We're out of touch with what makes this game difficult to get into in Current Year.
Let's try some usability studies. Are you willing to sit a friend down and see how they do with the game with no help? It could go a long way into figuring out how we can improve things for new players.
If you can't find anyone to do it in person, you can also do it online. Try having them screencast using Skype and Cont in Windowed mode, use Twitch + OBS, try a remote access program such as TeamViewer, or have them record it. Even asking a random friend from Steam, IRC, etc. to try it out, not watching them but then talking to them about it afterward is a huge help.
Stories of when you did this with people in the past also definitely useful.
If you're pretty sure you can't help the Steam relaunch in some other way, you can definitely do this. Please think about 1 person you could get to try out SS for 15 minutes. Ask them to help you out with a game you still love after so many years.