Localization reference

Choose the localization route from the content owner. Cyberpunk 2077 does not resolve journal text, spoken lines, and scene choices through one shared table, even when all three values are called a string or locstring in an editor.

The complete model and property tables are in Localization paths. This page is the lookup and failure reference.

Pick the owning path

ArchiveXL locale keys use a spelling such as en-us. Embedded scene locStore descriptors use identifiers such as en_us, pl_pl, and db_db. Preserve the schema’s spelling; do not normalize one into the other.

Journal and onscreen UI

The exact join is textual:

journal LocalizationString.value
  -> onscreen entry secondaryKey
       -> femaleVariant / maleVariant

Register the cooked JsonResource beneath source\archive, not its .json.json conversion source beneath source\raw:

localization:
  onscreens:
    en-us:
    - mod\cqa\cqa001\localization\en-us\onscreens\cqa001.json

LocalizationString.unk1, a scene line RUID, and a localization primaryKey are not replacements for the textual secondaryKey join.

Spoken scene lines

One unsigned line RUID must survive four joins:

scene screenplayStore.lines[].locstringId.ruid
  +-> subtitle map -> subtitle-entry resource -> entry.stringId
  +-> VO map -> locVoLineEntry.stringId -> femaleResPath / maleResPath -> WEM

The screenplay line’s separate itemId.id is local to that screenplay store and is not the localization ID. Keep the full unsigned 64-bit RUID in the scene, subtitle entries, and VO map.

ArchiveXL registers the subtitle map, not the subtitle-entry resource it references. It registers the VO map, not each WEM:

localization:
  subtitles:
    en-us:
    - mod\cqa\cqa005\localization\en-us\subtitles\cqa005_subtitles_map.json
  vomaps:
    en-us:
    - mod\cqa\cqa005\localization\en-us\vo\cqa005_vo.json

First Contact uses this exact identity and path set:

The supplied scene, maps, subtitle entry, and WEM contract are Structurally validated. Audible playback and subtitle presentation on the exact cqa005 route are covered by the Lab 5 test guide. Male-versus-female path selection remains Experimental even if that campaign passes, because both fields point to the same WEM and the matrix does not exercise distinct gender-path cases.

Scene choice labels

A choice is an entirely scene-local lookup:

scnChoiceNodeOption.screenplayOptionId.id
  -> screenplayStore.options[].itemId.id
  -> screenplayStore.options[].locstringId.ruid
  -> locStore.vdEntries[] descriptor
  -> descriptor.vpeIndex
  -> locStore.vpEntries[] payload.content

Observed in vanilla: the four scene resources listed in the vanilla depot-path index group descriptors into locale blocks and sort unsigned locstring IDs within each inspected block. This supports a known-good authoring shape, not a universal theorem about every scene or locale set.

There is no ArchiveXL registration for an embedded choice locStore. Adding a choice RUID to onscreens, subtitles, or vomaps cannot repair its descriptor or payload join.

Symptom routing

Packing and a clean deserialize prove resource structure, not runtime lookup. Keep the archive and loose configuration together, inspect registration logs, and run journal tests from a pre-install save and scene tests from a save made before scene activation.