As stated above, there is 0 (like zero) flexibility in the original Privateer.
You simply have to go through this... for extra challenge you can try using different ship instead of the obligatory Centurion (I was surprised, that Galaxy is rather usable, though I always ended up at somepoint in Centurion anyway).
Comparing plots of the original Privateer and Righteous Fire is like comparing night and day... RF is so much better in almost every aspect (well, with the expection of lenght).
Now, if someone with dared to return the cut content of the original Privateer - there were supposed to be semi randomized missions for pirates etc., but they were cut from the release (for whichever reason). There are still traces of those in text files within the game (and after reading them, many of the seemingly random bartender tips suddenly start to make sense...)