Need help with Empire_Settings.txt

Hi all, I am devoloping a mod for SEIV and have run into a small snag. I dont want to say what the mod is all about yet, without revealing too much here is the problem. Consider that in my mod there are multiple ship sizes per class. Example, Frigate 1, Frigate 2 .. each with a higher tech level. It seems that all the empires are hard coded to always start out at 500kt for its designs. 500kt is the Destroyer level 7 size in my mod. Its kind of smart that the AI would start the game out with destroyer sizes but it should pick the max level for the destroyer. Next it picks Light Cruiser, Cruiser, Battle Cruiser level 10. This is working how I wanted it. After that it jumps straight to Base Ship which I dont want it to do. I've tried adding more Max Tonnage Start's past 4 but the game doesnt seem to read it. Does anyone know a work around to this? Also how can I change the starting size tonnage? The only way I can think right now is to change the Min tonnage in the Design Creation file but then it wouldn't design anything in a low tech game.