effect · unlock_decision_category_tooltip

Hands-On Usage

unlock_decision_category_tooltip is primarily used within the complete_effect or option blocks of focuses or decisions. Use it when you want to execute logic while displaying a tooltip to the player indicating that a decision category will be unlocked, rather than silently performing the unlock. For example, after completing a technology tree focus, you can explicitly show the player the localized name and description of "a diplomatic action category will be unlocked":

complete_effect = {
    # Actual unlock logic is handled by other effects
    # This only displays the unlock tooltip
    unlock_decision_category_tooltip = {
        decision_category = my_mod_diplomacy_category
    }
    add_political_power = 50
}

Synergy

• [has_decision](/wiki/trigger/has_decision): Commonly used in available or visible condition checks to verify the current state of a decision before triggering tooltip display, preventing tooltips from appearing at inappropriate times.
• [activate_decision](/wiki/effect/activate_decision): Complements the tooltip effect—activate_decision handles actually activating a decision, while unlock_decision_category_tooltip provides only the player-visible UI feedback. Together they implement the complete "display + execute" workflow.
• [activate_mission_tooltip](/wiki/effect/activate_mission_tooltip): Another pure tooltip effect, often used alongside other effects in the same option block to collectively display multiple impending changes to the player, maintaining consistent UI tooltip styling.
• [add_political_power](/wiki/effect/add_political_power): A typical combination of "substantive effect + tooltip feedback", simultaneously granting actual rewards while using tooltips to inform the player about subsequent decision category unlocks.

Common Pitfalls

1. Mistakenly believing this effect actually unlocks decision categories: This command only displays localized names and tooltips; it does not alter any game state. It must be paired with actual conditional logic that controls decision visibility/availability (such as flags or triggers in visible/available blocks) to complete the true "unlock". Using it alone produces no functional effect.
2. Referencing a non-existent decision_category key: If the decision category ID you specify is not defined in common/decision_categories/, the game will not error or crash, but the tooltip will display as an empty string or a missing localization key, resulting in garbled text for the player. Ensure the category ID matches the file definition exactly.