I went through nearly all of the files inside gameinfo that didn't start with ability*.* buff*.* research*.* in there name to find the file that sets the starting ships.
it doesnt seem to be in the ship files themselves or anything to do with the ships(their techs or factories that make them files).
it doesnt seem to be in game setup file (forgot exact name).
it doesnt seem to be in constants file.
trying to figure this out, so I can try adding a new unique ship type(doesnt exist atm) at the start of the game.