Owners of original Starcraft get Brood War Expansion FREE (PC/Mac)

[morphineseason]

Perhaps this is too little too late for such an old game, but since Starcraft 2 is in the works, this might be a good deal for anyone like me who bought the original Starcraft ages ago but didn't bother buying the expansion or battle chest. This is also an easy way to get the whole anthology on the cheap if you can find a regular Starcraft disc in a bargain bin somewhere (with a CD key of course).

All you need to do is:

1. Go to http://www.blizzard.com/us/registration.html?rhtml=y
2. Create an account and confirm your e-mail address
3. Click "Add a Game"
4. Type in your regular, standalone, Starcraft CD Key
5. You've unlocked "Starcraft Anthology"

You can then download the game onto as many computers as you want from this website, similar to Steam. When you install the game, you'll still be prompted for a CD key - make sure you enter the CD key listed on your Blizzard Account page because it does differ from your original key.

The Blizzard Downloader downloads the install files for both the PC and Mac versions.

Also, I should thank fellow CAG user, Serik, for pointing out this new Blizzard Downloading service to me. I wouldn't have discovered this hidden deal, and now I don't have to worry about swapping out 5 different discs for those Diablo 2 installs ;)

Edit: Forgot to mention, if you want faster download speeds from Blizzard's Downloader, click View - Preferences... - and then uncheck "Enable Peer-To-Peer Transfer". My download speed more than tripled when I did this.

[anotherpoorgamer]

Thanks! I might try this out, Brood War without worrying about the disc breaking! :)

Brood War on a netbook, now if only I could get Total Annihilation and Warcraft III then I would be set on my RTS fix!

[lllGurulll]

Sweet. My disks had been having problems loading so I stopped playing it. This will remedy all of that.

[wolfhunt]

Thanks OP, now if I can find my original disc in the pile of boxes downstairs......

[shiftomnimega]

Awesome for those that lost their old disc. I got the battle chest for $20 almost a decade ago so I don't feel so bad for missing out... OMG I've been playing this game forever.

[bigdaddybruce44]

Nice find, OP!

[wolfhunt]

Thanks OP, now if I can find my original disc in the pile of boxes downstairs......


Yea!! found my old disc with the code. Downloading Starcraft Anthologies now. Never picked up any of these except the original. Will be fun to go back and play them all.

For anyone who might have some slow dl speeds try clicking (or unclicking) the peer-to-peer option in the downloader. It was telling me it was going to take 6 hours to download (on a fairly good connection). I unclicked the peer-to-peer and it went to a 25 minute download.

[Wolfpup]

Nice! Brood War isn't up to par with the original IMO, but it's still one of the best RTSes out there, and at least you get more content to keep playing.

I think I own two copies of Starcraft, one with Brood War and one without, so technically I could get another copy of Brood War I guess.

Can't wait for Starcraft 2-I hope it's not too dissimilar from the original's gameplay. (And I'm all for the way they split it up, as the story in the first one is one of my favorite game stories ever.)

[jterp7]

I'm pretty sure Blizzard is only company that has people playing games 10+ years old and at 640 x 480 resolution in 2009. That really is saying something.

[Wolfpup]

I still think it looks good. Heck, Warcraft 2 looks fine (though not AS good).

Though there are plenty of games from that era that look fine to me (or even older). I think 2D stuff ages better for one thing than early 3D stuff.

[Hydro2Oxide]

I'm pretty sure Blizzard is only company that has people playing games 10+ years old and at 640 x 480 resolution in 2009. That really is saying something.

Everyones laptop is thanking Blizzard for well aged games :lol:

[Wolfpup]

Hey, my laptop runs Crysis, and it was a cheap one :D

But...art style really helps I guess. I love how it looks.

[smoger]

so you can now play(on mac) without the disc? that alone would be worth downloading it.

and bonus.. now i can play my mac version on my pc?? :)

[NoobHammer]

Great deal. Oh I love Starcraft... "Nuclear Launch Detected..."

Nothing was more frightening than hearing that then frantically sweeping the area trying to find the damn ghost. Bastards.

[jthieme]

I did this a while back with my orginal version I bought back in 1998 and can confirm that it works.

[iNFiNiTE HORiZON]

I just looked for the discs. I have bought this game 3 different times, so I have 3 starcraft discs and some how the CD key goes missing every time...I have it installed some how though, I think I looked for a key on google, but it won't let me play on battle.net

[Flak]

Sweet deal for anyone who doesn't have it yet. At least on the PC, the latest patch lets you run the game without a CD.

[Wolfpup]

Great deal. Oh I love Starcraft... "Nuclear Launch Detected..."

Nothing was more frightening than hearing that then frantically sweeping the area trying to find the damn ghost. Bastards.

Yeah, i'd forgotten about that. I fell in love with it from the demo, the first time I used the siege tank. It is SO freaking cool when you've got a dozen of them, and there's a swarm of zerg coming, and you hit the transform button, and the go through that awesome transformation, and you're like "GO GO GO" as you hope they finish in time to decimate the zerg...before being overrun.

All the voiceovers are so good too.

Problem with Starcraft is almost every RTS I've played since has me thinking "eh, this is okay, but I'd rather replay Starcraft". Hope the second one's story lives up to (or surpasses!) the original.

[Vegan]

That's really nice of them. I already have the Battle Chest, though. And if you didn't know, you can plug your serial # into the online store and have it available for download until the end of time!

[mkelehan]

You know, I bought Starcraft so many years ago, and never got Brood War. Thanks OP.

[Malicite]

Brood War on a netbook, now if only I could get Total Annihilation and Warcraft III then I would be set on my RTS fix!

Oh man Total Annihilation, god that's a good game. Forgot I even had that.

[Logg]

You know, I bought Starcraft so many years ago, and never got Brood War. Thanks OP.

If I can find my old Starcraft disc, which I highly doubt I could, I would jump all over this.

[judgedee]

Nice! Brood War isn't up to par with the original IMO, but it's still one of the best RTSes out there, and at least you get more content to keep playing.

I think I own two copies of Starcraft, one with Brood War and one without, so technically I could get another copy of Brood War I guess.

Can't wait for Starcraft 2-I hope it's not too dissimilar from the original's gameplay. (And I'm all for the way they split it up, as the story in the first one is one of my favorite game stories ever.)

you serious? Broodwar added like 9 units that made the game more diverse.
and created new strategies. It made a great game even better.

[Pajama_Man]

Wonderful! Having only the original StarCraft this is great! :bouncy:

I hope more game Dev.s does this in the future for older games.

[Blake7]

Thanks, Op!

I just dug out my spec ed. box. It is actually still in nice shape. Blizzard is nice to provide an upgrade for free!

:bouncy:

[morphineseason]

Glad I'm not the only one that benefited from this. Enjoy everyone :)

[bantheradio]

Even though I own the Battle Chest, my copy of Brood War has been MIA for quite some time. I've been hesitant to reinstall the game without the expansion (still have the original disc) but now I have no excuses not to become addicted to this game again.

Many thanks, op.

[justme99z]

This is freakin awesome! Thanks for the link!

[Teeheehee]

Just an FYI, Brood Wars never had a CD Key. So, er, um, a backup copy of Brood Wars always worked fine as long as you had a legit Vanilla SC. I don't think Blizzard has any other way to officially verify you have a legit copy of BW anyway (in an efficient and at minimal cost of operation), so why not just give it out for free on their Blizz downloader. Happy customers always means more money.

Thanks for the link too!

[Oktoberfest]

you guys should look here
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142749

[Dragon138]

Yea!! found my old disc with the code. Downloading Starcraft Anthologies now. Never picked up any of these except the original. Will be fun to go back and play them all.

For anyone who might have some slow dl speeds try clicking (or unclicking) the peer-to-peer option in the downloader. It was telling me it was going to take 6 hours to download (on a fairly good connection). I unclicked the peer-to-peer and it went to a 25 minute download.

Excuse my ignorance but is there a way to unclick the peer-to-peer with a Mac or is this more dependant on the browser your using?? I really like the idea of being able to play these games without a disc, thank you blizzard.

[Kurina]

Wish they did this for Warcraft as well, as I am missing Frozen throne but can't justify the price for it. It does say something that people are still playing their older games to this day, but that becomes void when the prices for their games are still incredibly high. I can't justify $30-$40 for a 10 year old battlechest.

Thanks for the find though, I had the original but never the expansion, so this was great!

[Vegan]

Wish they did this for Warcraft as well, as I am missing Frozen throne but can't justify the price for it. It does say something that people are still playing their older games to this day, but that becomes void when the prices for their games are still incredibly high. I can't justify $30-$40 for a 10 year old battlechest.

Thanks for the find though, I had the original but never the expansion, so this was great!

I got Frozen Throne through Goozex for $5.

[Pirate331]

Just an FYI for anyone complaining/worried about their damaged/missing disks. One of the more recent BW patches... 1.15.1 or something like that... added a no-cd crack option. I forget the exact process, but it's in the release notes so if you've got BW installed you have no excuses for not playing it now.

[Kryn]

If I enter a CD key from my old Windows only launch copy, can i download it for OSX?

One thing I never liked about Starcraft was that I was essentially punished for buying it early when I became a Mac user. Even if I installed the Mac version from a friend and put in my legit key, it only worked on Windows.

[Oktoberfest]

Just an FYI for anyone complaining/worried about their damaged/missing disks. One of the more recent BW patches... 1.15.1 or something like that... added a no-cd crack option. I forget the exact process, but it's in the release notes so if you've got BW installed you have no excuses for not playing it now.

the process involves moving a large file from your CD onto your hard drive, so you would need working discs to use it

[dallascowboys]

This makes me laugh about the days when 16 mb of RAM was a system requirement.

[RoboPhish]

Great find OP! I never knew about the blizzard downloader. *returns CD's back to the dungeon from whence they came*

[snakeneck]

Having problems installing the downloaded version of Starcraft using the installer that is included in the download. The CD key on my Starcraft disc is 13 digits and was recognized by the Blizzard downloader but when I go to install the installer asks for a 26 digit CD key. Any ideas? Thanks guys.

[Oktoberfest]

on the page where you they give you the download link (where the big SC banner is), click show game key

[morphineseason]

If I enter a CD key from my old Windows only launch copy, can i download it for OSX?

One thing I never liked about Starcraft was that I was essentially punished for buying it early when I became a Mac user. Even if I installed the Mac version from a friend and put in my legit key, it only worked on Windows.

I can't confirm, but I would imagine it would work. When you register it on that site it gives you an entirely different CD key to enter when you install the game. It downloads both PC and Mac versions into a single directory.

Excuse my ignorance but is there a way to unclick the peer-to-peer with a Mac or is this more dependant on the browser your using?? I really like the idea of being able to play these games without a disc, thank you blizzard.Yes. Just click "Blizzard Downloader" in the menu bar (to the left of File), then "Preferences", then uncheck "Enable Peer-to-Peer Transfer".

This makes me laugh about the days when 16 mb of RAM was a system requirement.

I know! I love the convenient file sizes too. I'm going to backup Diablo 2, Diablo 2: LoD, Warcraft 3, Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne, and Starcraft Anthology, with the CD keys in a text document, to one single-layer DVD-R. No more messing with 8 different CDs to install these games. I love Blizzard for this :)

[fifthcore]

Thanks OP. I just registered Diablo 2, Diablo 2: LoD. and Starcraft. I take it there is no way to register Diablo 1?

[morphineseason]

Thanks OP. I just registered Diablo 2, Diablo 2: LoD. and Starcraft. I take it there is no way to register Diablo 1?

I don't think there is :(. The site says it supports "Diablo Battle Chest", but there's only 2 or 3 cd keys in the battle chest box, and they're for Diablo 2 and LoD.

[Dragon138]

If I enter a CD key from my old Windows only launch copy, can i download it for OSX?

One thing I never liked about Starcraft was that I was essentially punished for buying it early when I became a Mac user. Even if I installed the Mac version from a friend and put in my legit key, it only worked on Windows.

I had the same issue with jumping on the mac train recently. I have the collectors edition of Diablo 2 and my copy is windows only. I used that same cd key and it gives you the option of mac or windows.:D

[saotome]

Having problems installing the downloaded version of Starcraft using the installer that is included in the download. The CD key on my Starcraft disc is 13 digits and was recognized by the Blizzard downloader but when I go to install the installer asks for a 26 digit CD key. Any ideas? Thanks guys.

yeap im having the same problem and i cant find my brood war disc any help guys?

[RoboPhish]

Having problems installing the downloaded version of Starcraft using the installer that is included in the download. The CD key on my Starcraft disc is 13 digits and was recognized by the Blizzard downloader but when I go to install the installer asks for a 26 digit CD key. Any ideas? Thanks guys.

Yep same here but with diablo 2. If you go in your games list, there should be a [view CD key]. Copy paste that when it asks for the 26 digit CD key. I guess they assign you a 26 digit one?

[morphineseason]

Yep same here but with diablo 2. If you go in your games list, there should be a [view CD key]. Copy paste that when it asks for the 26 digit CD key. I guess they assign you a 26 digit one?

Yes, they assign a different key from the one you originally used to register. I mentioned this in the op. Sorry if I wasn't very clear.

[MorPhiend]

Sorry if no one reads an f'ing thread before they post.

Fixed. The same question has been asked about 50 times. And there are only 49 posts in the thread. Sheesh. I understand repeated questions in 50 page threads, but this is just sad.

I wish Blizzard sold a cheap WC I+II download on their website. They only charge $15 for SC + BW, but no pre-WCIII love at all. :(

[Antic]

I have had my keys registered for quite some time, but it always doesn't work when I try and download the games to play them on my computer. I've been dying to play SC and DII as well.

[GrimmTrixX]

Hey, Any cool things if I add warcraft 3? Like do we get that expansion pack for it free too? Also on the starcraft and WC3 downloads...would I still need the disc? I own them both, just easier with no disc as we all know.

[GrimmTrixX]

nevermind, read a bit more. Good to have a downloaded version of WC 3 and SC:BW though

[sliknik27]

They've actually had this for quite a while. One more reason why Blizzard is awesome.

[cheapo72]

Hey, It's asking me for a longer key than the one I..........j/k.

Actually, this may sound completely OCD, but I registered LOD>WC3>D2 and I hate the fact that makes them show up out of logical order on the page.

Yes, I should just let it go.:bomb:

[erik_wolff]

Damn, I literally stumbled across my StarCraft disc just a couple of days ago but I have no idea what or where the cd key is. Oh well.

[SqueeMK2]

At this point they should probably just give away Diablo 1, Warcraft 1, and Warcraft 2 with expansion. I mean hell, the only way you get D1 is from a battlechest, and you don't even get WC1 or 2 from the Warcraft battlechest. Or better yet, have them become available on their downloading service if you register Diablo 2 for D1 and Warcraft 3 for WC1 and 2. It's understandable they don't let you register them at the moment since they don't have CD keys, but you'd think they could throw them up for download at least.

Though I guess one reason they might not is because Diablo 2, WC3 and SC work mostly fine on modern machines, whereas D1 WC1 and WC2 would be crankier. Might not want to spend some of their billions from WoW on having an intern dosbox-ize them like old games on Steam.

[mkelehan]

Though I guess one reason they might not is because Diablo 2, WC3 and SC work mostly fine on modern machines, whereas D1 WC1 and WC2 would be crankier. Might not want to spend some of their billions from WoW on having an intern dosbox-ize them like old games on Steam.

Yes, that would definitely take one or two of their billions.

[justme99z]

This is sweet.... I registered WC III Battlechest, Starcraft (got the upgrade), and Diablo II BC

[lordwow]

Thanks OP. I have a ton of starcraft games, I must have bought it 2 or 3 times and my brother the same, but can never find the damn brood war disks or cd-keys.

[Wolfpup]

Maybe some day they'll give away the Warcraft 3 expansion. I bought the collector's edition at launch, but STILL haven't gotten to it :D (And I do expect to love it if it's anything like Starcraft.)

[MorPhiend]

Hey, It's asking me for a longer key than the one I..........j/k.

:lol:

This thread got me thinking about WCI/II the other day. And that got me thinking about AoE. So I finally got around to installing AoEI/II that I bought a couple of weeks ago. Those are so fun. Now where is my Warcraft? :(

[consoleman]

Dug out my old Warcraft 2 CD from the DOS/pre-Battlenet days and surprised to find no CD key as none were needed back in those days. Was hoping to register it here so I can get a more current version of the software. Oh well.

[lordwow]

Dug out my old Warcraft 2 CD from the DOS/pre-Battlenet days and surprised to find no CD key as none were needed back in those days. Was hoping to register it here so I can get a more current version of the software. Oh well.

I found the same thing out last night actually, the good ole ms-dos days 8-)

[jterp7]

Lol back in the day I remember having a 17" CRT (16 viewable of course) meant you were hot stuff, mostly because a buddy of mine had one and I still had a 15"

[WormFOODx]

My Diablo 2 disks had been too scratched. This saves my day!! Thank you!

[Wolfpup]

A good 17" CRT was AWESOME 15 years ago. I then went to a 20" CRT I think it was, which was ridiculously cool.

Good screens, but I like how there are no geometry adjustments on LCDs!

Unfortunately so many LCDs now are TN panels, and they never, ever bother labeling what type of screen technology they use. This list worthless, make believe specs, but not the stuff that actually matters, like panel type, input lag, etc.

[Vegan]

Dug out my old Warcraft 2 CD from the DOS/pre-Battlenet days and surprised to find no CD key as none were needed back in those days. Was hoping to register it here so I can get a more current version of the software. Oh well.

Really? I'm pretty sure my WC2 Battle.net Edition asks for a CD Key. I remember because I got it used at EB a few years back, and I ended up having to look up a serial # online.

[blackstarre]

Hey, don't know if anyone else had the same problem, I did, but just in case, here you go.

I have my original Starcraft CD case somewhere, I think in a storage unit about 5 or 10 minutes away. But I didn't feel like driving over there and rummaging for it, so after some digging, I was able to find a utility that will decode and display your CD key for you when you run Starcraft. Pretty handy, and it took me some digging to find, so in case anyone else is scrambling, here you go (http://www.bwhacks.com/forums/old-downloads/28513-starcraft-cd-key-number-grabber-1-16-0-source-code-included.html). Note that this is NOT a generator- for this to work you must have a valid CD key already. Oh and one note- make sure you update to version 1.161, the current version, before trying this. Leave the version marked as 1.16.0, it still works fine.

Now I'm off to download Brood Wars!

[Lord Darkstorn]

Great game, great deal. BTW, I need to practice for StarCraft 2 anyway...

[Oktoberfest]

second time I've posted this but hey

play with other CAGs here
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142749

[theclaw]

Thanks! Now I won't have to swap 8 discs to install Diablo 2, Starcraft, Warcraft 3, and the expansion for each. ^_^

[PhaserBait]

Really? I'm pretty sure my WC2 Battle.net Edition asks for a CD Key. I remember because I got it used at EB a few years back, and I ended up having to look up a serial # online.

WC2 BNE does have a CD key. It was released well after the original. The original did not have a CD key, just a CD check. There was also no Battle.net to access. You had to find your own opponents.

[justme99z]

If only Starcraft worked on OSX Leopard.... :(

[Wolfpup]

It doesn't? It runs on OS X, but Leopard broke it? (Is that 10.5?)