Nothing in the game is hidden or locked. The OBJ code for the three-armed bandit is in the following locations:

• Render code for the reels and handles:
  
  • GFSOBJ\REEL.OBJ
  • GFSOBJ\HANDLE.OBJ
• Input handling:
  • GFSOBJ\W9IMP.OBJ
• Time tracking + Board change handling:
  • GFSOBJ\STBASIC.OBJ

Additionally, some onboard objects are present that handle various aspects of the bandit's function. These are all on the three-armed bandit board, titled "%Story% Week 9":

• [9,13] @l4wild
  • Handles the random speeding up and slowing down of the reel.
• [29,8] @L5capture
  • Displays the number that appears at the top right of the Bandit.
• [2,3] @taunt1
  • Displays the quotations at the top left of the screen.
• [9,14] [9,15] [9,16] @Handle1 @Handle2 @Handle3
  
  • Tracks the number of pulls of a given handle. After 18 pulls of any one handle, "GIVE UP" will appear as an option on screen.

Final notes:

There is some cheeky code in GFSOBJ\HANDLE.OBJ that is probably the code you're looking for. It's the critical code determining the value of the number in the top right of the bandit, and whether the reels stop. Local5 and Local7 are the primary variables involved.

Ha! This was a great watch, it was wild to see which jokes/references we were on the same wavelength for. Glad you enjoyed it and I hope you do more like this. Subscribed to your channel. (Also, you can hit SPACE to skip to the end of a service if you want)

Thanks for your kind comments! To note: much of what I'm doing now wasn't possible 25 years ago or even 5 years ago with ZZT. It's only because of the rediscovery and reconstruction of the source code, and the Weave 3 modding tool (https://meangirls.itch.io/weave-3) that these games are possible in their current format. (A downscaled version of them is almost certainly still possible in vanilla ZZT, but would have taken many more months and the end result been less interesting IMO)

With the upgrade to 1.8.13, you should be able to start a new game.

It's a good sign when folks play and wish there was even more game - branching paths, multiple endings, pickier customers with more complex habits. I agree, I think this one could go bigger and offer dedicated players more challenge and opportunity. A small update coming at the end of the month addresses a couple ambiguities you mentioned, but rescoping the game for more content isn't possible; ZZT is already bursting at the seams holding the current game. Still it's very cool to think about. Whatever I end up making next, I'll try to leave myself some room at the end to add more content later. (Or pick an engine that can handle more than 63.5kb at the same time lol)

no

You've been blessed! There's an extremely small chance that Flora and Brassica will persist through playthroughs and show up at the beginning of a future game.

 New best. Week 68. I think with perfect play you can squeeze out one more week (nice!)

Food!