I often hear the sound of being attacked, and see the “you are under attack” message, but unless I happen to be looking at the mini-map, I never see the indicator of where that attack is happening. I feel like the animation for that should be longer, or maybe there should be a blinking light like when a worker is idle. Maybe I just haven’t found this yet, but what’s the best way to see where I’m being attacked?
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Hi slambert. For both things exist hotkeys that you can set up. I highly recommed to get use to them and use them as much as you can.
Just go to game options and look for them.
For example I check my idle villagers with space bar and I go to “last in-game notification” with an extra buttom my mouse have.
At first It´s hard to get used to them but then makes things so much easier and also you start enjoying more the game, particulary after castle age where things start to be more difficult.
If you have any trouble just let me know and i will try to help you
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The default hotkeys for go to last notification are middle mouse and home key. I instinctively press the middle mouse button when I hear the attack notification.
Also make a habit of looking at the minimap every 5 seconds.
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Veteran RTS player here and I have the same issue as you, slambert.
The marker on the minimap is just not noticeable. Instead of flashing the dot of the attacked unit, there should be a signal like in SC2 or CNC. This signal should be moddable!
The last notification hotkey sucks, because it also cycles between complete nonsense like built houses, researched techs, etc, so in late imp games it’s just faster to click on the map. Maybe add a hotkey for last attacks.
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Agreed, but it’s not that terrible. You usually find them asap
OK, apparently I just need to remap the spacebar to go to last message source. I’ll try that next time I get a chance to play.
You can just use default “go to last notification” (under cycle commands) hotkey of middle mouse button.
The last notification hotkey sucks, because it also cycles between complete nonsense like built houses, researched techs, etc, so in late imp games it’s just faster to click on the map
I wish we had controll over what falls under notifications. This could be far more optimized.
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Remapping this command to spacebar made the experience much better, thanks!
Blinking light for idle worker LUL. Just look at the minimap in the moment you hear the sound like the rest of us. Stop trying to change the game to adapt to your current skill level instead of you adapting to it. (I don’t ask for the weight of a football to be changed because I’m too skinny)
The minimap flashes where you were attacked as soon as the sound has played.
As a long time AoE2 player it’s instinctive for me to look at the minimap as soon as I hear the attack sound … to see where I’m being attacked.
Train yourself to look at the minimap whenever you hear the sound (unless the units attacking you are clearly on your scream, obviously).
I hope that helps 
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You’re probably right, if I’m not having fun I should just quit playing instead of asking for helpful advice from the community.
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You used the word ‘should’, which is dangerous in this forum.
Everyone else seemed pretty supportive, and even used the word “should” themselves. I’m not sure what you mean by “dangerous”.
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Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about it. Lots of supportive, helpful people here. Some valiant protectors of the franchise sometimes have to make condescending jabs or have a condescending, unhelpful tone rather than keep the discussion friendly and on-topic. Glad you got the issue squared away! I, personally, rarely use the mini-map for notifications; opting to instead use the middle-mouse button, primarily. And once notifications get so incessant that the battle alarm is sounding once per second (which is pretty annoying, btw), I feel I have a good grasp on where the battle points are and address them as needed either thru mini-map clicks or MMB clicks.
Sorry if I sounded condescending or offensive, but there isn’t really a way you can effectively know where you’re being attacked other than training yourself to look at the minimap often. The last notification hotkey often sends you to the last created vill, for example, barracks built, etc.
Effective hotkeys you can use are: - Go to idle vil - I use X
- Go to idle military - I use Tab
i also think it could be visually easier to understand where i get attacked from.
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One way would be like how in FPs games, the border of your screen or view briefly highlights in red to show the direction of attack.
I wouldn’t personally want it at all for AoE so I’m hesitant to mention it, especially if it hasn’t been proposee before… but I could see it being a useful option (yes, “option”) for people to enable, especially hearing-impaired players.
What happens when battles are going on all around your view, particularly in late game? Well, that might get to be a little much.
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