Heroes 6 - Discussion

Guys, what do you think, will the castle's appearance during construction look like it did in Heroes 1-4, or will it remain as ugly as it was in the beta version? After all, the lands look a bit sparse after the disappearance of the three rare resources! And by the way, I didn't find any checkpoints in the early stages of the game, as the developers promised. Mines were captured as usual. Or, if an opponent came and tried to seize the mines, would they be unable to do so, and would they have to capture my castle to gain control of my mines? Am I understanding correctly?