[0] Starflight self-modifies as it runs, meaning the executable itself is re-written with the game state baked in. If the game exits without saving in the approved way the executable is broken.
Unless you build your own data structures that are external to Forth's memory image, called a dictionary, everything exists in that chunk of memory. Variables and arrays etc. exist where they are declared in the code sequence. So to save the game they opted apparently to just save the system image. It was the simple way out IMHO. It's trivial to create separate data area and write that out to a file in Forth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worms%3F
Recent interview where the author, David Maynard, discusses writing Worms? in Forth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdIn4ndkcAU