Hello all. I am very all interested in starbound and once it is released, I will be upgrading my internet to play it. However, that upgrade may not last forever. So I would like to know is LAN and offline game play supported? I have heard lots of rumours and speculation, mostly being formed in my own head, so I would like a solid answer, not just speculation. It could be a real downfall if I have to be connected to the interwebs to play.
Starting a server without port forwarding will basically make it restricted to LAN. If the devs somehow make it so you don't have to open ports, just put a password on it and only give it to friends. However I'm sure there will be some LAN-specific functionality.
Best probability is Starbound does what Terraria / Minecraft did where you can just type in a direct connect IP and go. In that case yes you can host LAN parties.
I sure hope they make it so I don't have to open my ports n' all that just to play with my friends. ~_~