Life History Rule Question(s)

[triller]

I've noticed that many posts are now being mode in Life History Rule Format vice .RLE type coding.
Is there an advantage to this approach?
Is it a viable option for practitioners of periodic vs. spartan construction?

I've only recently DLed Golly 2.2 (had to for the 2010 vote, I think), and expect I'll be seeing more of this data format.
Any insight would be helpful.
triller

[Extrementhusiast]

Well, the LifeHistory rule can do three things that ordinary Life can't: it can mark the cells that were once alive (which helps with conduit-making and some other things), it can mark certain cells without affecting the rest of the pattern (even if it runs over those cells), and it can kill gliders with grey cells. (Eaters might look a little unnatural, as they might be interpreted to be part of a conduit, when in reality, it is not.)

[triller]

If I read that right, could this be considered an analog of a screen shot from Golly after a run with the envelope script, but with some added functionality in that multiple layers are saved to a single layer in different states and are distinguishable?
triller

[apg]

Yes, it renders envelope.py obsolete, being exponentially faster.