The results are in: Here are 117+ ideas for new sound effects libraries

Hope it comes in handy - and a quick heads up for SFX creators: Before you go ahead and use this list as inspiration for making your own libraries, be sure to research what's currently available in the marketplace for your given idea.

• Abandoned house ambiences – no activity (libraries such as British Stately Home, Historical Houses & Barns, Old Cottages, Abandoned Doors and additional searches like this one libraries could bring up some useful content)
• Affordable car engine and exhaust ramp – a single recording of the entire rev range for implementation with REV and Wwise and loopable sections of steady RPMs / Vehicle engine and exhaust recordings at set RPM rates. Ideal for simple modeling of car engines (something like the Game Audio Engines library might be useful)
• African-american walla *
• Air from different environments for the center channel *
• American and UK English office walla / Office Ambiences *
• Animal Foley – movements / actions / steps (The Stomps and Paw Creature Foley libraries could be worth checking out)
• Animals that communicate outside of our hearing range, that are then lowered in pitch so they are audible, rats are particularly interesting / bat shrieks *
• Anime Japan Sound Effects library (If you’re looking for old school anime sounds, this library could come in handy) *
• Arctic / Polar / Greenland ambiences *
• Aztech death whistle *
• Bar and restaurant Walla (libraries such as London Pubs, the Restaurant Ambiences and the Crowds at the restaurant libraries might help here) *
• Beach buggy *
• Bicycles – various kinds (these libraries could be a good starting point)
• Birds from all over the world, a large collection of close-up recordings *
• Bodyfall collection – there are already some, but it is not covering enough materials
• British / European specific Crowds
• Car interior – A “standard” car at normal speed, exterior drive by or continuously rides (there are a large number of everyday cars in the car category here, and here’s a collection dedicated to everyday cars)
• Cemetery ambiences and atmospheres *
• Children – small group, 12 to 25, reacting to a magic act or other indoor performance. Cheers, laughter, applause, vocal reactions, but not all in unison
• China Ambiences – countryside, no humans *
• Classic cars collection going back to the 60’s, 50’s and 40’s
• Clocks (here are some interesting clock libraries to start with) *
• Contact Mic Horse Hooves *
• Dog foley – “footsteps”, panting, breath * (some paw sounds & animal foley can be found here and here)
• Dolphins (high sample rate) *
• Electricity – more and new libraries (there’s an ongoing stream of new electricity releases – here’s an overview)
• Engine failures
• European Windows – Open and Close *
• Everyday cars – normal civilized drive mode with maneuvers, parking / no action skid material, easy to combine interior and exterior, prepared for editorial to match normal car movements in feature films ( here is a collection of everyday cars and also have a look into the car category for more normal car libraries )
• Everyday quiet surround room tones (here are some useful libraries) *
• Fight punches – John Wick-style
• Fishing sounds *
• Footsteps in Kontakt or Battery format, new collections *
• Foley-type sounds, a large collection – recorded from a distance of 2-5 meters from source
• Formula E race cars
• Futuristic SciFi vehicles – including helicopters, aircrafts, cars
• Geiger Counter
• Geographically unspecific exteriors *
• Global events (Olympics, World Cup, Tour De France etc) **
• Go-kart engine & driving sounds *
• Grabbing / touching / knocking different items/things/surfaces with hands (metal, wood, ceramic etc.) / Subtle hand touches and rubs on a variety of materials / Touching skin, handshakes, bumps, hi-five (for skin/hands-on-body types of sound, check out the Skin and The Hand library)
• Hands hit/slap/grab/touch a window. Like that hollow sound, you get when someone is on the other side of a window tapping or banging on it. *
• Heavy object slides and drags (this library could be useful)
• Human reactions and children’s voices – a wide range * (something like this might come in handy)
• Industrial machines and factory equipment – constantly updated
• Kids, not babies, both genders, multiple characters, solo, not field recordings, a wide variety of natural/not-hammy laughs, screams, emotes, etc. Avoiding words/accents to remain internationally applicable **
• Large cracks library – longer duration, stone friction, grinding, big breaks like the size of a wall
• Light pedestrian backgrounds (small town or community) There’s lots of busy city stuff that’s too busy. How about some nice nature ambiances without a lot of birds… I’m tired of cutting around birds *
• Loop Group – Shoutouts/Callouts; Doughnuts; Mic Bys; Presence; 2-3 People talking (dry); Casual Conversations (M/F); Different languages; Different Ages – Specifics (Not general wallas) that would go on optional for M&E (Actor buyout)
• Loop Group Walla – Different sizes, genders, races, moods/emotions – reactions for scenes requiring specific groups reactions rather than generic background walla *
• Marine mammal – High-quality library with a focus on Walrus, Whales, Dolphins, Sea Lions, Elephant Seals, etc.
• Mechanical creatures
• Metal cable hits, whips, pulls, drags *
• Mexico Ambiences and Various Walla *
• Mine hauler *
• Mobile phone ring tones – well-prepared, “up to date” ring tones that can compete with the sound of the big brands, no FM-experimental a-tonal sounds. Those are liked by directors/show runners
• Modern car alarms *
• Motorcycle, KTM 400 *
• Mountain Bikes (this library contains some mountain bike recordings that could be useful)
• Multichannel walla collection – big choice in intensity and without modern sound like traffic
• New cars are always a challenge. Full set doors, switches, alarms. electric, and internal combustion *
• Non-Discernable-English PA announcements for Psychiatric wards and hospitals for use in building generic M&E’s *
• Non-Discernable-English Walkie-Talkie call-outs for use in building generic M&E’s (crime scenes, police cars, military, etc.) *
• On-board 5.1 ambience of a car driving less than 10 mph. Every 5.1 amb of a car driving I have sounds like it’s going 40 mph and those suspension bumps don’t match when the picture is less than 10. *
• Penguin vocalizations *
• People Moving – sitting down, getting up, single and groups * (for chairs, check out Take A Seat and Modern Seating)
• People, People, People – all languages, walla, groups in different sizes, moods, and surroundings
• Pitched, Non-Obvious Sounds – I’d love to see some building blocks that are super-distinctive, don’t claim to be anything in particular, and aren’t driven by a particular piece of gear/recording technique
• Polar bear vocalizations and grunts *
• Prairie ambiences (this library could be useful) *
• Prius LFE bys *
• Psychedelics
• Punches and bodyfalls / Generic punchy impacts (there are quite a few hand combat libraries here)
• Pure airy whooshes – no reverb, no distortion, no resonance
• Quiet crowds *
• Ratchets. All sorts. Wood, metal, bone. Various lengths *
• Reward sounds and win melodies with midi files for added layering possibilities
• Rock / Stone library – very big and clear, but not overly pre-designed (something like this library could be the one you are looking for – lots more rock libraries here)
• Rural and urban (definitely no birds) *
• Scrapnel/debris, hitting a fuselage *
• Simple smooth smartphone UI sounds -text, email *
• Smoke alarms, emergency sirens, security systems (with proper rights clearance or soundalikes) *
• Sneaker footsteps – Chuck Taylors and other normal sneakers on lots of surfaces, walk / run / scuff / toe-heel, etc
• Sound design elements to create different gui sounds for clicks, hover, select, etc *
• Sparse and distant Birds Library *
• Steam / Air
• Street call outs *
• Stuka Siren / Plane
• Suction through tubes – “foomp” type sounds of various sizes
• Surround room tones and variety of ambiences (you can find a a large collection of surround libraries here which might be a a good starting point)*
• Synthy cartoon SFX (goofy or anime-style SFX) *
• Tires – not skids (you can get a lot of isolated different tyre and car chassis sounds from the Grip plugin)
• Tundra ambiences *
• Twirling and lunging sounds, extensive library *
• Ultra basic foley – 1) stuff put on a table like a book, glass – 2) presence
• Victorian Era Industrial revolution Engineering equipment *
• Walla / Crowd reactions that convey specific emotions (panic, relief, surprise, happy, sad, etc.) – Without specific language
• Weapons, 50.-Caliber – sounds firing, and foley
• Whales (high sample rate) *
• Whistles, human and instruments *
• Women’s Sports – General field walla, call outs and vocalizations *
• Zuzz – canvas, nylon, etc.

If you’re looking to into independent sound effects – or you’re considering what library to make next – be sure to check out this read for some thoughts on a crucial first step that many SFX creators tend to forget.