Okey. I admit, various mistakes I made are present in the following story.
So, I found a crashed spaceship on the moon of Slipchant-8 Hainay, named Ouchimano. She is a hell of beauty, and I fell in love at the first glance. Her pulse engine is seriously damaged: nothing but 20 zinc could save her. I don't have any, hadn't ever since I landed on this moon. Love is blind, however, and I took the challenge of finding it – I thought there must be some trading post nearby where I can obtain. I couldn't have been more wrong. (I took this a bit as a role-playing and a challenge, and I ignored I could go back to my previous ship. Mistake…)
On my journey searching for the desired material, I made a huge mistake. I called Ouchimano to an outpost. I still can't believe she made it there, with all her deep wounds, but there she was; and while I was glad to see her, I had to realize I have lost my only indicator to my previous ship's location. My ex is gone forever. There is no way back now, Ouchimano's and my fate is connected irreversibly. I shall leave the moon with her, or I shall never leave.
The moon we are on now is dead. No flora or fauna present, only some carbon-yielding mushrooms can stay alive here. Sentinels presence is minimal. I have spent the past two days (like 12 hours of pure playing time) walking on that no-man's land, barely finding any trading point, not to mention any zinc. I wish she could help me in my journey, and so does she, but she is forced to ground until I succeed in the hunting. Sometimes the scaring thought that I will never again leave this moon flashes in my head.
I need your advice. I had enough pain of walking without a path. What would be the fastest way to find that 20 zinc without a ship on this barren land?
Best Answer
I literally had the exact same issue (apart from the ship name :P). Find a signal scanner and search for a beacon (select the transmission option). From the wiki:
And this is exactly what you want! Alien lifeforms are always at an outpost where you can trade. That is where you find your precious zinc.
Signal scanners are probably the most common building you can find on any planet or moon. Within 5 minutes of running, jumping and climbing you should have found at least one. You can also change the render distance to make sure you see them from a longer distance.
It takes time to do this, but after I had this issue I felt as if the role play in the game came to life. It was one of the best moments I ever had playing the game.
Good luck. Let me know how it goes!
Edit:
By the way. Once you're at the location the beacon directs you to there is always a landing station for a ship. You can call your ship using the computer at the edge of the platform.