Just to clarify - game sounds/music usually come into play for:
- Runs that are particularly noteworthy, usually meaning a top-level/podium time. Even then we'd usually try to get extra proof of legitimacy for these runs that pose an issue in meeting our verification standards rather than immediately rejecting.
- Runs with a significant portion of the footage lost to frame drops. We'd usually try to rely on game audio of some kind to ensure that the game is actually still being played during those frame drops, so if it's not present then it becomes increasingly difficult to justify verification.

The recommendation should be read as "game sounds and [game] music", so whether you choose to include your own music or not in the recording is totally up to you - if game sounds are still audible then either option shouldn't be a problem for verification.
If you want a personal view on it, I pretty much exclusively play with no game music and my own in the background, but I make sure it's not recorded to avoid copyright strikes on VODs and all that. Might make for a better viewing experience if you have killer taste though :​)

The level does not conclude with a Chapter Complete screen or something equivalent to that, which is generally where we draw the line when adding ILs for custom maps since we use that screen to review a lot of things relevant to verification (map version, Everest version, game version, presence of assist/variants/extended variants, final time, etc). In a more meta sense, it's also not tracked in the journal as an IL since it's marked as an Interlude internally (same as vanilla Prologue and Epilogue), so going by "game/designer logic" it doesn't really count as an IL either.

We've seen interest for it as an IL in the past and it certainly doesn't lack gameplay, so I'm sure we'd be open to adding it if the above factors were to change, but as it stands there's unfortunately no way for us to create a leaderboard for it.

Celeste Category Extensions:
https://www.speedrun.com/celeste_category_extensions

Modded Celeste Hub:
https://www.speedrun.com/modded_celeste
Other custom map leaderboards can be found in that hub's top forum post.

Celeste:
https://www.speedrun.com/celeste

Modded Celeste Hub:
https://www.speedrun.com/modded_celeste
Other custom map leaderboards can be found in that hub's top forum post.

If you have an idea for a Category Extension that you would like our team to consider creating a leaderboard for, please submit your request here: https://forms.gle/PLvRLd7VxLqajn528

Please make sure to first read the list of accepted and rejected Category Extension proposals before making a submission, found here: https://bit.ly/34uFnXC

We don't see any reason to add it until you have a submittable run ready - the daunting length of the category makes it much more of a risk that it'll be left empty for the rest of time if you don't follow through - but once you have done a run, we 100% promise that we'll add it so it can be submitted and your effort can be recognised (and you can hold me to that). Feel free to ping or DM myself or any of the SRC mods on Discord or SRC once you've completed the run so we know to add it. Very much looking forward to seeing a run of this, good luck

This page serves as a hub for all Celeste Custom Map leaderboards. Smaller and miscellaneous maps will be maintained here, while larger campaigns/map packs will be maintained on separate pages.

If you have a map or map-pack that you would like our team to consider creating a leaderboard for, please submit your request here: https://forms.gle/4FeDkbvj2s3V1w6i8

Official Custom Map Leaderboards
Quickie Mountain 2:
https://www.speedrun.com/quickie_mountain_2

Monika's D-Sides:
https://www.speedrun.com/monikas_d_sides

Glyph:
https://www.speedrun.com/glyph_pack

2020 Spring Collab:
https://www.speedrun.com/sc2020

Into the Jungle:
https://www.speedrun.com/into_the_jungle

Vanilla
Celeste:
https://www.speedrun.com/Celeste

Celeste Category Extensions:
https://www.speedrun.com/Celeste_Category_Extensions