I just started playing Oblivion not very long ago, so you'll have to pardon me for any random noobness, but...

I decided that I'd like to pursue making a race based off of a close friend of mine (with his permission, of course. XD)
I went out and found several tutorials, as well as getting ahold of facegen, and the DDS converter...

I got my first face template set up yesterday; I exported the obj file with facegen, then ran it through the DDS converter and ended up with my 5-6 dds files (including the head/face file that I actually needed).
After I had it all set up, I opened up the TES Construction Set. I loaded Oblivion.esm (didn't make it active), then went into the character tab, opened up the race settings, and duplicated the Breton race (as per his request).
I gave it a new ID, then a new name, and changed the head dds file to the one I had created.

I left all the Breton hairstyles and eyes that were default. I exited out of all the necessary windows, then saved the file as an .esp (the default)

... I've spent over two days, wracking my brain, trying to figure out WHY the darn thing won't load in Oblivion. I've saved it 5-6 different ways, including using the combine all plugins and .esm method that Chimera uses (http://forumplanet.gamespy.com/oblivion_general_discussion/b49649/19812374/p1/ )... I've disabled all my plugins but the master file, moved the file up the loading list in the plugin manager, added/removed files, and restarted the game COUNTLESS times...

I absolutely CANNOT get the race to show up (And yes, I have gotten -other- custom races to show; I have Ren's Mystic Elves).

On a whim, I sent the file to the friend whom it is based off of, and asked him to run it for me... And lo and behold, it works just fine! *sighs* However, I still cannot use/view it at all, so I have no idea what the issue is on my end...

Any ideas?

[[ Mods; I sincerely apologize if this is in the wrong forum... I wasn't entirely sure where to put it, since I'm not really sure where the issue is actually originating. >///< ]]

Have you marked the race as playable? (In the race menu there's a box with "playable" written next to it.)

Did you activate your mod in the "Data Files" option of the Oblivion launcher menu?

Yuhp~ I did both. (Though I doubt he would've been able to play the race if I hadn't marked it as playable XD)

Might I ask which version of the game you're using? It should be readable at the bottom of the main menu while the intro movie is playing.
Plugins created with a newer CS will just "silently" be ignored by a lower game version.

1.0.288

It seems like that's probably the problem, then, since I JUST downloaded the Construction Set from the website a day or two ago.
I'm looking into getting proper patches now; I'll update if it solves the issue!