The Elite Forum

The Big Three Plus One => GoldenEye 007 => Topic started by: RWG on June 06, 2018, 11:55:36 pm

Title: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on June 06, 2018, 11:55:36 pm
Hello mateys,

About three weeks ago, I made a thread on the Mario Kart 64 forum, hoping to look into the case of Steven Zwartjes for a potential video, whom I had always known as someone to have claimed many "insane" WRs in Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye, and other N64 games.  To me, this was similar to Todd Rogers, so I titled the thread "Steven Zwartjes: The Todd Rogers of N64?"

SZ's two most well known claims were an Aztec Agent 1:31 from early 2002 (before the glass strat was even invented) and Luigi's Raceway 3lap Non-SC 1'58'14 from 2003... a time which would still be 5th place today, but was backrolled earlier this year.  Neither claim has video proof, and SZ never really explained the strategies he used for either record... if he did, they were very vague.  The glass strat for example, SZ never gave an explanation anyone else could get to work.  Compare this to Boss, who when he joined with news of the glass strat, everyone in the community got it to work that day.

http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1526616780/0

The result was very unexpected.  Many SZ defenders came out to share their reasons why they felt as though SZ was 100% legitimate.  And they have some "reasonable" points you could say.  They saw him play back in the day, none of his claims turned out to be provably impossible, they competed against him in 1994 and 1996 Nintendoseries Championships or Street Fighter II tournaments.  They knew he was this good.

Of course, as we've learned over time, "being good" doesn't preclude you from cheating or making false claims, so while I don't doubt SZ's skill as an N64 gamer, I still think it's fair to doubt his claims of Aztec Agent 1:31 and LR 1'58'14, among possibly others.

They also claimed that SZ actually did send out many VHS tapes of his proof, one of which surfaced via Axel Z via Greg Ihnateknko a couple years ago: https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=21488.msg440576#msg440576  But many other alleged tapes, of various games, sent to people like Iacopo Sorce of N64HS or other Nintendo magazines have not surfaced, or may not have been sent out in the first place.

---

So what?

While back in 2002-03, guys like Ngamer & co ineffectively pestered SZ for proof with minimal success, we may finally be on the verge of a breakthrough.  In an attempt to "prove" himself before I go about labeling SZ "the Todd Rogers of N64" in a Youtube video for millions to see, SZ & his pals have begun to dig up any circumstantial evidence surrounding his claims...

SZ found his old Mario Kart 64 cartridge and posted a video of "scrolling proof" through his times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE-eUx-CEKM

Here are his WR claims from MK64 to compare: https://mkwrs.com/mk64/profile.php?player=Zwartjes

The shocking & surreal thing to me was that the times are "what they should be" in a sense.  He has 1'58'14 as his 3lap on LR, followed by his 1'58'65, which was his previous (and proven) record.  However, if you were to look at most other top players' LR times saved on their carts, their top 5 times would all be very close together, as it's a level you slowly grind down, hundredth by hundredth.  Obviously this isn't definitive proof legitimizing his claim, not disproving it.  But it's more than we got from him in 15+ years.  It is at least some circumstantial evidence that his 1'58'14 claim is on his cartridge.

Now here's where it gets insane...

SZ's pals, KVD, Stefan Kok & Patrick Wessels have been in touch with him, and they seem to be trying to get SZ a Goldeneye setup so he can demonstrate his "glass strategy" he used back in 2002 to get 1:31.  This would be absolutely huge for Goldeneye, as, as his defenders would believe, this has potential to reveal a "new strategy" that has been overlooked for all these years.  Or alternatively, it has the possibility to almost debunk SZ's claim entirely, if he demonstrates something that definitely doesn't work as per our TAS knowledge.

SZ's original GE cart, with the alleged 1:31 saved on the best time, was given to SZ's brother, who has a son, who plays the game.  So there is a chance the 1:31 file has been deleted.  Also, this means SZ doesn't currently have a cart, but this is trying to be sorted through his pals right now.

Anyways, I just thought I'd make this thread to give the-elite an ongoing update version of events when it comes to SZ.  Feel free to post any memories, claims, or anything that comes to mind about the SZ case... any other games he's played, any time you've heard his name come up, literally anything.  I'd like to do a fair & unbiased video about this case at some point, as it really might be the most interesting story in all of N64 competition, so any information or leads on anything help immensely.

Thank you for reading, and hopefully we get to see something cool, really soon.

Stay true,
R. White "Goose"
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on June 07, 2018, 12:30:15 pm
Fascinating. I have no proof but Zwartjes was always one of the few that I felt entirely trustworthy back in the day, and who genuinely had insane skill. I'd be curious to see what turns up but it's been quite a long while.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on June 07, 2018, 01:15:06 pm
I love this please keep us up to date Goose, looking forward to another video
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Smit on June 07, 2018, 02:04:23 pm
Yeah i've been in touch with Karel and Wessels a little bit. Hopefully he will be able to stream his attempts life.

I confirmed with Henrik over and over again that the strat Zwartjes suggests is not possible.

Maybe "the human factor" will come to play a big role in this :P
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on June 07, 2018, 03:03:24 pm
I'm pleased to see this has turned into less of a witch hunt :v

Is there any public description of 'the Zwartjes strat'?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: mw on June 07, 2018, 03:30:14 pm
I'm pleased to see this has turned into less of a witch hunt :v

Is there any public description of 'the Zwartjes strat'?

http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1117846347/0#0
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Illu on June 07, 2018, 03:39:05 pm
cool cool
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: eastwood on June 07, 2018, 07:44:52 pm
This is really fascinating stuff! To think that this saga could culminate in a fucking live-stream of SZ demonstrating his 1-guard lure glass strat? Insane!
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on June 08, 2018, 03:38:11 am
Quote
I confirmed with Henrik over and over again that the strat Zwartjes suggests is not possible.

Just to clarify, it's impossible according to our current understanding of how glass openings work. If there was a 1-guard strat, then that would essentially be a completely unrelated trick with it's own separate theory. The main argument against Zwartjes' claim apart from the above would be probability. He supposedly got this to work at least 3 times (and probably more since I doubt he would've WR'd on all his successful attempts?), which puts alot of constraints on how unlikely the strat can really be. I've spent alot of time these last 15 years trying this strat, and I did so again this week after reading this story, and despite the help of savestates, which allows for far more attempts per hour than console, I've still never seen anything that would indicate this being possible. So either SZ failed to mention some crucial detail or the odds are astronomically low.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on June 08, 2018, 10:07:42 am
Main issue would be him trying to demonstrate on the live stream and just saying oh dang, see I said it was 1 in 1,000 or 10,000 or whatever the number was. Yet he duplicated it on multiple instances with a specific strategy. If he tries an exact strat and fails over and over he will still have a portion who believe him and just say it was due to rust/bad luck
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on June 08, 2018, 12:43:26 pm
I was watching something about either todd rodgers or silly bitchell and i remember some1 showing like leaderboards from twin galaxies and sure as shit stevens name was ranked on a few... intresting!
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on June 08, 2018, 04:13:21 pm
Steven was ranked on everything back in the day. And he was insanely good at it all, and he definitely provided proof for some of his really good stuff so that just made everything else seem believable. I doubted some other players' claims but never found reason to doubt his.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on June 08, 2018, 04:48:20 pm
Seems really odd then that hed lie about a time on a tiny site at the time for goldeneye. What even was the guard/guards he claimed to lure? Was it like 1 still in the black room?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: wheatrich on June 08, 2018, 04:57:22 pm
So, how can none of those guards in the black room open that door?  Guards reset vision and not see you even if you're not that far away in other levels of the game.

There's one spot in that level I'm very curious about but never cared to test it.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on June 08, 2018, 06:41:41 pm
Id guess because if there in that room there gonna see you duck behind where the computer is to hide so theyd never really run to the glass theyd run to you but I could be wrong.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flicker on June 08, 2018, 07:05:22 pm
Id guess because if there in that room there gonna see you duck behind where the computer is to hide so theyd never really run to the glass theyd run to you but I could be wrong.

that plus the fact that a guard has to not see bond for 10 seconds otherwise the guard updates his tracking of bond to his current position and will go looking for him after briefly standing around

basically from zwartjes' attitude i just infer that he was fed up with everyone running past guards on every level and complaining about how there is no skill involved because of a higher luck requirement, so to spite everyone he came up with a strat he thought would be plausible under the "insane lucky" conditions, but since we have people who look at the games code, its being proved impossible

another thing wrong with what he says is that it sounds like he is only luring a single guard to the glass which also has 0 chance to open it (unless bond is invisible at the glass seen here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXLO7Ca3VkQ))

i dont know though, he doesnt explain it very clearly at all, which is why it would be best to have some sort of video of the strat. although at the same time i feel like there are very similar stats that have been used that are somewhat close to what he described that he could just claim it was one of those... examples would be the mainframe stuck or bozon's fast glass (https://youtu.be/pEdPa-I3bgA?t=22s)
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on June 08, 2018, 09:23:07 pm
(like some 1080 times he claimed are being proved impossible decimals a la Todd Rogers' Dragster)

Would like some more explanation to this. Most of his 1080 listed times on N64HS are quite a bit far off from being first (with the exception of Mountain Village which is second). I couldn't find anything on google about him cheating there.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flicker on June 08, 2018, 09:27:33 pm
(like some 1080 times he claimed are being proved impossible decimals a la Todd Rogers' Dragster)

Would like some more explanation to this. Most of his 1080 listed times on N64HS are quite a bit far off from being first (with the exception of Mountain Village which is second). I couldn't find anything on google about him cheating there.

my bad, got confused with andrew kent's fake times https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=22326.msg454325#msg454325
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on June 08, 2018, 09:35:25 pm
my bad, got confused with andrew kent's fake times https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=22326.msg454325#msg454325

No worries. That's funny about Andrew Kent, he was found out to be cheating the exact same way in SMK lol.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on June 09, 2018, 05:56:00 am
Quote
i dont know though, he doesnt explain it very clearly at all, which is why it would be best to have some sort of video of the strat. although at the same time i feel like there are very similar stats that have been used that are somewhat close to what he described that he could just claim it was one of those... examples would be the mainframe stuck or bozon's fast glass

Actually the strat(s) he described are quite clear and leave very little room for interpretation. They are definitely not consistent with any modern strats. The problem is that he has described multiple different strats:

https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?action=profile;u=106

Quote
Zwartjes's strat was even weirder:

same first two rooms, kill everyone in black room.  lean up against the glass facing the mainframe.  position yourself on the glass in between two sheets of glass (the two lines running up and down that you can clearly see).  use the line on the right when you enter the room.  now, shoot to activate the guard behind the mainframe while turning to face the glass. instantly leave and run to the console place.  this should activate the guard to run up the line going up and down on the glass. he should also be facing it.  now pop out and shoot a bunch of bullets above his head.  since he's in one of two (supposed) places that he can open the window, he we'll have been activated to do so in craziness.  That's his supposed strat.  He told it to me.

Compared with:

Quote
You are luring the wrong guy  Wink
u have to lure the one that is standing next to the gate that is opening and closing not the one in the back.
when u lure him closing the gate right after that he should be slow and open it some later.
at that time u are already standing next to the glass that has to open. SHoot some bullets now and hide in the place behind the wall near the mainframe.
Now he has to open the door for you.
chances are so small he is doing that because sometimes he even comes running straight to you
but it is possible after u have tried 10 hours u know it is

Quote
All guys gone except the one behind the mainframe door.strafe to him.show yourself and by doing this let the door rise.he should be slow and open it some later again.back up and get in the place next to the glassdoor.shoot a few bullets on the door where guy comes out. (dont hit him  Wink)
the bullets make an indication for the computer to the place u have been the last (while shooting).
the place u shoot last is the place where the enemy will try to find u IF he did not have eye contact with u and follows the noise.

(I made loads of advantage of this in the early LTK days  Smiley like runway the guys keep appearing if u kill them, the trick is to lure them with a shot and then hide.
the guard will walk to the place u took your shot.of course u where shooting near a wall so the guy stands there stupidly with his face towards the wall  Grin) Do this with all guards and u have a safe walk to the plane Smiley)

Anyways back to Aztec:
the moment the door is about to go down (this is about right after u took your shot) hide quickly in the spot near the mainframe. the guard walks to the glassdoor and should open it immediately.
this is where it gets fucked up because there is only guard who is willing to do it instead of the 3 guards in the strat u guys all use thus chances are absurdly low for it to happen.but if u have patience it will happen.

So the first one describes him luring the guard by shooting through the closed mainframe, and then shooting above his head when he gets to the glass. In the second case he shows himself to the guard, and the guard opens the glass immediately when he gets there without any shooting shenanigans.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on June 09, 2018, 08:36:56 am
There seems no reason why he can't be describing different variants of his 1 guard strategy, and they all appear to have a common thread to me. Rather than having a guard circling another deciding to go through the glass he gets a single guard close to the glass and claims to somehow nudge them a little further in.

I have some ideas on this nudge:

My GE time is taken up working on my own strategy atm but I think I'll be looking at Aztec next, since the glass strats are what got me interested in GE strats in the first place.

Finally, I think that while you are entertaining the idea that SZ is telling the truth (which you should :p ), you should assume that 1 in a 1000 is probably an exaggeration, though no doubt it is unlikely. Also it's worth saying that I am not saying you should believe this person without proof or anything like that, but it seems to me that people are dismissing a potential nudge in the correct strat direction.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on June 09, 2018, 09:13:59 am
Quote
Also it's worth saying that I am not saying you should believe this person without proof or anything like that, but it seems to me that people are dismissing a potential nudge in the correct strat direction.

If poeple are dismissive it's probably because we've been through all of this before. First in 2002 when the times were posted, then again in 2005 when Steven made his posts on MK64 forums, and now again in 2018. Every time poeple like myself go back and test it again, just to be sure, only to be disappointed when it turns out not to work.

Also worth mentioning is all the tenths/hundreds of thousands of regular strat attempts, how many of those were failed runs where only 1 guard was lured? Shouldn't we have had at least one "accidental" 1-guard opening by now, if it was possible? I mean we've had several accidental OoB's, and the Depot warp etc... which were all far more unlikely.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on June 09, 2018, 09:40:07 am
Yeah I do appreciate it's new and interesting to me and not so much to more established people here.

And that is a good argument but I think there are valid reasons why not: getting the guard precisely to the center of the glass already requires 'strange' behaviour to unload them, though it has probably been done a lot for RTA recently. And if there is unload, load, unload magic to it then that certain is very unnatural. Saying anything more requires knowing the strat :(
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on June 09, 2018, 02:03:26 pm
One thing I will say is that I'm rather disappointed that there continues to be "witch hunts" every few months, despite some of them likely legitimately needing to happen. In this particular scenario, say Steven never bothers to provide proof. There will always be people wanting to remove all his times in addition to this time, and yet I wouldn't say most of his times are in dispute.

The historicity of the rankings is slowly but surely eroding. For better or worse, I almost feel like a new rankings should have been started rather than continue to question ancient players and times. So far it shows no sign of stopping.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on June 09, 2018, 05:41:00 pm
I just posted this on the MK64 topic, but i'll post this here as well. I chatted with Steven today on facebook while he was at the Hairdresser waiting for his turn (lol). He gave some detail about his Aztec strategy. I did my best to translate it as accurately as i could.

Quote
Stefan: Because the Elite are able to lure a guard to the glass but they could never make him open it.
Steven: That's completely understandable. I had the same problem of him often standing at the right place but never opening the glass door.
Steven: It's because the guard needs an extra task.
Steven: Not only the task to walk to the glass door. That is fairly consistent with the right execution.
Steven: He must want to reach the place behind the glass door.
Steven: If he wants to do that, then he is obligated to open it.
Steven: He can indeed do that, if you are using the same clever trick like they are using at the Elite by putting an extra guard there. Then he is obligated to stand in a different place than the guard standing next to him. Sometimes this fails when the spot next to that guard can be in front of the glass instead of behind it.
Steven: That's why you also now have failed runs in which the right execution was used by 2 guards.
Steven: With 1 guard it becomes more complex, because he has to give that task to himself.
Stefan: So the question is what you did to give that one guard the task to open the door.
Steven: He can make a programmed sidestep before he's getting ready to start shooting or make a sprint from the lured spot from point a to point b.
Steven: That point b must be behind the glass door. This is dependent on the angle on which the guard reaches point a.
Steven: That's why the hit rate is so low.
Steven: If i did not succeed and he is looking at the glass, then i gave the guard a shot above his head so that you have a chance on the execution from his new task again.
Stefan: Like i said earlier, this will become the most clear to people when you demonstrate the strat with the glass door opening on video.
Steven: Certainly.   :smiley:

He also was working out an alternative strategy for Aztec back then because the one guard strategy hit rate is so low.

Quote
Steven: Back then i also worked on a second strat on Aztec because the first one seemed to have such a low hit rate. That one has never seen the light of day.    :grinning:
Steven: They don't use it now either.
Stefan: lol would like to hear that one too.
Steven: You want to lure as fast as possible to gain time. Preferably with as many guards as possible.
Steven: You can skip the walking guards in the beginning stage. There are 5 of them. 3 from the first part and 2 in the second part.
Steven: They have to go after you to stage 3 where the glass door is.
Steven: If you kill all the guards in stage 3 and the sliding door is down again, then you can place some lure shots at the glass door aiming at the sliding door. Your position is then fixed for the guards who are coming from behind.
Steven: Then you have to hide where the dude stands next to the second mainframe.
Steven: Sometimes the guards that come from behind reach stage 3 quickly because they occasionally warp to it.
Steven: The warping from guards from point a to point b only happens when they're out of sight from Bond, but that can save a lot of time.
Steven: They then go to your fixed position at the glass door and can open it.
Stefan: Interesting, ever got it to work?
Steven: Only slow procedures. I haven't put more time into it to work that out. I did think about creating another working plan for some time back then.

Another few interesting things to note:
-He will visit his brother this Sunday and pick up his GE cartridge. He will show off the end screen best time of Aztec Agent and would probably be willing to show off any other levels as well (assuming that his brother's son didn't delete his profile)
- His 1:31 Agent was an ok time with his strategy according to him, still definitely had room for improvement. However i think he was pretty much done with the level back then after putting so many hours into it.

I will post some more info about his Aztec strat on here in the future if i know more. Also i tried to type B arber(no space in between) but it keeps correcting it to Bearder for some reason when i post it. That's very weird.
-Stefan Kok (mk64 karter)
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on June 09, 2018, 06:43:18 pm
That's really interesting :grinning: I hope he knew you were going to publish it lol
The second strat has been considered before though I think.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on June 09, 2018, 06:54:39 pm
^ I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have a problem with it. He's going to make a video about it soon after all.

Also, he said that his strat was always the same but sometimes described it a bit differently by luring the guard with shooting or luring him by showing yourself and then hiding. They're both an option.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on June 10, 2018, 01:48:26 am
His explanation is actually insane (in the right ways) and makes me hopeful this can work.  I'd like to see Henrik chime in, which I'm sure he'll do soon, but it "sounds" plausible at least.  I'm very keen for the next steps.

Btw: re "B.arber" and whatnot... as the power of the elite admin team began to wane, they tried to do a bunch of bullshit that would annoy the "true" eliters... too many things to mention, but they changed a few words such as:

B.arber => Bearder
P.robert => that jerk
s.orcery => tomfoolery

I'm sure someone could change it back, but the "keys" to the various administration tools are pretty scattered among various semi-inactive people who can't be arsed with simple tasks.  A shame they've leave the elite in such a state... it's actually quite incredible how much we've come despite guys like Ngamer (B.arber), Come, etc, trying to sabotage the place before they were finally exiled for good.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on June 10, 2018, 05:17:58 am
I guess Steven kinda confirmed what most of us had assumed/theorized, that one of the random animation after reaching the glass is what would trigger a glass opening. While this makes intuitive sense, there still no evidence of it actually working. And again, it is something that has been tested extensively in the past.

The thing he talks about sidestepping and angles sounds similar to the crouch strat, where the left guard runs in a 90 degree angle relative to Bond. I guess sidesteps are 90 degrees from where the guard is facing. Never seen that result in them opening a door though, though I'm also not sure if I've actually seen them do this while at the glass (I know that there are situations where the game doesn't allow certain animations. e.g. being too close or being at bad angle etc...). Maybe these animations could be forced, similar to my "left guard always runs" romhack.

Edit: I tried forcing the sidestep/sidehop/running sideways animations and as I suspected, the game checks for obstacles (such as the glass door) and will always chose a direction that leads away from it. So as long as the guard is close enough to the glass, he won't step/hop/run towards it.

As for the alternative strategy:

I and probably others have tested a very similar strategy in the past, where you lure out the first 2 guards in the black room, then run into the black room, close the door behind you and run to the glass. The problem with this is that it's too slow (and it's very hard to make it to the glass in time). The strat Steven describes (using the 5 guards before that) would've been even slower.

Quote
Steven: If you kill all the guards in stage 3 and the sliding door is down again, then you can place some lure shots at the glass door aiming at the sliding door. Your position is then fixed for the guards who are coming from behind.

Steven mentioned something similar in his old post from 2005, and in reality, shooting here does nothing. The guards set their target position based on when their animations end, so shooting would've been irrelevant. Given that Steven's knowledge is from early 2000's and the mechanics of guard tracking weren't figured out until much much later, I suppose it's understandable.

Quote
Steven: Sometimes the guards that come from behind reach stage 3 quickly because they occasionally warp to it.

Another slight misunderstanding, warping doesn't actually speed up the guards (apart from them being able to warp through doors without opening them). But again, that was figured out in relatively recent times.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Weatherman on June 10, 2018, 01:10:32 pm
I tried forcing the sidestep/sidehop/running sideways animations and as I suspected, the game checks for obstacles (such as the glass door) and will always chose a direction that leads away from it. So as long as the guard is close enough to the glass, he won't step/hop/run towards it.

Is it possible for this check to pass but still result in the guard moving close enough to the door to go open it or go through it? How accurate / conservative is the check? Alternatively, is it possible to change the behavior the guard chooses after the check? For example, if a side hop check uses a shorter distance and then the guard changes to a run state instead, could the guard run toward the door?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: wheatrich on June 10, 2018, 02:44:05 pm
His explanation is actually insane (in the right ways) and makes me hopeful this can work.  I'd like to see Henrik chime in, which I'm sure he'll do soon, but it "sounds" plausible at least.  I'm very keen for the next steps.

Btw: re "B.arber" and whatnot... as the power of the elite admin team began to wane, they tried to do a bunch of bullshit that would annoy the "true" eliters... too many things to mention, but they changed a few words such as:

B.arber => Bearder
P.robert => that jerk
s.orcery => tomfoolery

I'm sure someone could change it back, but the "keys" to the various administration tools are pretty scattered among various semi-inactive people who can't be arsed with simple tasks.  A shame they've leave the elite in such a state... it's actually quite incredible how much we've come despite guys like Ngamer (B.arber), Come, etc, trying to sabotage the place before they were finally exiled for good.

It's really amazing how far we've come despite you being a total clown with constant posts like this.  I don't think you'll ever grow up.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on June 10, 2018, 04:24:38 pm
It turns out that Steven's profile was deleted by his brother's son, as was kind of expected. Not a big deal, the end screen is only a very soft form of proof and Steven is pretty sure he can reproduce the Aztec trick again with some time put into it. The boy has only beaten Dam and Facility on Agent difficulty, which means that SZ has to play through the entire game again. Not a big deal either, because he was going to have to put some hours into getting his skills back anyway and this would serve for good practice. He's really motivated to play through the game and demonstrate his Aztec trick. He's gonna do that somewhere next week when he has time. He's 100% sure he can beat his 1:31 if he sits down and seriously goes for it like in the old days.
In the meantime he's still answering questions from my e-mail here and there. He also still needs to acquire a capture card and needs to know how to use it, which won't be a problem if he gets some help from Karel or Patrick.

He saw the new Aztec strategy and then thought of a new idea that could be useful, i'll post and translate it later. He also thought of a new strat on Control that would save some time. He will test them out and record them if they work.

EDIT: Credit goes to AForgottenEvent for posting this in the strat topic. Illu's Aztec LTK 2:23 might have an instance where the glass is opened by one guard. I'm not an expert in Goldeneye, but this looks like a 1 guard glass opening to me. How did nobody notice this before?

http://www.thengamer.com/GE/19-Aztec/Illu%20-%20Aztec%20LTK%202.23.wmv
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on June 10, 2018, 11:34:49 pm
What seems to be happening there is that, the two guards went to the glass, it opened, then one of those two guards spun around and went running around in another spot (after he couldn't get to the spot he wanted to go to because it was being blocked by the other guard).  So one of those two guards on the left actually was, when the glass opened, at the glass.

On LTK the guards have max "reaction speed" so they can "interpret" that Bond isn't in a certain position more quickly, and begin to run to another position  more quickly.

Obviously we don't "know" for sure, and Henrik or others will come in and confirm, but that's my interpretation.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Ignominious Sin on June 11, 2018, 02:55:47 am
So a guy who hasn’t played GE in years is going to get his old N64/GE back. Purchase a capture card, recreate a strat which no one else has been able to, and has been explained by TAS’ers to be impossible. Get a time worth more that 65 points, on arguably the most difficult stage in the game. Just to prove a point to people who’ve made a meme out of him for not ever having proof. If he does do it, He is a legend. But come on...
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: poonjahbee on June 11, 2018, 03:06:22 am
Sounds silly but I really want to see good ol SZ's strat too actually. To claim some insane time (I believe this was before the bossman himself unveiled the glass strat to us) and say you've come up with a strategy, but Im never going to tell you was a bit ridiculous. Shouldn't have been allowed imo, but thats neither here nor there. And yes gooses explanation is correct. We have instances all be it very rare, where there are no guards by the glass, but 2 guards off to the left by mainframe. Case in point Qweczols run https://clips.twitch.tv/SaltyIncredulousNostrilPeanutButterJellyTime
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on June 11, 2018, 12:36:26 pm
I told Steven about the sidestepping at the glass door that Henrik couldn't get to work due to him always choosing a direction going away from it.

Quote
Stefan: I read on the forums that Henrik tried to force the programmed sidestep from the guard at the glass with a hack
Stefan: But he says that the game checks for obstacles and always chooses a direction leading away from the glass.
Stefan: Has it ever opened for you with a sidestep/random animation?
Steven: Is that a recent post? Will read it to know what he means exactly.
Stefan: Yes, on the Elite forums.
Steven: You're seeing that sidestep because you can't make contact with the guard.
Steven: Only if you make contact and shoot above his head as a second option.
Steven: There he can then make a sidestep or run.
Steven: To make this clear, it would be best for me to get it on video.

Here's that idea that Steven came up with after seeing the new Aztec strat, no idea if it's gonna work but he is going to test it.

Quote
Steven: I saw the vid about the new Aztec strat.
Steven: Gave me some ideas.
Steven: You are definitely going to get slaughtered while performing the crouch strat.
Steven: My idea is to indeed give the guard that is sprinting to the glass a leg shot.
Steven: Then strafe to it and then going behind him standing up to him instead of crouching in front of him.
Steven: This way you prevent taking a lot of damage plus you are getting other positive things going.
Steven: You're standing closer to the glass and can now determine the angle on which you want the guard running to you at.
Steven: The chances of the glass opening is then bigger plus you take less damage. If this works, then this makes the strategy viable for SA and 00 Agent.
Steven: Then you can let the guard mid-right live and can kill him in the right-side behind corner. The middle guard has the most straight line towards you if you are hiding behind the guard whose at the glass.
Steven: Now this guard can walk to you and around the guard in one straight line plus he has to go to the glass door and open it.
Steven: The guard in the right corner has a side view of you and the guard so there is a line that he can shoot. Thus you are definitely better off killing this guard on SA and 00A.
Steven: Will test this for sure.  :smiley:
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flicker on June 11, 2018, 06:03:20 pm
Checked the Aztec 2:23 and I was not surprised. Irie basically summed it up perfectly.

Looks to me like as he was hiding and shooting, the left guard that helped open the glass ran to the left. Doesn't look very promising that one guard did it

It's actually quite common to only SEE one guard at the glass by the time you hear it open and react to it opening. Any extra time waiting behind the wall will often lead to one of the guards moving away from the glass towards Bond, usually getting stuck on the wall for some period of time.

This Henrik video with Lua Map (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E80LCF4RHWw) is a good demonstration of this occurrence. When the glass opens at 0:23, on the map you see one of the guards immediately on his way out of there, only to be stopped when he sees Bond.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Blue Khakis on June 12, 2018, 02:23:44 pm
Plot twist: none of this ever comes to fruition and everyone is disappointed.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: poonjahbee on June 12, 2018, 11:16:58 pm
lmao Im with blue khakis on this one
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on June 21, 2018, 02:30:01 pm
Small update: Steven just played a bit of Goldeneye this week and unlocked and played Aztec. He still needs a capture card but that should be taken care of soon(this weekend maybe).   :smiley:
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on June 21, 2018, 05:05:20 pm
I'm impressed he's shown even this much effort so far, tbh.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Scrambler Fanny on June 21, 2018, 05:38:04 pm
What if SZ playing again, urges WJ to play again?

💚
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on June 25, 2018, 12:11:43 pm
Just to clarify for anybody who is wondering about Steven's old tapes. The majority of the tapes containing his MK64 and GE footage(which are the ones of most value to us) were send to Rene Elsaesser, a guy who was the webmaster of the PAL MK64 time trial site and GE rankings back in the late 90s. He never put any of those online as you can probably guess. The guy is unfortunately rather difficult to get a hold of, he is no longer active in gaming and doesn't seem to be on any social media sites. It is the same case with Peter Elsaesser(his brother and former world champion of MK64 in the late 90s).

Iacopo could still possibly have some tapes from Steven that feature some of the other N64 games he competed in at N64HS(Steven is pretty sure he did send him some tapes). However they're at his mothers who lives in a different city, so he can't check until the next time he visits again. He also still has a tape from Kevin Booth there.

For anyone that it's interested, here is a link listing the majority of games that Steven competed in and his achievements.
https://pastebin.com/EYmk3Hfk
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Scrambler Fanny on June 25, 2018, 03:57:19 pm
Genuine question (ignore if already brought up):

Why doesn’t SZ post here and “speak” for himself?

As a fellow “Ancient,” I’ve been following this news since its original post and would love for the reinsurgence of a player like this.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on June 25, 2018, 05:49:40 pm
^ Don't think he wanted to reply in the public eye at first, but i could be wrong. He does want to now, but he forgot the password to his old account and stuff. We already fixed it for the mk forums, maybe this can be done here as well.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: mw on June 25, 2018, 06:13:28 pm
As far as I know there is no recovery option for such old accounts on this forum. I would recommend he just create a new forum account.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: TheFlash on June 25, 2018, 06:30:42 pm
You just have to tell the forum admin the email address you want to log into the old account with. Usually this happens when someone sends an email to the help address that is displayed when you try the "Forgot password" routine with an account that has no email address associated with it.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stevenZ on June 26, 2018, 11:00:38 am
Hello all.
I think its been 15 years since my last post :)
I see alot has changed during all these years.
A lot of new talent, new worldchampions and most importantly a big social group of people who are willing to combine forces to get these games to an insanely high level.

I must admit after seeing a post about me after 15 years of inactivety I was kinda flattered.
After google-ing Todd Rogers I am not sure I should be ;).
It actually kinda hurts after 100s of hours of time I put into many games to read people always had doubts about my achievements.
Reason enough for me to dust up the old cartridges. The post triggered me to do at least something which is a positive thing I guess.

For me alot has changed over the years though.
Im a happy 39 years old married man now with 2 kids, a nice job and a good social life.
Gaming is not really on my priority list anymore but after playing a bit of Goldeneye last week I still feel I have a gaming heart.
I remember back in the days Patrick Wessels and I were late, running like hell to get the train just in time.
We decided to keep a left strafe all the way so we should de faster...yes bin there...:p

Alrhough i have other priorities now l still like to complete some proof  on tape, camera or capture card. I might not finish this today or tomorrow but it will happen eventually.
I hope to finish this all with a suprise video, but also still working on that :)

In the meantime I will finish the interview with the nice questions Stefan Kok asked me and I will try to put some detail in some of the questions.
Also thank you for all the help so far Stefan :)

Im out now.
Will be back soon.




Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Ray Ruane on June 26, 2018, 07:55:40 pm
Holy shit. He's back. He's really, really back.

Love Goose, but would love nothing more than for Steven to post proof of the legendary Aztec strategy.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flukey lukey on June 26, 2018, 11:21:49 pm
wake me up in 5 years when another development on this topic occurs

for now,   

   zzz...
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: eastwood on June 27, 2018, 10:59:17 pm
I hope to finish this all with a suprise video, but also still working on that :)

Will be back soon.

Exciting stuff! Looking forward to see your Aztec strat reveal vid, waiting with bated breath!
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on June 28, 2018, 07:58:20 am
It's very enjoyable seeing some of the ancient players post every once in a while. Looking forward to your video, Steven.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Jimbo on June 28, 2018, 11:55:05 pm
Nothing is going to happen. This is all garbage by a mini Todd Rogers. Taking the same stance as Luke.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on June 29, 2018, 04:14:10 am
[Fragment of the-elite.net pie recipe]

...
Step 4. Cook at 180 for a few weeks
Step 5. Serve your humble pie with new potatoes
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Blue Khakis on June 29, 2018, 08:29:58 am
Can't wait to finally learn how to start Aztec in second gear.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on June 29, 2018, 11:34:19 am
Can't wait to finally learn how to start Aztec in second gear.

https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=22292#msg451019 (https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=22292#msg451019)
There ya go
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Blue Khakis on June 29, 2018, 02:07:09 pm
Can't wait to finally learn how to start Aztec in second gear.

https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=22292#msg451019 (https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=22292#msg451019)
There ya go
Nice  :smirk:
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: TheBoyWhoIsTheNextAce on June 30, 2018, 09:50:16 pm
Keeping an eye on this. If this is true, we could see some Aztec strategy revolution. Maybe we are gonna save 2,3 seconds on all 3 difficulties all over again... maybe more.  :)
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on July 06, 2018, 04:36:58 pm
Here is the interview that i held with Steven. There's still 3 questions which i haven't received answers from yet which should be here shortly but here is all of the interview so far. I did my best translating it, but there can be some errors.  :smiley:
Here is the original untranslated/unedited interview for anybody who happens to be dutch.  :smokin:
https://pastebin.com/pzEgsQyZ

Quote
Nice initiative, this interview. I will answer the questions as well as i possibly can. I hope that i still remember most of it, because there are some events here that are from 20 years ago. :)

Q: What kind of tournaments did you participate in? And do you remember what place you reached? List everything that you remember.

A: I have played quite a bit of tournaments.
-Street Fighter 2 SNES 1992, NL Championships: Became national champion.
-Dutch Nintendo Championships 1993: got knocked out in the last 16.
-NL Nintendo Championships 1994: got knocked out in the last 32.
Patrick Wessels reached first there.
-NL Nintendo Championships 1995: got knocked out in the last 16.
-NL Nintendo Championships 1996: got knocked out in the last 16.
Every year i saw the name Wessels above me on the rankings.
-Mario Kart 64 NL Championships 1997:  got knocked out in the last 8 in VS mode.
First meeting with Patrick Wessels.
As you can see from the above, pretty much all of it just came up short from reaching the top. After meeting Wessels and we became friends from that day on everything changed. From that moment on there were a lot of games that we "beuked"(pounded out is the closest translation i can think of lol) as we liked to call it.
Together we analyzed every game that we played and found the depth of every game. From the moment that our friendship began and we combined our gaming skills and knowledge, we seemed unbeatable at every Nintendo Tournament in which we participated. I think that i learned real gaming thanks to Patrick.

-NL Nintendo Championships 1998 Waddinxveen: Became 1st, Patrick 2nd.
-NL Mario Kart Championships 1999: Became 1st, Patrick 2nd.
-NL Nintendo Championships Star Wars Racer 1999: Became 2nd, Patrick 1st.
-NL Nintendo Championships 2000: Became 3rd, Patrick 1st.
-NL Wave Race Championships 2001: Became 2nd, Piet den Dulk 1st. Southern Island 1'31"1 PAL in the preliminaries.
-1080 Snowboarding Championships 2001: Became 1st. I set the then current WR on Mountain Village time trial in the final round.
-NLG Norway '07 meeting with topgamers, lots of different games. 3 golden medals and 1 bronze.


Q: Do you remember the content of the tapes you made and to who you send them to? The only ones that surfaced online was a tape with Goldeneye, Lylatwars(Star Fox) and Wave Race from 1998(which i believe Greg Ihnatenko had) and a Mario Kart tape which shows your LR 1'58"65(i think Ben Miller originally had this). According to a lot of old forum posts we found that were posted by Michael Liem and you, you send out tapes to Iacopo Sorce. I asked Iacopo if he still has some of your tapes, but he doesn't recall that and thinks he might have never gotten a tape from you (he said he could be wrong). I found that a bit strange.

A: In that time i have indeed send out a lot of tapes. Iacopo Sorce definitely must have gotten several tapes, yes. The people i had contact with about the tapes were Ben Miller, Kevin Booth, Greg Ihnatenko, but most of the tapes were send to Rene Elsaesser. I also can't recall that a lot of that came online. I haven't had contact with him in years. I did go to Austria together with Patrick for a game meeting with the Elsaessers. They have also been to the Netherlands with Greg Ihnatenko. Back then i've also had frequent contact with Kevin Booth. Maybe he can tell some interesting fragments of that time.


Q: Are there any other games where you did very good that weren't on the N64? We know about Street Fighter 2. I also read in a post from Sargoth that you were very good at Trackmania and that you played Counter Strike and that a professional team tried to recruit you.

A: I was completely crazy about Trackmania. I have played that pretty intensively for a couple of months. Ultimately i peaked out at number 1 and stopped then. With me there were always phases in which i completely lose myself in a game and give myself a goal. Once that goal is reached, i liked to switch to a different game that appeals to me. Unfortunately i have never been able to play games normally. Maybe some other speedgamers can recognize this. You play a new game and everything has to get fast and tight right away and you're searching in depth for stuff that can help you become better and quicker in the game. You just can't switch off that part of yourself. That's also what happened with Counter Strike. I lost myself in that game so quickly that i was often "beuken" it from 1 PM in the afternoon to 11 AM in the moring, and then i find out that i have an appointment at 11 AM.
I was indeed asked to join a top Clan.
I thought about it for a moment but for the first time i declined something related to games. I was just deepened in the real social life (will come back later to this), that i didn't want to fall back to a life behind a console with the curtains closed again. ;)

Now about your Aztec times from Goldeneye.

Q: Why did you not give an explanation of your strategy in Aztec at first? Why did it take so long before you finally came with an actual description? I think i know the answer to this question already kind of. In a conversation with Karel (at least according to him) that you were tired of people that were copy pasting the strats from other people instead of thinking for themselves.

A: This part is just a bit different than what people will think. I started out on message boards very positive and enthusiastically with sharing knowledge and new inventions. I was often proud when i found out something that was "out of the box". I think in the time that i was active as a gamer that i was always helpful in the community through personal chats with lots of different people and posts on the message board.
And also because i joined a lot of meetings, it was a lot of fun to test each others skills and to exchange strats.

However, it started to disappoint me at the moment i noticed that the group of people who were actively trying to raise the level of the community was very small. A couple of people were very busy analyzing the game in depth and sharing their discoveries. Sometimes you can be busy for hours or days trying to succesfully work out your idea in a game. That can be frustrating when the majority of the crowd just copies that new strat just to get a WR quickly.

I do think that my behaviour back then regarding that was immature and somewhat arrogant. That arrogance also came from somewhere and i will come back later to that. :)
It also took a lot of years to see such things in yourself and to change into something which i hope works better for myself and my environment.

So now i can enjoy watching a current community such as the Elite. You see what it does when everybody is open and contributes their share of knowledge/strats.
It's a solid big group of gamers who play the same game and brought it to an absurdly high level with combined forces.

The fact that the Aztec strategy came out so late was partially because of the above mentioned immature reason. The reason why it took years later for me to post again was because of the following:
At my parent's home there was no internet.
The only time in which i can access the internet in those years were as a HBO(college) student at school. I posted my new times and new strats there with my heart's desire. Then i can game from 18:00 to often 4 AM in the morning at home. But my alarm clock did go off at 6:30 for school. The dark circles below my eyes that i build up for years then are still partly there. It seems that they can't be rubbed away anymore. :)
So back then my access to the internet was always restricted and for a period i didn't have access to the internet at all because i fucked up my HBO(college) study. I had to find employment to pay back my study to my parents. So my work became stocking shelves at the Edah(former dutch supermarket chain). :)
I don't think that i posted on the forums for a long time throughout that period. Then i went on and lived alone by myself. I barely had any money but i was able to get by with some food, a job and an old dusty Nintendo. Time to do some (speed)gaming one more time. That succeeded. I played for hours after work and got into it just like back in the day. I didn't get a PC in my house until a year later. That was also the first year in which i really started to develop in other aspects than gaming. Something which i will get back to later  :). Thanks to that development i lost my interest in gaming that year completely and made room for other things in life.
For me i was done with it at once and i didn't look back at the forums for one second.

Q: A lot of people from the Elite found your description that you gave in the old 2005 post on the MK forums rather vague. Can you describe it again and with as much detail as possible? The best would be if you demonstrated this and described it in a video of course, that should convince everybody who still doubts. David Clemens, a Goldeneye player found a new strat to open the glass on Aztec to get 1:26 in 2010. This strat is somewhat similar to the strat you described, but not exactly. Is this the same strat that you used?

A: I will present the entire strategy on video which is going to be accompanied with a detailed description. My strategy is indeed different than the one that David Clemens used in his run.

Q: In your 2005 post about the Aztec strat, you said the following "there is another trick that saves some seconds that i dont see is done in the aztec 1´36 vid but that will come later". Michael Fried wanted to know what the trick was. I see it being explained in a later post in the same topic. Maybe you can explain the extra strat/trick again for him.

A: This is actually about multiple things:
You can shoot a bit earlier towards the sliding door on your way to the black room with the glass.
Then you can shoot the 2 guards that are running up against each other behind the sliding door through the door early on.
This causes one of the guards to the right further away to already get up closer. He is often in the same line as the 2 guards on the front and so you can also kill him before the sliding door is open. Now you can directly go in a left strafe and kill the guard to the right at the back and directly follow your way leading to the mainframe door. Should save you a good amount of time compared to the 1:36 video.

Aside from that, back then i also noticed that you can do the shuttle room in which you shoot the left mainframe with a faster strategy. Something which gets used in the current strategy.

Now about your Luigi Raceway(and Sherbet Land)

Q: You said in the "Zwartjes LR" topic from 2005 that you were going to make a video showing some laps that were just as fast as in your 1'58"14 or at least close, but nothing came of that. At that moment you were busy playing Mario Kart Double Dash. There is a known effect in the community that playing a lot of Double Dash fucks up your ability to play well in MK64. Were you experiencing that effect and is that why you couldn't make that video happen? Or was it because of something else?

A: In 2005 i still didn't have recording equipment or a capture card. Besides that, my drive to really go for something was in comparison the 90s rather low. I seem to remember that i also stopped playing Double Dash fairly quickly.

Q: Your second 2-shroomer lap was the strongest lap in your 1'58"14 PR. It is that lap in particular what people like Daniel Burbank find very hard to believe. Even now in 2018 there is only one person that beat your split and that is VAJ(Vincent Tolhuis). Did you do something different than Matthias did in the current world record? Something with the mystery boost maybe? I think not and that you just did it with better gliding and shorter slides etc. but i still ask it just in case.

A: The so called mystery boost isn't even possible on a 2-shroomer on LR. In order to get a very strong 2-shroomer you must take the last turn through the grass along the wall really very tight. Aside from that, the angle and spot at which you go into the grass is essential to come out perfectly on the asphalt just before the last shroom runs out. Nailing that turn is the key to getting a strong time and you accomplish this by "feeling" it after  a long session. Of course, spacing is also important like on every course. Especially on the first turn i set in my last SSMT before the 4 MTs relatively late. Doing that prevents you from doing unnecessarily long slides in the turn because you otherwise would come out to early with the last MT during the turn.

Q: Back then you were also playing Sherbet Land but failed in scoring a PR. You said that your best 1-shroomer there was a 38"51. You had the potential to go below the 1'56 by a good bit. That failed and you just gave up? Does it still bother you that you never finished a good 3lap?

A: On Sherbet Land i have always felt i had the most potential. You can gain so much time on this track by cutting each lakejump from the outside to the inside as good as possible and jumping over as big a hole as possible. Something that entails the necessary risks.
Just like in LR 3lap i didn't want to settle for half the work and thus i played with the neccessary risks. I purposely wanted to set a time that is close to my potential or that realizes it and not half the work. Something which bothers me that i could not make it happen on SL. Very glad that i persevered this hard on LR where i finally pulled through. :)

Some extra questions.

Q: Any idea if the Elsässer's are still reachable? It looks like they aren't on facebook and seem to have disappeared. Iacopo couldn't find them anywhere either.

A: I think that you found Rene on Facebook in the meantime. The Elsässer's haven't been active in gaming for years i think. I'm curious about their daily life and if they still possess or know something essential from that time.

Q: Are you still in touch with other old school dutch karters/gamers like Michael Liem, Piet den Dulk, Edwin Peeters, whoever...can you tell them about the topic and link it to them? Maybe they can then tell us something that isn't yet known. Every bit of information is appreciated! They don't even have to be dutch necessarily, people like Kevin Booth are also more than welcome to share their thoughts and information.

A: I noticed that because of this recently created topic that a lot of people from back in the day respond to it which i really like.
Some people i haven't seen in a long time. Fortunately there will soon be the world championship for SMK which i will attend. Nice to see everyone again and to chat a lot.
I would indeed find it interesting to talk with people online like Sargoth or Kevin Booth who won't be there to reminisce about stories from back in the day.

2 bonus questions. They are completely optional and you don't have to answer them if you don't want to. I just ask them because i'm curious. :)

Q: What kind of work do you do?

A: I work at LIDL(Supermarket chain) at the office as a purchaser and i manage 70 affiliates all day which i analyze with the numbers of those affiliates, where i also use my programs for which i made myself. The ultimate goal is to ensure that every day all the trade i purchase gets put in the right spot and of the right amount in all 70 affiliates. This job does fit well with my drive in gaming from back in the day to always search for a not obvious solution. I have been doing this for 4 years and i'm happy that i finally do work that suits me.

Q: At a certain moment you were really starting to work out/train. What are you PR's for that(like Benchpress, 100m sprint, pushups for example)? The reason why i'm asking is because i'm planning to start working out this year.

A: The reason why i began training is perhaps more interesting than the PRs which i reached there. I have been rather insecure since the start of high school(high school starts at age 12 in the Netherlands so would be more like middle school in America). I had few friends, was extremely skinny and was years behind socially. The arrogance which i was so good at showing online would be hard to find back in real life. I would preferably then isolate myself in my room in which the frequency of gaming i did would easily get out of hand. My all time low in terms of body weight was when i was 21 years old: 66 kg(145 lbs) at a height of 1.95 m(approximately 6'5"). My body fat percentage was merely 6%. I always ate like a lunatic but couldn't gain any weight. 6000 kilo calories intake per day was quite normal. I was fed up with being so slender and being literally overlooked. I then began with weight training when i was 21. That also turned out to be necessary. The first time i bench-pressed was with only the bar(20 kg / 44 lbs) and was also a quite confronting but hilarious moment. After 2 reps i couldn't get the bar off of my chest and i was stuck under a mini weight. I then had to be rescued out of my awkward position by a fellow gym visitor. Just like with games i quickly set goals in my mind. It directly became 6 times training a week. In a few months time my body weight increased to 78 kg (172 lbs approx) and i already felt a lot more secure. When i was 23 i was still exercising fanatically and i achieved a body weight of 95 kg (210 lbs approx.). That year i felt i was physically at my strongest. To get back to your question i was then bench-pressing 125 kg(275 lbs approx.) for 6 reps. I also did 4 sets of push-ups of a 100 reps every other day.

When i was 23 i went to live on my own and wanted to turn everything around. I was especially very much behind things socially and didn't even learn very simple things at all yet.
I found a friend which experienced the same thing and also didn't carry over the same stuff when he moved out to live on his own. We decided to give ourselves challenging but still reachable tasks. I had to start from afar. My first task was to talk with an old man in the bus. It seems so simple but for me it was quite something. We felt a bit more secure every time after completing a task. We did things like talk to a girl in the pub, give a speech to a big group until we finally gave each other random tasks which we had to do immediately. After a certain point i dared to do everything and didn't give a fuck what all the world thought about me. I did everything i wanted to do and i always succeeded too.
Apparently that is how life works when you have confidence. It was a time which i look back to very proudly and it changed my life drastically. What i didn't think about was the fact how arrogant i was at the end of that period. Something that somebody close to me had to tell me before i really realized the effect that my behavior had on other people.
Something which in the following years after i hopefully brought more into balance.
Now i finally found the love of my life, i'm happily married and i can lead the life that i want.
It is admittedly a life without gaming but it is because of my past as a gamer that i am here where i am now today.
I do notice now while i have been browsing through game forums recently that i'm really starting to get the urge to pick up the controller again so who knows.  :)
Thanks for the nice questions, Stefan. I hope to bring a nice video online soon.

EDIT: Here is the rest of the remaining questions.  ;)
Also the last original untranslated/unedited questions and answers again. https://pastebin.com/SHs2tTxa
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on July 18, 2018, 07:58:40 am
Stefan posted this over to the MK64 forum... a video of SZ's "Aztec strat."  It doesn't work in this clip, but SZ seems confident he will get it to work at some point!

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Huzi on August 16, 2018, 05:27:07 pm


...
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 16, 2018, 05:52:24 pm
Um what exactly is this?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 16, 2018, 06:38:16 pm
Theres no way he ever claimed to go oob to get through the glass, even if you did and somehow got the dat and uploaded the guidance (which isnt all that unloaded?) going back to the portal at the start to reload the rest if the level would lose time.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flicker on August 16, 2018, 06:42:24 pm
vid is bs
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 16, 2018, 06:56:02 pm
I remember back in like 05 messing with emulatots and using no clipping and it had a similar effect to that youd clip out but the game would only load where you are, i believe hes doing that only with a gameshark. I think mcm has that option still enabled or you might need a seperate code but im 99.9% sure thats what hes doing. The onlything no clip was good for was going to the island on dam because if you did it on the dam it would load all over the water, if you went to far anywhere else everything looked blue. Maybe if you somehow could go oob in the blackroom behind the glass would still be loaded but thats really pushing it!
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: OG on August 16, 2018, 07:21:19 pm
yo steve, wheres the strat which got you the claimed untied? thats all we want, thanks
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 16, 2018, 07:25:28 pm
I love how he always has other people post stuff for him going all the way back to like 2002 :rollin:
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 16, 2018, 09:20:37 pm
Hes usimg no clip from the very start of the level its why only that area you start in is loaded 100 percent bullshit and maybe a code to modify where bond starts or a splice.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: dugg on August 16, 2018, 09:46:06 pm
*Note* Useless video/post.

Merely showing brief gameshark no-clipping codes to OOB in Aztec.  The only part remotely interesting and isn't even very interesting is the black room OOB near console in order to go behind glass and walk back in bounds.  (1:30 mark of video)


Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flukey lukey on August 16, 2018, 10:12:45 pm
this is what we all waited for
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 16, 2018, 10:50:24 pm
There is a way to disable oob afterwards if i remember right on emulator to no clip was like l and r or something then you hit l and r again that might be mcm tho i was still in highschool last time i did that.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 16, 2018, 11:11:09 pm
Why would he even post a video of this all it proves is he has access to a gameshark which he either just bought for this video or has had for all these years which probably would explain those MK times he had all those years ago.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Aztec Exemplar on August 17, 2018, 12:55:15 am
Couldn't come up with a more troll vid myself.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on August 17, 2018, 08:52:31 am
Whoa, people are kind of jumping to conclusions here. Steven isn't claiming that he used this strat back in the day, nor is he claiming that he's using this now. It's just something weird that happened to him while playing which he send me. He's not trying to prove anything with the video, really.

I only intended to send it to Goose to see if he has an explanation for it, nothing else. To tell you the truth, he wasn't going for the one guard glass here, but was trying something else he found which very likely was what caused this phenomenon.

If this was the result of a gameshark code, then why would he ever send me this? Wouldn't gain him anything. He doesn't even know how to work with a gameshark. Besides, judging from a pic he send me once, there isn't even enough vertical room to have both a gameshark and GE cartridge plugged in the n64 in the spot he's keeping his console anyway.


Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 17, 2018, 09:07:46 am
Using a gameshark isnt rocket science neither is pulling the consle out from the shelf and moving it to the floor... also the fact he oobs at the very beginning of the level seems rather suspicious.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Jimbo on August 17, 2018, 09:08:42 am
Why does Steven have so many different people posting for him? This topic is some of the most cringe-y stuff I've read in a while.

BTW I think Steven is a pure fraud in every way, ala Todd Rogers, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SammoSammy on August 17, 2018, 09:31:25 am
Besides, judging from a pic he send me once, there isn't even enough vertical room to have both a gameshark and GE cartridge plugged in the n64 in the spot he's keeping his console anyway.

IF IT DOESN'T FIT YOU MUST ACQUIT
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 17, 2018, 09:57:37 am
Steven Z is the most successful con man in the history of the elite.

When even Jimbo is cringing you know you've reached legendary levels of cringe.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 17, 2018, 10:18:13 am
Steven Z is the most successful con man in the history of the elite.

When even Jimbo is cringing you know you've reached legendary levels of cringe.
Not sure about most successful since at least 90 percent of the people here arent buying his claims for a second! In 15 years hes showed 2 videos 1 of something everyones tried in aztec a few times and 1 of his masterful use of a gameshark... if people are still drinking the punch after that theyll believe anything.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stevenZ on August 17, 2018, 02:45:37 pm
Wow so much negativity around here and many assumptions made from no where. Like using a gameshark to get out of bounce. I have just sent this short video to Stefan after it happened because I was just suprised. I dont even have any idea who this guy called "Huzi" is who posted my vid plus I dont even know how a gameshark works. It wasnt even my intention to post this vid on the message board. And people are not posting for me. They just like to post those things themselves. I am glad I am no longer part of this community where everyone has to bite the dust and treathened like he is some sort of convict.

I have nothing to prove anymore for myself. My gaming era is over and I am happy with the life I have now. I do really like it nowadays to turn the Nintendo on now and then. Unfortunately I havent felt the drive yet to play a 10 hour session for the Aztec single guard strat. I have been fooling around a bit with a new aztec strat though and its faster than the current strat. It involves starting out with 2.4 control style luring the guard in the cutscene in the launch protocol room. He will walk all the way to Bonds starting position. Lure him and the mainframe guard again when standing against the glass. This way you immediately have 2 guards ready to run to the glass and open it.
Good luck getting the WR. Im out and done on the MB for awhile here with all this negative atmosphere.
Peace and enjoy the games.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 17, 2018, 03:00:24 pm
Your the biggest joke in this community you cant even explain how you supposedly did this one guard lure years ago and now your trying to come up with new strategies that dont involve 1 guard bc it never worked, you never got it to work then, and you cant get it to work now!
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 17, 2018, 03:05:35 pm
Your not man enough to be like yup i was an angst filled kid at the time and was sick of the game so i lied about the strat at the time and i apologies!
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Ray Ruane on August 17, 2018, 04:01:48 pm
Guys leave him alone. Clearly he's telling the truth and just doesn't feel like playing the level for 10 hours in the last 15 odd years to claim an untied World Record at that time. Totally understandable.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 17, 2018, 08:21:57 pm
lmfao

Ok, I suppose the "Steven Zwartjes: The Todd Rogers of N64?" video is on.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Rützou on August 18, 2018, 01:37:01 am
Lmao what a joke. Getting glass open with one guard is simply not possible. Period.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: 50 on August 18, 2018, 02:24:14 am
this topic belong to ffa
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: DYM on August 18, 2018, 02:55:13 am
It belongs in the Display Case Museum forum, along with A Call For Peace, the Decipheration IQ thread, my kok aint standing more thread, etc.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 18, 2018, 05:45:24 am
Quote
I have been fooling around a bit with a new aztec strat though and its faster than the current strat. It involves starting out with 2.4 control style luring the guard in the cutscene in the launch protocol room. He will walk all the way to Bonds starting position. Lure him and the mainframe guard again when standing against the glass. This way you immediately have 2 guards ready to run to the glass and open it.

1. Did you really think we hadn't already tested this? No offense but you can't just come back after 15+ years of absence and expect to come up with revolutionary strats.
2. What makes you say it's faster than current strat? If you had actually tested this, you'd know that the guard will be at the exhaust bay by the time we do the glass lure, meaning it's definitely slower than modern strats.

Honestly, alot of the "strats" you've posted over the years seem more like untested ideas...



...

Others have already mentioned it, but for fun I decided to try and google "Goldeneye No Clip Gameshark" and when you go to the very first resulting page, and try out the Aztec code found there, it puts you at seemingly the same location seen in this video. This is interesting, because the position No Clip uses is actually quite arbitrary (near the far crates in 2nd room). Think about it, there's an entire level where Bond could be, but somehow both end up in roughly the same spot? If this isn't No Clip then it's one hell of a coincidence.

The only other conceivable non-arbitary position would be the origin (which is in the black room). While the positions are somewhat close, it's still a 2000 unit difference. Since it's further away, there should be a difference in the size of the starting position of Bond, seen in the distance, which can be used to determine where Steven ended up. As a reference height, I used the image of the bullet in the lower right corner. Note that Wide/Cinema would change this ratio, but since there are no black borders on Stevens video, I'll assume he used Full.

No Clip:
(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.upload.speedrunwiki.com%2Fimages%2Fgeneral%2FAztecNoClipPx.png&hash=73824db790b0c20136a122a798bc0054ce207523)

33/38 = ~87%

Origin:
(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.upload.speedrunwiki.com%2Fimages%2Fgeneral%2FAztecOriginPx.png&hash=aa40b8b6d9d3463657946bc51880ba44d86c4e94)

23/38 = ~60%

Steven:
(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.upload.speedrunwiki.com%2Fimages%2Fgeneral%2FAztecStevenPx.png&hash=033e260d410364e2097b8eb93f1d2b89b09035a2)

11/13 = ~85%

Given this, I think we can say with reasonable certainty that Steven did not end up at the origin, but rather at the No Clip spot, which as stated earlier, would be extremely unlikely if he did not use a gameshark.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 18, 2018, 08:34:28 am
Pwned
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Aztec Exemplar on August 18, 2018, 10:12:53 am
Pwned
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: JDBlack21 on August 18, 2018, 11:24:31 am
Pwned
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Alka Maass on August 18, 2018, 12:04:05 pm
Pwned
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Watertemplefiend on August 18, 2018, 12:09:02 pm
Pwned
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Quirky on August 18, 2018, 12:40:29 pm
Pwned
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on August 18, 2018, 01:44:30 pm
Reading this (http://viper.shadowflareindustries.com/?file=hackv500c.html&cat=hax0r#learn_your_shark) I understand that code (http://www.hotcheats.com/goldeneye007noclippinggamesharkcheatsnintendo64.html) as this:

Quote
No Clipping X-Coordinate
D0064F31 0030   // Wait until byte 30 is at some address to execute the next instruction:
800B03ED 0050   // Constantly write byte 50 to some address
880B03ED 0000   // Writes 00 to some address when you press the GS button apparently

with the 'Z-coordinate code' pretty identical.

It doesn't look to me like these actually set Bond's location, and so somehow the location that Bond ends up at is 'natural'. So I think the spot that Steven is at is pretty unsurprising, given that he's managed to escape the normal start point.
Obviously escaping the start point is itself very surprising, and I too would like to know how he did it. Shame we're back to declaring him a witch really.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 18, 2018, 04:27:27 pm
The code only writes one of the four bytes of Bond's X and Z position (with the value 0x00 in this case, 0x50 puts you on the bridge and is triggered by L+R or something), which means it gets the other 3 bytes from the starting position. So unless you're saying the game would "naturally" change only 1 byte, and the exact same byte (which happens to be at an unaligned address...), with the same value, there's nothing natural about it. Change any of these parameters and you could end up in a vastly different position.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 18, 2018, 04:59:24 pm
Yikes.  Steven "almost certainly" using a Gameshark here also casts further doubt on his Mario Kart Luigi's Raceway "scrolling proof" video.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on August 18, 2018, 05:37:11 pm
Apologies for not checking the addresses out, I didn't realise they matched up with the RAM - I thought they were altering the ROM. That's a disgusting 'no-clip' and whoever wrote it should be ashamed lol.
I also looked at the speed and the origin is too far since Bond only takes about 7s from no speed in that video. There's a good bit of error in those pixel measurements but at the very least it is pretty near the Gameshark code spot. I'll agree it doesn't seem a very natural spot.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Rützou on August 18, 2018, 06:58:22 pm
EXPOSED by Henrik the INTJ MASTERMIND.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Blue Khakis on August 18, 2018, 07:18:34 pm
I, for one, am actually pretty happy with this outcome.

For me, the pre-video era when this whole issue started is  like 'The Old Times' or 'The Days of the First Men' in terms of the history of the Elite- an era shrouded in the mists of time, from when very few records exist, and we have to piece together what we can from the evidence we have.

I remember watching the Aztec Speedlore and being kind of intruiging by the mythical Zwartjes glass open, it felt kind of like hearing the story of Alexander cleaving the gordian knot in two; your analytical side thinks that, yeah, it's fun to think about, but realistically, probably didn't happen, but the part of you that responds to the timeless power of a good story still wants to believe that the legends are real, and it still bugs you every now and then, like "what if it really did happen?"

So as a newcomer, it's actually kind of satisfying to have Zwartjes come back on the scene and completely wreck any remaining credibility he had left and provide closure that he is in fact a complete fraud. He's now shown beyond any reasonable doubt that he is completely unable to provide any evidence of his claims and now hides behind the age old classic of 'people being sceptical of claims which I have failed to prove over a period of more than a decade have hurt my feelings so I'm going to punish you by not showing you my evidence'. I feel this provides a pretty fitting end to this chapter of elite history, we can take him out of the Alexander category and correctly give him the Judas/Ephialtes reputation he deserves.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flukey lukey on August 18, 2018, 07:35:14 pm
(https://www.personalityclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/star-wars.jpg)

Pwned
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: eastwood on August 18, 2018, 09:33:47 pm
Had he remained silent he probably would have cast less doubt on himself than he's done now, considering the proof of owning a Gameshark and the proximity of him creating a "scrolling proof video" for those historic LR "records" a mere few months ago.

The only thing Steven managed to prove in this thread is how much of a joke he is.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: dugg on August 18, 2018, 10:24:54 pm
Not that it matters but for clarification purposes:

1) Gamesharks aren't used in Europe as far as I know.  I think the player in question is European.
2) Action Replay is used in Europe.  It's basically the same thing as a Gameshark as far as looks/functionality.
3) The codes would probably differ from GS codes but I'm not sure.

Besides, even if one of those devices weren't used there are still other ways to get sketchy things to occur like using an Everdrive.
(Which WOULD fit like playing a regular N64 cart)
Spoiler
(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0832/3149/products/everdrive-64-v25_large.jpg?v=1528972527)
The SD card that stores ROMs/mods/hacks is located in the top of the cart.
Spoiler
(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F8bitplus.co.uk%2Fwp-content%2Fgallery%2Feverdrive-cartridges%2Fimgp2195.jpg&hash=07903a2065e6ff28c2810bc2ea641fbd532b7067)
Flashcarts too:
Spoiler
(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgbatemp.net%2Fpix%2F12432%2FIMG_0113.JPG&hash=97bb0dd3b291821463d89b4b22a9587099581f21)

Just a few cents of useless info.

BTW, Krikzz ED64 is pretty cool from what I've read.  v2.5 at least.  V3.0 having more features.


Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 19, 2018, 12:35:22 am
Found a corresponding AR code:

http://www.lych.demon.co.uk/goldeneye/arcohome.htm

Havent tried it but the code looks to be a direct port of the GS code, with the addresses simply changed for PAL version.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Spec on August 19, 2018, 10:36:22 am
1) Having a bunch of lackeys doing your posting for you
2) When you get called out, instantly push the WOW SO MUCH NEGATIVITY narrative
3) Afterwards, give the "lolz I have a real life" punchline

Is this 2007 internet meta all over again? Jesus christ just purge every single PR in this guy's history already, go play with your buddies Todd Rodgers and Silly Bitchell. Also, nice touch writing "out of bounce" on purpose to rep being clueless. Don't you know that shit stopped working after the 90's?

Based Henrik btw.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Ray Ruane on August 19, 2018, 12:40:27 pm
Wait, before we call him a complete fraud, wasn't he a highly respected Goldeneye Champion with proven-ish times back in the day?! I wouldn't say that ALL of his times were fake.

If that was the case however, does that mean that Mike Martin is the original and longer-lasting Goldeneye Champion?!
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: JDBlack21 on August 19, 2018, 12:47:30 pm
No because Sterling was ahead of Steven
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Blue Khakis on August 19, 2018, 01:24:25 pm
Wait, before we call him a complete fraud, wasn't he a highly respected Goldeneye Champion with proven-ish times back in the day?! I wouldn't say that ALL of his times were fake.
I'm sure Lance Armstrong would have been a pretty talented cyclist even if he hadn't doped, and maybe he even won some races clean. The point is that once someone has lost credibility, it becomes impossible to know which records are and aren't fake.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Watertemplefiend on August 19, 2018, 02:02:54 pm
This simply comes down to proof. Has proof been given, no. He had gotten proven times which no one is disputing because the evidence is there! People will demand for evidence of amazing clamied strats, obviously. Like Billy Mitchel no one is disputing that he can achieve high Kong scores, only the evidence that is being put forward. Of course due to this credibility of the person in question is completely shattered and with good reason! An argument is pointless in this regard, no evidence, no renown. Believing myths is counter productive especially with a game like ge where strats and much investigation has gone into the game over many years. No point in debating litterally nothing.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stevenZ on August 19, 2018, 02:35:02 pm
You guys really are more disgusting than I could have ever imagined. How can you treat people like this. It is a big shame this forum has gotten so rotten.
Its such a joke. You are all so wrong about all the made assumptions. And you will find out sooner or later.

I insist all my Goldeneye times will be removed.
I no longer want to be part of anything related to the goldeneye community. This is by far the worst and most diseased community I have ever seen.
I hope you are all happy now and proud of yourselves.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Watertemplefiend on August 19, 2018, 02:42:27 pm
You guys really are more disgusting than I could have ever imagined. How can you treat people like this. It is a big shame this forum has gotten so rotten.
Its such a joke. You are all so wrong about all the made assumptions. And you will find out sooner or later.

I insist all my Goldeneye times will be removed.
I no longer want to be part of anything related to the goldeneye community. This is by far the worst and most diseased community I have ever seen.
I hope you are all happy now and proud of yourselves.

It's sad that the response has been so brutal! I feel like the complete shattering of a career of times is completely crazy based on starts that haven't been completely proven. I'm personally in the mindset of it needs to be proven to be valid, totally neutral view.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AEB on August 19, 2018, 03:43:55 pm
Of course people will react like this if no evidence or even good explanation is given for strats that are considered impossible by everyone else, including people who know the game code in detail. They truly believe you're lying and wasting their free time and that's considered pretty rude. For me personally, I trust Henrik and the other GE professors, but I don't know enough about the game to say you're lying 100 % just based on my own knowledge.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 19, 2018, 04:33:57 pm
Steven - if you truly "don't care" about the community anymore, and have "moved on" with a nice life (which I agree, having a wife and children sounds incredible!) then why don't you just come forward and admit that you never actually got Aztec Agent 1:31 or Luigi's Raceway 1'58'14?  Just admit you were a dumb, young kid back then and made some mistakes that went too far.  Why are you keeping up these lies, 15 years later?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stevenZ on August 19, 2018, 07:19:17 pm
Goose, I can certainly tell having my wife and 2 children is a blessing. You might not want to hear it as everyone else, but Aztec and Luigi raceway did happen 100% and I"m still proud of it. Maybe my biggest mistake was accepting the challenge proving the glass strat. I thought too light about this since my life 15 years later changed drastically.
I need to play 10 hours straight to get something decent to work. My skilllevel dropped, the desire to play 10 hours straight to prove a 15 year old record isnt very high, plus there arent that many days in my life where there is no work and no wife and kids counting on me.
I sincerely apologise for that making that promise too easy.
I am a positive person though, so I know with the fun hours I put into playing some Nintendo every now and then it will happen eventually.

For all having said that, it is unforgivable how I and other people are treated in this forum. I have been reading some other topics and I am absolutely not the only one who got this treatment. How is this a positive thing? Is this really the way you guys want to communicate with eachother around here?
I really hope people are gonna get the respect every human being deserves.

I will leave in peace once again and I hope my times from all the Goldeneye charts will be deleted as soon as possible.
Thank you for that.

Steven Zwartjes
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Jimbo on August 19, 2018, 08:16:31 pm
Nope, he is taking this one to the grave, same exact response Todd Rogers has too. It's really not a "diseased" community, people just don't like liars and having their intelligence insulted so we call out most of the garbage spewed from fellows like yourself. In history, you're a GE champion and a guy with many untieds, fight for that legacy man don't just say "cya, remove me, peace". It's just something we've all seen before. The same types of frustrations seen in courtrooms when such overwhelming evidence is still denied - continue to waste our time.

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 19, 2018, 09:19:36 pm
Zwartjes, I have given you the benefit of the doubt more than any journalist ever would.  We were all cheering for you.  At least all of the older guys were.  We wanted you to come back and show us this strategy, because that would have been one of the craziest stories in all of gaming history.  You would have been a legend forever.  There is no reason why demonstrating and recreating a strategy should require as much skill as you claim.  You could have just shown us what you did, even if you didn't get a good record with it... all we needed to see was the glass opening.  This shouldn't require much skill; only knowledge.  And if you showed this, our imaginations would still have been able to maybe just believe, for a second, that the 1:31 actually happened as you claimed.

But you showed us nothing.  You kept hiding things from us and not being very clear.  You pulled classic liar cards like "I don't need to prove this!" "I'm beyond this now." "You're being rude to my family!" (Todd Rogers pulled these exact same cards as an excuse to not attempt Dragster 5.51 live in front of an audience).  You are a classic liar and there is no one left in the world who still believes your claim.

I will give you one final opportunity to say anything you want to say for me to include in a video, summarizing and concluding this entire saga.  You can admit you lied, you can have one last chance to prove yourself, or you can say anything else you wish for me to include.  In the sake of fairness, balance, and high quality, journalistic video making, I will give you this one last courtesy.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Boss on August 19, 2018, 09:49:51 pm
Are there posts/topics of the Runway 23/Dam 54 etc from the stone ages? It would be nice to revisit those and see how things were in the early days.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Huzi on August 19, 2018, 10:07:57 pm
Are there posts/topics of the Runway 23/Dam 54 etc from the stone ages? It would be nice to revisit those and see how things were in the early days.

https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=7336.0
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Time was untied when set. on August 19, 2018, 10:25:24 pm
Get your lame no good sorry ass  out of here. Stop being dellusional and just admit you lied.

I would  normally stick up for you because you lift (or at least did) but not in this case. Youre  pathetic.  Even when faced  with heaps of evidence that you are lying, all you can say is "wow this community is so toxic I shouldn't be treated like this".

Honestly I think you're just insane and enjoy having your saga stick around because you actually think there's hype about it, but in reality nobody actually believes you and never will so just gtfo.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: JDBlack21 on August 20, 2018, 12:59:21 am
Are there posts/topics of the Runway 23/Dam 54 etc from the stone ages? It would be nice to revisit those and see how things were in the early days.

https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=7113.0
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Grav on August 20, 2018, 02:48:09 pm
SZ's times will be removed from the rankings per the-elite council's decision. Goose is going to archive it all and once he's finished with whatever he needs, it will be enacted.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Scrambler Fanny on August 20, 2018, 04:48:36 pm
Well HOT DANG! This sure went high and to the right...

Any other Ancients that might have been in cahoots?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AZ on August 20, 2018, 04:50:19 pm
I actually captured some of Zwartjes' 1998 times a while ago:

https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=21488.0

So he actually did tape some runs back in the ancient era. It would be a downer to see Facility A 0:55 be removed from the rankings/WR database. It's the earliest proven record we have.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on August 20, 2018, 05:01:13 pm
The mention of another strategy after failing to replicate the one he has described for years and years in poor detail is all the evidence you need that this has all been a sham.  He wanted to save face by posting in another forum his videos where they know nothing of 007 and believe him to be credible. Unfortunately for him several others posted for him here where the veterans have extensive knowledge and can call bs

He has time to concoct new strategies, mess with his gameshark equivalent but not enough time to prove the strategy that started this whole mess? Sure seems like a waste of time for someone who finds is so scarce
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 20, 2018, 06:09:55 pm
But Axel, is it not true that his Facility Agent 0:55, was not "proven" until a long time later; after 0:54 was the record?  And even in his 55 video, it says "best time 54", indicating that the run you are watching, is *not* proof of him getting 55 as a WR.  Therefore it is not the "earliest proven record we have."

SZ has been inconsistent like this his entire career.  And the fact that he, literally, *has never proven a single GE WR he claimed, while it was still the WR* was a big factor in the unanimous (7-0) council vote to remove him.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: dugg on August 20, 2018, 06:48:52 pm
His LTK times are still up.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: mw on August 20, 2018, 07:03:43 pm
His LTK times are still up.

Thanks for noticing, fixed now.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AZ on August 20, 2018, 07:18:23 pm
The times on the tape (with the exception of Facility 5:51) were all non-WRs yes, but only Zwartjes himself had claimed faster times. The best times on the cartridge corresponds well with the earliest claimed times on the WR database (Train 1:27/Caverns 1:07/Fac 0:54).

Earlier we've had players removed because of cheating and splicing, or because of having zero proof, but to remove a player's times page completely when he actually has some ancient 1998 records on tape is sad in my opinion. Sure Zwartjes may not have proven much, and the Aztec 1:31 is notorious in its own right, and it was backrolled a long time ago. I don't approve of Zwartjes' behaviour and comments lately, but you are erasing part of the earliest elite history by deleting all his times without any consideration. I guess, to me at least, it's mostly sad from a historic perspective, as me and Woll have worked hard to build up the WR database (with Zwartjes gone the database has to rewritten), but also knowing I more or less captured Zwartjes' ancient 1998 tape for nothing.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Grav on August 20, 2018, 07:44:30 pm
without any consideration

What? This has been in the process of "consideration" for years. Just because you don't like the result doesn't mean it's automatically a reactionary and unfounded decision. The action hastened lately because SZ came back to say the stuff he did which gave new light to the situation. It tipped the scales enough to remove him, but the scales were being weighed long before that.

it's mostly sad from a historic perspective, as me and Woll have worked hard to build up the WR database

Yes, we all love historical upkeep and we are extremely grateful for everything Greg, you, and others do in maintaining it. At the end of the day though, that documentation is subordinate to our greater goal of accurately ranking players that have met or exceeded the evolving standards we establish for the community. Some things get grandfathered, some things don't. In this specific case, there is enough shady activity and lack of credibility that the council and many in the community at large were simply not willing to take his word for it and grandfather his times blindly into our modern rankings.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on August 20, 2018, 07:53:59 pm
Well this certainly took an unexpected turn, definitely didn't expect it to end like this.
I had no idea that sending Goose that video who then shared it to the Elite Discord would have caused the SZ topic to explode in an atomic fashion like this, i guess this is what you can call a butterfly effect maybe? lol

I will be doing a pretty big post here soon, i wanted to post it earlier but i was pretty busy lately and need to get back on track with school. I'll lay out all the facts that i have discovered while investigating SZ, all relevant information which i have talked with Steven about like the Aztec one guard glass strat for example which has not been posted/shared anywhere yet and much more.

I won't act as the middle-man anymore, this whole thing has been going on for over 3 months and it's time for me to focus on other things honestly. Post should be up somewhere later this week.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 20, 2018, 08:08:50 pm
We look forward to your post and appreciate all you've done in this case Stefan.  I think your post will be the "beginning of the end" of this whole SZ saga.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 21, 2018, 02:51:48 am
Steven has been compulsively lying since at least 2001. All details will be revealed in time.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 21, 2018, 08:38:30 pm
Wow. This went south quickly. For starters, has anyone actually proven that the person posting is Steven? Would be a real shame for a troll to impersonate and get someone removed.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: TheFlash on August 21, 2018, 09:03:56 pm
Wow. This went south quickly. For starters, has anyone actually proven that the person posting is Steven? Would be a real shame for a troll to impersonate and get someone removed.

I have confirmed that the account here used the same IP address as the account that posted the same message on 26 June on the Mario Kart forum.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 21, 2018, 09:10:22 pm
Thanks, that is certainly a start, though that could fit evidence for a troll as well. I'm just stunned at how quickly this went from "I don't believe this is really Steven anyway" to "let's remove all his times! He used gameshark!"

And once again saddened at how any historical continuity is repeatedly shredded. Over and over again. Despite claims every time that this is pretty much the last one. I'm all for a proven rankings but not at the cost of history.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: dugg on August 21, 2018, 10:27:59 pm
Wow. This went south quickly. For starters, has anyone actually proven that the person posting is Steven? Would be a real shame for a troll to impersonate and get someone removed.

Didn't want to suggest this - figured it was obvious.  Very possible.
Similar thoughts about some other unrelated posts here over the years but I'm in no place to make issue of it especially if it's just some vets having fun.

Also, that video with the "OOB" on Aztec was in my opinion a clear indication of trolling.  Obviously it's sketchy just upon viewing but it almost came across as whoever released it did so with intention to take the piss a little.

Ogran knows what that means.  :kappa:
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Grav on August 21, 2018, 10:43:13 pm
Despite claims every time that this is pretty much the last one. I'm all for a proven rankings but not at the cost of history.

Who is claiming it will be the last time it happens? And in what sane universe does history take precedent over recent and relevant evidence of foul play? It doesn't matter if nobody was banned before them or 50 people were banned before them. If every old player in the history of the game comes out and either makes it obvious they cheated or made it clear beyond reasonable doubt that they can't be trusted, they'd ALL be banned. What are we supposed to do, just say "okay bro you cheated, but you're from the old era so it doesn't count :P" or "but someone else was banned before you and we can't allow more people to be banned thats just too much so never mind keep punking us :P". Obviously there's a level of grandfathering we have been willing to accept too, but its clear the SZ shit should not be blindly accepted given the information we have available.

Being on the rankings is a privilege. Players don't have any right to permanence just because they managed to get their times accepted when they submitted them. One year later, 20 years later, 200 years later... if someone is found to be cheating or likely cheating, they are gone.  If you want to keep your own personal record of the history of the game including splicers and liars, be my guest. It's not going to remain on the official rankings. If people want to guarantee their times stay on the rankings, perhaps they should try actually proving their times. If they aren't willing to do that, they have to accept the potential outcome we see taking place.

You may just be ignorant of the full breadth of the situation, so if that is true I'd just recommend reading up on all the stuff here and in the mario kart community.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 21, 2018, 10:43:23 pm
Shadow - a lot has been going on outside of this thread, since May.  Many karters have been in contact with the real SZ (through Facebook, email, etc), so SZ is well aware that this "news" has resurfaced.  So in order for the poster in this thread and the Mario Kart thread to be an impostor, he would have to:

1a) have hacked SZ's main accounts on other social media & email, or;
1b) be knowing exactly when to post as SZ, as others expect him to (they would often tell me, "oh SZ will post soon")

2) have somehow gone undetected by the real SZ, despite the real SZ following both threads as this was unfolding (SZ likely would have called out or confronted an impostor)

It is just completely unreasonable and an absolute conspiracy theory for this to "not be the real SZ."  It would unironically be the greatest, most elaborate hoax in speedrunning history... which ironically, could likely only be pulled off by SZ himself!  :rollin:

You can read the Mario Kart thread for more: http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1526616780
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: KVD on August 22, 2018, 04:57:55 am
Did it ever occur to you he might be testing you instead of the other way around?

Intentionally 'leaking' a Gameshark video, I mean come on. And it wasn't even a video relating to the contested 1-guard lure strat either, so there was nothing at stake.

The reactions in this thread were correctly described as weaponized autism by another karter. Honestly, I think you've all been played. The real proof of the strat might still follow, just as a lesson not to base conclusions on assumptions, no matter how strong they seem.
I would like to state that this is not the course of action I would have taken if I were SZ either, but he must have been annoyed at the amount of prejudice he encountered from this community before any proof was even on the table. And the extreme reactions to the obvious bait leak only enforced this point further. That is, IF it even is Gameshark footage. We're just going by what one expert has to say on the matter, and I honestly have no idea how on point he (Henrik) is or isn't.

If I'm wrong about the above, and I very well could be (as I don't like drawing conclusions before the evidence is out), then SZ is far less smart than I gave him credit for for all these years. It's possible, but for me it would be quite the shocking upset for a person to go from 'strat inventor extraordinaire' to 'too dumb to realize Gameshark footage won't pass for console proof'.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 22, 2018, 06:46:19 am
Who is claiming it will be the last time it happens? And in what sane universe does history take precedent over recent and relevant evidence of foul play?...

You may just be ignorant of the full breadth of the situation, so if that is true I'd just recommend reading up on all the stuff here and in the mario kart community.

Grav, I have been following both threads, if there is more information out there I'd be happy to read it. As to history, don't put words in my mouth. History doesn't take precedence over accurate rankings. I was in full support of the Henning removal, for example, and I myself ran the Rogue Squadron 64 rankings for numerous years and when I took over had to eliminate five or six players for obvious cheating on a single level. I get it. But the evidence in this case seems awfully slim for something that happened nearly 20 years ago, to the point of where it sure seems like elimination over suspicion by several very vocal people.

What are the actual facts? Would anyone in the know lay out what is actually known about this and not due to bias or suspicion or gut-feelings?

Because what I see is that there was a claim of a really good time (not impossible time) on GE and Mario Kart from nearly 20 years ago.
A person claiming to be Steven posting information through some other guys.
Henrik saying that as he understands it the strat wouldn't work.
An unrelated video with some goofy behavior.
Ban.

It could very well be the correct action, but the conviction seems to run more on emotion (even by very new people) than facts. If someone can have their reputation and legacy completely lost on so little evidence, that doesn't bode well for the health of the community.

As to people like Jimbo saying he should prove his legacy, I stated in one of my very first posts in this thread that I would be surprised if he cared enough. At some point most of us have just let go. If you told me I had to play 10 hours to prove my multiple untied records from Rogue Squadron, I probably wouldn't care enough to do it, though I'd be upset. If this is Steven, and he has a family, and hasn't been involved in competitive gaming for 15 years, I totally get where he is coming from and I don't think a lot of people in this thread do.

Now maybe there is tons more evidence and discussion going on in Discord or whatever other platforms. But based on what I've read here and the Mario Kart forums, it's concerning. And I know I'm not the only one who thinks this an overreaction.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Grav on August 22, 2018, 09:09:53 am
HES JUST PLAYING 4D CHESS BRO LMAO :rollin:

Spoiler
(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/738/025/db0.jpg)

Re:shadow

If we only make actions based off indisputable evidence, we would find it near impossible to ever remove anyone when they are very likely not telling the truth. For example, if some new player joins the-elite rankings and immediately posts 120 WRs on PD/GE including 30 combined untieds, but every single video individually has nothing necessarily wrong with it that indicates cheating, would you allow it all to stay? The purpose of the council is exactly for these situations. Even if we have no way to prove it, the odds of that being legit is so low compared to the odds it's fake that it would be an easy decision to remove. If we only needed a smoking gun splice discovery, the council would serve little to no purpose in existing. It was made so that a responsible, trusted, and knowledgeable group of people could decide in uncertain situations what is most likely to be the case.

In the opinion of almost every council member, SZ has displayed in his actions nearly every quality a caught cheater exhibits. If you don't agree after seeing everything he has written, there's nothing anyone can really say to change your opinion. But please don't act like this is some emotional thoughtless act just because you don't like the result. We take the rankings extremely seriously and try to avoid removal of any players or times, especially those who have had important roles in history, whenever possible. In short, the odds of him being legit about all his times, or the odds of him EPIC PRANKING US is simply lower (and far lower in the opinion of many) than the odds of him not being legit. If he had more proof for many of his other major claimed times, he would probably have been given more benefit of the doubt like other older players were given. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't have that level of proof to give us enough trust to keep him. And when even one of your times cannot be trusted, none of them can.

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 22, 2018, 09:54:40 am
In the opinion of almost every council member, SZ has displayed in his actions nearly every quality a caught cheater exhibits. If you don't agree after seeing everything he has written, there's nothing anyone can really say to change your opinion.

Okay. So I get the opposing opinions. I get that there are probabilities. Unfortunately we can't even put an accurate number to those probabilities aside from gut feelings and guilt by association with similar behavior. So what are the actual facts in this case? Is there something significant I'm missing other than what I vaguely outlined above?

This case is particularly important because of the historical impact Steven had in the rankings and in other communities. This goes beyond just The Elite. The responsibility for ensuring this is the right choice is tremendous. Keep in mind that there are motives at play here that inform biases.

And yes, I am of the opinion that it should be nearly impossible to remove someone from the ranks without incontrovertible proof of cheating. I'm a fan of "innocent until proven guilty". At the very least, I'm happy to go on record as stating that I believe the Council's decision to be premature, unless there is some major evidence I'm unaware of. Thanks.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: KVD on August 22, 2018, 10:14:39 am
^100% agree

(https://i.imgur.com/AvOMaht.png)

Read the last lines of that Sagan quote especially.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Grav on August 22, 2018, 10:29:32 am
This case is particularly important because of the historical impact Steven had in the rankings and in other communities.

His "importance" in other communities does not and should not preclude us from taking actions we deem fit based on his times he claimed in our game. If the greatest speedrunner of all time who has proven every time he ever claimed in all his other games joins the-elite and posts a time that is deemed fake or highly like to be so, they're gone. The mario kart community is free to do whatever they want with SZ (and I assume it will be nothing, because that's all they ever do).

And yes, I am of the opinion that it should be nearly impossible to remove someone from the ranks without incontrovertible proof of cheating. I'm a fan of "innocent until proven guilty". At the very least, I'm happy to go on record as stating that I believe the Council's decision to be premature, unless there is some major evidence I'm unaware of. Thanks.

Well your opinion is your own, but it runs contrary to the foundational principle of a proven rankings. Why do you think proof videos are called proof videos? Because the burden of proof is on the player, not the moderators. It really is that simple. When the burden of proof is on the player, they are by default "guilty of not having achieved the time" until they prove they are innocent. If at any time a player's proof or lack thereof is deemed insufficient, they no longer retain the privilege of keeping their claimed time on the rankings. In SZ's case, he was grandfathered in so his standard of proof is clearly significantly lower than players who post today. But the cost of being grandfathered in with such low initial proof standards is that it then becomes far easier to violate that standard than if they had high quality footage for everything already.

The rankings is not a court of law. You have no right to be on the modern elite.net rankings. There are no statutes of limitations. It is not a proper analogy at all.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 22, 2018, 10:37:26 am
I'm not going to outline everything specific but here are some general reasons why he was removed.

1) He has never proven a single one of his PB's. While there are some ancient vids from '98 showing non best runs with best time, these are only evidence of the runs themselves. Gamesharking best times has been popular since 98 and beyond. When I say he has never proven a single PB I mean exactly that, not a single one. This isn't enough to get someone removed but the problem is that when you don't have any proof and you're a confirmed liar it becomes a problem.
2) Steven lied about his aztec times and strategy. I have no idea what Shadow means when he says "Henrik saying that as he understands it the strat wouldn't work.", is this supposed to downplay this or something? Henrik has confirmed through studying the mechanics of the game that a single guard strat can never work. On top of us having a mechanistic understanding of the way the guards open the glass, we also had many people trying the strat both at the time and over the years. To claim that the strat being not doable is just a hunch or a guess is either ignorant or disingenuous. 
 2.1 In older posts Steven claimed to have executed the strat multiple times. He has been documented saying that it took him '1 hour' to get it to work (now it has changed to 10 hours), plus he has his claimed PR's + the multiple successful attempts you need in order to actually get PB's. These claims have been confirmed beyond reasonable doubt to lies as the strat is impossible, and also it is unreasonable that at the time he got it to work multiple times but then in the 16 years following could not get it a single time on vid (not be steven nor anyone else).
3) Steven was indeed pushed many times in the past to provide videos, which he refused to do. There are many posts of other members attempting to get him to record times which he always declined, and in fact in one instance became enraged at the idea of having to provide proof.
4) Aztec isn't the only insane claim he has made. In 2001 he claimed 4:25 control OOA which was a 9 second untied at the time and faster than the SA record (and much faster than his SA PR at the time). This just doesn't happen in reality. Never before, or since has the SA record been faster than 00A record, and for good reason. When he made the claim he said he had a new strat which he said he would unveil but he never did, and it was never mentioned again. He also made other insane claims like b1 17 obj A fail in 2001.
5) his general attitude has been indicative of someone who is a compulsive liar. If you read his old posts he makes certifiably false claims about reality. Such as claiming he has 'tons of proof' for GE even though he had never proven a single PB, and claiming that he had records on tape or online but they had vanished (in reality they never existed). As mentioned before he became irate when pushed for video proof claiming that he was above it and already proven enough to have to provide and videos.
6) he also made that unbelievable mk64 claim, which that community even removed even though their proof standards are ridiculously low and pretty shameful. The scrolling proof he provided doesn't match reality (discussed in goose's video) as it showed a large jump instead of small increments. This flies in the face of every single other piece of data we have on other players and how non shortcut records are improved. Again, if you look at this as a single piece of evidence it may not seem like 100% proof, but it is definitely a smoking gun and when combined with every other factor the only reasonable conclusion is that the time is fabricated, or cheated.
7) His recent posts attacking the community for demanding proof and being sceptical mirrors proven cheaters like todd rogers and billy mitchell. We've seen this behaviour before, and in fact it's pretty embarrassing steven would use what seems to be a note for note response with other cheaters. But he seems to be quite ignorant of speedrunning/high scores these days and what most people are aware of.

there is only one thing that reasonably explains everything that has happened. If you don't think all the evidence points towards Steven being a liar then I really think that's on you, because most reasonable people will disagree. And again I must stress, Steven hasn't proven a single PB, so given that there is so much evidence that he falsified times we just can't let his times stand without evidence.

Now I'll clear up a couple of counter arguments.

1) Why now? Multiple reasons. Firstly, when you look at things from a distance you're able to see the entire picture so you can get a better understanding of the situation. At the time Steven made claims slowly over multiple years and as he provided no videos etc there is no way to confirm he is lying (until of course he explains a strat that is impossible). I think time brings more objectivity as well. You can hardly claim that we are jumping to conclusions given that most of this happened 15 years ago. Also, we now have an established history of liars and cheaters that we can use as examples and as learning tools to help find more cheaters.
2) Steven was a good player! So was every other cheater that was exposed. In fact the irony is that Steven was in a position to make false claims while others weren't. He already had credibility so he knew he could claim anything and people would believe him. But if you still don't understand how having credibility will make people want to make false claims I'm not sure what would convince you. We have soooo many examples in this day and age of world class people lying and cheat that it absolutely baffles my mind that people still make this crazy assumption that being a good player makes you somehow impervious to lying? This is so ignorant it's crazy. Every sport has tons of the best players exposed for doping, cheating, you name it. Even our own community had people like Henning who was a world class player and went to great lengths to fake videos. Remember, making a false claim is FAR easier than splicing a vid. If a top play is willing to splice, it is even more reasonable that ancient players also made false claims.

Happy to clarify.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 22, 2018, 10:38:59 am
^100% agree

(https://i.imgur.com/AvOMaht.png)

Read the last lines of that Sagan quote especially.

I'm glad we agree that Steven requires evidence of his times to be ranked on this website.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: KVD on August 22, 2018, 10:44:31 am
@Grav, Believe it or not, players do get banned from the Mario Kart rankings (the list is not exactly small either), though usually they get frozen first and then they have a 1 year window (or however long) to prove their claims before they are finally removed...unless they are unambigiously caught red handed, then it's instant removal. It is a less hysterical and witch-huntesque policy, which still serves the purpose of maintaining accurate rankings.

The burden is necessarily on the shoulders of the player, with this I think most people will agree. The grandfathering principle should be applied here to some extent if you ask me though (he was active in a time when video proof was hard to come by). Indeed not to give him the full green tick no questions asked, but just by giving him a reasonable deadline of sorts maybe. Anyway, it's all moot as SZ doesn't even want to be on these rankings anymore even before you all decided to remove him. I don't even know why I'm still arguing here to be honest.

^to the post above, of course I agree evidence has to be produced before we can resolve this at some point. But before that, at least some degree of caution is in order before jumping the gun wouldn't you agree?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Grav on August 22, 2018, 10:49:31 am
Here is the crux of it all:

SZ's times were accepted onto the rankings at the time he submitted them based entirely off trust. That was the standard everyone was held to back then. No videos needed, nothing else. He has now violated the trust of the moderators, whether you think it's warranted or not. He is being judged by the very same standards that his times were accepted with. That is the cost of getting grandfathered in for free.

Players today are accepted onto the rankings based off proof videos almost exclusively, a more objective standard. That is the standard we are all now held to. Removal of a time accepted under this standard entails a violation of proof videos or an extreme violation of trust. An untrustworthy person is MORE likely to stay on the rankings if they have videos because they have a stronger foundation behind their times. If Ace or Marc or Clemens started acting very strange and made it seem like they are not being honest about everything, there is still a higher threshold of standard violation they have to meet before being removed because they are all (mostly) proven players. In this case, it would almost certainly require a smoking gun of a splice being found, which is precisely the way it should be for players of higher reputation.

So Shadow, I do agree with you in that we need a smoking gun... but only for players who are already proven. The higher the acceptance threshold is, the higher the removal threshold is.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 22, 2018, 10:52:57 am


The grandfathering principle should be applied here to some extent if you ask me though (he was active in a time when video proof was hard to come by).

To clarify, this is incorrect. In 2002 video proof was not hard to come by. Every top player was taping runs and every household had a VCR. Hell, VCRs were even dirt cheap in 2002 because of DVD's coming out. As someone who was an active player in 2000 and beyond I can assure you that those who wanted to tape runs and produce videos never had issues. At worst, video distribution was delayed, as methods of recording were abundant at the time and many players accepted VCR tapes (in fact they were demanding them) so that they could upload them on behalf of other players.

Steven actively refused to make videos or record runs. Please read his post history, he was regularly pressed to create videos but always refused and pushed back. It was a conscious effort on his part to produce no evidence.

Example: https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=7176.msg16287#msg16287 - A funny irony is that in this topic Steven states that Tim is legit. Tim would then go on to lie about many PD times and get banned  :nesquik:
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: KVD on August 22, 2018, 11:02:46 am
Fair enough, maybe I should have said 'harder' rather than hard.
In the beginning of my SMK career (2003) I had one method to record my performances (webcam) and it has happened that this one method failed to work (for example, PC harddisk crash --> waiting for parent's PC to be replaced). So a single point of failure proof system was more common let's say. Nowadays everyone at least has cellphones that can record, etc.

Also VCR recording of gaming footage wasn't THAT easy to set-up if I remember correctly. Not every old CRT TV even facilitated it (or maybe I was just a complete techmonology noob back then, the details escape me tbh :P).

It wasn't only harder, it was more about the climate not requiring it for every run too. That's again not an excuse to grandfather a green check, just an excuse for a slightly longer frozen period (if we're going by MK proof standards let's say). Again I feel like Im arguing a moot point though, SZ can and should fight his own fights if he wants to.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 22, 2018, 11:16:34 am
I used to play through a very old (wooden frame) TV which only had a coaxial input. All of the VCRs I've ever encountered had RCA inputs so you could record gameplay at least. If you had a super old TV you'd need a different cable to go to your TV. I'm not sure what problem you had specifically but I don't recall any players having trouble with VCR recording.

The biggest hurdle at the time was getting something onto a PC, which is what most people had issues with. But there were plenty of people willing to offer that service. Steven also had many players in close proximity that would do this as well. So especially in his case it was very easy to record something and give to the them to upload.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 22, 2018, 12:02:30 pm
Looking through some of Steven's old posts, I see he says he taped several, including Runway 23. Tim Greneby supposedly had the tape? I'd be interested in hearing from Wouter or Matthijis Ten Ham (better than Nine Hams!) but it may not be accurate to say he never proved a single PB. Tons have been lost over the years, as Axel has attested to repeatedly.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Blue Khakis on August 22, 2018, 12:13:31 pm
Isn't this type of situation why Proof Calls and "ATTN" threads exist? Specifically because extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Imagine if when he got caught, Henning said "well, if you enter the boat at a certain angle, it modfies the weapon Bond puts away in the Frigate cutscene", this would correctly be met with incredulity, and people would obviously want a demonstration. But he could have said 'Elite guidelines require video proof, I adhered to the standards of proof of the time, just because I did something you can't replicate, that's not my problem'.

Imagine further if Henrik conclusively proved that the angle of entering the boat could not possibly affect the weapon in the end cutscene, would that just mean that it hasn't been proved yet, and we should keep Henning's time up?

Andrew Kent repeatedly failed to respond to requests for proof and, as a result, he was removed. I think that's a pretty good system tbh, when the council has serious reservations about the validity of a time, and all reasonable avenues of contacting the person have been exhausted, there should be a designated period to provide proof, after which a removal takes place (with the possibility of reinstatement if they respond after the period).
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: DYM on August 22, 2018, 12:15:58 pm
His claims (https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=3463.msg7370#msg7370) of Invest SA 2:19.83 and CI SA 1:40.77 both rounding up add to his bogus credibility of lack thereof in my opinion. Of course, neither of those records were proven either. Then he claims a game freeze on an Infiltration Agent WR (untied?) and expects sympathy from players rather than proving his records. Just a very strange attitude overall.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on August 22, 2018, 12:29:18 pm
If you're interested, this is what Michael Liem(a guy who was very important in the staff of mk64 and who knew Steven for a long time) said when asked by several people why Steven's vids are not online in the infamous "Zwartjes LR" topic. (Ignore the part about Bukrim as he was found cheating in SM64 later obviously)

Quote
To Fried:

Quote:
he mailed some tapes of his scores in other games to a few people, but I wouldn't consider that sufficient enough for him to be one of the most trusted gamers ever.  The first person to come to mind when you talk about good proof reputation would probably be Bukrim.  With him I've found that you don't even have to ask if he has a vid of one of his times or scores, you just know he has it, is willing to send it to you, and doesn't hide strats.


Ok, in a situation with currently active players, that'd be right.
However, you need to keep in mind that Steven is from a different era. During most of the time he was active, almost no one was able to transfer videos to a computer. At the start of his career even the idea of putting nintendo runs on a VHS tape and sending them to other people was quite rare. Most people just relied on trust and screenshots.

This made video game validation a bit different from now. New records could never be proven directly after getting them. You'd need to trust the player for several months, until he sends a videotape to a trustworthy webmaster. And even then you need to rely on the word of the webmaster. When someone has proven himself one or more times, he'll just get a good reputation. People were generally thankful that so many people were reliable enough to make an online video competition like this possible.

In the current MKDD competition with instant video uploading, it's often the other way around. People don't use the word trust/reputation anymore. They just use the principle: "PR with online video" = "true PR" / "PR without online video" = "possibly fake time and probably hoarded strat", no matter if the player is trusted or not. Proof reputation and trust just isn't a big issue anymore to some players (which i find very unfortunate).

What you say about Bukrim now, is what gamers from 1997-1999 would say about Zwartjes. Steven was very often online to discuss and share all his strats. He actively contacted his fellow gamers to talk about strats. He posted strategy guides on Iacopo's site. He actively sent out tons of VHS tapes to the webmasters, and also to many other players he wasn't even required to send his proof to. He just did that because he wanted to show his strats to other people. And the live-witnessing by REX and Iacopo (the most important gamers/webmasters in Europe back then) made his reputation as good as possible, since that competely ruled out any possible form of vid faking (subtle gamesharking / vid editing, illegal controllers, faking your identity).

I asked Rene Elsaesser aka REX the webmaster of Mario Kart 64 PAL and some Goldeneye rankings(the games we want to see proof for the most) about some of those tapes. He said he had received tapes from him containing MK64 and GE runs but didn't have the technology to put them online, he unfortunately threw them away ages ago when his last vcr broke, as he didn't expect anyone to ever want to see them again. Based on this and other several hints i found(which will all be included later in my post), i'm pretty certain that there were tapes from Steven who were never put online. 

I think i know what post you're talking about in which Steven said it took an hour for him to get it to work. I have seen that before but i took it as "i played an 1 hour session trying to get a time and got a 2:03 on 00 Agent", not necessarily that he only tried playing it for an hour to get it to work. He did post earlier that he pulled the trick off, but that the odds are about 1%, which is consistent with all the stuff he posted later and what he said to me this year. Again, i'm not saying the strat is real, i don't know for certain.

As for Luigi Raceway, before his proven 1'58"65 on LR, his best record there was 1'59"16. It's nothing compared to going from 1'58"65 to 1'58"14, but one could say that that is an outlier and breaks reality as well, but this record had proof. He already had very good splits for LR before 2003, but was never consistent with them and didn't want to settle for a little pr, he specifically wanted to a run that is close to his potential.


Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Jimbo on August 22, 2018, 03:41:44 pm
Forgotten in this topic, much like Karl mentioning SZ's Control 00A 4:25, was SZ's Aztec 00A 2:33 jaws-strat PR which of course had no proof video. The fastest proven time was Paragon's 2:38 (by far his most notable GE contribution, btw). In addition to Steven's 1:31 Agent, he'd also claim Aztec 00A 2:03 well after the glass strat was introduced. Wouter would get close with 2:07, and myself with 2:09, but of course no proof video ever existed for 2:03.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Lark on August 22, 2018, 04:08:09 pm
What exposes him is his tendency to claim PR's that are slightly above what was deemed possible at the time he posted them. This makes him look suspicious and he has a pattern of doing this.

It's clear he's just a liar.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Smit on August 22, 2018, 05:28:06 pm
Not that this will have any affect on this decision but I witnessed the 17 Archives UWR when he got it at my house.

Sorry to hear this decision has gone through.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 22, 2018, 07:20:40 pm
He was also, as far as I know, the first to come up with the grenade strategy on Runway and quite likely the first to get the glass open on Aztec. Talking about both these before others duplicated it lends credibility doesn't it? Did any on the council talk to those who witnessed him play personally or see some of his taped runs?

Calling someone a liar is serious.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on August 22, 2018, 07:41:25 pm
Shadow as far as the Aztec strat goes thats simply not true. For one it was an ongoing discussion about trying to get the glass open. No one figured out a way until Boss showed up but it was something that many tried to figure out

And lets not also forget that Steven didnt post the record or even discuss that he figured out a way until he bragged and someone else posted that he got 1:31. Then the I wont post it until someone does it bullcrap.

If theres one thing thats possible its that steven did the same glass strat we all know and then claimed it was one guard instead of two by mistake or some nonsense then when boss showed up he couldnt correct himself or it would look like he was just saying it to be first so he lied the whole time. I dont believe this is the case at all but could see something like that happen

Additionally just because someone is good at the game it doesnt prove they arent lying/cheating. Look at Henning he definitely was skilled and considered highly credible but cheated on a large portion of his page.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: mw on August 22, 2018, 07:58:07 pm
Not that this will have any affect on this decision but I witnessed the 17 Archives UWR when he got it at my house.

No one is claiming that SZ was completely unskilled at the game or that he never got any real UWRs. As was stated by Karl, Henning was undoubtedly an amazingly skilled player who chose to lie and splice videos anyway because he felt he could get away with it. The council determined that Steven's track record was bad enough to cast doubt over all of his times, and he should be removed entirely.

He was also, as far as I know, the first to come up with the grenade strategy on Runway and quite likely the first to get the glass open on Aztec. Talking about both these before others duplicated it lends credibility doesn't it? Did any on the council talk to those who witnessed him play personally or see some of his taped runs?

I think it's a bit naive to still believe that he actually ever got the Aztec glass opened using his strategy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe he claimed 1:31 with a strat that he refused to reveal, and then only after Boss discovered the glass open did Steven claim his own glass open strategy, and even with that 1:31 would have been an incredible record for the time. Steven's claimed method for the glass open has been categorically debunked many times over the last 15 years, and given every single thing we know about the game's code is impossible. Never has anyone been able to come close to success with the single guard method. And now, while trying to provide "proof" of his strategy working, Steven uploads a video of himself using a no-clip gameshark code (which has been thoroughly proven to be the case), and for what reason? Seems strange to be monkeying around with a gameshark if he was already too busy to play Aztec for the "10 hours" the strategy requires of him.

For the questions about "credibility" and witnessing him play, see my response to Eise. To the final question, I have personally watched every bit of recorded gameplay from Steven, and actually compiled it into a Youtube playlist (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbRi6_7HkUU&list=PLJp8LmqzQ4q5_alSa4qeSLMnNeux3qmZv), even uploading extra footage captured by Axel Z for anyone who wants to watch. There is no doubt that Steven was very talented, especially in Star Fox 64, and was probably a very good GE player for the time. Again, Steven has been proven, and I don't use that lightly, to be a liar, and doesn't deserve a place on the rankings in my opinion.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 22, 2018, 08:03:56 pm
So since his times were removed does his original times from 98 not cpunt? So does that mean like sterling or somebody else from that time with the next fastest record just gain a bunch of uwr? Just curious bc looking back at the records from 7/26/98 his times are still listed.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on August 22, 2018, 08:04:49 pm
@Shadow There's still some more people who i did not contact yet. Matthijs ten Ham for one seems reachable. He's a proof mod back then that often saw Steven play, vouched for him and said he saw the 1:31 and 2:03 Aztec endscreens (not that that's going to help the cause for these times)

Another guy who might be worth talking to is a dutch karter who was fairly high level back in the day named Lars Nouwen(also seems reachable) was friends with Steven and saw him play. He once spend an entire day karting with him in which Steven played a lot of Luigi Raceway and Sherbet Land. After that, Steven kept playing kart some more until he got his alleged 1'58"14 LR 3lap. Lars then posted it on the forums and vouched for his record, saying that he saw him drive crazy splits that matched up with the ones in the 1'58"14. This is interesting, because Lars was a proven/reliable guy, this is either an indicator of the run being true or he decided to support Steven's cheating for some reason.

Michael Liem i already mentioned before, he played a lot with Steven and knew him for a long time. I tried to find him but couldn't anywhere.

The alleged one guard strat was also already posted on the forums months before Boss was around. Problem is of course that he never got it on vid and nobody has ever managed to duplicate it, whether it's emulator or console. The strat(if it works) would be several seconds faster than the currently used WR strat, so a 1:31 might not have been so strong necessarily.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on August 22, 2018, 08:32:01 pm
Many people vouched for Henning, some of the greatest Goldeneye players put there refused to believe he cheated. Vouching for someone means nothing if you didnt see the actual run
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Grav on August 22, 2018, 08:34:59 pm
I will literally never understand people who argue a player's skill level being high is somehow evidence in itself that they didn't or wouldn't cheat, when 99% of caught cheaters in speedrunning as a whole are skilled/top players.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Icy on August 22, 2018, 08:40:29 pm
Being highly skilled and lying/cheating are not mutually exclusive.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on August 22, 2018, 08:55:13 pm
I'm not saying he didn't cheat, to be clear. I'm just saying that it might be worth talking to the people that vouched for him to get there 2 cents.

I agree with him not being on the rankings, i don't have any issue with that.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 22, 2018, 09:07:09 pm
I dont have a problem with any of his proven times being on the ranks. And I dont have a problem with any future proven times being on the ranks. Hell, Ill even give him back his aztec times if he demonstrates on video the impossible strat he described previously.

This is another case where he had lied too many times for any unproven times to remain.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 22, 2018, 09:12:38 pm
Being highly skilled and lying/cheating are not mutually exclusive.
I will literally never understand people who argue a player's skill level being high is somehow evidence in itself that they didn't or wouldn't cheat, when 99% of caught cheaters in speedrunning as a whole are skilled/top players.

C'mon people. I'm not saying that. But when Lark says "It's clear he's just a liar" or Karl says "he had lied too many times", that is not an objectively true statement. Maybe they were exaggerating but when I post evidence to the contrary, in no way do I imply that a good player cannot be a liar. There are so many inferences going on in this thread it's silly. My job as an engineer/researcher requires me to treat every assumption with skepticism and question every bias. That does not mean that when I question an assumption, I am making the opposite. I am merely trying to give alternative possibilities/evidence.

And what Eise said also confirms that Karl's statement for Zwartjes never providing proof for any PB is just plain false.

Thanks Dugg. I feel like people are basing their decision off of 5% of the surviving data and it would be nice to collect some more points.

Also, for those interested, this old thread on the Aztec trick is worth a re-read.
https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=8497.msg112336
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SGT RAGEQUIT on August 22, 2018, 09:20:52 pm
mate not for nothing, but like 80% of the elite are programmers or engineers too, don't come in here with the bullshit 'muh analysis'
kind of hard to defend the dude that comes in, can't give any proof of something that's been proven impossible (or at least highly implausible), then resorts to ad-hominem when called out on it - but by god, some of you are really trying
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 22, 2018, 09:21:31 pm
I dont exaggerate. It is just that you dont believe Henrik when he says the strategy is impossible. You are willing to believe a claim without proof, but unwilling to believe a claim with mountains of evidence and something that can be proven.

Also anecdotel evidence is not proof last time I checked.

Now you’re claiming that we are wrong even though all the evidence matches what we say.

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 22, 2018, 09:41:01 pm
I dont exaggerate. It is just that you dont believe Henrik when he says the strategy is impossible. You are willing to believe a claim without proof, but unwilling to believe a claim with mountains of evidence and something that can be proven.

Also anecdotel evidence is not proof last time I checked.

A record witnessed by other Eliters was definitely considered proof at the time, as you very well know.

I am not willing to believe a claim without proof. But I am certainly unwilling to disbelieve it with the evidence that has been presented so far. There is a difference, no matter how much you try to put me into a specific box. There has been too little objective presentation of the evidence, it has been fraught with bias. And I'm not the only one who sees this, I've had multiple PMs from people who agree and think this was premature. But speaking up isn't well-received for the most part.

I believe Henrik, insofar as Henrik's understanding of Steven's strat is accurate. Do you allow that Henrik could be wrong, or might not understand the strat simply because it hasn't been explained well enough? He could be 100% confident and yet there is a <1 chance he is infallible...I hesitate to question it but it's a piece of evidence that plays largely in this.

Tyler, I make no claim to brilliant analysis or saying I'm better, merely informing why I ask the things I do, which few seem to get, because I'm constantly accused of positions I don't hold. I am not defending Zwartjes, I am questioning the evidence leading to the verdict. So many of you have convinced yourselves of one option that you can't see any other. And it may be the right verdict! Keep that in mind! I believe it may be the right verdict!
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 22, 2018, 09:52:14 pm
Whether it was the right decision or not he asked for his times to be removed from the rankings anyways which is within his right so if that's what he wanted anyways why not honor the request?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 22, 2018, 09:53:21 pm
A witnessed time was never proof. Witnessed times were accepted without proof, they werent proven.

Im going to drop this now. What you say ends up being nonsense because you dont understand how the rankings work on a fundamental level. You say you arent arguing the opposite, but arguing that a time should be on the ranks without evidence is literally arguing that you believe the time happened. Unproven times remain on the ranks because we believe they happened, not because we cant prove they didnt happen.

Im glad this ancient, antiquited way of thinking died out.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flukey lukey on August 22, 2018, 09:53:34 pm
Out of all the legendary old school gamers notorious for not recording and properly proving their greatest accomplishments, SZ stands out as having close to 0 tangible evidence of ever having played video games at all.

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AZ on August 23, 2018, 05:04:53 am
Zwartjes' proven times from 1998 should stay in my opinion, possibly Archives 17 too. While 17 wasn't proven, it was witnessed by none other than Eise Smit. Zwartjes should be credited for being one of the earliest speedrunners GE had. Again, it's really sad to see his proven times go.

I fail to see what's wrong with his proven times, especially since they were done long before Steven's 1:31 claim on Aztec. Why for instance is it more justified to remove all Zwartjes' times - especially his provens - but not backroll others that never had proof in the first place? Greneby was mentioned earlier, a banned PD player, and his Train 00A 2:13 was a huge deal (4 sec untied) back then and was never proven either. I could list more examples. Other liars/players that failed to provide proof in the past such as Snowblind and Shock and Carnski and Shade were either banned from a league or had all their times backrolled to their proven times - all wise and fair decisions. And if Zwartjes has been compulsively lying about times he did not provide proof for, he should be treated and punished the same way other cheaters were before him. That is, as the community at large can't trust him, all his times must be proven by video and verified by mods before going up on the ranks.

I am of the opinion that his proven times should be ranked.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 23, 2018, 05:13:04 am
I never said the strat was impossible, only that it would be completely unrelated to current strats. With that said though, I can't say that unicorns don't exist either, but does that mean we should believe in them? Of course not. Why? Because no one has ever seen one or proven that one exists. The same argument can be applied in this case. Boss said it well in Discord:

"I find it insane that not a single person in the last 16 years has pulled it off"

That was the main argument when this all started and remains so now. Since then we've seen a video of Steven attempting the strat, which for the first time showed that he did nothing out of the ordinary. Are we supposed to keep waiting forever for some evidence of this strat working or is 16 years enough?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Jimbo on August 23, 2018, 07:19:59 am
Let's put up Henning's proven times too, same logic. Didn't he also get Caverns 00A 1:33 at the Sweden meet right in front of Clemens?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flukey lukey on August 23, 2018, 07:52:38 am
^ Live Splice  (they were all* out eating meatballs)

 *when the splice took place

**when heNning swapped the VHS cables

***when the tape got put in a switched on!
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 23, 2018, 08:13:34 am
Quote
Edit: I tried forcing the sidestep/sidehop/running sideways animations and as I suspected, the game checks for obstacles (such as the glass door) and will always chose a direction that leads away from it. So as long as the guard is close enough to the glass, he won't step/hop/run towards it.

This is your quote Henrik. Steven's strat relied on the guard running to the glass door and opening it (once you shoot near the guard). You've stated here that the game will never allow this to happen due to the way the game checks for obstacles.

Ergo, the strat is impossible.

Quote
Just to clarify, it's impossible according to our current understanding of how glass openings work.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 23, 2018, 08:38:47 am
I need to play 10 hours straight to get something decent to work. My skilllevel dropped, the desire to play 10 hours straight

@stefankok

Steven is claiming he needs to play 10 hours 'straight' to get his strat to work. It's a fake excuse as to why he can't replicate it. I was pointing out that in the past he got it to work in 1 hour. There is no mechanical or logical reason why he would need to play '10 hours straight' in order to replicate his proposed strategy. Also his 'skill level' has nothing to do with anything. You don't need any skill to get the glass opening strategy to work. You can use any cheat you want to get into position and get the set up you want. All he needs to do is a proof of concept for the strat he laid out previously.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: OHMSS on August 23, 2018, 08:43:37 am
Whether it was the right decision or not he asked for his times to be removed from the rankings anyways which is within his right so if that's what he wanted anyways why not honor the request?

A rule was established that forbids ragequits because a couple happened in the past and fucked up the rankings. The proof policy (https://rankings.the-elite.net/proof)  says "Any video submitted will remain on the rankings permanently, regardless of removal by the player", but this addresses proven times. An unproven and unreliable ancient fellow is a special case I guess.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 23, 2018, 09:29:05 am
A witnessed time was never proof. Witnessed times were accepted without proof, they werent proven.

"Never" is such a strong word. Allow me to introduce you to what Ancient Karl said on the matter, likely shortly before getting a capture card.   :kappa:

https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=6902.msg30792#msg30792
Quote from: Botched Movie Quotes
I've proved my skill over at michael coes house and showed him my times that's proof enough.

https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=7234.msg13926#msg13926
Quote from: Botched Movie Quotes
Just as long as someone else from the Elite can verify your times that is considered proof enough. It would be stupid if you had to put it on the net as not every has a capture card.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 23, 2018, 09:30:58 am
For history's sake, this is what Disco said Zwartjes told him about the strat:

"Zwartjes's strat was even weirder:

same first two rooms, kill everyone in black room.  lean up against the glass facing the mainframe.  position yourself on the glass in between two sheets of glass (the two lines running up and down that you can clearly see).  use the line on the right when you enter the room.  now, shoot to activate the guard behind the mainframe while turning to face the glass. instantly leave and run to the console place.  this should activate the guard to run up the line going up and down on the glass. he should also be facing it.  now pop out and shoot a bunch of bullets above his head.  since he's in one of two (supposed) places that he can open the window, he we'll have been activated to do so in craziness.  That's his supposed strat.  He told it to me."

https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=8378.msg133027#msg133027

And another with Steven's own earlier description:

"people were asking why u should keep moving after u have shot next to the guard to attract him.
u have to know the game a bit more for that.
here is how the game works.
U should near guard he will run to u.
now he doesn't see u so he runs to spot where u last shot (this is how we first completed runway LTK without getting hit!!!).
Now u hide so guard goes to spot where u last shot.
but guard is clever...if u are a bit near him and u are standing still...his radar tells him where u are. But if u keep moving (without letting him see u) his radar will fail and he will walk to the spoty where u last shot.
Now peek out and shoot above his head. When he is positioned in the right place he will open glassdoor then turn around and shoot u."

https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=8497.msg117083#msg117083
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 23, 2018, 09:41:58 am
Removing post here because it is not worth it. Reasonable people see this situation for what it is.

Not going to get sucked in trying to move an immovable object.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 23, 2018, 10:00:34 am
Stunned that you think that's even a reasonable explanation.

A witnessed run was "never proof" but was "proof enough"? Mkay. Right. Whatever, I'm content with the admission that witnessed times were considered "proof enough" at the time, which was my original point so what's yours?

Also, I'm trying hard to not join you in the ad hominems and insults, but boy is it difficult to resist.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AZ on August 23, 2018, 10:35:08 am
The difference between Henning's Cav 00A 1:33 and Zwartjes' proven records from 1998 is that Henning did all the splicing before he got/claimed Cav 1:33 on a meeting (and probably after the meeting too). I'm not even fighting for Archives 17 to be up since it has no video. However, having Zwartjes' proven times up vs Henning's "proven" times up is not the same logic and I'm sorry that my arguments get twisted and deliberately misinterpreted and that you choose to draw the wrong conclusions from fair, reasonable and objective standpoints/questions. Henning, for instance, was never banned from PD despite him doing much worse things than Zwartjes i.e. faking videos. I'm asking why Zwartjes' proven times also were removed? It even contradicts the policy. Shouldn't he be treated like all the other cheaters before him?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 23, 2018, 10:46:07 am
Henrik, Stefan, Grav, Eise, Dugg, Axel, thanks for trying to add perspectives to the discussion. More support for a specific decision and more discussion about alternatives is always a good thing and I appreciate your efforts and patience, particularly toward me.

My mind is not made up, so being called unreasonable and immovable seems strange to me. Stubborn, yes, but it seems like it would be the other way around.

Despite all the heat without light, more clarification has been gained around the situation, misinformation and misunderstanding has been corrected, and exaggerations have been exposed. That's progress! I don't think everyone chiming in fully understands how the Elite operated back in those days, what proof existed, nor what Steven was like (for better or worse)  so hopefully some of that will fall out in the wash. I do hope more evidence comes out one way or the other, because like Axel, I have major concerns with this situation. One of which is that the Council has no repercussions for a false negative---there's little to no skin in the game; and the possibility that valid and crucial history could be lost doesn't seem to weigh as heavily as some others (me included) think it should.

I just wish other alternatives, like a filter for vetted rankings, even enabled by default, could be explored rather than going down this road we keep going down. Peace, and I hope that fruitful discussion continues.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 23, 2018, 11:06:33 am
The difference between Henning's Cav 00A 1:33 and Zwartjes' proven records from 1998 is that Henning did all the splicing before he got/claimed Cav 1:33 on a meeting (and probably after the meeting too). I'm not even fighting for Archives 17 to be up since it has no video. However, having Zwartjes' proven times up vs Henning's "proven" times up is not the same logic and I'm sorry that my arguments get twisted and deliberately misinterpreted and that you choose to draw the wrong conclusions from fair, reasonable and objective standpoints/questions. Henning, for instance, was never banned from PD despite him doing much worse things than Zwartjes i.e. faking videos. I'm asking why Zwartjes' proven times also were removed? It even contradicts the policy. Shouldn't he be treated like all the other cheaters before him?

Steven had no linked videos on his page or his PR history, so there was no proven times to backroll to. I don't think Steven is 'banned' and I don't think there would be a problem with any proven times being on the ranks. I will raise with the council to try to get this to happen.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 23, 2018, 12:17:14 pm
Quote
Edit: I tried forcing the sidestep/sidehop/running sideways animations and as I suspected, the game checks for obstacles (such as the glass door) and will always chose a direction that leads away from it. So as long as the guard is close enough to the glass, he won't step/hop/run towards it.

This is your quote Henrik. Steven's strat relied on the guard running to the glass door and opening it (once you shoot near the guard). You've stated here that the game will never allow this to happen due to the way the game checks for obstacles.

Ergo, the strat is impossible.

Quote
Just to clarify, it's impossible according to our current understanding of how glass openings work.

Yeah my point was simply that my tests don't exclude all conceivable ways the glass could open, only those based on those specific random animations. He can for example turn around in a half circle before any animation (and for which there's no obstacle check), which I did test alot without success but cant prove is impossible to get a glass opening with. And the second quote is what I tried to reiterate in my last post ("our current understanding" being a 2-guard strat which requires an obstacle, i.e. a 1-guard strat would be a separate category with a completely different theory/understanding).
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on August 23, 2018, 02:12:20 pm
Henrik, say it didn't have to do with the  animations or whatever Steven described is there any other circumstance you could imagine that would allow a single guard to open the door? Say with a cheatcode enabled even?

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Time was untied when set. on August 23, 2018, 02:22:16 pm
Henning 133 was when we were all eating in the kitchen oddly enough. So none of us saw it live.
He did apparently get a cradle 34 in front if Axel  at an earlier meet though
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 23, 2018, 02:33:57 pm
You can easily get the door open with 1 guard and invisibility on just by shooting the glass while standing next to it if a guard alreasy detects you but this is completely useless without invis.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 23, 2018, 02:45:10 pm
Invis is the same thing as a 2 guard strat except Bond acts as the second guard. The only way I've seen 1 guard open it was with hacking the guards target position to be inside the glass.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on August 23, 2018, 03:56:05 pm
Shadow's comments throughout this thread are right on the money. Particularly I'd agree wholeheartedly with

Quote
I am not defending Zwartjes, I am questioning the evidence leading to the verdict. So many of you have convinced yourselves of one option that you can't see any other. And it may be the right verdict! Keep that in mind! I believe it may be the right verdict!


As a new player (I just unlocked Aztec on my personal file on my cart yesterday :smirk: :v ) I'm not overly interested in whether SZ is a cheater or not, but I am interested in the (potential) strat.

I'd like to make it clear that the game mechanics at a low level are not very well understood, i.e. how guards circle around objects / other guards, how pausing / large lag affects guards, swiss' train clip etc. (JORIS's obscure happening (https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=861.msg455308#msg455308) particularly interests me). Indeed even the real cause of lag & lookdown (https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=18518.msg450020#msg450020) is not truely understood (though Henrik's detailed investigations are probably sufficient for all speedrunning purposes). 'We' have very little actual source code of the game available, though the structure of the ROM and location of this source code seems to be really well understood which is pretty encouraging.

I personally think the strat* exists, atleast in TAS (with experience comes qualifiers), independent of whether SZ did it or not.. though it's probably not got a lot on the crouch strat. I reject all the "someone would have done it by now if it was possible"-esque arguments. GE's subtleties need to be understood before they can be used: Imagine trying to get through the bars of frigate without causing lag.

* by 'the strat' I mean something along the lines of
get 1 guard by the glass + [redacted] => glass opens, where redacted involves shooting, like SZ's description here (https://forums.the-elite.net/index.php?topic=8497.msg117083#msg117083)
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AZ on August 23, 2018, 04:05:50 pm
If memory serves right (it's been over 10 years since the meet), me and Patrik were in the same room the moment Henning got Cradle 34. We were all playing simultaneously. The other guys were in the same basement but doing other stuff. I think I missed the first part of the run but I remember seeing the ending with Trev kill and all and also of course the end screen. The other runs he got was Bunker 2 24 and Runway 38. Bunker 2 24 was achieved in front of Axel A and ShadowZero I believe, perhaps Illu saw it too. This is all irrelevant recollections though.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on August 23, 2018, 04:20:31 pm
@Whiteded

Do you think you could replicate the strategy even in TAS? If so how?

It seems strange that he was able to replicate it regularly but never in front of anyone or on video. The excuses provided in this thread don't really make sense. No one asked for a world record time they asked for a demonstration. If he has the knowledge to do it then how quickly it happens is  irrelevant yet that didn't happen. We're getting different strategies and gameshark videos. Doesn't give anyone a lot of confidence. When questioned he goes on the offensive, I could care less one way or another but the behavior seems to be spot on with someone who lies. He could make a fool of half of the people here by making a legit video of the strategy and everyone would give him props but instead we get the I dont have time excuse and I dont need to prove anything which is funnily enough the very thing he went through all of this trouble for in the first place
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 24, 2018, 01:59:14 am
I'm surprised no one has pointed this out yet but Steven's strat is actually considerably slower than the current 2 guard strat.

The main time loss happens because he has to pause after the glass opens, instead of pausing while waiting for the guards to open it. So he immediately loses 4 seconds because of this.

Compared with the current 2 guard strat he closes the mainframe before going to the glass about 3 seconds faster. When he gets to the glass he has to aim and shoot to alert this guard. He loses time here not only because he has to aim for the shoot but also because the animations using the 2 guard strategy finish quite a bit earlier than you can achieve by getting to the glass and shooting (hopefully that makes sense). This means with the 2 guard strat the guards are running into position earlier (and you spend less time at the glass). Approximate time loss 2 seconds?

The following bit is based on optimal timing, which would be extremely difficult to achieve. With the current strat the guards open the glass when they get into position so there is no timing involved. But with Steven's strat you have to start the next process as soon as the guard gets into position or you're bleeding time. Any hesitation will be absolute time loss. Now, once the guard gets into position he has to move from his current location (in the corner) to where he can shoot near the guard, another 1 second lost + time to aim and shoot. Once he has shot he then has to pause which costs 4 seconds. You'll notice in the demonstration video before pausing steven ducks back behind the wall, this is because if you pause immediately after shooting the guard will hammer you. So there is extra time lost here before pausing.

Please correct me if you have more concrete calculations but it seems like Steven's strategy is at theoretical best at least 5 seconds slower than the 2 guards strategy. That's if you use TAS like timing, aiming, and execution. Further more, the end strategies used at the time were sub optimal so he would have bled some time there.

This makes 1:31 far better than the 1:26 Clemens achieved in 2010. Please correct me if I missed something.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 24, 2018, 03:21:15 am
Good point ^^

I was thinking about the late pause myself, it's a big factor since there would've been no quickpauses involved, so there's definitely a chance it'd end up much slower. If there was a way to hack a ROM to get the glass opened then maybe we could test it and see how difficult 1:31 would've been (though that could also be misleading since we'd likely gain time everywhere from better movement).

Quote
Compared with the current 2 guard strat he closes the mainframe before going to the glass about 3 seconds faster.

Did he mention if he closed it himself or if it was already closed?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 24, 2018, 03:39:28 am
The strategy he described previously was showing himself to that guard (instead of shooting through the closed mainframe) which required the mainframe to be open. This old strat was even slower than the new one he posted in the recent vid (shooting through mainframe).

I used the vid he posted of his strat...

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AZ on August 24, 2018, 04:40:12 am
Steven had no linked videos on his page or his PR history, so there was no proven times to backroll to. I don't think Steven is 'banned' and I don't think there would be a problem with any proven times being on the ranks. I will raise with the council to try to get this to happen.

Thanks Karl.

I suggest the following:

- Add Zwartjes' proven times to the rankings (including Facility 00A 5:51 :kappa:)
- Credit Zwartjes for the proven 1998 records on the WR database. This only comes down to one: Facility A 0:55.
- Grant him the WR Holder and Above the Rest-achievement. Possibly grant him the Top 100, Top 50, Top 25-achievements too, maybe Top 10 as well (since no one but him and a few others had joined/played competitively in 1998), but deciding what achievements he should be granted is indeed arbitrary and a very delicate matter.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flukey lukey on August 24, 2018, 05:08:30 am
where can i buy the rights to this script to turn it into a TV show
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Retrix on August 24, 2018, 06:37:01 am
This is definitely going too far. Threatening to make a Todd Rogers video of SZ really amounts to slander (or sensationalism). You guys and your mob mentality are being absolutely horrible to Zwartjes.

Someone's gotta speak up. I'm taking one for the team. Come at me, not SZ.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Fishslice on August 24, 2018, 08:17:05 am
I completely agree.

This horrible, toxic little community is the reason I gave up playing this game. I really don't get why Goose has gone after SZ in quite this fashion but he's really shown himself up as a petty little prick. He's also tried to spread this slanderous nonsense to the MK boards, although thankfully most of them have the sense to ignore him.

I'm done with this board now, I just wanted to say how disgusted I am with what this place has become in the last few years. So disappointing.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 24, 2018, 09:18:48 am
This is definitely going too far. Threatening to make a Todd Rogers video of SZ really amounts to slander (or sensationalism). You guys and your mob mentality are being absolutely horrible to Zwartjes.

Out of curiosity, do you think Apollo Legend's videos on Todd Rodgers/Billy Mitchell went too far and if not, why? Where exactly do you draw the line? Also Goose frequently talks about cheaters in speedrunning, e.g. Henning and most recently Anti in GTA, do you disagree with that as well?

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 24, 2018, 09:56:14 am
Did he mention if he closed it himself or if it was already closed?

According to Disco's description of what Zwartjes told him (quoted above), it sounds like it was already closed to me.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 24, 2018, 10:04:03 am
Quote
You are luring the wrong guy  Wink
u have to lure the one that is standing next to the gate that is opening and closing not the one in the back.
when u lure him closing the gate right after that he should be slow and open it some later.
at that time u are already standing next to the glass that has to open. SHoot some bullets now and hide in the place behind the wall near the mainframe.
Now he has to open the door for you.
chances are so small he is doing that because sometimes he even comes running straight to you
but it is possible after u have tried 10 hours u know it is

Quote
All guys gone except the one behind the mainframe door.strafe to him.show yourself and by doing this let the door rise.he should be slow and open it some later again.back up and get in the place next to the glassdoor.shoot a few bullets on the door where guy comes out. (dont hit him  Wink)
the bullets make an indication for the computer to the place u have been the last (while shooting).
the place u shoot last is the place where the enemy will try to find u IF he did not have eye contact with u and follows the noise.

(I made loads of advantage of this in the early LTK days  Smiley like runway the guys keep appearing if u kill them, the trick is to lure them with a shot and then hide.
the guard will walk to the place u took your shot.of course u where shooting near a wall so the guy stands there stupidly with his face towards the wall  Grin) Do this with all guards and u have a safe walk to the plane Smiley)

Anyways back to Aztec:
the moment the door is about to go down (this is about right after u took your shot) hide quickly in the spot near the mainframe. the guard walks to the glassdoor and should open it immediately.
this is where it gets fucked up because there is only guard who is willing to do it instead of the 3 guards in the strat u guys all use thus chances are absurdly low for it to happen.but if u have patience it will happen.

Steven made two descriptions of his strategy himself which noted that the mainframe door was open. The second-hand description from Disco does not mention if the door is open or closed at all, and of course, doesn't come from Steven.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: OHMSS on August 24, 2018, 10:16:35 am
I'm done with this board now, I just wanted to say how disgusted I am with what this place has become in the last few years. So disappointing.

Posts: 1
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: _ on August 24, 2018, 10:40:42 am
I completely agree.

This horrible, toxic little community is the reason I gave up playing this game. I really don't get why Goose has gone after SZ in quite this fashion but he's really shown himself up as a petty little prick. He's also tried to spread this slanderous nonsense to the MK boards, although thankfully most of them have the sense to ignore him.

I'm done with this board now, I just wanted to say how disgusted I am with what this place has become in the last few years. So disappointing.
  I been around for a couple years but basically just am a lurker. People always give this community a bad name. One thing people hate here is someone trying to insult their intelligence, and when anyone tries to do that, then they will get backlash from the members here. Alot of newer players take it the wrong way, but you gotta understand these guys have been playing this game for 10-20 years and when someone tries to act like they know it all or trying to pull the wool over their eyes like SZ, it offends them.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 24, 2018, 10:52:56 am
I completely agree.

This horrible, toxic little community is the reason I gave up playing this game. I really don't get why Goose has gone after SZ in quite this fashion but he's really shown himself up as a petty little prick. He's also tried to spread this slanderous nonsense to the MK boards, although thankfully most of them have the sense to ignore him.

I'm done with this board now, I just wanted to say how disgusted I am with what this place has become in the last few years. So disappointing.
You registered an account 10 minutes before this just to tell us how toxic we are and your done with this community... do you even know the circumstances behind why this strat is so heavily believed to be fake?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Smit on August 24, 2018, 11:03:47 am
I completely agree.

This horrible, toxic little community is the reason I gave up playing this game. I really don't get why Goose has gone after SZ in quite this fashion but he's really shown himself up as a petty little prick. He's also tried to spread this slanderous nonsense to the MK boards, although thankfully most of them have the sense to ignore him.

I'm done with this board now, I just wanted to say how disgusted I am with what this place has become in the last few years. So disappointing.
You registered an account 10 minutes before this just to tell us how toxic we are and your done with this community... do you even know the circumstances behind why this strat is so heavily believed to be fake?

Who are you even?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on August 24, 2018, 11:06:34 am
What has Steven done in any community that makes people so loyal to him? Im super confused, besides some non proof screenshots of his mario times and ever changing vague strategy descriptions he provides the Goldeneye community Im at a loss for why people believe him.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 24, 2018, 11:26:05 am
What has Steven done in any community that makes people so loyal to him? Im super confused, besides some non proof screenshots of his mario times and ever changing vague strategy descriptions he provides the Goldeneye community Im at a loss for why people believe him.

I don't really know you but I suspect you weren't around during that era. It's difficult for people today to realize how small and close-knit the community of gamers was, how difficult it was to provide "proof" and what was accepted. When Wouter became the first (if I recall correctly) to have 60/60 proven records, that was a huge deal, and considered obsessive at the time.

You also likely don't know what it's like to have retired for 15 years, and then to be asked to come back and prove some game you no longer care about :)

I don't know that I'd call it loyalty. The one group thinks "he has behavior similar to a cheater" and the other group thinks "you'd better be awfully sure before you you start to smear someone, particularly someone well-known." Confirmed cheaters, expose away, make videos. But with suspected cheaters, isn't some caution worthwhile? Obviously some are of the opinion that there is enough suspicion, others (like me) are of the opinion that you can't know for sure one way or the other. Without better facts, I'd rather err on the side of caution toward Steven, others would rather err on the side of accuracy of the rankings. Different perspectives.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 24, 2018, 11:48:44 am
Just so others are clear, Shadow's posts are full of fake news, bias, and deception.

The strategy put forward by Steven is not possible according to the theory we know, and is not replicable. On top of this, it isn't even fast enough to produce the times he claimed, even using modern technique. This isn't a matter of 'his behaviour is similar to a cheater', please don't be deceived by such a blatant straw man.

On top of the technical data and evidence we can produce, every single other piece of circumstantial evidence also fits the conclusion that Steven is lying. Those stating that there is not sufficient evidence to confirm either way are obviously not rational and are intentionally ignoring the available evidence.

Quote
Quote from: Wyst3r on Today at 03:21:15 AM
Did he mention if he closed it himself or if it was already closed?

According to Disco's description of what Zwartjes told him (quoted above), it sounds like it was already closed to me.

This is a clear case of trying to muddy the waters and shows clear bias. Shadow intentionally ignores the fact that Steven clearly described closing the mainframe door twice, and even posted a video of his strategy where he closes the mainframe. He then claims that a second-hand recounting of the strategy indicates an opposite fact by simple omission.

The people defending Steven react emotionally and ignore every piece of evidence that doesn't fit their narrative. Instead of actually disputing the evidence that the strategy is both not possible and is not quick enough, they distract with straw man arguments and appeals to emotion.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on August 24, 2018, 12:09:12 pm
Imo, Besides studying the "evidence" a quick understanding of human behavior, particularly deception, can give you all the red flags you need that Steven is lying. He attempted to gain credibility by agreeing to come back but almost exclusively staying/posting in the Mario community where they know very little of Goldeneye. Makes one video of attempting to do his strategy then some other gameshark video emerges that he claims is some weird thing that happened to him and hes never used a gameshark or the like.

To muddy the waters even further he explains a new strategy he thought of in one sentence then its off to not having the time and nothing to prove. His attempt to silence his doubters failed, I assume he thought just the effort of trying would give him enough clout to make his doubters back off. He was half right some think he's telling the truth while others see through the bullshit as most cheaters have done before.

The excuses don't make any sense not to mention the strategy itself.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 24, 2018, 12:25:09 pm
Just so others are clear, Shadow's posts are full of fake news, bias, and deception.

Oh....brother. So much for respectful dialogue.

This is a clear case of trying to muddy the waters and shows clear bias. Shadow intentionally ignores the fact that Steven clearly described closing the mainframe door twice, and even posted a video of his strategy where he closes the mainframe. He then claims that a second-hand recounting of the strategy indicates an opposite fact by simple omission.

Wait what? I thought your posts were informative and helpful. Henrik asked a question, I tried to answer with what I'd found, with the caveat that "it sounds like", i.e., I wasn't even certain. You clarified from two other sources. That's good. I didn't deny, or ignore. Why must you constantly impugn motives?

Do you really think I'm ignoring evidence? Really? I'm trying to gather more, one way or another. Every bit is helpful. How many times do I have to say that? I've stated repeatedly that the verdict that Steven is lying may be correct. Sigh.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 24, 2018, 12:46:07 pm
Yes it seems quite obvious to me you have a motive. Im sorry if i’m wrong but thats how I see it. You actually do ignore the evidence though, what I said wasnt wrong. Steve had described his strategy twice and produced a video, you ignored both and singled out an excerpt from a 3rd party that severely lacked in detail and didnt even mention the required information. I think you are too smart for that to be chalked up to ignorance.

Then you mischaracterised our position. Again, you are too smart for this to be an accident in my opinion. The core of our argument is technical information about the game, and the fact that Steven’s claims are both not possible and too slow. Steven’s behviour is circumstancial and builds on the core argument.

If you disagree you can argue with counter evidence or data. But you provide neither, and instead attempt to pick apart irrelevant details.

Steven has made a claim about the strategy he used. This can, and has been tested rigorously. The tests conclude that the claim made is a false claim. Every other legitimate strategy that has been found has been immediately replicated and confirmed (i.e original glass strat, depot warp, caverns mine throw). Goldeneye isnt quantum physics, if a strat can be replicated it will be easy to do so. The odds become even lower when you factor in that Steven himself cannot replicate it and even if it were possible it is too slow. These details alone give complete justification for labelling Steven a liar. Remember, he claims to have executed the strategy multiple times, but no one else can do so a single time in 16 years or with TAS/save states.

All other evidence regarding his behaviour makes the case even stronger, but isnt even necessary.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 24, 2018, 01:17:19 pm
No, I thought your analysis of the theoretical max using this strategy was great, and just the sort of thing that is needed. But that seems to be new technical information, I hadn't seen it before this morning and can you really fault me for that? Regardless, that's certainly going to be a strong factor in this case.

As to mischaracterizing the position, I apologize. That was not my intention. Your arguments have had much to do with the technical feasibility of the strat itself and I should have said so. On the other hand, I don't feel as though you've yet shown clear understanding of my position and I've felt mischaracterized repeatedly. Regardless, if you look through this thread you'll see lots and lots of posts that state nothing more than the equivalent of "this is clearly behavior indicative of lying". There has been a lot of emphasis upon that by numerous people, some who don't seem to have even bothered to look into the technical details. While you personally do not fall into that position, I think it's safe to say it's playing a very large factor in this discussion and the sides people are taking, and I think you'd agree that it shouldn't be the primary one.

I'm not a very complicated person. I'm not conniving or scheming or trying to spread misinformation, though I admit to being fallible, certainly. I don't have a position other than I think the council's decision was premature, even if it turns out to be the correct one. That your analysis seems to have come out this morning would bear that out. I also feel there is a lot of tribalism going on here but that's a different issue...
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 24, 2018, 01:33:05 pm
To be clear, Steven’s behaviour is not enough to have his times backrolled. This angle was probably pushed too hard.

Anyways. Again im sorry if I had the wrong impression of your motives. However all of your posts are slanted in one direction, and you were arguing points that arent even relevant or have any bearing (i.e that steven claims to have tapes, or that Eise witnessed a time). And this seems to be a distraction from the important details. So i got frustrated at that. And to clarify im not saying nitpicking irrelevant shit is necessarily bad or that i shouldnt be corrected, just that it is annoying if done a lot.

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on August 24, 2018, 01:33:30 pm
Worth pointing out that the shooting at the guard while he's at the glass is part of the "backup" strat according to Steven, he claims the guard can also open it immediately once he gets to the glass(he suggests that the success of that is mostly dependent on the relative angle and spot of Bond at the glass while luring iirc). From what i understand, it's also better if the mainframe was already closed at arrival since you don't have to close that manually then. They only way i could see it being real is if the 1:31 and 1:33 on Agent are done without bothering with the backup strat and the 2:03 might be done with it. Not sure though, just guessing there.

Not defending Steven to be clear, only pointing out what i have found while researching and talking with him, i may be wrong on some things. Just keep him removed and if he somehow still manages to provide proof of the impossible strat, more power to him i guess.

I am of the opinion that comparing him with Todd Rogers is a big exaggeration, however. I mean, comparing a guy that has hundreds of scores who are downright technically impossible and/or inhumanly feasible whose 1700+ unproven scores are likely all fabricated with a guy where most of the controversy comes from 2 scores which are almost certainly fake but were still achievable and beaten only a couple of years later just doesn't sit right with me

Steven's proof record for MK64(that has survived at least) is also one of the best in the period he was active (1997 to early 2000) in case anyone didn't know. The only guy from those days who has more proof online than SZ does is Alex Penev. Ironically, those are the only 2 players from then who had times backrolled this year(Penev's mysterious cm flap is even more sketchy than SZ's LR 1'58"14).

For anybody wondering why Steven's reputation is so good, it basically boils down to the fact that people who have seen him play all agree that he's abnormally good at games and has a knack for figuring out unique strats, won a lot of tournaments etc. Feel free to read the mk64 thread for more info. http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1526616780



irrelevant side note: today happens to be the day that Marc Rutzou beat Steven's 1:31 claim 9 years ago apparently lol.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on August 24, 2018, 01:43:05 pm
I feel as though Steven started making false claims in 2001. In 2001 he started making ridiculous claims and they just got more and more ridiculous as time went on.

Now the only claims we could prove are false beyond reasonable doubt are the aztec claims, but there are other really questionable ones before that.

Everything 2000 and before was likely legit.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 24, 2018, 01:57:37 pm
Good posts Stefan and Karl. That's the sort of balanced views I was advocating for.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on August 24, 2018, 02:00:17 pm
Restricting myself to the strat, I was imagining that by whatever setup you wouldn't bother waiting the 10s for the guard to stop moving. Indeed if the glass opens when the guard circles around then perhaps it happens when the guard carries on towards Bond's new location, having just arrived near the glass.
If it does require shooting, then there are still quick-pauses to be had while you wait and when you exit the first room. Since any shots nearby would alert the guard anyway, you definitely wouldn't need to wait the 10s.

This would save you some time vs the 2 guard strat, but I still think it's got nothing on the crouch strat.

@salt I certainly don't know how to TAS it right this moment, but even naively I could write a script to just try over and over (slightly different spots), since that's what I did at first when I was seeing if it was possible for the pair of guards to open the door on s1 (being lured to the same spot). That had odds of something like 1 in 50 if I remember correctly.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 24, 2018, 02:02:34 pm
Quote
Worth pointing out that the shooting at the guard while he's at the glass is part of the "backup" strat according to Steven, he claims the guard can also open it immediately once he gets to the glass(he suggests that the success of that is mostly dependent on the relative angle and spot of Bond at the glass while luring iirc). From what i understand, it's also better if the mainframe was already closed at arrival since you don't have to close that manually then. They only way i could see it being real is if the 1:31 and 1:33 on Agent are done without bothering with the backup strat and the 2:03 might be done with it. Not sure though, just guessing there.

Bond makes alot of noise while clearing out the black room, which the lured guard can hear, even if he's not alerted by it. 10 seconds has to pass from the moment he last hears Bond to him getting to the glass, otherwise he'll just keep running, making shooting above his head impossible (at least he wouldn't react to it but rather start shooting at you immediately). So essentially you'd need to wait at the glass for 4-5 seconds before luring the guard.

So I think we can be fairly certain that the backup strat wasn't used for the 1:31.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 24, 2018, 02:23:17 pm
Were quick pauses even known to speed up pauses in the 01 02 era?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 24, 2018, 02:26:12 pm
Karl, purely for curiosity's sake, do you remember how Steven's 1:31 got on the ranks? Did he post it to his geocities times page or did someone say something like "Steven got 1:31, it needs to be on the ranks"?

I'm only asking because given his rather sporadic forum presence in those days, and typical behavior, it wouldn't surprise me to hear that he made the claim to someone on AIM or something.

Wayback Machine only seems to have kept his page through 2002, the ones after won't display for me.
https://web.archive.org/web/20020222064510/http://www.geocities.com:80/goldensteve2000/
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 24, 2018, 02:29:43 pm
Were quick pauses even known to speed up pauses in the 01 02 era?

No.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on August 24, 2018, 03:30:59 pm
Karl, purely for curiosity's sake, do you remember how Steven's 1:31 got on the ranks? Did he post it to his geocities times page or did someone say something like "Steven got 1:31, it needs to be on the ranks"?

I'm only asking because given his rather sporadic forum presence in those days, and typical behavior, it wouldn't surprise me to hear that he made the claim to someone on AIM or something.

Wayback Machine only seems to have kept his page through 2002, the ones after won't display for me.
https://web.archive.org/web/20020222064510/http://www.geocities.com:80/goldensteve2000/

As stated in the interview, Steven only had access to the internet at school. He screwed up his studies and had to get a job in a supermarket to pay off his debts to his parents. His parents didn't have an internet connection at home and when he moved out he didn't have a computer. In other words, he didn't have access to the internet for some time. So if i had to guess he probably visited Eise and told it to him personally or through a phone call and mentioned it to him then. I figured somebody else posted it for him when Steven asked it to be posted, because for his LR claim, Lars posted it on the forums and submitted it to the site. But maybe he went to a friend's place to get on the internet and post it himself, not sure which.

Relevant threads regarding his 1'58"14 on LR, in case anybody wants to read them.

Lars first claiming the time for him: http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=MK64&action=display&num=1054048494&start=0#0
A thread started by Zwartjes a couple of days later: http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1054649397
The very long infamous 11 page thread, debating about the time: http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1111070579
A topic by Zwartjes about the mystery boost shortly before MJ beat his LR: http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1120578131
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Thiradell on August 24, 2018, 11:51:07 pm
Comparing it to Todd Rogers is fair and not a big deal. Lots of speedrunners have been found cheating. Acting like a community's toxic because they won't take it on faith for something like this is pretty silly. Nobody's ever gotten his (provably impossible?) strat to work and it's not on video; it's not the skeptics at fault here.

Zwartjes has done absolutely zero to help himself throughout these events, pretty much just has Shadow's remarkable stubbornness for support. I understand not wanting to kick a guy off the ranks, but it's probably a reasonable penalty for something like this. Zwartjes' times have all been eclipsed by the modern era anyway, just put an asterisk next to his stuff for the GEWR database if you want



Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: TheFlash on August 24, 2018, 11:55:52 pm
just put an asterisk next to his stuff for the GEWR database if you want

You could just put an asterisk next to everything in the WR database that doesn't have acceptable video proof, then you can keep both versions at once rather than making exceptions for one specific player.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Thiradell on August 24, 2018, 11:58:54 pm
(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.upload.speedrunwiki.com%2Fimages%2Fmisc%2Fyamum.png&hash=6ffa8aeab70febf0c25ad404b59d867d9989d98c)
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 25, 2018, 06:05:44 am
I don't even believe these claims that Steven was "abnormally good at games."

Think about how many guys growing up thought they were "the best in the neighborhood at Mario Kart!" and you'd hear their buddies or brothers rave on about how good they were... then you'd play them and absolutely smoke them.  Testimony of "someone being good at a game" is extremely unreliable.

Not only that, but the people who were actually "good at games" when they were younger, did come back and were still... get this... good at games!  Karl Jobst, Randy Buikema, Shawn Johnson... they were all immediately still good at Goldeneye upon their returns.  None of them required this "40 hours of playing Aztec to get good enough to even demonstrate the strategy I used."  Good players are always good; end of story.  This is just another part of the SZ "legend" that fails to add up when thought about rationally.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 25, 2018, 06:11:06 am
For anyone concerned about me "destroying SZ's life" by "unfairly making a sensationalist video about him," I think you can look at my body of work, in how I've treated other, similarly sensitive topics (Chuya's AS 206, Anti cheating in GTA, LeeSDA's Yoshi fakes, 5 Speedrunners with No Proof, etc) and reason that I always make these videos  tastefully, while respecting the subject of the video.

You are the one guilty of sensationalism if you're trying to sound the alarm that I'm going to completely destroy SZ's life, get him fired from work, divorced, and have his wife take custody of his kids.  Maybe you should try making a video... "EVIL VILLAIN speedrunning "historian" attempts to DESTROY LIFE of INNOCENT FAMILY MAN!!" despite it being apparent that I've never come close to doing that, nor would I ever dream of doing such.  I will not touch any sensitive piece of information that would implicate SZ's personal life in any way, shape or form.

Aztec 1:31 is the most infamous claim of a record in Goldeneye history, and as someone who is making videos detailing the history of Goldeneye & the-elite, it would be absurd for me to avoid such a topic just because a handful of people are scared of what I might have to say.  Karl will be heavily collaborating on this with me and I'm actually really excited about it because it has potential to be some of my best work, which I think the vast majority of people here will thoroughly enjoy.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Time was untied when set. on August 25, 2018, 02:43:53 pm
Keen af
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Hypnotoad on August 25, 2018, 05:36:12 pm
I always make these videos  tastefully, while respecting the subject of the video.

Even your ones about Rutzou?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 25, 2018, 06:36:38 pm
Zwartjes has done absolutely zero to help himself throughout these events, pretty much just has Shadow's remarkable stubbornness for support.

Well, it's nice to be appreciated, but I can't take sole credit for being remarkably stubborn, some others have certainly contributed too :)

In all seriousness, I don't have a personal stake in Steven Zwartjes or his reputation. But if leaving a suspected cheater on the ranks would be a false negative, then I think at least some consideration should be given to a false positive (removing a valid player). As has now been done, hopefully. Neither is ideal.

I don't think anyone is saying you would destroy Steven's personal life, Goose. But it could contribute significantly to destroying his gaming legacy. My personal feeling is that without absolute proof, and with the risk of making a mistake, it would be best to let it lie. But that's your call of course. I see little positive to gain from the exposure but will leave it at that.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Retrix on August 25, 2018, 10:37:40 pm
Agreed with Shadow. That's more the point I wanted to make a few days ago (haven't had a chance to catch up on my passionate message I last posted), but my rhetoric and temper aren't in good balance. I'm fine with Steven leaving if he wants (I did always want proof policies enforced even in grandfathered cases.); however, I'm still against closing the door on him in disgust. I do think a quality video could be made of this saga; Goose builds the necessary facts, thoroughly researches his topics with archived webpages and anecdotal evidence, and presents his information in a well-structured manner. My concern is more in the outside viewers with little knowledge who could in turn destroy Zwartjes' legacy (using Shadow's term here but I believe it fits best).
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flukey lukey on August 25, 2018, 11:21:03 pm
If Zwartjes never actually did any of what he claimed, then does he even deserve a legacy?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 26, 2018, 12:14:58 am
I made one video about Rutzou in a negative light - the "Top 5 Most Stunning Instances of Degeneracy" video.  One.  It was also the very first YouTube video I made from a "content building" perspective, back in February 2017.  I made that video with the intention of it being seen by a few hundred people, mostly eliters, and us all getting an insider-joke type kick out of it.  I had no idea when I made that video what my channel would become.

I have since been contemplating ideas for a video where I present Marc as someone who has redeemed himself... "The Redemption of Rutzou: How he went from legend to degenerate and back"... talking about his growth & change over the past two years.  I will get to this someday.

But yes, thank you Hypnotoad for pointing out the one exception to my general tastefulness and respectfulness in my work, as exactly that, an exception.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Blue Khakis on August 26, 2018, 09:43:16 am
Shadow, the problem with needing definitive proof is that you cannot prove a negative. Henning originally claimed that he didn't cheat and that there must just be SOME non-specific peculiar reason in the game's code that explained the different weapon in the cutscene. Since that's a claim that is pretty much impossible to falsify should he have been believed?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Grav on August 26, 2018, 10:31:30 am
Yes, there is a massive unfalsifiability problem in speedrunning. It's literally impossible to solve.

You have 2 options:

1. Allow all times under all circumstances as long as they aren't ever proven 100% to be fake. Someone could join the rankings and post 120 WRs at once and you have to let it stay no matter how much it pisses everyone off.
2. Remove times that you have enough evidence, circumstantial or not, to believe likely isn't real for the sake of community health and activity (the basis by which all major decisions should be made)

There really isn't another way to go about it. Yes, the fate of the-elite is not rested upon whether SZ times or any one person's times being removed. The greater outcome in these actions are establishing the standards with which future decisions can be informed by, which then gives players a clearer picture of what is likely to be allowed and not allowed. This specific case is a bit unique in that he never had proof to begin with, so it is not even setting any new scary precedent for modern players to worry about.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Ray Ruane on August 26, 2018, 04:18:57 pm
Worth noting as well that Goose painted Marc in a very positive light in the Train Agent Speedlore video and has also spoken positively abouf Steven in the past. Steven has had 15 years to either prove that his Aztec Agent strategy works or admit that he lied about the whole thing and hasn't done either. He is a grown man now. If his skin is so thin that he can't mentally handle one YouTube video saying that he lied about a video-game strategy 15 years ago then he needs to take a good long look at himself in the mirror.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Klewer on August 26, 2018, 05:51:17 pm
As a newer member to the community, it's great to see the passion everyone has on both sides of the argument but it's important for everyone to keep it a bit more civil with each other and respectful especially when disagreeing.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Retrix on August 27, 2018, 12:14:53 pm
I tried the SZ Aztec strat last night for a few hours, but I could only get it to work with invisibility. (And not using Bond as the "second guard.") I did most of my runs with invincible/agent or 007 mode and invisibility off. As I understand it, you can lure one guard between the center and right frames, and if he stops between the two at the right point, and is facing toward the glass, he can open it if he performs the correct animation once alerted. He also does this sort of walking in a circle to reposition himself animation if you're not quick enough with the alert shot.

It could work, but I'm not putting the time in at my skill level. Is it faster? Nah. Something else might have saved time on the SZ run. Or maybe, like me, he acted like it worked and gave himself credit for it, and after enough time, he couldn't remember not doing it legit. (The first time I beat Aztec I actually gamesharked it and lied for years until I 100%ed the game in 2012, the file I use now.)

And really, most of the people I respect and defend I really have no cause to do so. I just want to believe in someone more skilled so I can keep upping my game. SZ and others were those people in other games.

(And I didn't record because for the foreseeable future, I have no way of uploading anything that isn't on my phone until I move out of the internet deadzone I live in now - and probably will stop recording my PRs too.)
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Alka Maass on August 27, 2018, 01:09:08 pm
might as well set a bounty on getting the one guard glass strat to work
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: mw on August 27, 2018, 02:09:54 pm
I tried the SZ Aztec strat last night for a few hours, but I could only get it to work with invisibility. (And not using Bond as the "second guard.") I did most of my runs with invincible/agent or 007 mode and invisibility off. As I understand it, you can lure one guard between the center and right frames, and if he stops between the two at the right point, and is facing toward the glass, he can open it if he performs the correct animation once alerted. He also does this sort of walking in a circle to reposition himself animation if you're not quick enough with the alert shot.

It could work, but I'm not putting the time in at my skill level. Is it faster? Nah. Something else might have saved time on the SZ run. Or maybe, like me, he acted like it worked and gave himself credit for it, and after enough time, he couldn't remember not doing it legit. (The first time I beat Aztec I actually gamesharked it and lied for years until I 100%ed the game in 2012, the file I use now.)

And really, most of the people I respect and defend I really have no cause to do so. I just want to believe in someone more skilled so I can keep upping my game. SZ and others were those people in other games.

(And I didn't record because for the foreseeable future, I have no way of uploading anything that isn't on my phone until I move out of the internet deadzone I live in now - and probably will stop recording my PRs too.)

wow thanks for posting
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Retrix on August 27, 2018, 10:49:24 pm
By no means believe this is possible. I left out a detail. In the run in which the strat worked, I had maneuvred a single guard around the black room (with invisibility) before he opened the door. All subsequent runs involved testing the old strat once I believed it possible. Apologies for any misdirection. Been so frustrated and confused. I can't trust any of the people I used to look up to.

Next time I try, I'll record what I've been experimenting with and get some feedback if it's anything worth pursuing. I'll find some way to get it online.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: falzy211 on August 28, 2018, 06:31:06 pm
What a horrible thread

Goose you BLACKMAILED a 39 year old man with 2 kids to force him to reveal some strat that you can’t prove he did or did not do definitively. You threatened to drag his name, and his kids names through the mud over what is, and I’ll be clear here, a video game.
He’s nearly 40. Do you really think he has the time to care? You all had him
Marked as guilty before he had any chance to do anything. No wonder he left without showing you.

Is it a despicable example of harassment and witch hunting.  The elite should be ashamed.

Even if he did lie. To be frank. No normal human being would care. He’s done nothing wrong in the grand scheme of life. It’s just a game, just delete he time rather than pretend it’s some moral issue

I used to look forward to your streams before you quit after karl beat you to the depot uwr. It didn’t matter you didn’t get it you were fun to watch. It legitimately hurts me to see what you’re doing now.

You all need to move on. Remove his times as per his wishes. He has a right to remove his personal information, such as his name, from your site.

This will the last time I step foot into the elite. As a man who waited years for dam 52 and donated that much when it happened, I can’t stay in this any longer

Sorry

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Ray Ruane on August 28, 2018, 07:05:59 pm
If he lied and no normal human being would care, why would Steven?

He has done nothing wrong in the grand scheme of life. It is just a game and Goose is just making a video about it.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: rhakiath on August 28, 2018, 07:25:31 pm
I think he would be more motivated by having kids if anything, what if one of them googles his name and all that comes up are accusations of cheating? I'm not a parent, but it would be a better example to come clean or at least come up with a plausible explanation. Based on the evidence I'd say it's more likely that SZ had invisibility on or something rather than the collective knowledge of the community which has been proven time and time again is totally wrong. The doubt cast on his other games doesn't convince me as much in this context, but the way he's reacted has only made it worse.

As for what Goose has been doing, if anything he's been bringing attention to gaming's issues with cheating. Similar to how professional sports have needed to clean up PEDs and the like, it will make speedrunning and gaming more legitimate to out people like this now and build a proper history rather than a false mythology. The Elite has been a pioneer in this regard, since video has been a major part of proof for years, even before it was common on the internet. It may seem tabloid-esque at times, but the era where competitive gaming was vulnerable to false claims has been largely thwarted by a combination of widely available video recording and sharing, and proof policies with some integrity. Not to mention it has grown in popularity and visibility, and now more than a handful of people make careers and fortunes out of it. In 2000 the community was probably dominated by immature teenagers but at this point it needs to be treated more officially.

You wouldn't pay an athlete millions just because he claims a 9.5s 100m dash, nor should a gamer have a large Twitch channel and lucrative sponsorships due to cheating or insubstantiated claims of skill. Once these people are outed, their support tends to go to more deserving candidates. This isn't the case for SZ but that doesn't mean we shouldn't police this sort of thing. No one else will come into our community and review runs for splicing, proof call times, etc.

To use the Todd Rogers example, he was able to claim WRs using a referee as proof, which clearly is outdated and certainly shouldn't be the sole basis for a career. That's one reason why people who claim to witness his times really shouldn't be upheld as a matter of principle. If SZ came clean on some level it would at least make him more mature than the other people in his situation.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on August 28, 2018, 08:43:21 pm
@falzy

That was by far the biggest load of trash I have read on here. When in the hell did Goose blackmail anyone???
The “40 year old man” volunteered to prove his strategy no one forced him. If he was so ungodly busy and had nothing to do with video games he wouldnt even care what was said. This social justice warrior culture is just sickening these days. A guy lies for 15 plus years and he’s a victim? Did nothing wrong? Think of how much time he potentially wasted so many others over to years trying to get this make believe strategy to work. You say its just a game then go on to admit you waited years for Dam 52... why would you even care if its so irrelevant?

There are millions of over 40 gamers with families when did having a family mean you cant have ahobby? I have a 4 year old daughter and still have plenty of free time for myself. I guess to someone without a family the stereotype that your entire life is over after having kids seems true lol

Facts are Steven had plenty of time to make videos, use a gameshark, work on a new strategy but not replicate the strat he specifically came back for. All of his excuses are generic check box outs. Simple as that
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Happens on August 28, 2018, 08:56:59 pm
Why is this thread still open?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on August 28, 2018, 09:15:59 pm
Just to make things clear, i asked Steven to try his new strat first which he thought of almost immediately when he first played Aztec again, since he believed that it was faster than the wr strat and a lot more consistent. The intention was that he would first get a good run with the new strat(obviously not necessary since it is significantly slower and already known) and then later do the one guard strat.

I'd be willing to put a small bounty for the one guard strategy if anybody(including Steven himself) can prove that he got it on console, with no invisibility or any other cheat/hack. Not that i expect anyone to really go for it now or something.
10 bucks for anybody that can get it to work with the backup
25 bucks for anybody that can get it to work without the backup (the strat which Steven used for his alleged 1:31)

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: DaisyFan on August 29, 2018, 12:30:20 am
Why is this thread still open?

Some people want Ryan goose to expose Steven, The other side don't give a crap and want people to moving on from it.
 :smirk:
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 29, 2018, 01:02:28 am
Why is this thread still open?

Locking threads is legitimately the most foolish, redundant, pointless thing you can possibly do in the history of the internet.  What purpose does locking a thread serve?  If it has offending content in it, that gets deleted.  Locking threads causes people who want to continue the discussion at hand, to simply make more threads and continue to flood the boards.  Locking threads is an absolute net negative under every circumstance.  Locking threads is just the corrupt moderators going "nyah nyah, now you can be teased and enticed by this thread's existence but you can't post in it! Losers!"  It's completely antagonizing and villainous.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Retrix on August 29, 2018, 08:49:08 am
I've enjoyed all the flame wars the-elite allows. Shit gets intense, people whom nobody even knows join to trash talk and are never heard again, some actual serious discussion gets done, and the thread dies a natural death when it's outlived its usefulness. It's beautiful.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on August 29, 2018, 09:20:20 am
Money for bounty is raised.
It is now:
110 for with backup
125 for without it

If anybody likes to add more, feel free to message me on the forums or on discord.

BTW this is in euros, so 110 euros would be about 128 dollars for example.

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AEB on August 29, 2018, 09:52:02 am
Good to know I'll have a bunch of people defending me if I'm caught lying for 10+ years!

EDIT: To be very clear, I'm only talking about Aztec strat + 1:31 claim and I'd be happy (like most people) to be proven wrong.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flukey lukey on August 29, 2018, 10:01:45 am
It's somewhat comforting yes
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Alka Maass on August 29, 2018, 10:03:38 am
Money for bounty is raised.
It is now:
110 for with backup
125 for without it

If anybody likes to add more, feel free to message me on the forums or on discord.

BTW this is in euros, so 110 euros would be about 128 dollars for example.
BRB secretly turning on invisible for the euros  :kappa:
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: METEORA on August 29, 2018, 12:51:30 pm
Hello all.
I think its been 15 years since my last post :)
I see alot has changed during all these years.
A lot of new talent, new worldchampions and most importantly a big social group of people who are willing to combine forces to get these games to an insanely high level.

I must admit after seeing a post about me after 15 years of inactivety I was kinda flattered.
After google-ing Todd Rogers I am not sure I should be ;).
It actually kinda hurts after 100s of hours of time I put into many games to read people always had doubts about my achievements.
Reason enough for me to dust up the old cartridges. The post triggered me to do at least something which is a positive thing I guess.

For me alot has changed over the years though.
Im a happy 39 years old married man now with 2 kids, a nice job and a good social life.
Gaming is not really on my priority list anymore but after playing a bit of Goldeneye last week I still feel I have a gaming heart.
I remember back in the days Patrick Wessels and I were late, running like hell to get the train just in time.
We decided to keep a left strafe all the way so we should de faster...yes bin there...:p

Alrhough i have other priorities now l still like to complete some proof  on tape, camera or capture card. I might not finish this today or tomorrow but it will happen eventually.
I hope to finish this all with a suprise video, but also still working on that :)

In the meantime I will finish the interview with the nice questions Stefan Kok asked me and I will try to put some detail in some of the questions.
Also thank you for all the help so far Stefan :)

Im out now.
Will be back soon.

That's awesome!!!  Maybe you should try and get some proofs up for your 40th b-day!!!  Nice to see you still have a heart for the game!
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Jonesy on August 29, 2018, 01:29:55 pm
FWIW, I think some people perceive this as "blackmailing" or an attempt at character assassination because of Goose's suggestion of lumping Steven in with Todd Rogers.  As Goose said himself in the kart forum topic "Steven Zwartjes... the Todd Rogers of N64?":

Quote
A story I want to work on next is that of the "legend" Steven Zwartjes, and his similarities to Todd Rogers.

Todd Rogers and Billy Mitchell are hot topics these days and make excellent clickbait and bring in that sweet, sweet ad revenue. Goose is being careful to parse his words by posing "questions" and looking at "similarities" but honestly the mere mention of  Zwartjes and Rogers in the same breath is enough for some people, who don't know any better, to instantly form that connection in their mind that Zwartjes must be just as bad as Rogers (regardless of how carefully Goose chooses to parse his words).

The biggest difference I see between Rogers/Mitchell and Zwartjes is that there is hard, objective, empirical evidence that Rogers and Mitchell falsified times (Roger's impossible Dragster time, among others, and Mitchell's video that shows conclusive proof of emulation). As far as I'm aware, there is no hard evidence that Zwartjes ever cheated. Sure, there are aspects of his times that seem suspicious and unlikely (and I'm fully supportive of the times being backrolled), but there is a distinct and important difference between having suspicious times/exhibiting suspicious behavior and having hard evidence of actual cheating. The other important difference between Zwartjes and Rogers is that Rogers has literally hundreds/thousands of falsified scores where Zwartjes has what, 2?

If you want to retcon your rankings based on suspicion, I honestly have no issue with that (though others might), but I think the standards of proof must be higher if you want to start publicly equating Zwartjes to Todd Rogers (even if it's only a suggestive equivalence).

It seems like a lot of people have already made up their minds about this and have exhibited less than mature behavior in this thread. I think the word "toxic" has been used once or twice and that seems to be an apt description. Also, FWIW, I feel like Shadow is completely on point.

To be clear, I'm not defending Zwartjes (I agree that he hasn't done himself any favors lately - though maybe he would have been more inclined to if he had a warmer reception) and I'm not against making a video about him, but if a video is made I think it needs to be done in a way that doesn't sling his name through the mud in a blatant attempt to cash in on it.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Smit on August 29, 2018, 02:01:04 pm
FWIW, I think some people perceive this as "blackmailing" or an attempt at character assassination because of Goose's suggestion of lumping Steven in with Todd Rogers.  As Goose said himself in the kart forum topic "Steven Zwartjes... the Todd Rogers of N64?":

Quote
A story I want to work on next is that of the "legend" Steven Zwartjes, and his similarities to Todd Rogers.

Todd Rogers and Billy Mitchell are hot topics these days and make excellent clickbait and bring in that sweet, sweet ad revenue. Goose is being careful to parse his words by posing "questions" and looking at "similarities" but honestly the mere mention of  Zwartjes and Rogers in the same breath is enough for some people, who don't know any better, to instantly form that connection in their mind that Zwartjes must be just as bad as Rogers (regardless of how carefully Goose chooses to parse his words).

The biggest difference I see between Rogers/Mitchell and Zwartjes is that there is hard, objective, empirical evidence that Rogers and Mitchell falsified times (Roger's impossible Dragster time, among others, and Mitchell's video that shows conclusive proof of emulation). As far as I'm aware, there is no hard evidence that Zwartjes ever cheated. Sure, there are aspects of his times that seem suspicious and unlikely (and I'm fully supportive of the times being backrolled), but there is a distinct and important difference between having suspicious times/exhibiting suspicious behavior and having hard evidence of actual cheating. The other important difference between Zwartjes and Rogers is that Rogers has literally hundreds/thousands of falsified scores where Zwartjes has what, 2?

If you want to retcon your rankings based on suspicion, I honestly have no issue with that (though others might), but I think the standards of proof must be higher if you want to start publicly equating Zwartjes to Todd Rogers (even if it's only a suggestive equivalence).

It seems like a lot of people have already made up their minds about this and have exhibited less than mature behavior in this thread. I think the word "toxic" has been used once or twice and that seems to be an apt description. Also, FWIW, I feel like Shadow is completely on point.

To be clear, I'm not defending Zwartjes (I agree that he hasn't done himself any favors lately - though maybe he would have been more inclined to if he had a warmer reception) and I'm not against making a video about him, but if a video is made I think it needs to be done in a way that doesn't sling his name through the mud in a blatant attempt to cash in on it.

Finally a voice of reason.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Grav on August 29, 2018, 03:43:21 pm
almost none of this thread has been arguing about how similar SZ is to todd/billy. that whole argument and what goose will or will not do with how he covers SZ has no relation to the individual rankings based considerations the-elite council has made regarding SZ.

SZ's most unlikely claimed times have been in question long before those other two people were caught cheating.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Blue Khakis on August 29, 2018, 03:51:33 pm
The hyperbole in this thread is ridiculous. SZ is being BLACKMAILED and DEFAMED and WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN. The dude literally has to play the game for a DAY to prove every single doubter wrong (something he has had fiteen years to do).

Fwiw, I actually think the comparison to Todd Rogers is perfectly apt:

1) Complete lack of evidence
2) Positive evidence of strat's implausibility from people with deep technical knowledge of the game
3) Proclamation that demonstration will be produced shortly
4) Continued failure to produce even a credible explanation of strat's viability over a period of over a decade naturally and justifiably invites some people to ridicule the claim
5) Backs out on grounds of "being the bigger man" or some similar moralising claptrap.

Seems pretty nailed on to me, but I guess according to some people Lance Armstrong and Ben Johnson shouldn't have been called out either because they have families and anyway 'it's just a game'.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Jonesy on August 29, 2018, 05:49:53 pm
almost none of this thread has been arguing about how similar SZ is to todd/billy.
This really is a shame, as I think that's the crucial thing at stake here.

that whole argument and what goose will or will not do with how he covers SZ has no relation to the individual rankings based considerations the-elite council has made regarding SZ.
It sounds like SZ doesn't care about staying up on the rankings, so that sort of seems like a bit of a non-issue now (other than maybe the procedural point of not allowing players to ragequit and remove themselves - but I'm no expert on your proof policy so I'll defer to someone who is). Perhaps I missed it, other than a handful of posts by Axel a few pages back regarding the WR history, but is anyone still arguing to keep Steven on the ranks? I'm not sure I understand what this has to do with any of the most recent posts in this thread. Seems like a bit of a non-sequitur.

SZ's most unlikely claimed times have been in question long before those other two people were caught cheating.
I'm not sure I understand what point you're trying to make here other than just stating the completely obvious. The only reason this entire thread exists is because of Goose's stated intention to create a video titled: "Steven Zwartjes... The Todd Rogers of N64?". It seems like the natural outcome of that stated intention would be a discussion involving those people.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Grav on August 29, 2018, 05:58:50 pm
The Todd Rodgers angle is literally clickbait, it was not intended to be used as an argument in itself for any actions on our own rankings. Goose knows very well the power of compelling story and tying a player he wants to talk about to such a notorious narrative is very useful in getting exposure and views. The Todd Rodgers stuff was a catalyst in the SZ issue being revisited, but SZ's own antics are what ended up being the tipping point.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 29, 2018, 06:16:47 pm
After investigating this situation for over 3 months now, I've decided long ago on a few things;

- not using Zwartjes name in the title of the video
- not using Todd Rogers name in the title of the video
- not using a picture of Zwartjes in the thumbnail
- not mentioning any personal information that could affect SZ in any way (mentioning only his name, his country of origin, and the events he apparently attended in the 1990s)

Some title ideas that have been thrown around are things like;

- "SZ: The Most Infamous Liar in N64 History"
- "Biggest Conman in N64 History Finally Exposed after 15+ Years!"
- "The Most Unproven Speedrunner Ever - 100+ WRs Removed!"

I absolutely WILL compare SZ to Todd Rogers & Billy Mitchell in the content of the video.  I absolutely WILL use pictures of Billy Mitchell & Todd Rogers in the thumbnail of the video.  I absolutely do plan on making this video and promoting it in such a way that I hope it gets over 100,000 views.

I think you are vastly exaggerating the "damage" of comparing SZ to Todd Rogers directly.  As Ace pointed out, Todd & SZ have more in common than otherwise.  There are plenty of worse people to be compared to, and I wouldn't make the comparison if I didn't feel it was accurate.  It's not like I'm titling the video "SZ: THE LITERAL WORST HUMAN BEING WHO EVER LIVED ON THE ENTIRE PLANET!" or "SZ: THE MOST DEGENERATE MAN LIES ABOUT 100+ N64 RECORDS - THEN ROASTS ME!"  I would only make a title that I feel is appropriate and fair based on all the facts in question.

I hope this clears up much of the "concern".
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: falzy211 on August 29, 2018, 07:04:13 pm
My sincere suggestion is that you leave the man alone and not make the video defaming him. That’s what he wants
He quite possibly claimed a time he didn’t have. Almost all of you on this sub have done that, especially you goose. He was in his 20s. He’s now moved on and in his 40s and suddenly being harangued by a bunch of guys  he no longer wants anything to do with

The blackmail has nothing to do with what the video will look like. It’s the fact you forced him to answer by threatening to damage his name by making a one sided hit piece on him. His employees can see that video goose. It should t even have his real name quite frankly

Rather than chase the money. Maybe do the right thing this time. Also don’t set your fans on me either
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: falzy211 on August 29, 2018, 07:11:25 pm
Now. If he had raped somebody or seriously broken the law or sexually abused a child. The situation would be different. But he has done nothing that any old speed runner hasn’t done, back in the days this was truly just a hobby

It’s not elite level sport either. He gained no money from this time.
All these toxic posts could be solved by 5 words

Not enough proof. Time removed

That’s all you have to do. There’s no debate ever needed. Set your standards and remove any time that doesn’t meet them.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 29, 2018, 07:22:11 pm
Am I missing something because no where in any of goose posts do I see anything that I would consider blackmail. Gooses videos are very fair like in the attack ship 206 video he broke down the ending to a science, stated the facts, and left it up to the viewer to make their own mind up. How can you get more fair then that?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: falzy211 on August 29, 2018, 07:36:33 pm
First post paragraph 6 after the “so what?”. Forcing the issue with a threat to release a video comparing him to todd

If it’s a joke or meant to be funny, it isn’t

Exposes are for people who break the law or scandals. SZ hasn’t broken any law. Nor gained any money or fame from his likely faked time. Completely different to Todd Rogers in every important way

Perspective is needed, and people are going hysterical on here as though he has done something seriously wrong. Just remove the damn time and leave it at that.

The harassment of this guy who had moved on was not justifiable and it’s disappointing to see
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: falzy211 on August 29, 2018, 07:41:17 pm
For further reference

http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1526616780/0

This is the topic goose opened in mk forums I assume this is how SZ found out. The second paragraph of the op is very clear in its intent.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Thiradell on August 29, 2018, 08:30:11 pm
so how's it gone

"Fascinating. I have no proof but Zwartjes was always one of the few that I felt entirely trustworthy back in the day, and who genuinely had insane skill. I'd be curious to see what turns up but it's been quite a long while." Shadow's first post

"I'm impressed he's shown even this much effort so far, tbh." another Shadow post

so this amazing guy with incredible skill who's completely unproven gets a round of applause for doing essentially nothing (unlocking Aztec)

"It actually kinda hurts after 100s of hours of time I put into many games to read people always had doubts about my achievements." SZ's first post

I (me, Thiradell) have doubts about literally everything. A guy with no vids online is certainly on the doubted list, and if you're hurt by that, whatevs.

Somebody posts a vid which seems likely to have been Sharked and the response is "whoa guys, stop jumping to conclusions"

At this point SZ makes his second post. He's very upset and disappointed with the negative atmosphere. This comes three weeks after "A lot of new talent, new worldchampions and most importantly a big social group of people who are willing to combine forces to get these games to an insanely high level." Right, and that big social group of people also doesn't let shit fly past, because a lot of people have tried.

After clear evidence that he Sharked he comes in with some serious negativity of his own, calls the GE community by far the worst, most diseased community he's ever seen. I'm not saying retaliation is the way to go but at this point, crying about people witchhunting SZ is silly.

Pretty lousy behavior in general; Jim calls it out nicely in #114. Everyone who continues to want to give SZ a pass needs to understand that there are plenty of people who see plenty of reasons not to, and if you don't like that, agree to disagree.

re: him faking 2 times vs. Rogers faking thousands, does it really matter? If he's been carrying on with a lie for almost 20 years, what does it matter how many records he's faked (which is a matter of speculation anyway, as you pointed out). He's on the Internet, people can talk about what he's done and frankly it's super sketch.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 29, 2018, 11:46:46 pm
Falzy - do you not think my intentions could have changed over the past 3 months of investigating this situation?

Should I not have mentioned Henning Blom in the Frigate SpeedLore episode?  Or Trent's strange Control video in that SpeedLore episode?

At what point are we supposed to just "forget" about history, so that we don't upset anyone?  Should we just sanitize our past and pretend much of these things never happened?

Should I just stop making YouTube videos about speedrunning history altogether?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: flukey lukey on August 30, 2018, 12:30:10 am
If at the end of all this the world is blessed with an entertaining story about the many shortcomings of the human condition it might almost make a fair trade off... after decades of lies and deceit.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: OHMSS on August 30, 2018, 03:37:40 am
After investigating this situation for over 3 months now, I've decided long ago on a few things;

- not using Zwartjes name in the title of the video
- not using Todd Rogers name in the title of the video
- not using a picture of Zwartjes in the thumbnail
- not mentioning any personal information that could affect SZ in any way (mentioning only his name, his country of origin, and the events he apparently attended in the 1990s)

Good call, this is very important I think. People do google possible employees and dates. People like my mom even google their neighbors and all kinds of acquaintances, take every piece of information literally and spread the word in a very unreflected way. Because of that I would absolutely hate the idea of a YouTube video with my full (and unique) real name in the title being online and detailing how I cheated in a game. One should not forget that it was the old days of the internet where nobody thought much about anonymity. But getting shamed in that community is perfectly adequate (if it stays in that community; by measures as the ones you listed). For Todd Rogers and Billy Mitchell it's really different because they strived to be public figures and can be treated as such.

Btw, hats off to your recent YouTube content mate! Really well made with a perfect balance between accessibility and conciseness and I hope you make it even bigger.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: falzy211 on August 30, 2018, 06:28:40 am
Ohmss puts my view in a very succinct and effective way

I don’t think you realise how much damage you can do to someone by putting their name in a negative piece. A lot of people will just see his name next to Todd’s name or picture and go no further

If his employers saw that. He legitimately might be reprimanded or lose employment prospects. I can’t believe.

Anyone here thinks that’s a proportionate reaction to what most of us did as kids.

His situation is far closer to when you faked times than Todd

-he gained no notable money or fame. Certainly no Guinness record
- he did it at a time when this was commonplace, as you can attest.
- you have only circumstantial evidence on only 2 videos maybe. Rather than cast iron proof on hundreds
- him having little proof of his videos is very common from the time he obtained them, and is no proof of any wrongdoing
- his single guard strat is deemed by you guys to be impossible, but you cannot disapprove it. You do not know every inner working of the game. The emulator you guys use to test is notable
For being inaccurate to the lag of the game, and lag is a common reason why clips work. Not saying that it probably works, but it may be possible.
-any chance of him showing it was lost when you were rude to him. It’s suspicious yes but if I was a 40 year old suddenly getting angry forum posts , I’d leave too.

For these reasons you’ve no real reason to compare him to Todd other than to click bait

If you DID make a reasonable, two sided video that protected his privacy, that is of course fine. But it’s clear you don’t have an intention to do that, you’ve pegged this guy as the Todd Rogers of n64 after all.

You really have to consider these points. It’s whatnall the great YouTube documenters do.

I hope you’ll at least consider my points
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 30, 2018, 07:03:50 am
No dude, I do realize how much damage can be done.  Go to Youtube right now and search for "Steven Zwartjes."  Do you find any of my videos there?  No?  I have proven that I understand how much damage can be done and I always find ways to avoid this exact scenario from happening.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: falzy211 on August 30, 2018, 07:08:11 am
Then you have become both belligerent and irresponsible. Attempting to hurt someone over a faked video game time is, as you say, truly degenerate.

You should be old enough to know better

Ive made as much a point as I can so I’ll leave the thread as it is.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 30, 2018, 07:11:12 am
His situation is far closer to that of Todd Rogers than myself for the following reasons:

- SZ and Todd both used social proof and an army of defenders to get by without having to prove his claims for 15-30 years
- SZ and Todd were both extremely vague in describing exactly how they achieved their most notorious claims, often contracting their previous explanations over the years
- SZ and Todd both gave explanations which the people who understand the game best unanimously agree to not be possible
-- on this point specifically, how can you disprove Dragster 5.51?  Can you?  If so, how?  And if so, how is this any different than the way we've disproven SZ's "one guard glass open" strategy?
- SZ and Todd both came forward, offering to prove their notorious claims, years later, only after interest was piqued in these cases by speedrunning & gaming historians
- SZ and Todd both planted seeds at the time they offered to prove their notorious claims, by suggesting they "weren't as good at the game anymore," "the game didn't mean much to them anymore as they had families and have moved on" and other standard things that serial liars tell as an "out".  Note that "not being as good at the game anymore" is not a legitimate excuse, as virtually every player who has come back to these sorts of gamers after years of absence, actually quickly improve past their previous ability (Karl, Randy, Shawn Johnson, etc)
- SZ and Todd both recanted on their offer to "prove" their notorious claims after people began realizing they weren't possible, and both SZ and Todd claimed this was due to "the community being mean"

For these reasons I have every reason to legitimately compare SZ to Todd Rogers in an honest journalistic manner.  In fact, it would be journalistically dishonest if I did not compare him to Todd Rogers.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 30, 2018, 07:44:49 am
What are the odds SZ applies for a job with such a high level of background checking to be simular to say the cia, nsa, or something along those lines and gets turned down because durring the background cjeck a hit comes back and its a youtube video by rwhitegoose on is SZ the todd rogers of n64 times? Id say about the odds of getting 1 guard to open the glass on aztec...
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Retrix on August 30, 2018, 07:51:11 am

-he gained no notable money or fame. Certainly no Guinness record


Actually, https://www.twingalaxies.com/scores.php?player=11447
Steven does has a twin galaxies account and may have had a Guinness World Record or 4 at one point. Referee method, outdated. Also they're his MK64 times.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Rützou on August 30, 2018, 07:55:51 am
His situation is far closer to that of Todd Rogers than myself for the following reasons:

- SZ and Todd both used social proof and an army of defenders to get by without having to prove his claims for 15-30 years
- SZ and Todd were both extremely vague in describing exactly how they achieved their most notorious claims, often contracting their previous explanations over the years
- SZ and Todd both gave explanations which the people who understand the game best unanimously agree to not be possible
-- on this point specifically, how can you disprove Dragster 5.51?  Can you?  If so, how?  And if so, how is this any different than the way we've disproven SZ's "one guard glass open" strategy?
- SZ and Todd both came forward, offering to prove their notorious claims, years later, only after interest was piqued in these cases by speedrunning & gaming historians
- SZ and Todd both planted seeds at the time they offered to prove their notorious claims, by suggesting they "weren't as good at the game anymore," "the game didn't mean much to them anymore as they had families and have moved on" and other standard things that serial liars tell as an "out".  Note that "not being as good at the game anymore" is not a legitimate excuse, as virtually every player who has come back to these sorts of gamers after years of absence, actually quickly improve past their previous ability (Karl, Randy, Shawn Johnson, etc)
- SZ and Todd both recanted on their offer to "prove" their notorious claims after people began realizing they weren't possible, and both SZ and Todd claimed this was due to "the community being mean"

For these reasons I have every reason to legitimately compare SZ to Todd Rogers in an honest journalistic manner.  In fact, it would be journalistically dishonest if I did not compare him to Todd Rogers.

Very well said.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on August 30, 2018, 07:59:35 am
Those mk64 times were put there by Kevin Booth, him being the ref. SZ's LR 3lap was only put there after MJ already beat it, so he never held a twin galaxies/Guinness WR, not that those rankings are really relevant.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: KVD on August 30, 2018, 09:36:58 am
Why is this thread still open?

Locking threads is legitimately the most foolish, redundant, pointless thing you can possibly do in the history of the internet.  What purpose does locking a thread serve?  If it has offending content in it, that gets deleted.  Locking threads causes people who want to continue the discussion at hand, to simply make more threads and continue to flood the boards.  Locking threads is an absolute net negative under every circumstance.  Locking threads is just the corrupt moderators going "nyah nyah, now you can be teased and enticed by this thread's existence but you can't post in it! Losers!"  It's completely antagonizing and villainous.

Not gonna comment on the SZ situation much any more, as I have not much else to add to it at this point. Gotta say though, that post above by Goose is absolutely on point.

I'd also like to thank Shadow for being the voice of reason in this topic, just by thinking straight and never resorting to insults. He repeatedly got pushed into a box, but deserves credit for maintaining sage-like wisdom throughout. I'd like to thank Jonesy also for that brilliant post earlier.

Also, I lol'ed at the 4D chess reply. In hindsight that tangent I proposed seemed a bit out there indeed. The thing is there is a huge discrepancy between how SZ comes across in real-life and how his internet persona 'acts', which led me to believe this was a real possibility. I just couldn't reconcile his intelligent gamer genius persona (Ive witnessed it live numerous times, so I still insist that this part of his legacy is at least accurate) with some of his statements on these forums. I realize now that may be the result of a language barrier moreso than actually playing 4D chess though. I happily concede that point.

As for the comparison vs Todd Rogers, there are easily just as many differences as there are similarities. It just depends on which angle you're fishing for. You could claim he is similar to Hitler as well and state a list of 10 things they have in common. The point is you have to do some serious cherry picking to defend the comparison. Like Jones said earlier, some of Todd's scores are physically impossible with the way the game is coded. Like the Dragster time isn't even possible under any circumstance. With GE Aztec the impossibility of it all is at least a little bit more nuanced. Also, SZ DID prove some of his WRs (see MK64 LR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq6x4hhXdCQ and a bunch of other stuff on tape like Lylat Wars). This also makes this case quite different from the Todd one. Another difference is that SZ didnt build up a public persona / legacy with his claims. I can go on, but the point is clear I believe.

Basically, I 100% concur with what Jones wrote about it (reply 266). There is a world of difference between being backrolled on a ranking and being slandered by a popular YouTuber.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on August 30, 2018, 10:55:59 am
Just to comment maybe his Employees should know that a 40 year old man is still a liar to this day. You can say a 20 year old made a mistake and thats perfectly understandable but when the 40 year old family/business man still sticks to his lie then that maybe shows his character perhaps?

Goose make the video how you want to do it.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: KVD on August 30, 2018, 11:29:48 am
^The evidence is not solid enough for that and neither is the putative offense in any way proportionate to the possible consequences.

Ultimately the question Goose has to answer for himself here is whether the Todd Rogers comparison is made:
-for storytelling benefits / honest journalism
-to benefit the community
-to benefit himself

Not mutually exclusive perse, just something to think about. From reading Goose's posts he has already made up his mind on the matter, but I don't see how the comparison benefits anyone except himself. In fact, it could (and already has when reading some of the replies) put the community in a negative light (e.g. mob mentality).

Having said that, the Goose videos Ive watched have all been in good taste (they are quite often biased to 1 pov, but not trashy in any way), so Im kind of ok to reserve judgement on the final product anyhow. SZ has had ample opportunity to change the outcome of this himself and his actions have absolutely contributed to the current situation being as it is. 



Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Jonesy on August 30, 2018, 11:49:36 am
- SZ and Todd both gave explanations which the people who understand the game best unanimously agree to not be possible
-- on this point specifically, how can you disprove Dragster 5.51?  Can you?  If so, how?  And if so, how is this any different than the way we've disproven SZ's "one guard glass open" strategy?

I think these are pretty important questions to be asking and properly understand the answers to.

I'm not an expert in either game, but I have probably a better-than-average understanding of both simply by being interested in and following the developments in both cases. From my understanding (which is admittedly based on the work of others), the key difference between the two is that the Dragster code is so simple that the possibility space can be exhaustively explored from a rigorous, mathematical standpoint to essentially prove that a 5.51 is not possible given any possible sequence of inputs (see this video by Omnigamer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v7a29O7OkM)).

On the other hand, the source code for GoldenEye is several orders of magnitude more complex than a game like Dragster (which is why you have kooky shit like lookdown, strafing, warps, clips, etc.). This is definitely reaching the limits of my ability to speak knowledgeably, so I'll defer to someone like Henrik who can probably do a much better job. But, I'd be pretty surprised if anyone claimed that the possibility space of Aztec is as rigorously explored and understood as that of Dragster.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on August 30, 2018, 04:32:27 pm
His situation is far closer to that of Todd Rogers than myself for the following reasons:
-- on this point specifically, how can you disprove Dragster 5.51?  Can you?  If so, how?  And if so, how is this any different than the way we've disproven SZ's "one guard glass open" strategy?

They're Chalk and Cheese. You can very literally prove things about programs, and it's a very well studied subject, especially nowadays with nearly everything having multiple cores / types of processors running concurrently. Even at a very granular level, Atari 2600s have a single CPU so the program runs sequentially, while N64 has the 2-ish graphics processors in addition to the CPU.. and even the CPU runs multiple threads. Saying that anything is impossible is pretty tricky, but not itself impossible  :)
Also google tells me that Dragster is 2 kB, which I actually can't believe because it's so small, but maybe that's just the code. Apparently the code should be within 4KB.  Whereas GE is like 10MB, and even more if you decompress everything out of it.
The Dragster 5.51 analysis is essentially a proof, while "one guard glass" analysis is just we can't explain it (we probably including SZ). A video of it would belong in Obscure happenings with the other stuff that isn't understood.


In fact, it would be journalistically dishonest if I did not compare him to Todd Rogers.
Bit strong I think. Your videos (beyond the thumbnail / title) are generally quite balanced though, with the odd one based on some dodgy maths :p
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 30, 2018, 05:28:24 pm
I'm not an expert in either game, but I have probably a better-than-average understanding of both simply by being interested in and following the developments in both cases. From my understanding (which is admittedly based on the work of others), the key difference between the two is that the Dragster code is so simple that the possibility space can be exhaustively explored from a rigorous, mathematical standpoint to essentially prove that a 5.51 is not possible given any possible sequence of inputs (see this video by Omnigamer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v7a29O7OkM)).

On the other hand, the source code for GoldenEye is several orders of magnitude more complex than a game like Dragster (which is why you have kooky shit like lookdown, strafing, warps, clips, etc.). This is definitely reaching the limits of my ability to speak knowledgeably, so I'll defer to someone like Henrik who can probably do a much better job. But, I'd be pretty surprised if anyone claimed that the possibility space of Aztec is as rigorously explored and understood as that of Dragster.

I haven't looked at the Dragster case myself, but yeah, it should be possible to actually prove stuff through assembly code analysis if it's simple enough. In the case of Goldeneye you're correct, it's far too complex. Not necessarily impossible if you can e.g. isolate the code that triggers the door opening and find where it's called from etc... but it could easily end up being a deep rabbit hole as well.

So as I've mentioned before, I think the Aztec case has to come down to statistics. Steven claims to have successfully replicated the strat multiple times, and within a reasonable amount of time ("10 hours"). This puts some very solid constraints on how unlikely the strat can be. The fact that no one else has ever seen it in 16 years is already pretty convincing evidence, and over time that will only get better.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on August 30, 2018, 07:39:36 pm
From my understanding it initially took Steven a 10 hour session of experimenting with different methods to finally get it to work(which is where the 10 hour figure comes from).  Then shortly after claimed to have gotten a 2:03 00 Agent time in about an hour with the backup(this is an assumption, all instances of the strat that were posted in early 2002 included the backup, thus i'd figure it could be done with it. I could be wrong however). He then claimed to have set a 1:33 on Agent sometime later after finding some new tricks to do it faster, which would be improved to a 1:31 further down the road. Those Agent times are quite certainly not done with the backup. On the MK boards he suggests that without backup the odds of getting a glass opening are about 0.1% after playing 2 sessions of 5 hours, and that with backup about 1% it seems while reading his old posts on this forum. In other words, Steven basically claimed to have gotten a minimum of 4 glass openings in a time of 21+ hours fwiw.
I don't know what method the people used to attempt to get it to work, did people mostly try it without the backup?

As for the Dragster 5.51, i'm not an expert, but i recall that Omnigamer made a spreadsheet based off the source code/assembly code(which could literally be fit on one sheet of paper iirc, at least only the portion that affects the gameplay) and concluded that 5.57 is the fastest possible time. An Atari 2600 ROM expert named Thomas Jentzsch basically did the same and also came to the same conclusion, along with several other experts. Ben Heck would later then test if there's any inconsistencies with how running it on the actual console compared with the spreadsheets/emulator, no differences were found and arrived at the same conclusion as all the others.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: poonjahbee on August 30, 2018, 07:41:37 pm
So Ill finally give my two cents on this whole thing. I actually spoke with Steven many many years ago when boss came out and revealed his aztec start to us. I basically asked him if how he did his much faster glass was to lure the one guard behind the mainframe and he said yes he had just that one guard open the glass for him. Knowing what we know now I have no doubt that he was telling us the truth when he said he got that one guard to open the glass. The one thing he is not telling us however is he had invisibility on and thats how he got the one guard to open the glass. I think it should be fairly obvious to all that he either A: lied about the whole thing or B: (and what I believe) is he used cheats to accomplish this and has kept that to him self ever since. So going back to my past conversation with him and how I felt about that aztec time at the time would be that I never felt it was legitimate. And now with our vast knowledge of the game we can safely assume he did cheat to achieve the one guard strat. Its as obvious as Henning saying there was some freak occurrence and thats why there was a phantom being put away in the cinema. Believe his crazy lie if you want, but I think we all know better than to just trust what people tell you. So yes I do believe the supposed one guard strat is illegitimate as all hell and anyone trying to replicate it legitimately is wasting your precious time.  End rant.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on August 31, 2018, 01:08:25 am
Well said Punjabe. Posted way earlier in the thread with a similar assumption. That he had a cheat on and pulled off the one guard lure. Over the last 16 years thats been the only route where one guard can pull off that specific trick.

He gets the strat to work with the cheat and then lowers the time some more to 1:31 but doesnt post it himself and said hes holding it until someone else does it with the thinking that there probably will be a method to get the glass open like his and his record would be accepted and everyone would believe him. But unfortunately for him no one can get a one guard strat to work and hes left with just his short, vague, and ever changing description of the strategy with zero proof.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 31, 2018, 02:37:37 am
I don't know what method the people used to attempt to get it to work, did people mostly try it without the backup?

I would imagine the vast majority of attempts wouldn't come from actually trying to do the one guard strat, but rather attempts to do the 2 guard strat that failed and only lured 1 guard. So that would be without the backup. Specific attempts to do the 1 guard strat would likely have been with the backup (at least in my own case).

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Scrambler Fanny on August 31, 2018, 07:09:28 am
Note that "not being as good at the game anymore" is not a legitimate excuse, as virtually every player who has come back to these sorts of gamers after years of absence, actually quickly improve past their previous ability (Karl, Randy, Shawn Johnson, etc)

I never thought in a million years that "MY" name/gaming history would be relevant within this composition on the examination into SZ. Slick, Goose, as always.

Fretting over the "harm," "defamation," and future employment status effected by any compilation vid done by Goose (or anyone) seems like a waste of concern. If your whistle is squeaky clean, you've nothing to worry about. If not, real life dictates that we face the music and man up to our actions. Boils down to responsibility in my view.

As a 36 old fella complete with wife, four children, job, military, supervisor of 50 personnel, active member within local church, having put thousands of hours into GE myself, blah, blah, blah, I feel as if I can *possibly* speak from the ballpark of where SZ is in life. I'm putting myself in his shoes right now. I WOULD NOT CARE IF ANYONE STUMBLED ACROSS A YOUTUBE VID OF ME "CHEATING" ON A VIDEO GAME BACK IN 199x. I think people here within this discussion are 1000 times more concerned than SZ is. Has he posted anywhere where he specifically asks Goose (or anyone) not to follow through with mentioned vid with gathered information?

Comprehensive analysis over.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AEB on August 31, 2018, 09:11:55 am
Yeah, many posts here are ridiculous. Let him defend himself instead, which he would if this was that important to him. I would if my wife, children and job were at stake, like quite a few here seem to think it is for him.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 31, 2018, 11:12:58 am
If your wife leaves you and takes the kids because of a video on youtube about you possibly faking some times on a video game your relationship probably wasnt working out to begin with...
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on August 31, 2018, 11:24:22 am
So I went back and looked at the guard data again, because I had a suspicion that there might be some value in there somewhere representing a position behind the glass door when you get an opening. That would explain why the glass actually opens, because the guard is literally trying to reach a position behind it, which is what our intuition and current understanding of it was telling us.
And indeed I found such a value.

The videos below shows how this value behaves. The yellow line is where the guard is supposed to go, i.e. Bond's last known position or a node on the navigation graph. The green and blue lines represent two other values I found, and they seem to point toward the edges/corners of obstacles. The red line is where the guard is actually going. The red line will generally be slightly outside of of either the green and blue line, which makes sense since the guard is trying to avoid the obstacle. I made videos of invisibility, mainframe and 1-guard strat for comparison:

Invisibility:

Unsurpisingly, the green/blue lines point toward the edges of Bond, who acts as an obstacle, and the glass opens when the red line leads to behind the glass.

Mainframe:

Very similar, except the 2nd guard acts as the obstacle.

1-Guard:

There is no obstacle this time so the green/blue lines point to the previous obstacle or in the middle of nowhere, most likely unused. The red line always points directly at Bond's previous location, which due to Bond's 30 unit radius, is 15 units away from the glass.

All of this seems to confirm what we already knew, that an obstacle is required and that the target position for the guard must be behind the glass in order for it to open. It's worth mentioning that random animations do not produce a red line at all. Given all this I really don't see any way that the 1-guard strat could ever work, backup or non-backup.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Retrix on August 31, 2018, 01:49:08 pm
Damn that's some sweet research. Ok I'm done. Will the real Aztec WR holder please stand up? Please stand up.

Done. I've been proven wrong thrice in a week due to my own unwillingness to trust the fucking experts.

Prove me otherwise, Kent, Zwartjes, REDACTED.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 31, 2018, 03:12:09 pm
Wow! Henrik EPICALLY OWNS SZ with a tidy COMPENDIUM of inalterable FACTS, TRUTH & KNOWLEDGE and COMPLETELY SHUTS DOWN all hope SZ's supporters had of REDEMPTION!  Yikes!

--

This is now proven to be equally as impossible as Dragster 5.51.  Steven Z is literally the Todd Rogers of N64.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Jonesy on August 31, 2018, 03:43:20 pm
All of this seems to confirm

This is now proven

I'm curious if Henrik shares your conclusion, though I suspect he might demur given his previous comments on Dragster and his apparent intellectual honestly.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: KVD on August 31, 2018, 04:24:34 pm
Wow! Henrik EPICALLY OWNS SZ with a tidy COMPENDIUM of inalterable FACTS, TRUTH & KNOWLEDGE and COMPLETELY SHUTS DOWN all hope SZ's supporters had of REDEMPTION!  Yikes!

--

This is now proven to be equally as impossible as Dragster 5.51.  Steven Z is literally the Todd Rogers of N64.

(https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/56937869/not-sure-if-thats-an-overstatement-or-an-overstatement.jpg)
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on August 31, 2018, 04:44:28 pm
This is now proven to be equally as impossible as Dragster 5.51.

What even.
I'm by no means putting down Henrik's neat (as ever) analysis, but this is just showing how it works for 2 guards. The 2 lines to the object which it's trying to avoid are a really nice find, but probably aren't too relevant to 1 guard. And I'd agree that the red target position probably needs to go into the glass to get the guard to open it (I didn't look into it too much but I think it at least flicked behind the door on s1 each time I got the door open), but this doesn't, by any stretch of the imagination, categorically rule out 1-guard.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Shadow on August 31, 2018, 04:46:06 pm
You are the one guilty of sensationalism if you're trying to sound the alarm that I'm going to completely destroy SZ's life, get him fired from work, divorced, and have his wife take custody of his kids. 

The hyperbole in this thread is ridiculous. SZ is being BLACKMAILED and DEFAMED and WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN.

Yeah, many posts here are ridiculous. Let him defend himself instead, which he would if this was that important to him. I would if my wife, children and job were at stake, like quite a few here seem to think it is for him.

If your wife leaves you and takes the kids because of a video on youtube about you possibly faking some times on a video game your relationship probably wasnt working out to begin with...

Congratulations. You want hyperbole? You've managed to debunk and ridicule a position literally no one in this thread has stated besides yourselves. Seriously, who are you talking to?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 31, 2018, 05:16:49 pm
Guys, my post was a Ben Shapiro meme for Pete's sake.....

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ben-shapiro-destroys-liberals

Are we not allowed to meme around here anymore?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AEB on August 31, 2018, 05:25:03 pm
Only speaking for myself but my post was indeed hyperbole on purpose just to make a simple point, which is that some people in this thread make it sound more serious than it is (to me personally, and I consider some posts a bit hyperbole because of that, which is why my post also was hyperbole to show that I think it's a bit silly) and that I'm sure Steven doesn't need guardians and is able to defend himself if he wanted to. I don't have time to quote all the posts I'm referring to right now but there have been a few of them that are fair to ridicule in my opinion.

I only care about the Aztec strat/1:31 claim though so I guess I should stay out of this since it's evolved to a lot more than that and I lack the knowledge to judge most of it and what the outcome might be.

Btw, I definitely think his proven times should stay.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Huzi on August 31, 2018, 05:36:43 pm
If your wife leaves you and takes the kids because of a video on youtube about you possibly faking some times on a video game your relationship probably wasnt working out to begin with...

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard dude. What is wrong with you.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 31, 2018, 05:49:25 pm
All of this seems to confirm

This is now proven

I'm curious if Henrik shares your conclusion, though I suspect he might demur given his previous comments on Dragster and his apparent intellectual honestly.

You do realize that Henrik is Swedish, right?  And English is not his first language.  He posted three videos which PROVE that SZ's one guard glass strat can never work.  He has empirically PROVEN this.  You are using an incredibly massive strawman by picking out that he used the word "seems" instead of "proves" in his post; when the videos he posted do indeed PROVE (or in this case, disprove) SZ's strategy entirely.

You are literally discounting everything shown in the videos, and choosing to base your entire perspective on a single word that Henrik, a non-native English speaker, wrote in his post, where he proved the strategy is impossible
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Jonesy on August 31, 2018, 06:05:47 pm
I haven't looked at the Dragster case myself, but yeah, it should be possible to actually prove stuff through assembly code analysis if it's simple enough. In the case of Goldeneye you're correct, it's far too complex.

This statement informed my interpretation of his most recent response, which appears to corroborate his use of "seems". Like I said, I'm curious if he agrees with your take (or was it just a meme?) that this constitutes "proof".

FWIW, I have no stake in this and I'm not discounting Henrik's findings. Just consider me to be QA. If Henrik states that his findings are as rigorous as the Dragster findings, I think that would constitute a win. If not, then at the very least we are collectively becoming more knowledgeable about the game.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: falzy211 on August 31, 2018, 06:06:07 pm
It’s not about his wife and kids.

It’s closely linking him with Todd Rogers. Maybe not in your line of work. But employers do look
Up their potential employees. Todd Rogers has a bad reputation, soo much soonthat non speed run people know him. More and more these sorts of
Things are putting people in trouble

The glass start working or not isn’t really relevant. It probably doesn’t work and he probably lied. The question is what is a proportionate response

Goose appears to have a conflict of interest here. He wants a shocking click bait like title to make
Money, but you don’t really have anything like the evidence to claim them as similar. Because of this his view is being skewered. SZ is more like the guy he covered on his gta video than Todd





Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on August 31, 2018, 07:15:53 pm
Henrik's post is quite interesting and demonstrates the working of the second guard openings quite well, the red target position line must most certainly be inside the glass in order to have a glass opening occur. Should be useful for Goose to show in his video at least. But this honestly doesn't prove that it's impossible imo. I'd say that you'll need to find a way to prove that the red target position can never under any circumstance go inside the glass while doing the one guard lure. SZ mentioned some stuff that the angles(from Bond and the Guard approaching the glass) were important in order to make it work iirc. But i'm no expert, just floating thoughts. In the end the only one that should bother with this is Steven himself, since he was the one who claimed it worked.

For anybody that wants to find more about the Dragster case, feel free to read through the Dispute thread from Twin Galaxies(good luck, it's 5400+ posts long lol) https://www.twingalaxies.com/showthread.php/175364-Dispute-Dick-Moreland-Atari-2600-VCS-Dragster-NTSC-Game-1-Difficulty-B-Fastest-Time-Player-Todd-Rogers-Score-05-51/page2
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 31, 2018, 07:29:26 pm
It’s not about his wife and kids. It’s closely linking him with Todd Rogers. Maybe not in your line of work. But employers do look
Up their potential employees. Todd Rogers has a bad reputation, soo much soonthat non speed run people know him. More and more these sorts of
Things are putting people in trouble

Todd Rogers is not quite "literally Hitler" dude.  It's not like I'm making a video "THE MOST RACIST MAN SINCE HITLER SHOWS HIS FACE!"  I'm making a video "The Todd Rogers of N64."  A random employer in Netherlands doesn't know anything about Todd Rogers from the next Sven van der Beek down the street.

The glass start working or not isn’t really relevant. It probably doesn’t work and he probably lied.

So in the name of being a steward for speedrunning history, I'm not allowed to document this extremely high profile and significant lie in the community?

The glass strat not working IS relevant, because if it worked; or if never claimed it worked when it didn't, we wouldn't be here in the first place!

The question is what is a proportionate response

Goose appears to have a conflict of interest here. He wants a shocking click bait like title to make
Money, but you don’t really have anything like the evidence to claim them as similar.

No dude, I've already given you a massive list of evidence to claim them as similar in Reply #281.

Because of this his view is being skewered. SZ is more like the guy he covered on his gta video than Todd

And I titled that video "BIGGEST CHEATING SCANDAL IN GTA HISTORY!"  You are deeming that to be an appropriate response?  How is that any less "extreme" and "clickbait" than "THE TODD ROGERS OF N64?"
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on August 31, 2018, 07:58:30 pm
SZ claims that it took about 10 hours to get the 1 guard strat to work yet how many hours have people put in over the years since trying to repeat this? Ill add another 40 euros into the pot to anyone who can prove the strat works. I dont get why theres such a backlash against goose making this video about SZ possibly cheating but every other video was fine. It would be nice to get all the facts squeezed down into one video summary.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: falzy211 on August 31, 2018, 08:15:58 pm
Perhaps it’s since you are using his real name which is traceable to him
Personally rather than a forum name or pseudonym which is known by the speed running community

Click baiting before doesn’t make it acceptable now. You can justify it how you like. The mk forums didn’t think much of it either
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on August 31, 2018, 08:59:55 pm
Did you miss the numerous posts in this thread where I pointed out that I will not be using SZ's real name in the title, tags, or metadata of the video?

You seemed to hugely misinterpret the post where I said "search Steven Zwartjes into Youtube and you do not see any of my videos." (Reply #279).  The meaning was that, I do not include the traceable names of people who do not wish to be included.  But you seemed to think this was "belligerent and irresponsible" or something.

I'm starting to think that perhaps it's not that we don't see eye to eye on this... it's that you made up YOUR mind already that I'm some kind of vicious, life ruining, clickbaiting, Content Copping YouTuber, who is literally going to do to Zwartjes what idubbbz did to Leafy, and it seems you are refusing to understand or realize that I, 100%, unequivocally, will NOT do this to SZ.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on August 31, 2018, 09:43:27 pm
Check out his responses on the Andrew Kent thread back in February. Will tell you all you need to know about him making up his mind a long time ago
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Retrix on September 01, 2018, 02:38:13 am
I would think the video might prompt SZ to redouble his efforts if he indeed didn't lie. Would like to be proven wrong still. I've had my fair share of glitches where I could say, "it happened, no really," like on Egypt when I got the Baron to fade without a death animation. Alas the footage is gone and it goes down as a strange occurrence. The problem is SZ claimed a WR with no proof and refuses to let go. you need proof mate  this is modern speedrunning. That's just how it is now. Please, prove us wrong. We love game breaking stuff if it brings the time down. (Well I do.)
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Smit on September 01, 2018, 02:54:05 am
Guys, the video won't affect his real life at all. Just make the video, let the /r/speedrun trolls and Gooselings post their hate on youtube and let it die out within a week please.

Thank you.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AEB on September 01, 2018, 03:17:51 am
My thought about Henrik's wording is that he's scientifically minded and humble because you can't say it's 100 % sure the strat doesn't work, "only" 99.9 % or close to it.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wyst3r on September 01, 2018, 03:18:38 am
This statement informed my interpretation of his most recent response, which appears to corroborate his use of "seems". Like I said, I'm curious if he agrees with your take (or was it just a meme?) that this constitutes "proof".

FWIW, I have no stake in this and I'm not discounting Henrik's findings. Just consider me to be QA. If Henrik states that his findings are as rigorous as the Dragster findings, I think that would constitute a win. If not, then at the very least we are collectively becoming more knowledgeable about the game.

This is now proven to be equally as impossible as Dragster 5.51.

What even.
I'm by no means putting down Henrik's neat (as ever) analysis, but this is just showing how it works for 2 guards. The 2 lines to the object which it's trying to avoid are a really nice find, but probably aren't too relevant to 1 guard. And I'd agree that the red target position probably needs to go into the glass to get the guard to open it (I didn't look into it too much but I think it at least flicked behind the door on s1 each time I got the door open), but this doesn't, by any stretch of the imagination, categorically rule out 1-guard.

Henrik's post is quite interesting and demonstrates the working of the second guard openings quite well, the red target position line must most certainly be inside the glass in order to have a glass opening occur. Should be useful for Goose to show in his video at least. But this honestly doesn't prove that it's impossible imo. I'd say that you'll need to find a way to prove that the red target position can never under any circumstance go inside the glass while doing the one guard lure. SZ mentioned some stuff that the angles(from Bond and the Guard approaching the glass) were important in order to make it work iirc. But i'm no expert, just floating thoughts. In the end the only one that should bother with this is Steven himself, since he was the one who claimed it worked.

For anybody that wants to find more about the Dragster case, feel free to read through the Dispute thread from Twin Galaxies(good luck, it's 5400+ posts long lol) https://www.twingalaxies.com/showthread.php/175364-Dispute-Dick-Moreland-Atari-2600-VCS-Dragster-NTSC-Game-1-Difficulty-B-Fastest-Time-Player-Todd-Rogers-Score-05-51/page2

While technically all this is true, I do think there is a major flaw in this type of reasoning. Grav already mentioned the unfalsifiability problem, but to add to that, what you're asking for is essentially rigorous mathematical proof, which only really works for well... mathematics. In pretty much every other area of science, that level of proof is impossible, yet there are things within those fields that are considered "known" or even "facts". In fact, most things in life that are considered facts do not have this level of proof. It would be very unpractical to require this, since it would mean we would never know anything for certain. For example, murderers or criminals would always be found not guilty, and we would still wonder if the earth was flat.

From Wikipedia's page for "proof":

Quote
In most disciplines, evidence is required to prove something. Evidence is drawn from experience of the world around us, with science obtaining its evidence from nature,[11] law obtaining its evidence from witnesses and forensic investigation,[12] and so on. A notable exception is mathematics, whose proofs are drawn from a mathematical world begun with axioms and further developed and enriched by theorems proved earlier.

Exactly what evidence is sufficient to prove something is also strongly area-dependent, usually with no absolute threshold of sufficiency at which evidence becomes proof.[13][14][15] In law, the same evidence that may convince one jury may not persuade another. Formal proof provides the main exception, where the criteria for proofhood are ironclad and it is impermissible to defend any step in the reasoning as "obvious" (except for the necessary ability of the one proving and the one being proven to, to correctly identify any symbol used in the proof.);[16] for a well-formed formula to qualify as part of a formal proof, it must be the result of applying a rule of the deductive apparatus of some formal system to the previous well-formed formulae in the proof sequence.[17]

And "fact":

Quote
A fact is a statement that is consistent with objective reality or can be proven with evidence. The usual test for a statement of fact is verifiability — that is, whether it can be demonstrated to correspond to experience. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement (by experiments or other means).

The problem with the statement "maybe there's a magical way to get the red line to point to behind the glass with 1 guard" is that there's no evidence or logical reason for why that would ever happen. You might as well say that "maybe there's a way to warp directly to the end of every level and have all objectives magically complete". But as Stefan said, the burden of proof is on SZ, not on the-elite. Personally, I think the most reasonable thing to do is to consider the 1-guard strat to be fake until proven real, rather than the other way around.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: KVD on September 01, 2018, 04:00:32 am
Nice conclusion by Wyst3r, sounding like the Richard Dawkins of the Elite. :)
I agree with this reasoning, the burden of proof is with SZ. Therefore backroll (or even removal) is ok.

But by the same token it should protect SZ from being called a PROVEN liar.

If someone told me (1) God is real, I'd say the burden of proof is with you. If someone told me the (2) theory of evolution is wrong I could be outraged enough to go into a rant (or make a video  :kappa:), precisely because that the latter is a falsifiable statement (different degrees of uncertainty between statement 1 and 2).

But whatever, what Eise said, bring on the video.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on September 01, 2018, 04:31:36 am
The strat being proven impossible if proof that Steven is a liar.

The burden of proof is on the person claiming that Steven is a liar. The proof of this claim is that the strategy he claims to have done is not possible.

This isn't complicated.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Ray Ruane on September 01, 2018, 04:58:48 am
One thing that I'm surprised nobody is mentioning is, let's say Steven is telling the truth. Would he really get a 30-odd second untied once on a level - using a strategy that it allegedly took him "1 hour" to do - and never played the level again?!

Surely if he discovered this he would have had to have grinded it down to 1:50, 1:45, 1:40 and so on, but NO, 1 fucking 31 straight away.

Of course this isn't proof per se, but it just makes it even more un-believable.

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on September 01, 2018, 07:55:31 am
One thing that I'm surprised nobody is mentioning is, let's say Steven is telling the truth. Would he really get a 30-odd second untied once on a level - using a strategy that it allegedly took him "1 hour" to do - and never played the level again?!

Surely if he discovered this he would have had to have grinded it down to 1:50, 1:45, 1:40 and so on, but NO, 1 fucking 31 straight away.

Of course this isn't proof per se, but it just makes it even more un-believable.

The one hour session was with the backup(allegedly increases the odds) for a claimed time of 2:03 00A. Furthermore he claimed 1:33 on A first, then a 1:31 later(without backup). Without backup, it should be somewhere between 2 to 5 seconds faster than the currently used 2 guard strat and i believe 12 to 15 seconds faster than the old Boss method(i have done a video comparison in Sony Vegas). I could be wrong with my calculations, but if i were correct it would mean Steven's 1:31 time would be equivalent to a 1:43 at best with the Boss method or 1:46 at worst. Correct me if i'm wrong about something.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: OHMSS on September 01, 2018, 08:08:20 am
The people demanding rigoros proof are annoying (to say the least). Let's not act like euphoric college juniors here please. The guy lied, end of story.

A video is certainly appropriate if there's no full name in the title and no facepic as thumbnail (as already declared by Goose).
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on September 01, 2018, 08:23:59 am
Certainly rigorous proof is only in mathematics, but I would say GE science sits squarely inside mathematics.
I think what we have atm is not proof but some degree of confidence (which mathematics still kinda values, i.e. P not equal to NP), and if you are confident that there is no 1-guard strat then you are welcome to put money in the bounty :p
I still think there's probably a 1-guard strat.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: OHMSS on September 01, 2018, 09:01:33 am
I think what we have atm is not proof but some degree of confidence

Did you even read the arguments brought forward? The matter has been evaluated for like 16 years in probably close to a million attempts and not a single time was the glass opened by a single guard. In addition, there are Henrik's analyses that give a huge degree of confidence that a single guard cannot open the glass without the presence of an obstacle. Then there are Karl's arguments about the strat being way too slow for 1:31 with old school gameplay. You must accept that the people who accuse Steven know their shit very well.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on September 01, 2018, 09:13:34 am
To be clear I'm only talking about a 1-guard strat existing, not whether SZ found it, or whether it's fast.
I can't remember if I've said this before, but I think any 1-guard strat will be different enough to the 2-guard ones that you won't have hit it randomly attempting a 2-guard strat, which negates as many million attempts as you like.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: OHMSS on September 01, 2018, 09:18:09 am
Well, then stop going off topic mate :kappa: This is about SZ, who boasted with a huge UWR and gave very fishy details, all of which is debunked now.

Btw, yes a single guard can open the door: if you get the keycard from Jaws and camp behind the glass, a guard will come and open the glass. Cool, huh?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on September 01, 2018, 09:34:26 am
*Removing this post as it was mostly incorrect.*
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on September 01, 2018, 10:31:37 am
^ The different strategy i'm referring to is pretty much the one he posted on the MK boards, where he shows himself to the guard, closes the mainframe manually and the guard then opens the glass right away at arrival(not noting anything resembling that he bothered planning for the backup). To me it seems that he claimed that that was the strat he used for Agent(since he was being questioned on his 1:31 strat there) and for his 2:03 00A he used the backup(which he claimed earlier than his Agent times), which makes sense to me due to 1:31 and 1:33 being ludicrously fast for 2002 if you're including the backup. But take it for what it is, no reason to discuss this further. Like i said earlier, Steven is the only one who should bother with this.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on September 01, 2018, 10:38:55 am
^ The different strategy i'm referring to is pretty much the one he posted on the MK boards, where he shows himself to the guard, closes the mainframe manually and the guard then opens the glass right away at arrival(not noting anything resembling that he bothered planning for the backup). To me it seems that he claimed that that was the strat he used for Agent(since he was being questioned on his 1:31 strat there) and for his 2:03 00A he used the backup(which he claimed earlier than his Agent times), which makes sense to me due to 1:31 and 1:33 being ludicrously fast for 2002 if you're including the backup. But take it for what it is, no reason to discuss this further. Like i said earlier, Steven is the only one who should put effort into proving/disproving the strat.

Ok yeah my last post was mostly mistaken. I was definitely confused about how he described the strat. Apologies.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on September 01, 2018, 10:42:31 am
http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1117846347

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on September 01, 2018, 10:43:08 am
I edited my previous post above, thanks.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on September 01, 2018, 10:51:21 am
No worries.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Blue Khakis on September 01, 2018, 03:50:54 pm
I'm fairly sure the Netherlands has a pretty rigorous justice system and has no shortage of lawyers familiar with international laws regarding defamation. If SZ actually loses his job because of Goose's video, he will be perfectly entitled to take legal action against Goose in a court of law, where he will no doubt be legally required to show his strategy in action.

Ultimately, if you think that Goose is jumping the gun without all the evidence, it is Goose you should be concerned about. It is entirely up to him whether he believes he has enough evidence to go to press because he is the one taking the risk by publishing the video.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: falzy211 on September 01, 2018, 04:46:07 pm
Sorry just to clarify
Did SZ put up the claimed time on the rankings? So did he “officially” have a near 30 second untied? Did that not flag something back then?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: stefankok on September 01, 2018, 05:23:37 pm
^ It was put on the rankings, but it's not certain whether he did so himself(doesn't really matter either way). If it was never on the rankings i don't think it would have been as controversial.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Wuldntuliktono on September 01, 2018, 05:41:50 pm
Also to note while very rare huge 20+ second untieds werent unheard of in the very early days. I think mike martin had like a 25+ second untied on surface 2 sa when the grenade strat was discovered, and a few other levels had huge untieds.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on September 01, 2018, 10:44:38 pm
Sorry just to clarify
Did SZ put up the claimed time on the rankings? So did he “officially” have a near 30 second untied? Did that not flag something back then?

Why have you not acknowledged my statement that I will not be including Zwartjes name or picture in the title, thumbnail, tags or metadata of the video?  Why are you continuing with this narrative that I'm out to destroy SZ's life when the reality is the complete opposite?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on September 02, 2018, 12:04:12 am
I'm fairly sure the Netherlands has a pretty rigorous justice system and has no shortage of lawyers familiar with international laws regarding defamation. If SZ actually loses his job because of Goose's video, he will be perfectly entitled to take legal action against Goose in a court of law, where he will no doubt be legally required to show his strategy in action.

Ultimately, if you think that Goose is jumping the gun without all the evidence, it is Goose you should be concerned about. It is entirely up to him whether he believes he has enough evidence to go to press because he is the one taking the risk by publishing the video.

There would be no case for defamation (libel). It wod hinge on Goose in this example knowing that what he was saying was not true and making a video anyway. Every piece of evidence points to Steven being a liar so any video made is based on the overwhelming evidence that we know at the time. So while dramatic for some of SZ’s supporters to throw out some scare tactics there is no fear what so ever.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: KVD on September 02, 2018, 04:28:00 am
No one is gonna lose his job and no one is getting sued. SZ is not Billy Mitchell, his status in real life is not build on video games and he is not at Billy Mitchell levels of assholery.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: falzy211 on September 02, 2018, 05:20:04 am
That’s not the discussion now goose. It helps of course
The discussion was if it’s fair to compare him to todd. I didn’t think your evidence was good enough for what is a fairly serious claim.

Im not trying to build any narrative. It’s just my point of view, maybe it will be considered a bit or not. The op just seemed too one sided
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on September 02, 2018, 08:34:56 am
It was always the discussion.  You made a half-dozen posts her about how I was "belligerent and careless" for ruining SZ's life by muddying his name, *daring* to compare him to the truly evil and internationally infamous Todd Rogers.  You are lying right now, and tbh, you might be an even bigger liar than SZ himself.

"The OP"

Three fucking months ago.

Again, you do realize that, during and after investigations, people's opinions can change, right?

Had I not made the comparison originally, I don't think this would have received anywhere near the same levels of attention, and we wouldn't have become anywhere nearer the truth; like has happened since this took on a life of its own.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: falzy211 on September 02, 2018, 03:14:25 pm
Ok look this is clearly making you angry, like I was a couple of days ago. Before this ends up ugly im legitimately going to stop here. I’ve no more to add and i continued primarily due to a couple of people’s comments here.

Make the video,  I’m sure if the comparison is stretched the feedback on it will reflect that.

Not every young guy who made up a time is todd Rogers, who made his fame off it, that’s all.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on September 03, 2018, 12:32:41 am
Nice passive aggressive bait. A guy that lies as a young man then continues to lie into his 30s and 40s, a smidge shy of 2 decades, has more in common with Todd Rogers a guy thats lied for 30 years than a person who hasnt just saying.

You continue to ignore that this isnt just a one off from a young adult, its ongoing behavior to this day. He could have admitted he made it up and it would be forgiven and forgotten in less than a week. Its the continued lie and insulting peoples intelligence that caused this to blow up.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: GreasePig on October 13, 2018, 12:33:06 am
Since this dead thread has been bumped I'll tack my question on to it.

The wiki page listing GoldenEye point champions (which is linked directly to from the forums) still has Zwartjes listed:

http://speedrunwiki.com/Goldeneye_Champions

Quote
...
Sterling, 1998.7.4 - 2001.2.26 (968 days)
Martin, 1998.3.14 - 1998.7.4 (112 days)
Zwartjes, 1997.8.25 - 1998.3.14 (201 days)

A few options:
1. Zwartjes remains on the list for historical reasons
2. The rankings start on 1998.3.14 with Martin as champion
3. The rankings start on 1997.8.25 with Martin as champion (if he was active during that whole time and no. 2 during that period)
4. Some other person or people are listed for that period (if we have knowledge of the ranks from the time)

There has been no edits or discussion to the Wiki beyond adding Luke's recent reign.

I feel like the information to choose 3 or 4 is lost to time unless someone has an archive (way back machine doesn't go this far back, not even sure there was a web page or forum at the time).

Whatever is agreed upon for the wiki will be reflected in future point champion visualization videos.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AZ on October 19, 2018, 05:19:42 am
Steven had no linked videos on his page or his PR history, so there was no proven times to backroll to. I don't think Steven is 'banned' and I don't think there would be a problem with any proven times being on the ranks. I will raise with the council to try to get this to happen.

Any update on this?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: TobiasSC on October 20, 2018, 07:03:22 am
Discussion’s already over but I’d like to add some quick thoughts.

First of all I just want to say that I really enjoy watching your videos Goose. I think you’ve got a great talent for speaking about stuff in a clear, fun and engaging way. Keep up the good work!

So here’s what I think about the idea of making this kind of a video in general, now that your channel has grown so much: Any time you make a video talking about an individual in an unsympathetic context (in this case a probable scam) you run a risk of painting him or her a target of harassment and ridicule in front of thousands of people. I can’t see how this could ever be a positive thing, even if the person happens to be guilty.

Nothing would probably happen IRL, especially since you seem to be careful about personal details. This is good. But you could do even better IMO and just decide not give this person any more spotlight than he’s already got. Little good can come from introducing him to 50k+ new people at this point.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: 50 on October 20, 2018, 11:17:22 am
why tf this is such a biiiiig deal around here, goose made a lot of vids about cheaters in the past exposing facts of history about the games without any disrespect and no one gave a single shit about it. As long as he do it in respect idk why you guys are making such a big deal out of it.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Blue Khakis on October 20, 2018, 05:26:45 pm
Discussion’s already over but I’d like to add some quick thoughts.

First of all I just want to say that I really enjoy watching your videos Goose. I think you’ve got a great talent for speaking about stuff in a clear, fun and engaging way. Keep up the good work!

So here’s what I think about the idea of making this kind of a video in general, now that your channel has grown so much: Any time you make a video talking about an individual in an unsympathetic context (in this case a probable scam) you run a risk of painting him or her a target of harassment and ridicule in front of thousands of people. I can’t see how this could ever be a positive thing, even if the person happens to be guilty.

Nothing would probably happen IRL, especially since you seem to be careful about personal details. This is good. But you could do even better IMO and just decide not give this person any more spotlight than he’s already got. Little good can come from introducing him to 50k+ new people at this point.
Why should he refrain from reporting on unscrupulous individuals just like every other journalistic medium does? What's special about games journalism that makes it exempt from reporting the bad along with the good?
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: TobiasSC on October 20, 2018, 08:09:17 pm
Discussion’s already over but I’d like to add some quick thoughts.

First of all I just want to say that I really enjoy watching your videos Goose. I think you’ve got a great talent for speaking about stuff in a clear, fun and engaging way. Keep up the good work!

So here’s what I think about the idea of making this kind of a video in general, now that your channel has grown so much: Any time you make a video talking about an individual in an unsympathetic context (in this case a probable scam) you run a risk of painting him or her a target of harassment and ridicule in front of thousands of people. I can’t see how this could ever be a positive thing, even if the person happens to be guilty.

Nothing would probably happen IRL, especially since you seem to be careful about personal details. This is good. But you could do even better IMO and just decide not give this person any more spotlight than he’s already got. Little good can come from introducing him to 50k+ new people at this point.
Why should he refrain from reporting on unscrupulous individuals just like every other journalistic medium does? What's special about games journalism that makes it exempt from reporting the bad along with the good?

My starting point would be to never point my finger at anyone in front of a mass auidence (even if others do). Then I’d make exceptions from there depending on how severe the situation is. For example, could this person be a threat in any way? Could warning people about this help prevent a crime? Those would be a couple of good exceptions in my book which could warrant this kind of exposure.

But look, it wasn’t my intention to reignite this discussion. Just felt like voicing my opinions. Hopefully I’ve managed to make my reasoning clear.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Blue Khakis on October 21, 2018, 08:14:05 am
Discussion’s already over but I’d like to add some quick thoughts.

First of all I just want to say that I really enjoy watching your videos Goose. I think you’ve got a great talent for speaking about stuff in a clear, fun and engaging way. Keep up the good work!

So here’s what I think about the idea of making this kind of a video in general, now that your channel has grown so much: Any time you make a video talking about an individual in an unsympathetic context (in this case a probable scam) you run a risk of painting him or her a target of harassment and ridicule in front of thousands of people. I can’t see how this could ever be a positive thing, even if the person happens to be guilty.

Nothing would probably happen IRL, especially since you seem to be careful about personal details. This is good. But you could do even better IMO and just decide not give this person any more spotlight than he’s already got. Little good can come from introducing him to 50k+ new people at this point.
Why should he refrain from reporting on unscrupulous individuals just like every other journalistic medium does? What's special about games journalism that makes it exempt from reporting the bad along with the good?

My starting point would be to never point my finger at anyone in front of a mass auidence (even if others do). Then I’d make exceptions from there depending on how severe the situation is. For example, could this person be a threat in any way? Could warning people about this help prevent a crime? Those would be a couple of good exceptions in my book which could warrant this kind of exposure.

But look, it wasn’t my intention to reignite this discussion. Just felt like voicing my opinions. Hopefully I’ve managed to make my reasoning clear.
That's fair enough man, we can only reach the truth by taking in the views of others. I would note that Goose already did a video when Billy Mitchell was removed from Twin Galaxies, which now has over 100,000 views. Do you think he shouldn't have done that, or do you think he should take that video down? I'm genuinely interested btw, not just asking rhetorically to jump down your throat.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: TobiasSC on October 21, 2018, 11:28:19 am
Discussion’s already over but I’d like to add some quick thoughts.

First of all I just want to say that I really enjoy watching your videos Goose. I think you’ve got a great talent for speaking about stuff in a clear, fun and engaging way. Keep up the good work!

So here’s what I think about the idea of making this kind of a video in general, now that your channel has grown so much: Any time you make a video talking about an individual in an unsympathetic context (in this case a probable scam) you run a risk of painting him or her a target of harassment and ridicule in front of thousands of people. I can’t see how this could ever be a positive thing, even if the person happens to be guilty.

Nothing would probably happen IRL, especially since you seem to be careful about personal details. This is good. But you could do even better IMO and just decide not give this person any more spotlight than he’s already got. Little good can come from introducing him to 50k+ new people at this point.
Why should he refrain from reporting on unscrupulous individuals just like every other journalistic medium does? What's special about games journalism that makes it exempt from reporting the bad along with the good?

My starting point would be to never point my finger at anyone in front of a mass auidence (even if others do). Then I’d make exceptions from there depending on how severe the situation is. For example, could this person be a threat in any way? Could warning people about this help prevent a crime? Those would be a couple of good exceptions in my book which could warrant this kind of exposure.

But look, it wasn’t my intention to reignite this discussion. Just felt like voicing my opinions. Hopefully I’ve managed to make my reasoning clear.
That's fair enough man, we can only reach the truth by taking in the views of others. I would note that Goose already did a video when Billy Mitchell was removed from Twin Galaxies, which now has over 100,000 views. Do you think he shouldn't have done that, or do you think he should take that video down? I'm genuinely interested btw, not just asking rhetorically to jump down your throat.

That example I think is fine. Mostly just because Billy is more known than Goose. To greatly exaggerate to make a point; Obama makes a tweet about me VS the opposite. The former scenario would be overwhelming and scary where even the smallest uncharming thing he brings up could easily be blown out of proportion. In the latter scenario no worries, I could even be quite nasty on purpose but it wouldn’t matter much. To be clear I’m not comparing Goose to Obama (lol) nor do I think he says nasty things. The point is just that Goose is on a much higher level than the guy ITT, in this community and on YT and probably everywhere online. He’s well respected and popular. The other guy would not be able to counter in any meaningful way.

To be fair to Goose he did ask him if he wished to make any statements to be included in the video which I thought was very thoughtful of him.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on October 21, 2018, 02:44:27 pm
And not only that, but all SZ had to do was show his strategy!  Or admit that he lied about it 15 years ago!  Pretty easy stuff.  But he chose not to do either.  He dug his own grave on this one, so my sympathy is even less.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Blue Khakis on October 21, 2018, 06:46:19 pm
That example I think is fine. Mostly just because Billy is more known than Goose. To greatly exaggerate to make a point; Obama makes a tweet about me VS the opposite. The former scenario would be overwhelming and scary where even the smallest uncharming thing he brings up could easily be blown out of proportion. In the latter scenario no worries, I could even be quite nasty on purpose but it wouldn’t matter much. To be clear I’m not comparing Goose to Obama (lol) nor do I think he says nasty things. The point is just that Goose is on a much higher level than the guy ITT, in this community and on YT and probably everywhere online. He’s well respected and popular. The other guy would not be able to counter in any meaningful way.

To be fair to Goose he did ask him if he wished to make any statements to be included in the video which I thought was very thoughtful of him.
Have you seen the Frigate Speedlore? An integral part of the episode was about Henning Blom who was removed from the rankings. That video has over 100,000 views, and I'm not aware that Henning has suffered personally from the video. Also, Goose is undeniably and by far the most well known person from the GE/PD scene, so if he only reports on controversy involving those with more exposure than him, that pretty much rules out him ever reporting on any drama from the Elite.

Indeed I would wager that part of the reason you and many others like Goose's output is the storytelling aspect, which necessarily requires heroes, villains, controversy and conflict to weave a compelling narrative together. To clarify, I'm not saying your concerns are unfounded, but in the end, a good journalist has to be willing to follow the truth wherever it leads.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: wheatrich on October 21, 2018, 08:23:04 pm
Goose neither cares about truth nor is a journalist.

The point is pretty simple, thousands of people watching these videos are socially unadjusted and thus should not be turned into a giant stupid mob.  We've got enough of that problem going around these days in society.  It's not something that can be avoided entirely but something to be careful about and goose is generally the opposite of careful.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!
Post by: TobiasSC on October 21, 2018, 09:08:24 pm
That example I think is fine. Mostly just because Billy is more known than Goose. To greatly exaggerate to make a point; Obama makes a tweet about me VS the opposite. The former scenario would be overwhelming and scary where even the smallest uncharming thing he brings up could easily be blown out of proportion. In the latter scenario no worries, I could even be quite nasty on purpose but it wouldn’t matter much. To be clear I’m not comparing Goose to Obama (lol) nor do I think he says nasty things. The point is just that Goose is on a much higher level than the guy ITT, in this community and on YT and probably everywhere online. He’s well respected and popular. The other guy would not be able to counter in any meaningful way.

To be fair to Goose he did ask him if he wished to make any statements to be included in the video which I thought was very thoughtful of him.
Have you seen the Frigate Speedlore? An integral part of the episode was about Henning Blom who was removed from the rankings. That video has over 100,000 views, and I'm not aware that Henning has suffered personally from the video. Also, Goose is undeniably and by far the most well known person from the GE/PD scene, so if he only reports on controversy involving those with more exposure than him, that pretty much rules out him ever reporting on any drama from the Elite.

Indeed I would wager that part of the reason you and many others like Goose's output is the storytelling aspect, which necessarily requires heroes, villains, controversy and conflict to weave a compelling narrative together. To clarify, I'm not saying your concerns are unfounded, but in the end, a good journalist has to be willing to follow the truth wherever it leads.

Sure I’ve seen the episode. I don’t recall having any issue with it.
I mean yeah, if you’re making a video about the record history of a level it feels natural to mention people who cheated along the way. Is it strictly necessary? I don’t think so personally since only the real times matter in the end. I see fake records as bs which don’t deserve much attention. Can it still be fun/interesting trivia? Eh sure. Like you said, it makes for a better story since you get both heroes and villains. The fake negative stuff and the positive real records can work together fine to create a balanced narrative.

If the video had been soley focusing on Henning and his lies I’d probably not have liked it as much. If we view each video as its own little story and we use the reasoning above for what a compelling one should contain I think the balance would be off. As just one segment in a longer video like the frigate one? Yeah I think that’s reasonable.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: RWG on October 22, 2018, 02:04:46 am
Goose neither cares about truth nor is a journalist.

The point is pretty simple, thousands of people watching these videos are socially unadjusted and thus should not be turned into a giant stupid mob.  We've got enough of that problem going around these days in society.  It's not something that can be avoided entirely but something to be careful about and goose is generally the opposite of careful.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

When have I *ever* done something careless on my YouTube channel?

My videos are of the highest journalistic integrity... my Chuya 206 video is the perfect example of looking deep into a case and coming out with a different conclusion than I had going in.  No agenda.  Just true journalism.

Can you name one example of where I've been careless on my YouTube channel?

Can you name one example of me being distruthful on my YouTube channel?

Honestly, it seems like Wheat has "Goose derangement syndrome" and just gets triggered by thinking of me.  At night, Wheat puts his head on his pillow, ready to fall blissfully asleep, but then thoughts of me pass through his mind, his blood pressure spikes, and he stays up all night enraged about it.  Truly embarrassing.

Someone BAN this fucking clown from the forums (for his own well being!)
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Whiteted on October 22, 2018, 03:11:15 am
My videos are of the highest journalistic integrity... my Chuya 206 video is the perfect example

Not sure about journalism but the maths was bad :p
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SimThreat on October 22, 2018, 06:02:06 am
I love how some people care about a confirmed liar but dont understand or care at all about the fact that making youtube videos is Goose’s job. You glady ask Goose to sacrifice his job in order to protect the cheat from imaginary repercussions.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on October 22, 2018, 09:26:18 am
How is this still an issue? Its not like Goose or anyone is picking on a guy that cheated 15 years ago, admitted his mistake, and is just some 40 year old man sitting at home with his wife and kids doing nothing. He is actively LYING years and years later. Your points would be valid if Goose just picked a name from 2 decades ago and wanted to light a torch on some unsuspecting guy that made a mistake in his childhood but this is completely different. Steven came back to the community to continue a lie he started as a teen. If that doesn't warrant condemnation then I don't know what does to be honest.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: TobiasSC on October 22, 2018, 11:19:38 am
How is this still an issue? Its not like Goose or anyone is picking on a guy that cheated 15 years ago, admitted his mistake, and is just some 40 year old man sitting at home with his wife and kids doing nothing. He is actively LYING years and years later. Your points would be valid if Goose just picked a name from 2 decades ago and wanted to light a torch on some unsuspecting guy that made a mistake in his childhood but this is completely different. Steven came back to the community to continue a lie he started as a teen. If that doesn't warrant condemnation then I don't know what does to be honest.

Yes well I guess our opinions simply differ when it comes to what warrants the exposure. That doesn’t  invalidate my points though. Sounds more like our boundaries are very different (yours seem wider). If we were to have a real discussion on the matter I’d need to know exacly what yours are, i.e. what actions you’d today consider to be ”too much” for this man and why. Then I’m sure we could compare and reach some kind of understanding from there. I think it’s enough in this case to just say we think differently and try to respect each others views. As stated earlier I just felt like putting in my two cents, that’s all. If anyone got an issue with this or just feel like having a conversation, feel free to send a PM. I’d be happy to have a deeper talk with anyone but not in this topic.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Saltkillzsnails on October 22, 2018, 11:56:03 am
Granted its noble to defend the average guy we must not forget Steven sought this exposure. He didn't have to comeback, hardly anyone was even talking about Steven it was always just some crazy story from way back when. Steven brought this entire debacle onto himself. He did what every habitual liar does which is double down and hope people decide to believe him. Most of the Goldeneye community saw through this facade for what it was and quickly called bullshit. Steven knowing the game was up here quickly went into defensive mode playing victim and this entire thread is the aftermath.

So we're arguing justification for making a youtube video now. I assume we can all agree Steven is a liar now its a matter of punishment? And let me be clear I lied a bunch when I was a kid so I completely understand the mistake but the moment he came back to try and deceive the Elite and the MK community is where a line should be drawn. He wanted attention and he got it, unfortunately for him his plan to continue the lie backfired. Before you say that isn't enough to call someone out then lets look at the community as a whole. Stevens friends at the Mario Kart community and others Im sure are now under the impression that the Elite is full of a bunch of a holes that refuse to believe some strategy because they can't figure it out so go on a witch hunt. Which is the farthest thing from the truth but impressions mean everything. He harmed the community with his stunt and at the very least Goose deserves the right to defend the community and explain the situation while remaining as respectful as possible which he always does.

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Retrix on October 22, 2018, 12:24:42 pm
It's really too bad so much of the attention is in this thread and others and not in views and clicks.
Better get on that vid before the thread dies again.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: TobiasSC on October 22, 2018, 12:25:58 pm
Granted its noble to defend the average guy we must not forget Steven sought this exposure. He didn't have to comeback, hardly anyone was even talking about Steven it was always just some crazy story from way back when. Steven brought this entire debacle onto himself. He did what every habitual liar does which is double down and hope people decide to believe him. Most of the Goldeneye community saw through this facade for what it was and quickly called bullshit. Steven knowing the game was up here quickly went into defensive mode playing victim and this entire thread is the aftermath.

So we're arguing justification for making a youtube video now. I assume we can all agree Steven is a liar now its a matter of punishment? And let me be clear I lied a bunch when I was a kid so I completely understand the mistake but the moment he came back to try and deceive the Elite and the MK community is where a line should be drawn. He wanted attention and he got it, unfortunately for him his plan to continue the lie backfired. Before you say that isn't enough to call someone out then lets look at the community as a whole. Stevens friends at the Mario Kart community and others Im sure are now under the impression that the Elite is full of a bunch of a holes that refuse to believe some strategy because they can't figure it out so go on a witch hunt. Which is the farthest thing from the truth but impressions mean everything. He harmed the community with his stunt and at the very least Goose deserves the right to defend the community and explain the situation while remaining as respectful as possible which he always does.

I’m kinda out of here, but I just want to say I think you make a strong point in the importantance of protecting the community and re-establish any lost trust or respect.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Rützou on October 22, 2018, 04:26:47 pm
Goose neither cares about truth nor is a journalist.

The point is pretty simple, thousands of people watching these videos are socially unadjusted and thus should not be turned into a giant stupid mob.  We've got enough of that problem going around these days in society.  It's not something that can be avoided entirely but something to be careful about and goose is generally the opposite of careful.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

When have I *ever* done something careless on my YouTube channel?

My videos are of the highest journalistic integrity... my Chuya 206 video is the perfect example of looking deep into a case and coming out with a different conclusion than I had going in.  No agenda.  Just true journalism.

Can you name one example of where I've been careless on my YouTube channel?

Can you name one example of me being distruthful on my YouTube channel?

Honestly, it seems like Wheat has "Goose derangement syndrome" and just gets triggered by thinking of me.  At night, Wheat puts his head on his pillow, ready to fall blissfully asleep, but then thoughts of me pass through his mind, his blood pressure spikes, and he stays up all night enraged about it.  Truly embarrassing.

Someone BAN this fucking clown from the forums (for his own well being!)

 :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: deletedprofile.u on October 23, 2018, 04:21:41 pm
Reigniting this thread = uneducated, DERANGED life choice
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: TobiasSC on October 23, 2018, 05:17:41 pm
Reigniting this thread = uneducated, DERANGED life choice

lol
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: AZ on January 19, 2019, 12:57:17 pm
This Day in Elite History (January 19)

Steven Zwartjes unties Runway 00 Agent 0:39 (2001).


Why isn't the 0:39 on the ranks then??????

Steven had no linked videos on his page or his PR history, so there was no proven times to backroll to. I don't think Steven is 'banned' and I don't think there would be a problem with any proven times being on the ranks. I will raise with the council to try to get this to happen.

Any update on this?

I think Steven's proven times have the right to be ranked. No one seems to mind this annoying inconsistency though i.e. having Steven's proven times unranked but still having his removed WRs featured on This Day in Elite history/WR database etc.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: deletedprofile.u on January 20, 2019, 06:40:40 am
This Day in Elite History (January 19)

Steven Zwartjes unties Runway 00 Agent 0:39 (2001).


Why isn't the 0:39 on the ranks then??????

I think Steven's proven times have the right to be ranked. No one seems to mind this annoying inconsistency though i.e. having Steven's proven times unranked but still having his removed WRs featured on This Day in Elite history/WR database etc.

Because:
(https://i.imgur.com/DmKGimU.png)  :nesquik:
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: JDBlack21 on January 20, 2019, 07:21:31 am
If he's banned then don't give him credit for those WRs
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: russell-j-clapham on September 09, 2019, 12:36:03 am
Here is the interview that i held with Steven. There's still 3 questions which i haven't received answers from yet which should be here shortly but here is all of the interview so far. I did my best translating it, but there can be some errors.  :smiley:
Here is the original untranslated/unedited interview for anybody who happens to be dutch.  :smokin:
https://pastebin.com/pzEgsQyZ

Quote
Nice initiative, this interview. I will answer the questions as well as i possibly can. I hope that i still remember most of it, because there are some events here that are from 20 years ago. :)

Q: What kind of tournaments did you participate in? And do you remember what place you reached? List everything that you remember.

A: I have played quite a bit of tournaments.
-Street Fighter 2 SNES 1992, NL Championships: Became national champion.
-Dutch Nintendo Championships 1993: got knocked out in the last 16.
-NL Nintendo Championships 1994: got knocked out in the last 32.
Patrick Wessels reached first there.
-NL Nintendo Championships 1995: got knocked out in the last 16.
-NL Nintendo Championships 1996: got knocked out in the last 16.
Every year i saw the name Wessels above me on the rankings.
-Mario Kart 64 NL Championships 1997:  got knocked out in the last 8 in VS mode.
First meeting with Patrick Wessels.
As you can see from the above, pretty much all of it just came up short from reaching the top. After meeting Wessels and we became friends from that day on everything changed. From that moment on there were a lot of games that we "beuked"(pounded out is the closest translation i can think of lol) as we liked to call it.
Together we analyzed every game that we played and found the depth of every game. From the moment that our friendship began and we combined our gaming skills and knowledge, we seemed unbeatable at every Nintendo Tournament in which we participated. I think that i learned real gaming thanks to Patrick.

-NL Nintendo Championships 1998 Waddinxveen: Became 1st, Patrick 2nd.
-NL Mario Kart Championships 1999: Became 1st, Patrick 2nd.
-NL Nintendo Championships Star Wars Racer 1999: Became 2nd, Patrick 1st.
-NL Nintendo Championships 2000: Became 3rd, Patrick 1st.
-NL Wave Race Championships 2001: Became 2nd, Piet den Dulk 1st. Southern Island 1'31"1 PAL in the preliminaries.
-1080 Snowboarding Championships 2001: Became 1st. I set the then current WR on Mountain Village time trial in the final round.
-NLG Norway '07 meeting with topgamers, lots of different games. 3 golden medals and 1 bronze.

Thanks for the nice questions, Stefan. I hope to bring a nice video online soon.

EDIT: Here is the rest of the remaining questions.  ;)
Also the last original untranslated/unedited questions and answers again. https://pastebin.com/SHs2tTxa

This is interesting. I remember 1080 in 2001, as I was an active runner and Steven was strong in the tricks scores on N64 High Scores. However, he had only submitted 3 times out of 6 courses and they weren't particularly strong. Curiously, Mountain Village was not a course that Steven had even registered a time for at any stage. I remember emailing Steven during 2001 (as I was the #1 for times with 4/6 WRs back then) and asking him if he'd seen my times (LOL - I was 17 and wanted his validation). His response was that he had seen them but wasn't likely to play 1080 again... so for Steven here to say that he won a 1080 tournament in 2001 (which was never mentioned anywhere from what I can remember) and then claim he "beat the WR on Mountain Village in the final round" is highly dubious.

If you're curious, here are the times as they stood in 2001 - you'll note that Steven wasn't even close to the top times on any of the courses.

Steven was a gaming god back then, but a few of these little details make you think that perhaps there was some embellishment going on (maybe he just felt pressure to live up to his name). The alternative is that maybe he did get the WR or has simply misremembered what year it occurred (1999 sounds a little more likely). What was the nature of the tournament? Was it official or just a couple of buddies getting together for a session. All questions that don't need to be answered but intriguing nonetheless.

I hope he is doing well in life - happy & healthy, etc.

https://web.archive.org/web/20150104030347/http://www.angelfire.com/vt2/Vulpex/Phoenix/1080B.htm
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: tehmasta on October 13, 2019, 02:19:22 pm
Guys I think I figured out what really happened with SZ. I think the 1:31 happened.

Check out Greg Larkin's Aztec SA 1:42 video. He basically does almost exactly what SZ described and pulls off a run with it. Given SZ's knowledge for the time he likely didn't realize that it takes 2 guards to open the door and when the glass did open he probably didn't even realize 2 guards were there or part of the equation...he just ran like a bat out of hell to complete the objective like we all do when we hear that very appealing sound effect. (And he can't look back on the run because of no vid)

I'm betting the times the glass did open for him things played out very similarly to what happened in Greg's run. I'll also bet you can get the door open faster than Greg's run with the right RNG/dumb luck.

If you really think about it thinking along those lines it's not completely out of the question that 1:31 happened. I believe he had the skill to do it with this type of glass opening. Greg is a good but not quite world class speedrunner and he got 1:42 on SA.

One more point to note; why would someone defend something 17 years later as a 39 year old unless it's not a lie? He really does have nothing to gain by lying....think about it: the only real reason to heavily defend your reputation is if you're still competing actively. As a retired 39 year old that doesn't care anymore, you would have no reason to fight against something that was a lie to begin with. He knew in his heart he got the time, so he went well out of his way for us to try and show us how. Yeah he "rage-quit" but I would too with such quick backlash before truly giving him a chance to make more vids and updated explanation as it comes back to him as he plays.

I really think the 1:31 happened guys. Look at it from this angle and think about it, both psychologically and from what's possible from a technical POV. It's a stretch and an extremely good time, but look at what kind of player we're talking about here.

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: tehmasta on October 13, 2019, 02:20:40 pm
Also no, I'm not saying the time should be put on the ranks unproven by any means. I just truly believe it happened and it's a shame things played out the way they did. Not placing blame on anyone, just the situation as a whole.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: SGT RAGEQUIT on October 13, 2019, 04:05:12 pm
...lark's 142 is literally the normal mainframe strat nowadays, no idea what you're on about
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Slugg Christ on October 15, 2019, 11:09:02 am
The fact that a non top-10 runner can achieve 1:42 in 2018 doesn't prove that SZ's run was legit. That's called strategy development.
Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Worlds-One on February 02, 2020, 04:41:42 am
There are some take aways reading this thread:

1) Do believe the community here can be toxic to one another - I admit playing back in the day age 15-18 that not seeing videos of other pre-eliters beating my times albeit with a faster control style that I didn't accept to want to learn made me somewhat furious - Imagine having to produce WR for EVERYONE ELSE and then seemingly others not produce many at all aside from the few that were able too at that era of speed running - Was a big advocate for having separate ranks for control styles however that motion was denied and debate found moot - Looking back at messages that Ive posted the realization of the anger projected over posts as well as being about the mean age of the community here now which I'll presume is between 15-18 that immaturity also played a roll in the above accounts when posting - Basically there was selfish posting and ego not taking into account others thoughts or opinions fully simply immaturity at its finest

2) Regarding Steven and reading this topic - Ive read some things throughout the years as well as recently linked posts within this thread - Also having been fond of Steven rarely saw much proof from him nor was I ever the one to seek proof either as it wasn't my job which if it was never uploaded to the rankings page (pre youtube days) could really careless - Seeing both sides of the argument regarding his legacy it is difficult to make a call - I always wanted to believe his stance as well as his times as some of them were proven - You guys have to remember that we played in an era where technology was at its infancy and we were using VHS tapes - Not that this made producing proof difficult however I'm sure it was a lot harder than whatever technology is out today 25 years later - Remember having to rewind VHS tapes when I ran 3 hours and didn't really capture anything - This was very annoying - I even cut out the ending of my 1:04 Facility OOA which was sent into one of the magazines and should of been the best time by over 21 seconds at the time - The game testers suggested the time was fake although any clock and watching the video would prove all objectives were complete and even showed a few seconds later on screen 1:04 - I still feel to this day Im owed a gold n64 controller from that magazine however they were "counsel" in providing a solution and one I would debate for that damn gold controller =)

The point I'm trying to make is that today its much easier to capture players times - I mean a lot of you stream and the time can simply be clipped and uploaded if my memory serves me correct - Much more difficult than trying to squeeze on PR's to a VHS and start or try to start back near an end WR or even PR - Wasnt some VHS expert just adapted to how I thought it worked at the time - Again I couldn't even log onto google or youtube to correctly learn how to do what I was doing - It was highly annoying - Would even achieve PR's on VHS and knew I could do better and would simply start the VHS all over because I knew xyz time I could achieve again or better because we were THAT good also similar in the infancy more or less in speed running and capturing records - But because of the audacious tasks of how to produce back then simply was annoying add to boot not many people were in my era always were recording and producing aside from very very few

Hopefully this continues to give some insight essentially on the efforts, time and era we played in

3) Now with this 1:31 claim I do believe Steven should have simply made a video of some sort whether it be a failed run with his glass strategy working - There was a link with a "clip" showing ill assume how he was trying for the one guard shooting from behind the wall at the glass/guard and just paused out because it didn't work - Was 1:31 a fluke time? Im not here to continue to beat a dead horse however imagine fluking this speed run which essentially everything else had to of gone somewhat perfect for the run to of achieved 1:31 - Its hard to believe however again I had the sense to have to believe Steven at the same time he has had plenty of time to produce a conscious effort to exhibit his claim - Again there was a clip in this thread which "showed" in essence somewhat him playing as well as the angle shooting the guard near his head at the glass which the guard was at the right crease in the glass facing away from bond - The point is over the years no one has produced 1 single run exhibiting a 1 guard glass strat - Ive even tried not to any major extent however one thing goldeneye has taught us all is when RNG happens or we somehow fluke something and its being able to reproduce the same occurrence for the idea or strategy to happen again - My hard headed self to this day from every idea or new strat I've seen developed that 1 guard could potentially open the glass door with the right inputs from the controller whether thats shooting in the right crease of the glass looking down leading to glass and the cross hairs with c right pushing into the glass at a small speed even going to crouch or from crouch to standing and shooting into the mainframe even throw a mini pause in there somewhere lol - Some sort of fluke however it is clear the experts claim its just not feasible and conceivable for this strat to apparently happen - A lot of people HAVE put in their time apparently to no avail

4) Seeing how the posts have toxicity in them and how bias some of this community has somewhat become I do see how Steven would be turned off to not produce the video especially since we've retired and don't exactly play anymore - He has had though plenty of time in the past to produce a video which still hasn't happen

5) Because of this he has asked to be removed - Its up to counsel and their decision - Its disheartening to hear words of resignation from someone you played against however if its better for him I can see where he is coming from - We almost want to leave what we know to be where it belongs in the past behind us ( for Steven he actually is wanting to redact his times) and not be confronted of a toxic new age bias community who isn't open to possibilities which in my mind helped push the competitive gaming along in ways as new ideas were always happening - Video would of been prudent of these new ideas especially for the 1:31 claim - Just believe new people to the forums or just joining etc don't really have a full grasp of the player Steven and all the facts as well as the era of recording we were playing in - Maybe they do maybe they don't

I'll end my input with this which is that its difficult to see this happen to Steven as this was at the forefront of how we got to where we are today in GE history however if counsel has or does make their decision think about keeping his proven times at least - Really don't know whats to be kept or not kept with people who cheat or purportedly cheat in their times throughout their careers however keep the standard fair and if Steven wants to back roll his times thats on him with his statement of wanting to be removed from the ranks - The community should really think about how they talk to one another as I personally look back now and think how inconsiderate I could be at times upon posting with others - Believe a small percentage of you young eliters may encounter these same remarks with someone you're in rival against today which one day you'll be looking back possibly on this thread with Steven who quite frankly a majority you never knew - Enjoy your gaming in 2020 and beyond also remember we are stronger together #MGGA

Title: Re: The Steven Zwartjes Saga Continues - Possible Aztec Strat Vid Coming Soon?!?
Post by: Dusky on February 02, 2020, 04:51:43 am
I can't believe you got your own public access sitcom, Zwartz Shortz, good luck dude