I use a system similar to java classpath/jars (or PhysFS ?). In fact I have a virtual filesystem with multiple layers of archives or directories which could be mounted. Important is the fact, that there're layers of archives. I.e.

data-archive:
/data/texture/tex1.png (Version 1.0)
/data/texture/tex2.png (Version 1.0)
/data/scripts/script1.lua (Version 1.0)

patch-archive:
/data/texture/tex1.png (Version 1.1)
/data/scripts/script1.lua (Version 1.1)

directory:
/data/texture/tex1.png (Version 1.2)

When I mount the archives/directories in the order data->patch->directory, I got the final virtual filesystem:
/data/texture/tex1.png (Version 1.2)
/data/texture/tex2.png (Version 1.0)
/data/scripts/script1.lua (Version 1.1)

This comes in really handy when delivering patches or exchanging single files for debugging purpose (atleast for a hobby dev ).

I use a system similar to javas jars (or PhysFS ?). In fact I have a virtual filesystem with multiple layers of archives or directories which could be mounted. Important is the fact, that there're layers of archives. I.e.

data-archive:
/data/texture/tex1.png (Version 1.0)
/data/texture/tex2.png (Version 1.0)
/data/scripts/script1.lua (Version 1.0)

patch-archive:
/data/texture/tex1.png (Version 1.1)
/data/scripts/script1.lua (Version 1.1)

directory:
/data/texture/tex1.png (Version 1.2)

When I mount the archives/directories in the order data->patch->directory, I got the final virtual filesystem:
/data/texture/tex1.png (Version 1.2)
/data/texture/tex2.png (Version 1.0)
/data/scripts/script1.lua (Version 1.1)

This comes in really handy when delivering patches or exchanging single files for debugging purpose (atleast for a hobby dev ).