Hands-On Usage
activate_mission_tooltip is commonly used within option blocks of focus trees or decisions when you need to preview to the player that a mission is about to be activated, but the actual activation logic is handled separately by other conditions or effects. For instance, after a country-specific focus is completed, you can first use the tooltip to inform the player "this mission will launch," then have a subsequent trigger actually call activate_mission:
complete_national_focus = SOV_prepare_offensive
focus_effect = {
activate_mission_tooltip = SOV_winter_offensive_mission
# Actual activation is triggered later by event or condition
country_event = { id = sov.42 days = 3 }
}
Synergy
[activate_mission](/wiki/effect/activate_mission): This is the command that actually executes the mission activation. activate_mission_tooltip only handles displaying the tooltip; they typically work in tandem—the tooltip displays information at the option level, while activate_mission takes effect in hidden_effect or events.
[has_active_mission](/wiki/trigger/has_active_mission): Used to check whether a mission is already in an active state. Combined with a tooltip, it can prevent duplicate activations of the same mission in conditional logic, forming a complete "check → notify → activate" flow.
[add_days_mission_timeout](/wiki/effect/add_days_mission_timeout): After a mission is activated, you often need to set a countdown timer. When paired with a tooltip, it allows players to see the preview while understanding the time pressure of the mission deadline.
[country_event](/wiki/effect/country_event): Often serves as an intermediary for delayed activation. The tooltip provides advance notice in the current effect block, and the event actually calls activate_mission days later.
Common Pitfalls
- Mistaking the tooltip itself as the activation mechanism: This is the most typical misconception.
activate_mission_tooltip only generates UI tooltip text and produces no actual changes to game state. Forgetting to write a separate activate_mission command will result in the mission never appearing in the mission log, making this bug very subtle during debugging.
- Misusing the command in trigger blocks: This command is an effect and can only be placed in execution blocks (such as
option, immediate, or hidden_effect). Accidentally placing it in trigger or available condition blocks will cause script errors or silent failures. When debugging, be careful to distinguish between effect and trigger scope levels.