multiple Makefile for a single project - makefile

Question

I am trying build a project with several modules included. the file tree looks like this:
the individual Makefiles for lib_one, lib_two and Main.cpp works fine, generating the 2 DLL and the EXE for the project, but requires enter at each directory and execute the command 'make' for each module.
I want now a Makefile in the top level directory ('/project') which triggers the building for all the other modules (DLLs and EXE) once. Based on some search results I got something like that:
lib_one := ./src/lib_one
lib_two := ./src/lib_two
libraries := $(lib_one) $(lib_two)
player := ./src
.PHONY: all $(player) $(libraries)
all: $(player)
$(player) $(libraries):
$(MAKE) --directory=$#
$(player): $(libraries)
when I execute the command 'make' I got this error:
Makefile:10: ***. Stop.
(the line 10 is this one: $(MAKE) --directory=$#). Besides a way to fix this error, I am looking to a way to accomplish this 3 things:
1)
the object files (*.o) from all the modules (DLLs and EXE) should be stores on a directory build in the same place from the directory src.
2)
the final files (*.dll and *.exe) should be placed in a directory reelease alongside the directories src and build.
3) if item 2 was possible, would be nice if each type of file being placed in a specific directory inside release (bin for *.exe, lib for *.dll and shared for other types). also, even with the exe and dlls in different directories, would be possible run the executable from this directory (making it search for the necessary libraries in ../lib alongside the other usual places?).

Answer 1

#Maxim is likely right for the cause of the error -- spaces vs tabs. As far as a your other questions go, without using non-recursive make, you could do something like:
Makefile:
export base_dir := ${CURDIR}
export obj_dir := ${base_dir}/build
export release_dir := ${base_dir}/release
lib_one := ${base_dir}/src/lib_one
lib_two := ${base_dir}/src/lib_two
libraries := $(lib_one) $(lib_two)
player := ${base_dir}/src
.PHONY: all $(player) $(libraries)
all: $(player)
$(player) $(libraries): | ${obj_dir} ${release_dir}
$(MAKE) --directory=$#
$(player): $(libraries)
${obj_dir} ${release_dir} :
#mkdir -f $#
The sub-makefiles would have access to any exported variable from the parent (see here), so in these you could do stuff like:
${obj_dir}/%.o : %.c
#echo compiling "$^ ==> $#"
$(CC) -c -o $# $^ $(CFLAGS)
which would compile the objects to the right directory.
Beware though -- if you have two components that produce an object file with the same name, because they're being produced in the same directory, you will end up with a potentially hard to debug race condition. Typically each component produces object files in its own unique directory to avoid this very thing.