Apparently the original game and Brood War expansion are free to install through the Battle.Net launcher these days.
If you have the original discs, the later official patches added the ability to copy the “mpq” files from the CD into the game’s directory, so you no longer need the disc in the drive. Of course, you’re still going to need a drive for the initial installation. That should work for single player (it’s been a few years since I last did it) but I don’t know about online multiplayer.
All their games launch through their “Battle.net Launcher” now. It’s not the same as Battle.net was back then. I play on Linux via Lutris (add Battle.net launcher to Lutris).
I think if you have your cdkey on there you can sync up for a digital copy on their website. Same account needed for the launcher. It’s all annoying, but that’s how it works now. Plays flawlessly though.
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Apparently the original game and Brood War expansion are free to install through the Battle.Net launcher these days.
If you have the original discs, the later official patches added the ability to copy the “mpq” files from the CD into the game’s directory, so you no longer need the disc in the drive. Of course, you’re still going to need a drive for the initial installation. That should work for single player (it’s been a few years since I last did it) but I don’t know about online multiplayer.
All their games launch through their “Battle.net Launcher” now. It’s not the same as Battle.net was back then. I play on Linux via Lutris (add Battle.net launcher to Lutris).
I think if you have your cdkey on there you can sync up for a digital copy on their website. Same account needed for the launcher. It’s all annoying, but that’s how it works now. Plays flawlessly though.