[SOLVED] [ER] “?PlaceName?” showing after porting maps. How to set custom names?

[rugged shadow]

Hey everyone!
I’ve ported some new maps into Elden Ring, but I’m trying to figure out how to properly set their names. Right now, when I enter any of the new maps, the location banner shows ?PlaceName? instead of the actual name. Does anyone know where the map name strings are stored or which parameter/file controls them?
I’ve been looking through the params and other files, but I haven’t been able to find anything related to the new map names yet.
Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

[simple hatch]

This is more complicated than one might expect, and I don't remember all the details, but here's what I can recall:

• Location names are stored in the PlaceName.fmg, hence why you are seeing ?PlaceName?. The game is trying to look up an ID in PlaceName.fmg that doesn't exist or is null (the FMG will have the display name "Locations" in Smithbox if you have community names enabled).
• Collisions determine the area name that is displayed when first walking onto an Asset connected to that Collision. The field "Title_Locations" in the Collision part is a reference to a PlaceName row ID that determines which title is shown. This is specifically the larger name pop-up (there are 2 levels of name pop-ups, the smaller one works through a different system).
• In other words:
  • You need to have an Asset (e.g. floor part) where you want the name to show up.
  • That Asset needs to reference a Collision (in its "Part Names" list).
  • That Collision then needs to reference a PlaceName text that you have created and given the name you want.
  • The Collision may need to have some specific properties set, not sure. Safest is to copy an existing generic Collision used for Assets from some existing map.

There may be some part I've forgotten or gotten wrong, but that should at least be some decent pointers.

There is a way to circumvent this system, using a MapNameOverride volume, which just directly connects to a PlaceName ID which it displays when the character enters it. However, it isn't the proper way of doing this so it has some downsides.

[rugged shadow]

Thanks, brother! I managed to fix it thanks to your advice

If anyone needs a quick mini-tutorial of the steps, here it is:

1. Inside the Map Editor of Smithbox , select and load the new map you want to edit.

2. Go to Parts → Collision, and then select all collision entries there (hold Shift to select).

3. In the Properties tab, look for LocationTextID [Title_Location]. Here you must set a 5-digit number.
You can follow the naming pattern used in the game: if your map is named mAA_BB_CC_DD, your number should be AABBn (where n can be any digit from 0 to 9).
Example: Roundtable Hold is m11_10_00_00, and its LocationTextID is 11100.

4. Just below LocationTextID, look for PlayRegionID [PlayRegionParam]. This one is a 7-digit number, following the pattern AABBnnn.
Using the same example, Roundtable Hold has 1110000.

5. Go to the Param Editor, search for PlayRegionParam, and create a new row there. You can duplicate an existing row from a map similar to the one you created/imported.
Then, change the ID so it matches the 7-digit number you set in step 4.
Continuing the example, I duplicate the Roundtable Hold row (ID 1110000) and change the ID to match the PlayRegionID I assigned earlier.

6. Now go to the** Text Editor**, navigate to English (US) → Item → Locations, and create a new entry.
For the ID, use the 5-digit value from step 3, and write the name you want to appear in the large banner when entering the new map.
If you play in another language, repeat the same process in that language’s Locations section.
For example, if the English entry **11100 **is “Roundtable Hold,” in Spanish that same entry would be “Mesa redonda".

7. Done! Launch the game and check that everything is showing correctly.