Map previews are really awesome!
I also like the compromise you found where natural resources are only displayed on the custom game menu mini map if, in advanced options, 'fog of war' has been set to 'off'.
So I think there is only one thing missing now: a link between the colored start positions on the mini map and the player slots. There are two ways I can imagine of how this can be done (in terms of UI, not programatically):
1. Replace the colored start position markers in the preview map by digits indicating the player slot.
2. Indicate the player slots' color in the table.
I think my preference would be with 1., but 2. is probably easier to implement.