Okay, so this game is apparently full of great, deep stories, but I can't make a profit on anything, the quests are either impossible at my level or impossible to find, and my ship keeps getting overrun by crabs and jellyfish. It isn't fair! What the *&$@ am I supposed to do!?

Take a deep breath. The zee is challenging and unfair at times, but you can learn how to survive in it. I can offer a few words of advice to just get you on your feet until you're ready to explore the rest on your own.

You likely already know this, in which case, skip past it, but in case you don't...

The most essential things you need to keep zailing are Fuel, Supplies and Crew. You also have to manage your Hull and your Terror.

Represented by the fire symbol, a number and a gauge. The gauge shows how much fuel you have left in your current unit, and the number shows how many units you have in reserve. You can keep going for a while with zero, while you burn up your last unit, but not long. Running out of fuel does not cause instant death, but you will be stuck, at the mercies of the merciless zee. You can buy more Fuel and Supplies at many (but by no means all) ports, at a range of different prices.

Represented by a crate, a number and a Hunger gauge. Supplies are used to feed your crew. Hunger will increase until it hits the golden center marker, and then the crew will be fed, using up 1 Supplies. If you have no Supplies, when Hunger hits the marker, your crew will become desperate, and soon they will begin to starve. That isn't instant death either, but it can lead to depravity and death pretty quickly.

They run the ship. If you run out of crew, you will die. If you run low on crew, you won't be able to man the ship adequately, and will only be able to crawl at a fraction of your normal speed. Officers do not count as crew, but give you the benefits of their skills and access to their stories. You can recruit more Crew in London.

This is the strength of your ship. It is damaged by attacks and running into things. If it reaches zero, your ship will break, and you will sink and die. The most elegantly straightforward of your resources. It can be repaired in London, but the price of frequent repairs can be prohibitive for a new captain.

Displayed as a skull with dots around it and a gauge. Zailing long distances will gradually eat at the hearts of your crew. Traveling through dense fog or deep darkness is especially terrifying. If the dots are lighting orange, you are gaining Terror. If they're lighting red, you're gaining Terror very fast. If they are green or remaining empty, you are not gaining Terror. Generally speaking, you want to keep this as low as possible. Awful things can happen, and happen much more often, when a crew (and their captain) is panicked. Some events can reduce Terror. Other events cause it. Some can do either one, depending on sheer luck. You can also spend Echoes on shore leave to chip away at it, but that can be expensive and its effectiveness depends on location. Returning to London is one of the most effective and cheapest ways to reduce Terror, especially for those lucky enough to have a family and a nice house to come home to.

Yes, combat is extremely dangerous for a new zee captain on an old and creaky ship made for light deliveries, not battle.

Avoid combat by keeping a large margin between yourself and any creatures, ships, or mysterious ripples of water and turning your [L]ight off if you have to move past them - or if they spot you. If you are under attack and can't escape on speed 2, use [F]ull Speed to haul hull away. This burns through valuable fuel and can cost you crew and hull points, but it's better than complete destruction by zee monster or enemy ship.

Later in the game, when you have a better weapon and maybe engines, you may want to engage in combat, but it is rarely profitable to get in a fight unless you can win it quickly AND without taking significant damage. Not only do repairs cost you Echoes; if you take too many hits, you'll lose crew, and that can cripple your speed and cost you extra time, fuel and supplies in the limping journey home.

You can select a target to attack by clicking on it with the mouse, whether or not it is already in combat with you. Use the number keys for attacks; they seem to work more reliably than clicking on the hotbar.

Keep an enemy in your view arc in order to target (or fire on) them, and fire for a sure hit when the attack button is fully encircled. You can fire at half-ready or more, but I don't recommend taking the chance of missing. When the glowing outline is orange, your view is obscured and targeting will take longer. If you can catch the enemy in your lights, or otherwise very good visibility, it will turn green and charge up faster.

You may have to maneuver around rocks and other things in order to fire on your opponent even if you can see them well enough to build your targeting solution - darting around such obstacles, if available, can also be a good way to lose pursuers, or to keep a zee monster from being able to attack you easily.

When fighting lesser ships which do not have aft guns, you may be able to take them down while sustaining little damage if you are maneuverable enough to stay close behind them, because the same rules apply to them as you! For as long as they are unable to turn their ship toward you enough to get you in their sights (which you can't see, but you can roughly guess at), they won't be able to fire back.

First of all: Don't worry about the Funging Station. You'll find it when you find it, and that might take a while.

Load up on extra Supplies with your initial funds. The trade goods aren't worth much until you know what to do with them, and you really don't want to run out of your basics. If you've already read it or don't think you will, sell the little manual they give you, too. It can buy you a couple more days' rations at zee.

While in London, pick up a newspaper at your lodgings for Recent News (and other benefits) and get a commission from the Admiralty. It will probably send you to the Iron & Misery Funging Station, but don't worry. There is no charge and no penalty for taking a long time to complete it.

Explore within a safe range (where safe here means you definitely have enough fuel and supply to return to London at all times), sending out your [Z]ee Bat to check for landmarks, stopping at every port (lighter circle) you find and writing Port Reports at them. Return to London periodically and always remember to submit your Port Reports to the Admiral while you're there: You will get a small amount of echoes and, importantly, one extra unit of fuel, every time you submit a report on MOST ports - that means you can report on the same places over and over, and get fuel and money each time! You will also earn Admiralty's Favour the first time you deliver a report on each location, and for handing in Moves in the Great Game (and later Strategic Information and Vital Intelligence) if you have any.

Admiralty's Favour is very useful resource for a beginning captain low on cash! You can use it to pay for additional fuel (on top of what you get for your Reports) or get much cheaper ship repairs at Dry Dock.

After your first couple of recon trips around the nearby ports, you should find additional options for profit and adventure opening up to you in London. Remember to read the news, submit Port Reports, restock on Supplies, Fuel, Hull and Crew, soothe your Terror and explore any new leads while you are in town. It's a lot to remember, but it will help you to stay on top of it all.

Returning to London with Something Awaits will often give you A Free Evening and A New Recruit?. These are cost-effective ways to reduce Terror (with some other perks) and recruit either Crew or Officers, and I recommend taking advantage of them any time you have the Echoes.

It's good to take the quest to deliver a Tomb-Colonist to Venderbight immediately - it has no up-front cost at all, and usually gives you something of value when you arrive, in addition to the Port Report you should write while there. Also, Venderbight is always in the same place - sail due North from the mouth of the London docks or follow the coast to get there.

Almost due South of London is the Cumaean Canal, and about the same distance South of that, the Iron Republic. Their port reports aren't very valuable (you don't even get fuel for reporting on the Canal), but you CAN get some valuable secrets by docking at the Canal when you have Something Awaits, and once you get 400~ echoes or so to spend on trade goods, you can earn a small profit bringing them to and from the Iron Republic. The Republic also offers cheap Fuel. Two cautions, though:
1) In order to trade anything other than Fuel with the Republic, you might need to spend Something Awaits, so make sure you have it when you dock there.
2) The market of the Republic changes. Watch out for the prompt that tells you the next time you dock they will be looking for something else, and make sure your trading plans are updated to the current needs and offerings of the market!

As you gradually explore outward into the East, and as time passes, more opportunities will become available to you, and old ones will also dry up. The location of islands in the zee is not set, so what you find first and how far it is from home may play a large role in your choices.

Once you find the Salt Lions (and you have enough money for the 200 Echo deposit) consider making a dedicated run or few between them and London, with nothing else taking up your hull space except the fuel/supply you need to get there and back. Sphinxstone can be very profitable, but you have to have 20 units of cargo space free when you get to the sphinxes to pick it up, or you'll be dumping some of your valuable cargo into the ocean.

Many of your Officers have story arcs which can pay off in treasure if you complete them. Some of these story arcs are costly to get through, but the starter officer you get by choosing a background will only want to be taken to a particular place (when you eventually find it) and dropped off there. You can find out where by Talking To them from the Officers screen.

Many places also offer ongoing stories and quests to explore - and of course you will have your own ultimate goal to work towards.

Hopefully my advice serves to give you a steady enough start that you can build on it on your own.

Good luck, captain!