StarCraft I - Battlechest for $9.99 + Free Digital Download XP/Vista/Mac OS X

bigwightdog

bigwightdog

CAGiversary!
I decided to save myself some money by not buying SCII at release (I'm still disappointed over no LAN play), so I decided to comfort myself with StarCraft I. I thought I'd share what I'd found:

1. If you go on Battle.net and put in your old Starcraft CD key (doesn't matter which version...I did it with the Power Mac system 8 version CD), they will upgrade you to a free digital download Starcraft Anthology compatible with 2000, XP, Vista and/or Mac OS X...no patching required. that includes an up-to-date battle.net CD key. For XP its a 1.2GB download so make sure you have a good connection. I had to turn off peer-to-peer to increase the speed.

So yes, if you have the original StarCraft, you get treated like you own both (it and Brood War)...because the Anthology is essentially the download version of the Battlechest. I would do this soon, because you never know with Activision. They certainly don't have to support an old game this way.

2. If you don't have any of the original StarCraft disks or key codes, then Amazon currently has the StarCraft Battlechest for $9.99. The next nearest price I could find is $12.90 new at Gogamer.com. The average price (Gamestop for one) is $19.99. The full price for the Anthology direct from battle.net is $14.99.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00001IVRD/ref=nosim/cheapassgam08-20

3. eBay may have it for cheaper (I've seen both Brood War and the original campaign for $2 + $3 shipping), but I'm not sure what happens if its used and the code is already registered...so caveat emptor.


Please note that I have tried this on XP SP3 and Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). See within the thread for more detailed info on troubleshooting Vista, Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit).
 
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Thanks for the help guys. I'm running 32-bit windows 7. I've tried the batch file, it still locked up. I downloaded the registry edit fix by warlord_7. The installable version someone made of it. The game still locked up. I've tried several combination of using compatibility mode. I even tried xp mode. But you cant change the screen resolution in xp mode.

I have a couple desktop gadgets running. One for the weather and one showing memory/cpu usage. Would those be my problem?
 
[quote name='monogoat']Does the battlechest come with both brood war and starcraft keys? So I could make an extra battle.net account, put 1 key on my account and put the other key on the new account and have the whole deal on both accounts? If so I'm in, then I can just let a friend use the other account when they want to play against me.[/QUOTE]

Broodwar doesn't really have it's own key, so my guess is you would only get one out of the Battlechest.
 
[quote name='bigwightdog']Broodwar doesn't really have it's own key, so my guess is you would only get one out of the Battlechest.[/QUOTE]
I added my SC CD key to the Blizzard store a few weeks ago and it allowed me to download Brood War as well, so I'm pretty sure you'd be able to get them both too.
 
I got the Battlechest from this deal and can confirm there is only one key in the package. It's for StarCraft but it allows you to download Broodwar as well. I believe every copy of StarCraft now qualifies for the digital download of Broodwar, if you still have your key.
 
Whelp, I picked up a used copy for $1.98 at Half Priced books, and finally got around to trying to activate it on Battle.net, and it works! Hoorah!
 
Sorry I have a Starcraft 2 question. Will my copy I have pre-ordered work on both my mac and pc. Like can I use my one copy to put it on both or do I need 2 separate copies of the game.
 
Thanks for the heads-up, OP! I haven't played Diablo II or Starcraft in AGES, let alone online via Battle.net, so I would never have known about this. Now, to dig up my Diablo II and Starcraft Battlechests from the garage...
 
[quote name='NeoGutsman']Thanks for the heads-up, OP! I haven't played Diablo II or Starcraft in AGES, let alone online via Battle.net, so I would never have known about this. Now, to dig up my Diablo II and Starcraft Battlechests from the garage...[/QUOTE]

You keep garbage in your room for ages? OCD?
 
[quote name='GlassAgate']You keep garbage in your room for ages? OCD?[/QUOTE]

Reading comprehension for the loss. :roll:
 
[quote name='salty tbone']Reading comprehension for the loss. :roll:[/QUOTE]

I was just trying to have some fun, which I guess didn't work.
I wasn't trying to be mean to the person.

NeoGutsman, I'm sorry for being an ass.
 
you could all just treat yourselves and buy the collectors edition of Starcraft 2 which comes with starcraft and starcraft: brood war pre-loaded on the "Jim Raynor" dogtag usb drive!
 
[quote name='seether254']you could all just treat yourselves and buy the collectors edition of Starcraft 2 which comes with starcraft and starcraft: brood war pre-loaded on the "Jim Raynor" dogtag usb drive![/QUOTE]

That would be awesome, but I'm low on $s right now...and that doesn't qualify on cheap.
 
Went crazy searching the house this weekend for my old SC battlechest and couldn't find it. Glad I didn't impulsively pick it up at BB for $20 yesterday as I'll just be picking it up on Prime now.

In short, thanks OP :D

For those considering not picking up the battlechest, it comes with two *excellent* player guides for the campaigns that are worth owning if you get in a tricky spot. Even in the days of online guides, nothing beats having one of these handy for quickly looking something up or for when your internet is down.
 
[quote name='fatez']is there anyway to change the resolution for starcraft?[/QUOTE]

no. there is a "hack" that can change the resolution but you cannot be logged into battle net or you will get banned
 
[quote name='fatez']is there anyway to change the resolution for starcraft?[/QUOTE]

Those were the days when RTS had a fixed resolution.
 
For those with Vista 32 and who have color issue with Starcraft boots

Try the following

Open up Windows Explorer

navigate to the folder where starcraft is installed

Double click directly on the exe and do not use the shortcut

For whatever wierd reason, this works for me
 
picked this up along with a new mousepad. They threw it in my goldbox so I had to get it.

I saw this yesterday and couldn't find my old starcraft case or the piece of paper I had all my old cd keys on. Counter-strike, Diablo 2, all the hits. I did find my warcraft 3 key.
 
Temidien that does not work on x64 win 7 try this method. Note I created an x64 reg script at the begining . for x32 you will have to follow the instructons and modify it. Also note the process has to be done for every new patch it seems.

Current starcraft

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\DirectDraw\Compatibility\StarCraft]
"Flags"=hex:00,08,00,00
"Name"="Starcraft.exe"
"ID"=hex:ca,89,65,49


Instructions below for C&C modify as needed.


Color fix for C&C95 on Windows 7


This is an actual fix for the color issue, rather than the workarounds we've been forced to deal with so far. It's based on an identical fix for StarCraft by warlord_7. You need to be using Nyerguds's 1.06b r2 patch for this, if you're not, you'll need to update the ID field on your own. Open Notepad and paste whichever one of these corresponds to the version of Windows 7 you're running:

32-bit:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectDraw\Compatibility\Command & Conquer Gold 1.06b r2]
"Flags"=hex:00,08,00,00
"Name"="C&C95.exe"
"ID"=hex:d5,83,dd,32

​
64-bit:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\DirectDraw\Compatibility\Command & Conquer Gold 1.06b r2]
"Flags"=hex:00,08,00,00
"Name"="C&C95.exe"
"ID"=hex:d5,83,dd,32

​
File -> Save, choose All Files from the save as type pulldown menu, and save it with the extension .reg. Double click on it, confirm that you want to add the key, and give C&C a try. The Westwood intro video may still have the wrong colors (this seems random, sometimes it's fine, usually it's not), but the game and the rest of the videos will be fine. If you have your wallpaper set to slideshow, you'll still get messed up colors when your wallpaper changes. This will last until the end of any video that was playing, but will only cause a brief flicker in the actual game.

If you need to update the ID for whatever reason (new version of the C&C95 patch, fix for Red Alert or another game), run the game and then check this registry key:

32-bit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectDraw\MostRecentApplication
​
64-bit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\DirectDraw\MostRecentApplication
​
The ID in that key is four bytes. Reverse their order, and place them between commas like in the keys above. 32dd83d5 becomes d5,83,dd,32. Use that in place of the ID in the keys I posted, change the filename to the correct one for whatever game you are trying to run, and give the key a unique name.


(And for the record, no, I have no idea what that flag actually does or what others are available. I only got it from the StarCraft fix, which itself seems to have been based on existing SC fixes already in the registry. I've searched, but I can't find any information on these flags.) This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 3/24/10 10:23:44 AM
 
I'm so pissed I can't find my starcraft 1 CD.


EDIT: Just broke down and bought the anthology for 8 bucks on Amazon, uhhhhgggggg Prime shipping you make everything so tempting, I guess it's better than buying a $100 CE when I spent $8 then $60 for SC2.
 
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ok, this is confusing

If I grab Starcraft will I be able to play it on a Windows 7 system without doing registry edits and all that?
 
[quote name='Jaysonguy']ok, this is confusing

If I grab Starcraft will I be able to play it on a Windows 7 system without doing registry edits and all that?[/QUOTE]

from reading the thread.. NO. but I wish there is a noobie patch/program that let u do that though. I don't play online anyway
 
[quote name='Jaysonguy']ok, this is confusing

If I grab Starcraft will I be able to play it on a Windows 7 system without doing registry edits and all that?[/QUOTE]

The answer is ... it depends (I have one system where it runs and another where I needed the above posted registry entry). You need to try and find out. however, as you can see from the above posts, the edits are very minor.
 
Thanks, OP! I registered my copies of Diablo II and Diablo II Lord of Destruction just fine. Can't wait to download and install them on my new laptop (whenever the frakk it's supposed to arrive; it's somehow stuck at a UPS New Jersey facility due to "adverse weather" :p)
 
Just for the record I grabbed the Starcrat Battlechest from this thread and run it just fine on Win 7 64 bit. I have to run it as an admin but it works. Radeon 4850 HD card here.
 
I installed Starcraft+Broodwar from bnet and have no problems playing it in Windows 7 x64 using the following launcher:

taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
"C:\Program Files (x86)\StarCraft\Starcraft.exe"
start explorer.exe

put that in a txt file and change the extension to .bat (for example mine i windows7.bat.) What it does is close explorer while starcraft is running and then restarts it when starcraft closes. No color issues and battlenet works through it. I tried the other things suggested like going in to properties and changing compatibility, resolution, color depth and none of that worked consistently. This works every time.
 
Editing the registry and/or having to install extra patches can have the potential to be much more harmful than killing explorer. Personally, I don't like having to edit the registry unless I have to. Found this to be the easiest solution, thought I'd share it.
 
I know this is beating a dead horse a bit.....

I have Windows 7 Pro, build 7600, 32-bit, and I just downloaded the SC installer from Battle.net. Fired up the game for the first time and didn't do any editing/hacking/registry fixes, etc. Seemed to load fine and saw no color issues.

Are the issues going to pop up immediately or where would I start actually running into trouble if I don't see them in the first 5 minutes?
 
That was not necessary true for me. I have had times where color issues come and go. Freezing after a 1-2 hours though was a given.
 
[quote name='Brenex']I installed Starcraft+Broodwar from bnet and have no problems playing it in Windows 7 x64 using the following launcher:

taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
"C:\Program Files (x86)\StarCraft\Starcraft.exe"
start explorer.exe

put that in a txt file and change the extension to .bat (for example mine i windows7.bat.) What it does is close explorer while starcraft is running and then restarts it when starcraft closes. No color issues and battlenet works through it. I tried the other things suggested like going in to properties and changing compatibility, resolution, color depth and none of that worked consistently. This works every time.[/QUOTE]


Batch files FTW :applause:
 
Okay, I've been playing Starcraft for the last couple of weeks. Win 7, 32 bit, on a 32
bit processor, and the only compatibility setting that I set was "Run in 256 Colors".
I am not running in any sort of compatibility mode. I have not tinkered with the registry.

Note: the "Run in 256 Colors" also works with "Warcraft 2 Battle.net Edition".
 
Kind of old, but does anyone know if entering in the
key from Warcraft III will activate the game, like
with Starcraft I?
 
This thread got me hoping I could pick up Starcraft Battlechest for $10. Disappointed this is 9 months old.
 
Just an FYI on the color issue:
When I did a fresh install off the b.net installer, it was fine. (Installing SC, then Brood War) The problems arise after logging into b.net and grabbing the latest patch.

So if you're just playing single player and can go without the latest patch, you should be able to just install fresh and play. (Assuming this universal and not just an off case for me)
 
[quote name='DaedalusIkari']Just an FYI on the color issue:
When I did a fresh install off the b.net installer, it was fine. (Installing SC, then Brood War) The problems arise after logging into b.net and grabbing the latest patch.

So if you're just playing single player and can go without the latest patch, you should be able to just install fresh and play. (Assuming this universal and not just an off case for me)[/QUOTE]

Right click on the game's execute, and select the "Run in 256 Colors".
It works with Starcraft / Brood War, Warcraft II Battle.net Edition.
 
[quote name='mtincher']This thread got me hoping I could pick up Starcraft Battlechest for $10. Disappointed this is 9 months old.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='DaedalusIkari']Just an FYI on the color issue:
When I did a fresh install off the b.net installer, it was fine. (Installing SC, then Brood War) The problems arise after logging into b.net and grabbing the latest patch.

So if you're just playing single player and can go without the latest patch, you should be able to just install fresh and play. (Assuming this universal and not just an off case for me)[/QUOTE]

@ mtincher

Sorry about miss leading post update. I wanted to figure
out if WarCraft III would be activatable.

@ DaedalusIkari

Right click on the game's execute, and select the "Run in 256 Colors".
It works with Starcraft / Brood War, Warcraft II Battle.net Edition.
 
[quote name='GlassAgate']I wanted to figure
out if WarCraft III would be activatable.[/QUOTE]
Nothing a little thread necromancy can't cure, right? This was discussed in THE SECOND POST. #-o

Mods, lock this or move it to the graveyard.
 
[quote name='Pirate331']Nothing a little thread necromancy can't cure, right? This was discussed in THE SECOND POST. #-o[/QUOTE]

Okay, I didn't read that. I assumed.....I guess that I should have
just searched the post for the string "warcraft".

[quote name='Pirate331']Mods, lock this or move it to the graveyard. #-o[/QUOTE]

Come on. One little "post in the shell" isn't going to do any harm.
 
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