What am I supposed to do at the beginning of Privateer 2?

[Krathoon]

I talked to the bartender and he said he will look out for a ship for me.
So, I just look around on the bulletin board and come back to trigger another conversation?
I did already try buying a ship and flew it around for a bit.
How do you land on planets?

Do I just start delivering cargo for a while until missions show up?

 

[Krathoon]

Tachyon: The Fringe is way better about giving you a tutorial and getting you right into the action.

 

[ChrisReid]

Tachyon was much more the exception than the rule. There's another thread here that was just posted about how WC3 doesn't do a good job of explaining how you need to cloak before entering Kilrah orbit. '90s games did not hold your hand.

Unlike Privateer 1, you need to press C and request permission to land. Here's an old school tutorial that helps you get the first mission going: https://www.oocities.org/timessquare/arcade/9730/tutor.html In general, it's necessary to keep checking your PADD to find ways to visit people and advance the plot.

 

[Krathoon]

Tachyon was much more the exception than the rule. There's another thread here that was just posted about how WC3 doesn't do a good job of explaining how you need to cloak before entering Kilrah orbit. '90s games did not hold your hand.

Unlike Privateer 1, you need to press C and request permission to land. Here's an old school tutorial that helps you get the first mission going: https://www.oocities.org/timessquare/arcade/9730/tutor.html In general, it's necessary to keep checking your PADD to find ways to visit people and advance the plot.

Thanks. That is just what I needed. Kind of flailing about at the beginning.

 

[Krathoon]

I see what I am supposed to do now. I am supposed to keep looking at the diary to get leads throughout the game.

The diary is the plot thread.

For some reason, I just kept on bouncing off this game. It needs a better hook at the beginning to get you started.

 

[Bob McDob]

Tachyon: The Fringe is way better about giving you a tutorial and getting you right into the action.

Tachyon also isn't the same kind of game that Privateer is. It's much closer to a classic space sim where you don't actually fly around free-form, you take predefined missions more or less in order and the whole mercenary thing is basically flavor.

I actually had far less trouble getting into The Darkening than the original Privateer, since you have the journal entries to give you direction. It's not much different from the quest line in a modern open world rpg in that sense. That said, I did enjoy playing it more than Privateer, so that might have been a factor. I wonder what it would have been like if it had generated missions in addition to all the bespoke and FMV ones.