I don't know if this goes here. Many years ago (roughly 2004-2005), I bought a physical copy of teh first Victoria game. I still have it, but due to the laptop having a damaged CD unit, I can't install it (and I can't buy a new one of either, money is tight). Is there any way to get a copy through the digital store? Other than buying it, I mean.
Not advice, but the strategic business model of the recording industry is always to "upgrade" tech in order to resell the same old trash (or good stuff) in a shiny new box. Sometimes (as with DVD "tech") to zero benefit except to the industry. So you're likely out of luck. Perhaps try eBay for a cheap second-hand CD unit or external CD player?
Also: sympathy. Your circumstances remind me of my old Master of Orion 2 CD that one day literally exploded into hundreds of razor-sharp shards in the CD player, fortunately damaging only the CD player rather than the human player
. Unfortunate, because I was willing and able to buy another copy after replacing the CD player, but it was long "out of print" and recent digital downloadable "versions" were never the same
. So be careful about that if and when you get some money, perhaps first ask PDS if they'll have a "free weekend" on it so you can verify the download version is a "true duplicate" as you would expect?
Finally - and I have no idea if this will work - a long shot. (I'm assuming without checking that a Vic1 download exists). You might ask another player (perhaps a Victoria 2 streamer or someone else to whom you've publicly been nice?) to buy a downloadable Vic1 copy for you as a gift? (Steam has a facility to buy as a gift for a friend, but being a privacy geek and internet-friendless, or perhaps just douchebag, I've never used it
) Show them this response so they know it wasn't your idea. Or ask PDS if they will give you one as a reward for some beta testing work on Vic 3 given you're presumably an expert on Vic1, or something else they're looking for people to do for them. Or even Steam, similarly. You just might get lucky. But if you do get lucky, don't tell anyone (unless your benefactor wishes you to!).
