Another cheat found, you'll like this one.
Open the file ./data/world/factions/player.faction
Find: "fleetCompositions":{
Below this, find: the start 1 and start 2
Switch those numbers and you'll start out with a rather nice fleet.
Switch as in, delete the number 1 and replace it with a 2, do the reverse for the other.
You'll get a damn nice starter fleet.
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If this is too powerful I got another that I think will work, have not tried it myself.
In the same file, in the same section where we just were, you can see this: "ships":{
Below that is a small list of ship names. If you delete the names of the ships you don't want you'll probably end up with the ship you do want every time.
You can probably also add ship names to it.
As long as you don't forget to add the numbers that you see listed there. Those influence the chances of you getting the ships, I think. You should be able to start with any number of ships you like with any of the available weapon load outs that are in the game.
If you don't know what you're doing just backup the file in case you *** up. Should be safe to mess with.
PS: You can also use this for modding.