What would make a good cursor movement sound effect?

Question

I know specific questions like this are very borderline on acceptable - but I am having massive trouble finding a non-annoying sound effect for moving the cursor in my game.

The game is a Fire Emblem like SRPG and think it would be cool if I could have a little sound each time the cursor ticks in a menu/selection of character/etc. - it should be a non-intrusive sound (keeping in mind I can adjust volume).

What have you guys used for something like this? Going to various free soundclip sites putting in "cursor move" isn't doing much for me.

Answer 1

I used a web based version of sfxr to create some generic sounds (menu cursor move ,select, abort etc.). SFXR is a tool that creates simple 8bit like sound effects. You have multiple templates (shoot, coin ,item pickup etc) that create sounds based on some randomized values. You can change all the values, mutate a sound or randomize all parameters to get special results.

AS3SFXR

Just try it out, its flash/adobe air based, so you can use it in the browser.

Answer 2

Moving the cursor should not create a sound. What you probably mean are sound effects that are being played whenever the cursor hovers over an important area (clickable elements within the game).

You're right, the sound effect should be really subtle. I think you'll get the best results if you search for button rollover or blip sound-effects. Here's an example of what I would consider a suitable sound (it could be toned down even more).