I think Vintage Story is a more rewarding game because of the learning curve and a more challenging sandbox because of the difficulty of acquiring resources. It is a joy to complete the most basics tasks because you FEEL you progressed and got rewarded for your work.
Altough I'm a masochist who played Gregtech:NH and enjoyed it so take it with a grain of salt. I just found your thread but it is a joy to see that you got enjoyment from the game like I did, and your house looks really nice. Big ups.