
-	@$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $<
+	@$(CC) -o $@ $^ $(LDFLAGS) $(LDLIBS)
 
-$(DIR_OBJ)/res/%.o: res/%
-	$(info [LD] $@)
+# link together a testing binary
+bin/TEST_$(NAME): $(TOBJ) $(filter-out main.o,$(OBJ))
+	$(info [CC/LD]	$@)
 	@mkdir -p $(@D)
+	@$(CC) -o $@ $^ $(LDFLAGS) $(LDLIBS)
+
+obj/res/%.o: res/%
+	$(info [LD]	$@)
 	@$(LD) -r -b binary -o $@ $<
 
-# some definitions for "default" and assumed compilers, for bulk selection
-.PHONY: x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc
-x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc:;   $(MAKE) $(CALL) $(MAKEFLAGS) CC=$@ MARCH=x86_64 KERNEL=linux
-x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc:; $(MAKE) $(CALL) $(MAKEFLAGS) CC=$@ MARCH=x86_64 KERNEL=mingw
+obj/%.o: %.c
+	$(info [CC]	$@)
+	@mkdir -p $(@D)
+	@$(CC) -c $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) -MMD -MP -o $@ $<
 
--include $(DEP)
+# Include the generated dependency files.
+# Which creates rules for all dependencies,
+# as a result updating an .o file when a .h is updated.
+-include $(OBJ:%.o=%.d)
diff --git a/lib/glfw b/lib/glfw
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..7b6aead
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/glfw
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 7b6aead9fb88b3623e3b3725ebb42670cbe4c579
diff --git a/lib/libarchive b/lib/libarchive
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..9525f90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/libarchive
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 9525f90ca4bd14c7b335e2f8c84a4607b0af6bdf