I recommend a crack tool to override the CD requirement :P
I don't think braces are illegal in filenames the way square brackets are - [ ] - but if VPC isn't installing that may as well be the source. It may be the brackets are causing trouble when the game is trying to call up settings using a relative file path (i.e. ~/documents/gamesettings).
To rule out that possibility, I'd suggest creating another account, and try running the installing/running the game from there. Make sure to keep the username legal.
