To prepare for the game’s remastered edition, Blizzard Entertainment has made StarCraft and its expansion Brood War free for PC and Mac. You’ll need to pick up the latest patch for the same and Run as Admin when installing it. This will only be necessary for your first time playing the game.
The update adds a whole lot more to StarCraft than that though. There’s a new Observer mode, better compatibility with Windows 7/8.1/10 systems; improved anti-cheat functionality; support for full-screen and windowed modes; more responsive online play and improved user interface design for online areas. Information on opponents when joining game lobbies and auto-saving for replays have also been added. You can even display the game time as well. The full patch notes can be seen below.
As for StarCraft Remastered, it’s scheduled to release in Q2 2017 for PC and Mac. It will feature updated sound and graphics including 4K resolution support and an option for switching between art styles.
StarCraft 1.18 Update Patch Notes
General
- Added windowed fullscreen or windowed mode; Alt+Enter switches between
- Added UTF-8 support
- Added cursor clamping in-game while windowed; unclamped in menus
- Added Popular Maps to streamline finding games or game types
- Added options to display actions per minute
- Added Observer mode
- Added opponent information when joining a game lobby
- Added autosaving for replays
- Added an option to display game time
- Added UPnP support
- Updated to a new OpenGL backend
- Improved gameplay responsiveness during multiplayer by increasing turn rate to match LAN speeds over Battle.net
- Improved UI layout in Battle.net sections
- Improved behavior of available lobbies within the ‘Join Game’ section
- Improved compatibility with Windows 7, 8.1, and 10
- Improved anticheat capabilities
- Improved installation and patching performance
- Mac Beta now available for 10.11 and up
Bug Fixes
- Fixed palette issues to correct rainbow water, 80s Kerrigan face in the loading screen, and other graphic glitches
- Fixed problems with LAN game discovery
- Fixed IME support and other text artifacts in Battle.net menus
- LAN and Legacy Battle.net fixes
Known Issues
- The profile section is currently unavailable
- Some chat commands are still being updated to play nice in the updated chat system
- Friends location is being improperly displayed