modded minecraft in comparison to the base game
All the new machines and item stages allow me give buildings a purpose and the requirement to interact with them from time to time (like swapping turbine blades in this generator room).
Not like the building in MC is bad, but i really dislike how most things you build don't have any reason to be touched ever again (beyond make-believe ones)..

Also i just don't get Oxygen Not Included. The game is nice, but making things renewable (aside from geysers) or setting up alternate sources for items is way too complicated.
Aside from that, integrating a base in to the biomes seems disencouraged, favouring commieblocks, steam saunas and machine prefabs.