[Striiker]

Hah, I remember the old UI. I am glad it's gone to be honest. That plus staring at the spell book to med was... interesting. I can remember that I actually used the Sentry spell which would pulse a warning whenever something was moving through it. This way, I could stand up quickly to get away.
When I didn't use Sentinel (because it was a pain), I'd often know something was coming by sound. Of course, when I heard the distinctive sound of a giant passing nearby it was generally too late to do anything other than die. :-)