diff --git a/makefile.basic b/makefile.basic
index aa56d25..1d9a894 100644
--- a/makefile.basic
+++ b/makefile.basic
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 #You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 #along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-#Copyright 2018-2019 rexy712
+#Copyright 2018-2020 rexy712
 
 #Makefile to generate a single executable from all sources in SOURCE_DIRS that end in EXT
 
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ CXXFLAGS::=-g -std=c++17 -Wall -pedantic -Wextra
 EXT::=cpp
 LANG::=$(EXT)
 MAIN_EXECUTABLE::=tester
+PRE_TARGETS::=
+POST_TARGETS::=
 RELEASE?=0
 MEMCHK?=0
 
@@ -54,9 +56,23 @@ else #windows
 	RANLIB::=$(MINGW_PREFIX)ranlib
 	AR::=$(MINGW_PREFIX)ar
 	AS::=$(MINGW_PREFIX)as
-	MAIN_EXECUTABLE::=$(MAIN_EXECUTABLE).exe
 endif #windows
 
+#Put your custom targets for PRE_TARGETS and POST_TARGETS here:
+
+
+
+###########################################################################################################
+#Everything past this point is internal BS, probably best not to touch it unless you know what you're doing
+
+#set the all target as the default target, otherwise the topmost target will run
+.DEFAULT_GOAL::=all
+
+#set the main target to match the output of mingw
+ifeq ($(WINDOWS),1)
+	MAIN_EXECUTABLE::=$(MAIN_EXECUTABLE).exe
+endif
+
 #system dependant bullshit
 ifeq ($(OS),Windows_NT)
 	#windows' cmd commands
@@ -86,6 +102,7 @@ endif
 ifeq ($(RELEASE),1)
 	#a lot of false strict aliasing warnings from gcc 9
 	COMPILER_FLAGS+=-O2 -Wno-strict-aliasing
+	POST_TARGETS+= do_strip
 else ifeq ($(MEMCHK),1)
 	#use asan to check memory leaks/invalid accesses
 	LDFLAGS+=-fsanitize=address -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fno-optimize-sibling-calls
@@ -97,14 +114,28 @@ endif
 
 #add dependency tracking and include directories
 INTERNAL_COMPILERFLAGS=-c $(foreach dir,$(INCLUDE_DIRS),-I"$(dir)") -MMD -MP -MF"$(DEPDIR)/$(notdir $(patsubst %.o,%.d,$@))"
+THIS_MAKEFILE_NAME::=$(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))
 SOURCES::=$(foreach source,$(SOURCE_DIRS),$(foreach ext,$(EXT),$(wildcard $(source)/*.$(ext))))
 OBJECTS::=$(addprefix $(OBJDIR)/,$(subst \,.,$(subst /,.,$(addsuffix .o,$(SOURCES)))))
 
+#generate a command to run a submake using this same makefile without printing "Entering directory" stuff
+#note: the empty line is required in this definition
+define RUN_SUBMAKE_TARGET
+	@$(MAKE) --no-print-directory -f "$(THIS_MAKEFILE_NAME)" "$(1)"
+
+endef
+
+#default target: run targets in PRE_TARGETS, then the main executable, then POST_TARGETS
 .PHONY: all
-all: $(MAIN_EXECUTABLE)
-ifeq ($(RELEASE),1)
+all:
+	$(foreach target,$(PRE_TARGETS),$(call RUN_SUBMAKE_TARGET,$(target)))
+	$(call RUN_SUBMAKE_TARGET,$(MAIN_EXECUTABLE))
+	$(foreach target,$(POST_TARGETS),$(call RUN_SUBMAKE_TARGET,$(target)))
+
+#Called in POST_TARGETS when RELEASE=1
+.PHONY: do_strip
+do_strip:
 	$(STRIP) --strip-all "$(MAIN_EXECUTABLE)"
-endif
 
 #Link executable
 $(MAIN_EXECUTABLE): $(OBJECTS)
@@ -131,10 +162,7 @@ clean:
 	$(call rmdir,"$(DEPDIR)")
 	$(call rmdir,"$(OBJDIR)")
 	$(call rm,"$(MAIN_EXECUTABLE)")
-ifneq ($(WINDOWS),1)
 	$(call rm,"$(MAIN_EXECUTABLE).exe")
-endif
 
 #header file dep tracking
 -include $(wildcard $(DEPDIR)/*.d)
-