how do i store fields in one table via the install file? I am new to d7 and I am writing an install script.  This install script needs to create a content type (I've done that) and then create lots of fields that are used in this.

The problem I have found is that d7 automatically creates lots of tables for each field.  Considering I will have something like 60+ fields per content type, this isn't very practical.

How can I code into my .install file a way of making all these fields be in a single table e.g. |ID|value1|value2|value3|  instead of 3 tables for value1,2,3

Thank you.
Short answer: You can't.

As consumer of the Field API you don't have any control on the SQL schema when using the default field storage. The Field API however, allow usage of different field storage on a per field basis. It seems that the Per-Bundle Storage module aims to provide the feature you want. But it has no release, only code in its repository. Another solution is to switch field storage for your content type to a separated MongoDB database.