he middle button on the bottom of the control panel (the one with a scroll on it) lets you read messages sent to you. When the button is black, you have no messages.

A brief fanfare sound while playing indicates that a message has arrived. Important messages are signalled by a more urgent fanfare, indicating that you should try to read them whenever you next have the chance to do so. Normal messages are announced by a very simple fanfare .

When a message arrives, your message button lights up, and a small number appears beside the button's scroll showing how many messages you have. If you are busy with other duties, don't worry about pouncing on these messages the instant they arrive: they will wait until you can spare the attention. Click on the button whenever you wish to read a message, and you'll see a panel listing all of your messages. Those you haven't read yet have a rolled-up scroll before the message title. After you read them, the symbol changes to an open scroll. Important messages are listed in red.

Some very urgent messages are displayed to you as soon as they arrive, without your clicking the message button. These messages also go into your message box, marked as having been read, in case you want to refer back to them later.

When a message alerts you to some crisis, like a fire or a riot, you can click on the alarm bell button (directly to the right of the message button) to jump directly to the scene of the problem. If there are several problem areas, clicking on the button multiple times will cycle you through each trouble spot in turn. Many messages include a button right in the message itself that gives you that same option.

You can keep messages for as long as you'd like. To delete a message, click on it to select it, then click on the “delete message” button. Deleted messages are gone forever, so only delete one if you're sure you won't need to read it again.