When comparing Duality vs S2 engine HD, the Slant community recommends Duality for most people. In the question“What are the best game engines?” Duality is ranked 9th while S2 engine HD is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose Duality is:
The full source code is available on GitHub, where the framework is actively developed. All of the editor, core and plugin code is written in C#.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros

Pro Open source
The full source code is available on GitHub, where the framework is actively developed. All of the editor, core and plugin code is written in C#.

Pro Great editor
Duality includes a powerful visual editing system that can be used for previewing, integrating, editing and testing game content.

Pro Live reload of code and assets

Pro Very extensible
Because both Core and Editor are completely plugin-based, Duality not only incorporates a clean and modular design, but is also very extensible - even if it wasn't Open Source. In fact, most of the standard editing capabilities comes in form of Editor plugins.

Pro Built-in physics and lighting

Pro Friendly to version control systems
It can be configured to serialize all data in a text-based format, which has been structurally optimized for version control systems.

Pro Used in commercial projects
It has been used in a production environment without burning the place to the ground. Supposedly artist-proof editor workflow with an API for tailoring the system to fit your team.
Pro Built-in weather system
It is possible to edit weather conditions (rain, thunders,wind, clouds, night and day cycle) by simply moving some sliders.
Pro UI is intuitively laid out
Important functions can easily be seen and accessed, making the engine quite user friendly, even for beginners or those who are new to the engine.
Pro Great rendering
S2ENGINE HD rendering power is comparable to more famous engines like Cryengine and UE4.
Pro Complete terrain editor
S2ENGINE HD is integrated with a complete terrain editor that lets you sculpt, paint, add vegetation, and add splines like roads, rivers, fences, etc.
Pro Easy to use
Essential functions are very easy to use and understand.
Cons
Con Visual Studio required
To have possibility for scripting you have to download entire Visual Studio and spend 10 GB of free space
Con Requires windows for development
Con Still in early access
Might be quite buggy.
