Many new users tend to ask questions that have been answered many times before. So we attempted to categorize them and answer them briefly and comprehensibly.
Read this before posting! There is a high possibility that your question is already 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.
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.
: Android version is currently released as an apk, it is an equivalent of the standalone computer version in terms of IAP. It will appear in Google Play later. The iOS version is currently in development, you may expect to see it done in several months if everything goes well. The Linux version won’t be made due to discontinued support but you can use Proton in Steam (or separately with a standalone version) instead.
: 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
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: 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.
: It stands for Frequently Asked Questions. It also stands for Fully Anticipated Questions.
: 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.
: Any idea has good and bad sides for every aspect. If one user said that they don’t like your idea it doesn’t mean that your idea is bad. This user should explain why they don’t like it so you can change your idea a bit to make everyone happy.
: 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 “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 ask InterAction studios in forum private messages to remove the account (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 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 Chicken Hunter License is not giving you a significant advantage over other players, it only allows you to take part in more serious stuff.
: 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”.
: Pretty much nothing changes as for now. The content is still being added, bugs are still being fixed, you can still suggest whatever you want.
: The holiday contents are being added only if they are able to last long and they are popular enough to be worth it. This also depends on whether there are any more important actions that have to be taken at the moment. For example, an emergency update is a higher priority than a funny coloured egg. The Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Easter are the only holidays at the moment that had some content changes involved.
: 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.
: The game is a CI spin-off, it has no plot nor ending and it is not connected to the episodes’ timeline.
: 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.
Mods are being made using some specific tools, generally an IAMT. You can also use audio-only version from IAMI discord server. The rules for modding is the following:
- It must not provide the player any unfair advantages.
- It must not screw the game up and increase support costs (by crashing the game, for example).
- You can’t change game mechanics (e.g. 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.
Abide by these and you should be all good. TL;DR: the safest thing or the only thing you should even mod is game audio. But as for how to mod the game, no one will tell you how.
The tools which are used for making mods are ugly and hard to work with, so only people who were working with them since their creation know everything about them. You can try to receive help in the corresponding modding topic or a Discord server.
The following is an example of a modded CIU:
Touhou-rized CIU: Deep Space Encounters 2 [EARLY ACCESS] - YouTube
: 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. I 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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