TREKCORE > GAMING > ELITE FORCE > Support

Install the patch! It may fix the problem you're having! Download it here. Any problems that are fixed by the patch are not addressed in this page.

Information on this pages comes from the Help files that came with the game as well as Activision's technical support pages. If you cannot find help on this page, you may want to visit the FAQ, as it has answers to non-technical questions related to the game.

1. When I type the CD Key in, I get a message that says "A valid CD Key is required. Please see your documentation."
2. The game is having performance issues.
3. How do I use the console?
4. When I put the CD into my drive, the splash screen comes up and then my system locks-up. I am using an ATi video card.
5. I get the error "Couldn't reopen C:\Program Files\Raven\Star Trek Voyager Elite Force\baseEF\pak2.pk3" when launching the game.
6. When I first enter the multi-player shell screen, the game prompts me for a CD Key. There is no CD-Key included with the game. Can I play multi-player?
7. When the game is loading the next level it dumps me back to the main menu.
8. Are there any problems with using a firewall?
9. When loading a map, I immediately receive this error in the console: z_malloc failed on allocation of x bytes.
10. Every time I try to join a particular server, I get one of the following error messages: "Unpure client detected", "Invalid pak file", and "Server disconnected"..

	1. When I type the CD Key in, I get a message that says "A valid CD Key is required. Please see your documentation." Make sure you input the characters correctly, make sure the 1's are not l's. Manually input the CD key in to the efq3.key file Go to the Star Trek Elite Force directory (C:\Program Files\Raven\Star Trek Voyager Elite Force), open the BaseEF folder. Find the efq3.key file located there and open it with Wordpad for best results. Enter your 18 character CD Key in upper case letters. The file should look like this: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XX // generated by Elite Force, do not modify. // Do not give this file to ANYONE. // Neither Raven nor Activision will ask you to send this file to them. The X's will be the characters of the CD Key. When you close this file, it will ask you to save changes. Click yes. Also, make sure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements. Be sure that you have one of the supported video chipsets. There have been some reports from people have problems with their CD Keys. If you are getting ANY denial message from the Authentication Server, be sure and check to make sure you entered your CD Key correctly. There have been several reports of problems that were solved when the CD Key was re-entered correctly. For your own safety, never send anyone your CD Key. Nobody at Raven or Activision will ever ask you for your CD key information without you having contacted us first. Once again, keep your CD Key safe.
	2. The game is having performance issues. There are a wide variety of reasons for performance issues in this game. Many of them are technical, and fairly simple to resolve. It is important to realize however that Elite Force is a very complex game, and many high-end systems will experience occasional performance glitches. As long as the performance problems are not constant, and not interrupting gameplay, this should not be a serious issue. Make sure your system meets the minimum system requirements of the game. Make sure you have the latest video and sound card drivers from the manufacturers' websites. All background applications must be shutdown prior to running the game. Make sure the 3D hardware acceleration is turned all the way up. Right-click on the My Computer icon on the desktop and select Properties. Select the Performance tab and click the Graphics button. Make sure the acceleration slider is set to Full. For Windows XP and 2000: Click on the Start button > Settings > Control Panel. Double-click the Display icon. Click the Settings tab. Click the Advanced button. Click the Troubleshoot tab. Make sure the acceleration slider is set to Full. In addition to the steps above, Elite Force should recognize the majority of console commands from Quake III Arena. There are many undocumented, unsupported tweaks that can be enabled through the console. For more information on such customization of the game, please consult the Star Trek Elite Force and Quake III Arena fan sites on the internet.
	3. How do I use the console? The console is considered an advanced editing tool and is not a supported feature for Star Trek Elite Force. You may use the feature at your own risk, but Activision Customer Support will not be able to provide support from any problems that are a result of using it, or be able to assist you with obtaining console commands or settings. For help with the console, please visit the message boards at www.ravensoft.com or search the internet for additional websites and fan sites that have information about the console as well as complete lists of the commands and what they do.
	4. When I put the CD into my drive, the splash screen comes up and then my system locks-up. I am using an ATi video card. ATi video cards are not supported to work with the game. These cards experienced performance and stability issues in the game - including the initial splash screen. UNSUPPORTED WORKAROUND: Though not guaranteed to resolve this issue, in the instance of the ATi Radeon and Rage 128 cards, it may be possible to run the game anyway. To do this, you will need to launch the game from the executable instead of the splash screen. Use My Computer to navigate through your hard drive to the ST:EF folder (C:\Program Files\Raven\Star Trek Elite Force by default). Double-click on the game executable - STVOY.EXE for Single Player, or STVOYHM.EXE for multiplayer.
	5. I get the error "Couldn't reopen C:\Program Files\Raven\Star Trek Voyager Elite Force\baseEF\pak2.pk3" when launching the game. Perform an uninstall and reinstall the game with the latest patch. Uninstall the game. Delete the game folder (C:\Program Files\Raven\Star Trek Voyager Elite Force by default). Reinstall the game. Download and install the latest patch from our website.
	6. When I first enter the multi-player shell screen, the game prompts me for a CD Key. There is no CD-Key included with the game. Can I play multi-player? NOTE: This applies to the version of Star Elite Voyager: Elite Force that came in the Star Trek: Action Pack. No CD Key needs to be entered. The game auto-installs a CD Key during installation. You can access and play multiplayer games without having to manually enter a CD Key.
	7. When the game is loading the next level it dumps me back to the main menu. Check the pak file size. Look in the C:\Program Files\Raven\Star Trek Voyager Elite Force\BaseEF folder. The Pak0.pk3 file should be 566,234,769 bytes long. If it is not then the game may not be installed properly. Uninstall the game, delete the game folder, and reinstall the game. Keep doing this until the pak file size is correct.
	8. Are there any problems with using a firewall? NOTE: Activision does not support the use of routers or firewalls. Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force relies on internet communication via the IP protocol and UDP ports 26000, 27500, 27910 and 27960. These are the ports that the game uses for connection, message of the day, server browsing, and so forth. If you are using any type of firewall, either software or hardware based, you must ensure that traffic can pass on these ports. With a simple gateway using Network Address Translation (NAT), there is no limit on outgoing traffic and the game will probably work for client machines, but not servers, without any need to customize the gateway. For more sophisticated firewalls (such as Zone Alarm or Black Ice) you may need to configure the system to allow incoming and outgoing traffic on the ports listed above. The exact steps for doing this are specific to the firewall your are using. For more information you will need to consult with the firewall documentation or manufacturer. We also do not advise setting up a Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force server for internet use on a machine that is not directly connected to the internet. The problem is that any gateway router that translates an internal sub-net to a real IP - including NAT with ipForwarding or DMZ - requires that the internal server use an internal IP address, and these machines see clients on your LAN as different addresses from the internet and thus you cannot authorize these clients.
	9. When loading a map, I immediately receive this error in the console: z_malloc failed on allocation of x bytes. Chances are the pak0.pk3 file did not install properly during the installation, or has become corrupted over time. Copying a new version of the file from the CD should resolve the problem. Open the CD-ROM through explorer, and open the D:\Star Trek Voyager Elite Force\baseEF folder. Copy of the pak0.pk3 file. Open the Star Trek Voyager Elite Force/baseEF folder where Elite Force was installed on your hard drive. Paste the file into that folder. Overwrite the existing file. Start the game and try loading the map again.
	10. Every time I try to join a particular server, I get one of the following error messages: "Unpure client detected", "Invalid pak file", and "Server disconnected". The most common reason for this problem is if you are trying to connect to a server that is running a different version of Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force than you are. Be sure to check the server's version number in the Server Info window to be sure your game's version matches the server. To do this, click on the server you are trying to join in the browser window, then click on the server info button. If your versions do match, there are two other reasons that this would happen: You do not have maps or mods that the server has, and you do not have Auto Download enabled. You have maps or mods that the server does not, and the server has Pure Server turned on. If you wish to keep your maps/mods, you will have to join another server. If you would like to join this server, you will have to remove all added maps and mods.