diff --git a/apps/lua/data/packs/data.toml b/apps/lua/data/packs/data.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5778b2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/lua/data/packs/data.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[[deps]]
+source = "../../common-data" # where does it come from, might be an url
+name = "common-data"         # should be globally unique
diff --git a/apps/lua/data/twn.toml b/apps/lua/data/twn.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d22c227
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/lua/data/twn.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+[about]
+title = "Lua Townengine!"
+developer = "Somebody"
+app_id = "twnlua"
+dev_id = "somebody"
+
+[game]
+base_render_width = 640
+base_render_height = 360
+
+[engine]
diff --git a/docs/packaging.txt b/docs/packaging.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..80518cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/packaging.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+assets are distributed by packs, which can come in archived or folder form (for development purposes)
+
+one pack by the name of 'data' is always assumed to be present alongside game executable root,
+whether in folder /data/ or /data.btw file, where precedence is taking over /data/
+
+root 'data' should be used to point to other dependency packs in /packs/data.toml file
+
+---
+[[deps]]
+source = "../../common-data" # where does it come from, might be an url
+name = "common-data"         # should be globally unique
+---
+
+they're mounted to / in the virtual file system by default, if same files are present in multiple packs,
+only the one loaded first is visible
diff --git a/src/twn_loop.c b/src/twn_loop.c
index 520a6f5..de12118 100644
--- a/src/twn_loop.c
+++ b/src/twn_loop.c
@@ -188,6 +188,96 @@ static void main_loop(void) {
 }
 
 
+/* TODO: cache and deny duplicates */
+/* TODO: ability to redefine mounting point for a dependency */
+/* TODO: ability to load external sources over HTTP if url is given */
+static void resolve_pack_dependencies(const char *pack_name) {
+    char *path;
+    if (SDL_asprintf(&path, "/packs/%s.toml", pack_name) == -1) {
+        CRY("resolve_pack_dependencies()", "Allocation error");
+        goto ERR_PACK_MANIFEST_PATH_ALLOC_FAIL;
+    }
+
+    if (!PHYSFS_exists(path))
+        /* no package manifest provided, abort */
+        goto OK_NO_MANIFEST;
+
+    char *manifest_file = file_to_str(path);
+    if (!manifest_file) {
+        CRY_PHYSFS("Pack manifest file loading failed");
+        goto ERR_PACK_MANIFEST_FILE_LOADING;
+    }
+
+    char errbuf[256]; /* tomlc99 example implies that this is enough... */
+    toml_table_t *manifest = toml_parse(manifest_file, errbuf, sizeof errbuf);
+    SDL_free(manifest_file);
+
+    if (!manifest) {
+        CRY("Pack manifest decoding failed", errbuf);
+        goto ERR_PACK_MANIFEST_DECODING;
+    }
+
+    toml_array_t *deps = toml_array_in(manifest, "deps");
+    if (!deps)
+        goto OK_NO_DEPS;
+
+    /* iterate over entries in [[deps]] array */
+    /* TODO: use sub procedures for failable loops? so that error mechanism cleans well */
+    toml_table_t *cur_dep = toml_table_at(deps, 0);
+    for (int idx = 0; cur_dep; ++idx, cur_dep = toml_table_at(deps, idx)) {
+        toml_datum_t dep_name = toml_string_in(cur_dep, "name");
+        if (!dep_name.ok) {
+            log_warn("No 'name' is present in pack dependency, skipping it");
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        char *dep_pack_name;
+        if (SDL_asprintf(&dep_pack_name, "%s.btw", dep_name.u.s) == -1) {
+            CRY("resolve_pack_dependencies()", "Allocation error");
+            SDL_free(dep_name.u.s);
+            goto ERR_DEP_PATH_ALLOC_FAIL;
+        }
+
+        /* try loading pack */
+        if (!PHYSFS_mount(dep_pack_name, "/", true)) {
+            /* if it failes, try going for source */
+            toml_datum_t dep_source = toml_string_in(cur_dep, "source");
+            if (!dep_source.ok) {
+                log_warn("No 'source' is present in pack %s, while %s.btw isn't present, skipping it", dep_name.u.s, dep_name.u.s);
+                SDL_free(dep_name.u.s);
+                SDL_free(dep_pack_name);
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            if (!PHYSFS_mount(dep_source.u.s, "/", true))
+                CRY("Cannot load pack", "Nothing is given to work with");
+
+            log_info("Pack loaded: %s\n", dep_source.u.s);
+
+            SDL_free(dep_source.u.s);
+        } else
+            log_info("Pack loaded: %s\n", dep_pack_name);
+
+        SDL_free(dep_pack_name);
+
+        /* recursive resolution */
+        resolve_pack_dependencies(dep_name.u.s);
+
+        SDL_free(dep_name.u.s);
+    }
+
+ERR_DEP_PATH_ALLOC_FAIL:
+OK_NO_DEPS:
+    toml_free(manifest);
+ERR_PACK_MANIFEST_DECODING:
+ERR_PACK_MANIFEST_FILE_LOADING:
+OK_NO_MANIFEST:
+    SDL_free(path);
+ERR_PACK_MANIFEST_PATH_ALLOC_FAIL:
+    return;
+}
+
+
 static bool initialize(void) {
     if (SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_EVERYTHING & ~SDL_INIT_HAPTIC) == -1) {
         CRY_SDL("SDL initialization failed.");
@@ -199,6 +289,9 @@ static bool initialize(void) {
     /* that is why PhysicsFS is initialized before anything else */
     toml_set_memutil(SDL_malloc, SDL_free);
 
+    /* time to orderly resolve any dependencies present */
+    resolve_pack_dependencies("data");
+
     /* load the config file into an opaque table */
     {
         char *config_file = file_to_str("/twn.toml");
@@ -562,33 +655,16 @@ int enter_loop(int argc, char **argv) {
 
     /* needs to be done before anything else so config can be loaded */
     /* TODO: ANDROID: see the warning in physicsfs PHYSFS_init docs/header */
-    if (!PHYSFS_init(ctx.argv[0]) || !PHYSFS_mount(PHYSFS_getBaseDir(), NULL, true)) {
+    if (!PHYSFS_init(ctx.argv[0])) {
         CRY_PHYSFS("Filesystem initialization failed");
         return EXIT_FAILURE;
     }
-    /* base dir is fine, but we'd like to look into all the data archives, too */
-    char **files_here = PHYSFS_enumerateFiles("/");
-    if (files_here == NULL) {
-        CRY_PHYSFS("Filesystem initialization failed");
-        return EXIT_FAILURE;
-    }
-    for (char **ptr = files_here; *ptr != NULL; ++ptr) {
-        char *file = *ptr;
-
-        if (!strends(file, "." PACKAGE_EXTENSION)) {
-            continue;
-        }
-
-        if (!PHYSFS_mount(file, "/", true)) {
-            CRY_PHYSFS("Filesystem initialization failed");
-            return EXIT_FAILURE;
-        }
-    }
-    PHYSFS_freeList(files_here);
 
     /* process arguments */
     bool force_debug = false;
     bool force_release = false;
+    bool data_dir_mounted = false;
+
     for (int i = 1; i < argc; ++i) {
         /* override data directory */
         if (SDL_strcmp(argv[i], "--data-dir") == 0) {
@@ -602,6 +678,8 @@ int enter_loop(int argc, char **argv) {
                 return EXIT_FAILURE;
             }
 
+            data_dir_mounted = true;
+
             continue;
         }
 
@@ -618,6 +696,16 @@ int enter_loop(int argc, char **argv) {
         }
     }
 
+    /* data path not explicitly specified, look into convention defined places */
+    if (!data_dir_mounted) {
+        /* try mouning data folder first, relative to executable root */
+        if (!PHYSFS_mount("data", NULL, true)) {
+            if (!PHYSFS_mount("data.btw", NULL, true))
+                CRY_PHYSFS("Cannot find data.btw or data directory in root. Please create them or specify with --data-dir parameter.");
+                return EXIT_FAILURE;
+        }
+    }
+
     if (!initialize())
         return EXIT_FAILURE;
 
diff --git a/src/twn_util.c b/src/twn_util.c
index 5f7c0d3..be4edcd 100644
--- a/src/twn_util.c
+++ b/src/twn_util.c
@@ -191,6 +191,8 @@ void textures_dump_atlases(void) {
 
         SDL_SaveBMP_RW(ctx.texture_cache.atlas_surfaces[i], handle, true);
         log_info("Dumped atlas %zu to %s", i, buf);
+
+        SDL_free(buf);
     }
 }