Many new users tend to ask questions that have been answered before. We have categorized them and provided brief answers here.
Read this before posting! There is a high possibility that your question is here.
For technical issues, visit this thread. If you have an undescribed technical issue, create a post about it and the forum will try to help you.
If you aren’t registered, or your forum account status does not allow sending private messages, you can contact InterAction studios through the support e-mail.
Technical/Compatibility
: I can’t download the game, the tab closes itself. What do I do?
: Open the link in a new tab using the right mouse button or copy-paste its address manually in the new tab, the file will be downloaded.
: No. Will there be a console version? - #2 by InterAction_studios
: Install the newest version above the previous or delete your game through the control panel and install the newest version. Your data will be saved. You may need to configure some of your settings again if the settings screen was redacted this update. Steam version updates automatically, all you need to do is to restart the game in case you were playing when update happened. If you still can’t join the server even after update, it’s probably in progress of upgrading to a newer version.
: This is a networking access error (“An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.”)
This happens when the game is blocked by a firewall and it is strictly a problem at your end. Try using ping gameservers2.chickeninvaders.com and ping gameservers.chickeninvaders.com in command prompt with administrator mode. If your result looks like this:
Pinging ec2-18-207-180-213.compute-1.amazonaws.com [18.207.180.213] with 32 bytes of data:
That means your device resolves server IP but experiencing some problems with the 23006 port
Turn your firewall off temporarily to see if it helps (just because you’ve opened a port on your firewall doesn’t mean that the game/application is allowed to access it).
If the above solutions could not help, use a VPN with tunneling the whole device & apps feature (Especially when you see a connection timed out error).
: NAT is defined either by your provider or router settings. The easiest way of getting rid of restrictions is port mapping (binding). Port-restricted cone NAT works fine for the most cases, while symmetric NAT may have major issues joining others. Read Multiplayer topic to get more information. Some players also reported that a VPN may help to solve the issue.
Forum Navigation/Etiquette
:
: Send a private forum message to InterAction studios asking for a username change. Note that regular username rules are still applied to these (no spaces, special symbols…), just like forum rules and guidelines.
: If you write something under not updated for a long time topic it will jump at the start of the topic list and will move down newer, more important topics. If the post wasn’t updated for months, there is a possibility that users have forgotten about it or they don’t need to discuss it any more (you can check this by last replies). If you have something important to say — do it, but make sure you will not disturb anyone with something like “I agree with you!”, the 
button is there for something like that.
: You should always listen to any user when they say you broke forum rules or something similar. Stop and check to make sure you don’t break them or correct your behaviour in case you did. Of course, the usual moral rules have not gone anywhere, even if those aren’t described here. The best way to keep our community civil is to be civil.
: As much as you can. People need to understand what you are talking about. All ideas, especially not very simple ones, like weapons or game mechanics, need to be explained clearly.
Also, before posting your idea you should check if it was suggested before you. If that’s the case you can post it but you should give credit to the original author and be aware that the medal goes to them too, especially if your idea doesn’t make any corrections to the original.
: Suggest your ideas or improvements on the forum and leave your feedback. Before reporting or suggesting anything, check if it wasn’t solved or suggested before with the search button.
: The most important topics for new users are: Plan updates, FAQ, This F.A.Q and particularized topics like “Multiplayer” or “Weapon data spreadsheet” if you are going to use related stuff in the game.
In-Game Features/Frequently Suggested Ideas
: Please try to describe the bug. The best case is to have a video or an image of what’s going on. You can report it on “CIU version X” threads. However, please check the Known bugs topic and older posts to make sure you don’t report a bug someone else had already reported before.
Note that the “Known bugs & new features” topic contains changelog of the next version, not the current one, hence the bug which appears to be “fixed” may still be in the game.
: As of v81, you can link your account to an E-mail and then use it to restore your profile, even on other devices. To do that you have to follow these steps in the corresponding order:
- Change e-mail of your account;
- Use the Link button to restore the account on any device;
If you want to remove the e-mail from one account to use it on another, just change it to an impossible e-mail and then delete it, (you won’t be able to restore your account in case the session gets lost on a different PC and your account e-mail is changed to an impossible one). Your save-data is located in C:\ProgramData\InterAction studios\CIU\ia[steam]\*your_version_folder*. This data only contains your profile information, the progress is stored in the server.
The Steam version also uses Steam Cloud to keep your save data in sync, but it is highly recommended not to rely on that too much.
: Banning typically issued for violating of the Terms of Service most commonly due to cheating.
- If this is your first offense, the ban will last for 1 month.
- If this is your second offense, the ban will last for 6 months and will be removed automatically.
However if you are caught cheating for the third time, then your cheated account will be immediately and permanently banned without warning and any accounts that you created in the past may also be banned without warning. Any future accounts you create may also be banned without warning. Ban decisions are irrevocable and cannot be appealed.
For more details, check the official policy: ⚠ Exploit & cheating policy
: The game is free for everyone but there is some exclusive “endgame” content for those who find the game too easy. Part of this content is accessible only if you have the Chicken Hunter License, other part might still have a harder but free way of obtaining (Example: contraband purchase). Any purchase in your account disables the advertisement banner and prevents your account from being removed as a part of the regular database clean-up process each update. CHL gives access to the Ironman Competition, the ability to buy the best spacecraft model at a normal price, a light blue badge at the left of your in-game callsign and it’s planned to allow you to fly with a skill level harder than Superstar Hero. If you like to challenge your skills it’s worth it. You can buy the Chicken Hunter License in-game for ~$7. The Steam version uses regional prices to make IAP more affordable.
Please note that the Chicken Hunter License does not grant you significant advantage over other players, it only allows you to take part in more serious missions.
: DLCs (Downloadable content) are playable Episodes ported to CIU featuring top-100 leaderboards.
They can also be transferred between platforms (from CIU to episodes); however, certain platforms do not support importing purchases this way (e.g. iA’s website and Steam).
So, the recommenced way to purchase the Episodes is through Steam. and then you can import them to CIU.
To import the DLCS open the episode you want to import to your CIU account. Go to the Main menu select “Options” then “Accounts” then Select “Export Purchase”. and enter your e-mail account.
: No. It would:
- Be troublesome to implement,
- Increase the server load by a significant amount,
- Make moderation more tedious than it already is (multiplayer chat is bad enough), and
- Still do the job worse than any specialized chat application, which even has voice chat functionality.
Just use one of the alternatives listed as examples below:
- Discord
- Skype
- in-real-life meeting
: At the very early stages of development The developer considered if/how planetary missions could be added to CIU. He ultimately decided that it was way too much effort, because those missions work on a completely different framework on CI5.
Think about how you would randomly generate such missions. The main issue was few (none?) of the existing enemy formations could be used, because they don’t take account “terrain areas”. A whole new set of waves specific to each terrain would have to be created.
So the idea was shelved. It’s quite possible that it will eventually make it in CIU.
About planetary missions and how we could possibly go about generating them - #11 by InterAction_studios
: In Chicken Invaders Universe, the difficulty of bosses and enemies in waves depends on the mission difficulty level (orange indicator), mission tier and selected skill. If bosses are too hard for you, try to use a lower skill (“Tourist” or “Rookie”, for example) or play a different mission. The default skill is “Rookie”.
: Early Access Participation Medal is no longer awarded for new users however, there are no major changes. Content is still being added, bugs are still being fixed, you can still suggest whatever you want.
: Unfortunately, this option is limited on game versions distributed on app stores due to storage concerns, these are added manually one at a time when the corresponding season comes.
However, if you have a mobile device running Android, you can download the 32-bit version of the game under the Google Play version’s onebox so that you can enable any seasonal content you want at anytime.
: In CIU you can only use food to sell it in Space Burger restaurants to get some keys. Points can’t give you extra lives, use the galaxy store or aftermarket to buy missiles and lives.
: There is no plot, ending, nor any strictly defined goal to achieve.
: The amount of docking spots depends on your spacecraft type. For example: The Müller M400 Caterer can hold 2 satellites while the Müller M408 Cuisinier can hold 4 of them. Bombers usually have more docking spots than regular type spacecrafts. The amount of docking spots can be seen in store spacecraft description.
: Press the pilot button on the galaxy screen and write your desired nickname in the top field.
: There is an IAMI that can install mods from the corresponding topic.
If you want to make a mod, check this post:
Mod installer and public mods - #685 by VerMishelb
The rules for modding is the following:
- It must not provide the player any unfair advantages.
- It must not break the game for others when they install it (unless clearly stated to be for an older version of the game) as it may cause false automatic crash reports on developer’s side, increasing the support costs.
You can’t change game mechanics (increase health or make a new wave). That’s simply not possible in the current modding state, but even if it will be, it’s highly discouraged.
The following is an example of a modded CIU:
https://youtu.be/dOC4XMKGgD4?si=ku0ATAuvLDST-tdK
: It’s not a bug, it’s a cosmetic element as the game takes place in the future.
: Voice chat might sound like a simple idea on paper, but it’s a huge can of worms. The developer won’t go into the reasons here (technical, economic, abuse, etc.), but it’s definitely outside the scope of a small indie production like CIU.
Just use some other external voice chat system.
– InterAction studios, Microphone In Game, 7th reply
: No, there are enough of them. Originality in ideas is better than variations of existing stuff, with rare exceptions.
Please, write questions below to make this topic more useful. Users who keep this thread organized will add important and frequent ones as soon as they will be free.
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