AI Colonization Styles

[Menschenfresser]

Working on my second race...first was a miserable failure, and I have been looking over the fleets.txt file.

I notice that most of the number of fleets for the AI are determined by # of ships and not # of planets. I am thinking about changing this. By my own playing style, my # of fleets are determined by the number of systems I control. I have a rough idea of how many planets show up in any given system that are colonizable.

So my question is, does any one out there have an idea of how the AI colonizes planets? Does it colonize most of one system's planets before moving on, or does it keep expanding, and only fills in the gaps later.

I think planet/fleet (or actually a system/fleet) ratio might help the AI in using fleets.

The Last game I played I noticed the Colonials used fleets very effectively against me. They had fewer ships than I did, but generally only put about 12-18 ships per fleet, giving them 4-5 medium roaming fleets. Coupled with the fact that they only controlled 7 or 8 systems, 5 fleets was enough to keep me aware of the fact that they always had big reserves in a nearby system.

The rage however, had more ships than anybody through most of the game...50% more than me, but they only had two large fleets of say 35-50 ships, which never strayed too far from the underbelly of their empire. On top of this they controlled nearly 25 systems, leaving most of their planets a long way from any assistance.

Any input on this?