Bad level design

Well, making them backtrack is a whole 'nother thing. I meant actually looking at 'new' screens. Of course backtracking without running would be annoying 

Hmm... I don't really agree with the run thing. Sure, it might be a bit annoying if you're lazy or have no patience, but it makes other people slow down and actually take a look at what is actually supposed to be the interesting part, the design itself.

If your level has a genuinely good visual aesthetic or layout, people will look at it, and they will appreciate it.  If you have to artificially hobble them in order to get them to notice, there was nothing worth noticing in the first place.

Besides, what's the point in sacrificing enjoyability and playability for the sake of driving home how awesome your tilesets are?  Isn't that just a teensy bit conceited?  How is it that you'd rather make sure that the player appreciates your technical efforts than make sure that they have fun?  Knytt Stories is a game, you know.  The "interesting part" is supposed to be playing it, not looking at it.

well, I think "A walk at night" only let you walk, fitting the title, and it was more of one of those levels in the middle between art and game, so yeah, that "rather play than looking" doesn't always apply without exception. I am not saying that forcing walk should be liberally applied everywhere, but I do believe that there can be instances where there's a really fitting use for it.
as usual, if you do it well, you can get away with "controversial" practices sometimes.

well, I think "A walk at night" only let you walk

Nope, lets you run from the very beginning.

hm, then it was capitalism.

I am not saying that forcing walk should be liberally applied everywhere, but I do believe that there can be instances where there's a really fitting use for it.

Agreed, but using it to enforce appreciation of the scenery is hardly "really fitting".

hm, then it was capitalism.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but wasn't being dull the entire point of that level?  Kind of an extreme example, really.

Interesting debate. The walk/run question seems to have led into the "game as play/game as art" issue.

I would compare it to a slow scene in a book/movie. Though the viewer may want to rush through the slow bit to get to the action, the build-up of walking makes getting the run power all the better. I even like the idea of taking away run halfway through the game, then giving it back again.

Recently, I showed Knytt Stories to a 12 year old Taiwanese student. I watched her replay the "Tutorial" level for the first time in ages. Very interesting. The first few screens use walk and it makes the game feel very "real," like Juni is a little girl walking in the rain. I recommend checking out the first few screens of the tutorial again. Very nice. 

now i know what i shouldn't do xd

I would compare it to a slow scene in a book/movie. Though the viewer may want to rush through the slow bit to get to the action, the build-up of walking makes getting the run power all the better.

A bit of a "hitting yourself with a hammer because it feels good when you stop" kind of thing, wouldn't you say?  And there's a difference between slow and boring; I don't mind slow scenes or slow gameplay if they work on their own merits.

Recently, I showed Knytt Stories to a 12 year old Taiwanese student. I watched her replay the "Tutorial" level for the first time in ages. Very interesting. The first few screens use walk and it makes the game feel very "real," like Juni is a little girl walking in the rain. I recommend checking out the first few screens of the tutorial again. Very nice.

I never noticed it in the tutorial, but I got that feeling when I was playing Shipwrecked; I really liked the transition between the initial leisurely exploration of the island and the urgent return to the shore after the appearance of the plane.  And everyone cites It Waits as a good use of enforced walking; it does a good job of magnifying the level's menacing tone, even if it does get somewhat old on repeated playthroughs.

///

I guess that I should clarify my position here.  If slow movement enhances a level or a section of a level, either by allowing for a different approach to challenges or by contributing to its overall tone, I'm all for it.  But I have little patience for authors who use it because they want to make me focus on the environment itself (Skyfalls, presumably), or because they think that it would be good as a "buildup" to getting the run powerup (Infestation, which puts the run just out of reach in the first room, ostensibly as a stronger incentive to get the climb as quickly as possible).

  I'm that bastard that starts the level without run. I don't think i have created a level where you could run... oh wait , no i did.
Although Empty Corridor has no run it is simply to create an "effect" if you wish. It's not me saying Oh! look at this scenery and i make you walk so you can see it, its to add some sort of ambiance... i guess, the little pitta patta of feet on a hard cold ground.

Anyway the "Don't start a level with 400+ screens first go" is an extremely important lesson 

I am guilty of the 'starting the level without the Run power-up'. If I were to make a level, I would set Juni off with no power-ups. (I like the idea of just leting Juni collect her stuff naturally.) However, I would plan on making it very easy to obtain and would make it either on the starting screen or one screen next to the starting screen.

I agree with the pateince testing as I tend to get iffy if I'm being spoiled by how fast I can go in games (I used to even roll everywhere in Zelda games just because it was faster to get around). In video games if I can go drive in a car with quick speed one moment to where travel is quick, then go back to the Hub World and go about 1/4 of the speed I was driving before, I tend to get agitated. That being said, it would test my patience if I had to wait at least 5 screens without running. Maybe its just me and I'm being weird and I even admit I don't like this about myself and I am glad I at least stopped rolling around everywhere in Zelda.

I am making a level where you don't have the run powerup most of the time, but it isn't a huge environmental level or an epic journey or anything like that, that specific level would suck with the run power up all the time. So that one depends a lot on the level.

I remembered reading about solid scenery on this thread and just remembered playing a level where the author was new to making levels and everything was scenery. So there was no floor or anything. You just fell. This took a while to fix in Level Editor.