Anchor Types

Anchors define where weapon kit components attach in the VFX workbench. Every anchor has a name and a kind; depending on kind it may carry a direction, a radius, or a local offset from the host transform.

The three kinds

• pivot — A single point. The simplest anchor: just a position. Use when a component needs to live at one fixed spot on the ship (a hardpoint, a core, a logo decal).
• edge — A directional anchor. Carries an AnchorDirection of either forward or backward. Use for things that project along the ship’s facing axis: muzzles, thrusters, exhaust ports. The direction tells the workbench which way the attached component should orient.
• radial — An orbital anchor. Carries a radius value. Use for components that revolve around the host: drones, shield satellites, halo emitters. The radius sets the orbit distance from the anchor’s local origin.

All three kinds can also carry an optional localOffset of { x, y } that shifts the anchor relative to the host’s transform.

Naming rules

Anchor names are short identifiers, max 32 characters, matching ^[a-z][a-z0-9_]{0,31}$ (case-insensitive). Names must start with a letter and contain only letters, digits, and underscores.

The name center is reserved. It cannot be removed and cannot be renamed — every anchor map keeps center as the host’s origin reference.

Usage in vfx-workbench

The workbench stores anchors as an AnchorMap (a record of name → spec). Designers add, remove, rename, and patch anchors as they author weapon kits; components then bind to anchor names so the same kit can be retargeted onto different hulls by remapping the names.