Hi Everyone, I just wanted to say thank you again and give a recap of our first 2 weeks since launching Cleared Hot. I mean it when I say: the launch went better than any of us even dreamed of.
Thank you all for the reviews.
It was really a wild ride after we clicked the big green "RELEASE MY GAME" button. All of our long time fans hit Steam right away on launch, which catapulted is into the good graces of the Steam algorithm.
This traffic coincided with the Steam Black Friday sale. To our surprise we ended up in the top 5 of the New and Trending list for the sale. This really amplified the traffic.
Steam Impressions: 18,720,000
Steam Page Visits: 993,641
Wishlists Outstanding: 237,111
Wishlists Added in 2 weeks: 121,170
Reviews: 2,062 at 97% positive
We've pushed 3 updates to the game since launch. We might make another 1 really small hotfix, but otherwise we are now focusing on our next update: Chapter 1a.
We looked through all of your reviews, steam community posts, and in-game survey responses to help us prioritize next steps.
Nostalgia
Fun Gameplay / Combat Loop
Good Controls (KB/M & Controller)
Great Music & Sound Design
Physics & Rope Mechanic
Voice Acting Quality
Helicopter Variety
Good Value
Steam Deck Compatible
More Content / Replayable Content
UI/UX Confusion & Clarity
Camera & Visibility Issues
Performance Issues (Mission 10, Jets)
Physics/Pickup Finicky
Weapons Balance
Difficulty Spikes & Balance
Controls Learning Curve
Helicopter Balance
NPCs Damaged On Exit Helo
More Options: Graphics + Other
No Cloud Saves
More Depth
Things you requested that we are considering / working on:
More Missions & Content (Ch 2-3)
Rebindable Controls (WASD/Arrows)
More Weapon Variety & Personality
Helicopter-Relative Controls Option (it's in the game, need to make it more clear)
More Difficulty Options / Presets
More Helicopters (Ka-50, Comanche)
Replayable Content
We don't have a fixed plan or schedule for these two things, but we are interested in doing them:
Mod Support / Workshop
Endless / Skirmish Mode
Also a good amount of you asked about co-op, and we don't really have a plan for this. Maybe maybe maaaaybe we will explore it later but it we really have to think it through and it's a major thing.
These are only the top level categories, so if you don't see your exact request, keep in mind it is probably included into one of the more general topics.
Our goal is to deliver this update before the holidays. This depends on how it goes but this is our goal.
Chapter1a includes
Critical bug fixes and stability improvements (we've fixed some of these already)
Expanded test flight area (more stuff to shoot, more on this soon)
Comanche helo added (in-progress)
Early balance adjustments (helo and weapons)
We've already kicked off work on this. Look for more info here in a couple weeks.
Using the same discord screenshot from the demo since we all have gray hair now. Jk, just me :D
Just want to give the team a shout out. I'm the guy who posts here, but behind me is a truly incredible team of diverse talents. I feel super lucky to get to work with everyone on a daily basis.
Not pictured: our wonderful music composer, Catbaux, and our amazing publishing team at Microprose. Catbaux composed entirely new music for the release, and helped us integrate it into the missions through the chaos. Microprose helped us a ton through development, and then spread the word going into launch.
Everyone came together under a really tight timeline to ship the game. So, a personal thank you to the team.
For those of you who want to play our updates early and help us test, we will start sharing a steam beta password on Steam.
This branch will be somewhere between our playtester build and our final release. It does not replace our small group of playtesters, but allows us to get a bit more user testing before we call the updates done.
I couldn't be happier with how things have gone, really. Five years ago I was wondering if I could start a new career in game dev, with no idea, and no experience. Every year I would tell friends: "the game will definitely be out next year", only to repeat that the following year.
Because of you I don't have to get a real job :D That was really my highest goal. All of the comments from people are really motivating.
Thank you all for going on this journey with us! There's a lot more to come.
-Colin "cfinger" and the Cleared Hot team