So MZM now has a randomizer tool as of oct. 2018. As my first attempt at speedrunning, I plan to work with MZM randomized. However, digging around, I can't seem to find a category that fits.

I also have questions. What sort of rules should I be following, aside from the general emulator rules? Am I allowed to look at the log files for upgrade locations before playing (since any upgrade can be in nearly any location)? Am I allowed to reference the generated maps for said upgrades? Are there other rules that I should be aware of before I start planning and routing a run?

I'll probably stream it when I do, and having an audience will definitely help to spot potential problem areas when routing. But the lack of a category for submissions does worry me a bit, considering that there's no "Misc" category for things like this.

The reason we don't have a leaderboard for those is just due to how much possible variation there is. On top of that, possibilities change when biospark releases a new version of it. There are definitely plenty of people who do randomizers, but for the most part any sort of competition around them is done through races rather than on a leaderboard. May not be the answer you were hoping to hear, but that's the situation at the moment. The discord server has a channel dedicated to randomizers, so definitely feel free to hop in and ask questions or ask for races!