UnknownUnknown
Half-Life is required
To play Half-Life: Before on Linux, you would need to install the Windows version of Half-Life. It won't work with the Linux version of it. To install it, just launch Half-Life using Proton. Other than that, I managed to complete the game on Linux without any issues.
Runs fine, but installing it can be tricky
Brief stutters from time to time, seemingly random
It does have a tendency to lock up (requiring it to be force killed since it continues to hog the mouse input), but whether this is a result of Proton or if the game's just that bad on Windows, I do not know
This is a terrible game, but it runs well. I did experience some lag (seemingly at random) but I can't tell if it's a Proton problem or just another bug with this game.
It can also lock up (can't tell if this is the game being buggy or Proton, either), and you might have to ALT+F4 until your DE prompts you to force kill it when this happens since it will continue to hog mouse input, meaning you can't kill it via Steam.
Installation notes:
When you try to install it, the Store page will say it's in your library, but when you go to install it, you might get this error message:
An error occurred while updating Half-Life: Before (invalid platform)
This is because it has no Linux installation candidate. "No problem," you might think to yourself, "I'll just locate it in my library, go to Properties > Compatibility, and tell it to use Proton from there." That's a logical strategy, but unfortunately, this won't show up in your library if you haven't installed it for some reason, so you have to install it first before you can set a Proton version.
To get around this chicken-and-egg problem, you need to go to Steam settings > Steam Play and check the box for "Enable Steam Play for all other titles." You will have to restart your Steam client after that, but once you do that, it should install without any trouble.
Have to alt+tab in & out of the game a few times before it actually focuses.
There's an elevator early on in the game where you can get caught on the geometry.
You will need to have the windows version of Half-Life installed in order to play.
